Thankful for my fish

[pacu mom]

Thankful for my fish. Their existence makes our lives more comfortable. There are lots of fires burning in our area caused by over 150 lightning strikes earlier this week. We are on Level 1 Alert - get ready to evacuate for the last few days, some areas had to evacuate. Even with fire aircraft yesterday, the two biggest fires have almost doubled in size and are about to merge. The main road out of our area has been closed and may not open until the middle of next week, if things go well. Two of the fires were approaching a power substation yesterday. Acting proactively, the power company shut off power to this area about 19 hrs ago. There is no estimate when power will be restored, but we were told to prepare for multiple days without power.

Back to our fish - we got a generator so the fish tank could run 24/7 with only a 10 second interruption--the interval it takes for the generator to turn on. The fish are comfortable, and so am I as I sit here at my computer typing this. Thanks Leonardo de Fishio and Adonis for being a part of our family. You enrich our lives in more ways than one.







Tactical plane has been circling the two biggest fires. Hopefully the air tank planes will be on the scene soon.

 

[pacu mom]

Blue dot marks my house. Closest fire is 7.4 miles away, while the two big fires - Kelly Fire is 12.3 miles away, and the Pioneer Fire is 13.8 miles away. The two big fires have almost merged. Tactical plane is still circling the fires.

 

[tlindsey]

Thankful for my fish. Their existence makes our lives more comfortable. There are lots of fires burning in our area caused by over 150 lightning strikes earlier this week. We are on Level 1 Alert - get ready to evacuate for the last few days, some areas had to evacuate. Even with fire aircraft yesterday, the two biggest fires have almost doubled in size and are about to merge. The main road out of our area has been closed and may not open until the middle of next week, if things go well. Two of the fires were approaching a power substation yesterday. Acting proactively, the power company shut off power to this area about 19 hrs ago. There is no estimate when power will be restored, but we were told to prepare for multiple days without power.

Back to our fish - we got a generator so the fish tank could run 24/7 with only a 10 second interruption--the interval it takes for the generator to turn on. The fish are comfortable, and so am I as I sit here at my computer typing this. Thanks Leonardo de Fishio and Adonis for being a part of our family. You enrich our lives in more ways than one.

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Tactical plane has been circling the two biggest fires. Hopefully the air tank planes will be on the scene soon.
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Hopefully they get the fire's under control and you stay safe. Your fish look like they want to give you a kiss.

 

[pacu mom]

Your fish look like they want to give you a kiss.

They are extremely interactive fish, very curious about the world inside and outside of their tank. Sometimes I feel like I'm the one in the fish bowl. They destroy everything in their tank. I'm convinced they are just curious, and not having hands, they only have their mouth and teeth to investigate their world. I also can't clean the tank walls without them brushing up against my hand...they seem to like physical contact. We've had them 18 years, so they must be at least 19 years old.

 

[tlindsey]

We've had them 18 years, so they must be at least 19 years old.

Wow! That's awesome.

 

[pacu mom]

Search and Rescue just posted this pic on FB. Purple denotes the power lines. No wonder they had to shut the power off to our area, and why it might be days before they turn it back on.

 

[celebrist]

Oy

 

[phreeflow]

Yikes, stay safe. The fish look great. Did you ever finish your huge tank project?

 

[pacu mom]

Yikes, stay safe. The fish look great. Did you ever finish your huge tank project?

No, and I am farther away after a 7 year hiatus than I thought I was. Sanding down most of the background and will have to repaint a majority of it. Thought I only had to roughen the clear epoxy and reapply, but discovered I had inadvertently used satin paint in places instead of flat paint, causing the majority of problems with the clear epoxy not adhering properly. During the hiatus, on the current tank, we jury rigged PVC pipe shoving it through the hole in the top of the tank where the bulkhead had broken. Turns out the freefloating PVC works better than when rigid in a bulkhead. We have already broken two bulkheads from the rambunctious fish slamming into the pipes. I am going to redo all eleven pipes among all other stuff I am redoing. Been wavering back and forth about doing free floating or using a threaded bulkhead where we just unscrew the pipe. Don't know how much movement a free 4' pipe will have, but if it moves too much and touches the side of the hole, it could stress the acrylic top and break it. So I need to figure out which way to go. So these pipes are out


For seven years the poor tank sat with nothing done. Family illness and death, and seven surgeries on my finger and wrist left me incapacitated and unable to work in the tank.

 

[phreeflow]

No, and I am farther away after a 7 year hiatus than I thought I was. Sanding down most of the background and will have to repaint a majority of it. Thought I only had to roughen the clear epoxy and reapply, but discovered I had inadvertently used satin paint in places instead of flat paint, causing the majority of problems with the clear epoxy not adhering properly. During the hiatus, on the current tank, we jury rigged PVC pipe shoving it through the hole in the top of the tank where the bulkhead had broken. Turns out the freefloating PVC works better than when rigid in a bulkhead. We have already broken two bulkheads from the rambunctious fish slamming into the pipes. I am going to redo all eleven pipes among all other stuff I am redoing. Been wavering back and forth about doing free floating or using a threaded bulkhead where we just unscrew the pipe. Don't know how much movement a free 4' pipe will have, but if it moves too much and touches the side of the hole, it could stress the acrylic top and break it. So I need to figure out which way to go. So these pipes are out
View attachment 1524700

For seven years the poor tank sat with nothing done. Family illness and death, and seven surgeries on my finger and wrist left me incapacitated and unable to work in the tank.
View attachment 1524701

Sorry to hear about all your troubles. That’s one of the nicest aquarium builds and I’ve always wondered if it got done. Hope it comes to fruition for you. Maybe you can hire some folks to finish it up?