Journey from dining room to fish room.

[CaptainBarnicles]

I've just finished catching up with this thread, goodness, what an enjoyable read! You most certainly do have a way with words and if you wrote books I'd be reading them. I love the way you talk about Linda too, what a wonderful team the two of you make I'm looking forward to the next installment and some more photos of that beautiful betta

 

[Oldspartan]

I've just finished catching up with this thread, goodness, what an enjoyable read! You most certainly do have a way with words and if you wrote books I'd be reading them. I love the way you talk about Linda too, what a wonderful team the two of you make I'm looking forward to the next installment and some more photos of that beautiful betta

Thank You for the kind words. I actually have a book that I wrote over a two-year period that is being floated to a publisher. If that fails to work out, we will self-publish. It details the life of a homestead beginning with a 37-acre wood lot that we transformed into what I like to call Cornucopia Acres. The book is a lighthearted journal of sorts that deals with the building of a nearly self-sufficient farmstead and all the frustrations and delights involved with learning literally from scratch about, well everything involved. The story is told through the eyes of a fictional third-party neighbor.

It tells of a fifty-year tractor with only one working gear driven on a Sunday afternoon from its original home some 90 miles to its new home. What a Sunday drive that was. A few years later the same tractor made a similar trip and pulled an old dilapidated mobile home the about 45 miles from a farm to the homestead. That was transformed into chicken housing for 300 birds, they are yet another story. a one row corn picker, wheel driven manure spreader, 10,000 bales of hay without a bale kicker, failed fruit trees, a 1956 pickup truck and the teachings of an old fella and his wife who took two ambitious but naive people under their wings and taught them how to make a life using and respecting the land with minimal outside needs. I miss Milfred and Jenny very much.

Anyway, I get carried away with nostalgia here and will put my memories back into my head.

 

[MaloK]

I loved the journey too.

And Cant wait to see pictures of it all... You cannot close this thread without any...

That, is, human cruelty...

You also could continue the thread as a general fish-room journal... That would be cool

 

[Oldspartan]

I loved the journey too.

And Cant wait to see pictures of it all... You cannot close this thread without any...

That, is, human cruelty...

You also could continue the thread as a general fish-room journal... That would be cool

Pictures will come as soon as I convince Linda it is OK. She had a very bad experience some years ago and is very leery of putting photos on the web. She will come around though, I am sure. I never push her, it does not work. Gentle nudges take time but are usually successful though. I told her this morning without pictures it is just fiction.

 

[MaloK]

Pictures will come as soon as I convince Linda it is OK. She had a very bad experience some years ago and is very leery of putting photos on the web. She will come around though, I am sure. I never push her, it does not work. Gentle nudges take time but are usually successful though. I told her this morning without pictures it is just fiction.

Of course...

I respect her 100% and won't ask. It's not the first time I hear some peoples been "broiled' by such things to that point in the past.

Whatever happened.

 

[Oldspartan]

Of course...

I respect her 100% and won't ask. It's not the first time I hear some peoples been "broiled' by such things to that point in the past.

Whatever happened.

She was selling something on Craigslist, I do not remember what. I was at work. A man answered her ad and she gave him directions to pick it up. He attempted to assault her, no need for details, and although she successfully got away and ran to the neighbor it really scarred her attitude toward the internet.

The fella was never tracked down and it was many months before Linda was comfortable being alone.

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

Poor Linda, that's horrid I'm so sorry that happened to her

 

[Oldspartan]

I sort of turned the page on the fish room, perhaps prematurely because the journey is about learning and improving.

Earlier this week the service gal from the not so LFS stopped by unexpectedly and apologetically. She was doing a call on a tank they have at an office and said she wanted to see our set up. Apologized for stopping unannounced. No big deal, Linda told her, we always have people dropping in without notice. A reward / penalty for having a perpetual open house.

Anyway Casey, that is her name, made a few small suggestions and then talked a bit with me about what I guess I would call a 24/7 water change system using a sump. She could see we were do-it-ourself people, that evidence surrounded her both inside and outside the place, so she was not attempting a sale. It was an interesting conversation that eventually led to a discussion on not only the sump but also a central way to heat or chill water depending on the season of the year. She gave me some interesting insights into what the fish room mechanicals could become that would be more efficient and also cut the overhead a bit. I took notes! Better yet she offered to help us set up a sump with heat and chill if we decide to in exchange for a spaghetti dinner. Perhaps in the fall. She asked to see the pond after a coffee, so we trudged through snow to the "shore". She was surprised we had the waterfall going plus the air pump and a donut heater. I explained the waterfall running during the winter was an experiment that would not be repeated most likely due to the cost not being justified. We thought we would use the pond house in the winter, we did not do that very much.

After our discussion I realized some changes might be in order. A few I had been considering, some were new.

