Old fishkeepers never die.....

[the_lock_man]

Hi everyone, it's been a while since I regularly perused this wonderful forum.

I closed down my 34l tank several years ago, and condensed everything into the larger one.... and then the lights failed. These were custom-made LED lighting, made by a former moderator on here, and repairing them was one of those "when I get around to it" jobs that I never got around to.

So, I gradually lost interest, the fish went one-by-one. I never turned off the heater or filter, but carried out no maintenance at all, save for topping up the water level.

Then a few weeks back, I borrowed a multimeter, and set about investigating the lights. Turns out, I couldn't do diddly-squat with them, and went out and bought some more.

Fitted them, and then, on the basis that there hadn't been any fish in the tank for a couple of years or so, I bought some Dr Tim's Ammonia, to recycle the filter.

And then.

One evening.

My dauighter and I were looking in the tank, and just happened to notice some movement. Further investigation found an amano shrimp. I've done no maintenance at all, for heaven's sake, how has this thing survived? And upon further observation, the other two amano shrimp too?

Well, anyway, that put paid to the fishless cycle.

So, if anyone in the south of England wants a bottle of Dr Tim's Ammonia Chloride, I've got a spare bottle.....

Oh, and a couple of Endlers, to hopefully restart the cycle.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Hello and welcome back!

I have actually seen your profile before, because your avatar is so funny and I wanted to share it with my aunt.

That's pretty amazing that that shrimp could have survived through all of that.

Are you planning on tearing down the tank and restarting? Or just cleaning it up and adding things here and there?

 

[the_lock_man]

Yeah, I've cleaned it up, done a bit of pruning.

The filter has stayed wet, so the dormant bacteria shouldn't take too long to pop back up.

The pity is that all my test reagents are well out of date, so Amazon better get here quickly!

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Oh, gotcha. Amazon should get there in 2-3 days, but they may have to leave the lights at the PO and then give you a pink slip for them. I just ordered new LED lights for my 20g long, and I imagine they will be at the PO, not stuffed in my mailbox.

 

[DAnCSF]

Doesn't it make you wonder how tough animals can be despite our neglect....LOL welcome back and good luck with your tank...

 

[Retired Viking]

Welcome back, I had taken a break from fish keeping too.

 

[Colin_T]

Old fishkeepers never die, they just smell that way.