One of the things we never considered in our water adventures was the cost to maintain proper living conditions. The utility bills come in and a check gets issued, (no not by mail, electronically). I don't pay much attention to it. Prior to the pond our electrical usage was around 800 KW monthly. The February electrical usage was more than double that amount and now exceeds 3oo bucks. That will likely increase come summer. A second thing is our water collection system. It works very well in the summer, not so much in the winter. For the past few months we have had issues with maintaining water hardness levels that has led to some compromises. Some changes are required before next winter, I think.

We keep the fish room at 77F with a heat pump and planned on keeping that temperature year-round. However, perhaps a heated and chilled sump is a better option. Our thought had been keeping the room at 77F was more efficient than tank heaters, (each tank still has them though). A sump could also do away with individual water changes. A R/O system could be integrated. Things to consider in our spare time.

If I was to start today, I might do some things differently but on the whole the system and room are more than adequate.

 

[Oldspartan]

It is very early morning. I have always been an early riser and one of those "lucky" people who need less than the norm of sleep. However, this night has been a restless adventure and rather than lay in bed here I am.

This past weekend we, or I should say I, began the opening of the pond. That is a misnomer because unlike the year before I did not really close it. The waterfall was left running and even a fountain did its thing until a late frigid spell that forced its removal. The waterfall experiment was successful as it ran all winter without an issue. The lack of a leaf net was a big mistake though. The ponds bottom looks like my yard after a late fall windstorm. I am debating the purchase of a pond vacuum, but they are quite costly -- about 500.00 dollars with necessary wands. Normally that would bite but not be fatal. This year is a bit different though. The medical costs Linda is incurring will carve out a good chunk of our "free" money budget it seems. Her chosen surgeon is non-participating in the HMO so a pretty good out of pocket cost will be incurred. Believe me, I am not complaining. Her comfort level is far more important than a labor-saving vacuum cleaner.

Any who, I pulled the waterfall pump, took it apart and cleaned the impeller and pump housing. It was then put back into the pond and restarted. Then the air pump was serviced. Two new air stones, and new vinyl lines were run inti the pond. The original stones were plugged pretty good and operating at perhaps 1/3 of new. The air pump was disassembled and a new diaphragm kit installed. Reinstalling this system required I go wading. Man, that water was chilly. Next up was the shoreline. Cut back plants that needed cutting, trimmed the cherry tree, weeping willow, and some grasses.

Next up, when the weather is a bit more friendly, the pond will get drained, and I will remove the second-generation fish that were left in over winter. This consists of a dozen and a half goldfish and numerous minnows. We will keep one goldfish that is 95% white and another that has a pretty coloration. That will leave 7, the five original and those two. Will also keep a dozen or so minnows. The remainder will go into a landlocked pond at Alex the Woodcutters farm about 30 miles away. We will retain vising privileges .

When the pond is drained, I will clean the bottom of leaves and any muck that has built up. The plan is then to add a small perch or two to take care of the third-generation fish as they emerge. The perch will be removed in the late fall. Hopefully that will solve the population problem this year. That is a job for next week as the weather is not friendly right now.

Yesterday we drove to a nearby nursery and purchased two apple trees, a MacIntosh and a Honeycrisp to plant behind the pond house. These, in a couple of years will replace the three apple trees that are long in tooth and have become brittle. The new trees are semidwarf and should bear a small crop next year. The year after that, if all is as planned, we will cut the old trees, run what we can through the chipper and dry the result for meat and fish smoking. I may turn some of the applewood on the lathe into gifts. That is then though.

At any rate, the pond area is pretty clean and almost ready for the paraphernalia that makes it an outdoor living space. After Linda's surgery I will begin building out the summer kitchen. Most of what I need is already here so it will be labor heavy and money light.

All for now --- Time to head to the fish room, turn the valance lighting on low, the reading lamp on high, and enjoy a bit of reading while watching the fish "sleep". Their movements are more subtle in a darkened room I have noticed.

Oh yeah, one more thing speaking of the fish. I think two sets of the angel fish may have paired. If this turns out to be true, we will move the pairs to another tank set up and waiting for that purpose. This is an exciting development if fact.

 

[Oldspartan]

Went to the locally owned LFS yesterday with 52 Senta Koi Marbled, (I refuse to use the Latin, it is a dead language, and I am among the living). Linda had 54 originally, only two left the mortal coil which to me is pretty amazing. The LFS traded Linda two female Boesemani Rainbow and some frozen blood worms for them. She also made a deal for the 30 some odd Panda Lyretail Molly for some duck jerky for the two canines. That deal will be done Sunday afternoon. The rainbow will bring the tank total to a single male and four female Boesemani plus a BN Pleco. We will also add our single original Angel to the mix soon leaving six Angels in another tank, (waiting for them to pair).

The locally owned chain has told Linda they are delighted with her fish and are happy to take what she brings. They want her Betta as soon as she successfully gets them going and are also wanting the Angels when they get to breeding. No confusion here. We are not going into the fish business. Linda just loves to breed critters, always has, from chickens to pigs to rabbits in the past. A passion I never shared but always enjoyed watching her excitement. To me the promiscuousness of the fish is a bother, but as always in these things I defer to her. She understands the fry must be homed or it is necessary to make them into snacks, so she is busy making sure they have a place to go and so far, so good for her, and them.

Yesterday was mid 40's but felt warmer in the sun, no wind so actually very pleasant. I began tilling as directed and finished the trimming of bushes and trees before they come out of dormancy. Linda put her tomatoes, cukes, and a pepper plants out into the sunshine for a couple of hours to begin the hardening process and after returning the rainbows to the isolation tank and putting the worms in the freezer we went to the plant nursery she likes. She "needs" a couple dozen plants for the summer kitchen area and wanted to browse the nursey to see what is and will be available. Seems I will be using the banjo again this spring. We also need some shoreline plants for bog, stream, and pond. Most of these will come from the back 40 of our own property, I hope. Still to early to start hunting them though. More banjo in my future.

Sometimes, I think, we forget how much our partner does, and worse yet fail to appreciate it. Linda's current disability has re-enlightened me too how much she does directly for me and how much she contributes to the family's life, from me to children, to grandchildren. I now do most of the cooking, the dishes, move wet clothes from washer to dryer and swing the vacuum cleaner. She does what she can, more actually, and does not appreciate being so limited, but as I say to her, it is what it is and I do not mind the additional chores. Not entirely true I will admit but I grin and bear it because, well, it is what it is. Amazing how she has made my life easier.

Anyway, on the next warm day, (60's with sunshine), I will drain the pond, sort the fish, do cleaning, and refill it. The day after that chore is accomplished, I will catch a small perch or sunfish to add for fry control. I have relearned the importance of predation.

Today's chore? The tank the swordtails were removed from will receive a thorough cleaning, a big water change and some new, as yet to be determined occupants as yet unborn.

 

[Oldspartan]

This weather pattern imply goes on and on. The past four days or mornings have welcomed us with either slush or snow. Today alters the pattern slightly, it is simple pouring rain. Each day the snow either melts in mid 40F temps, or drumming rain. It has been nearly impossible to make much progress in the pond yard. This is compounded by Linda's issues. Her arm hangs nearly uselessly at her side, she cannot raise it above shoulder level and even that is painful. Her back is in continual discomfort, and she can lay on neither right side or on the backside. Shoulder surgery has been scheduled for April 30th on her shoulder rebuild. The back, according to the Doctors is just a time to heal thing. Her fall was catastrophic to her quality of life, and it remains to be seen where it leads. Vent complete!

Despite these setbacks I have managed to layout the pond areas summer kitchen. The choice is now between a raised wooden platform or a concrete slab. I prefer the slab, but it has a problem with accessibility. There is no way to easily get bags of cement, sand and gravel to the area. It will be a laborious process that would require some fence removal, transplanting some large bushes, or multiple trips with the small garden cart. A wooden platform would be much easier, both on the body and as a matter of speed. Anyway, with the medical junk nothing of note will be done till May.

I found a dead yearling goldfish on the pond shore last week. No idea the cause. Likely winter kill. So far that seems the only casuality. The fish are awakening, and we will soon begin feeding them. The water from the artesian well somewhat offsets the cold but the temp is still under 50F, 47F yesterday which was warmer than the air. I tossed a bit of flakes in and some of the fish came up and ate. I am also beginning to see signs of Algae growth so that is something to watch. The first nice day I intend to haul a hose out and begin to a very large water change and flushing of the biofilter. Who knows when such a day appears. Also on a nice day agenda is a perch fishing expedition, (or perhaps sunfish). Plan is to add a couple of smallish fellas to the pond for baby control.

Inside we are still playing with the tanks. We are slowly moving away from communities to species tanks. The change is quite involved. (for us anyway) and will entail the rehoming of many fish. The goal now is to develop tanks that resemble the bottoms, flows, and plants that resemble original habitats. I am still not sold on live plants so good quality silk plants will play a role here. We have tentative plans to start getting some less popular fish for no other reason than we are unique and want the fish room to be the same. More on that as the year progresses.

Yesterday when doing a water change in Bozo the Blood Parrots tank I was viciously attacked. No harm done but as I tried a bit of bottom rearranging, he made several runs at ne that resulted in his headbutting me with authority. I finally put some aquarium water in a bucket and removed him so I could do my work. Bozo is an aggressive little guy and when he reaches full growth working in that tank will be an adventure. His beauty offsets his attitude though.

Such a handsome fella.

 

[BigDog]

Very nice looking fish