More tank pics, updated

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The new stands are here! They're heavy duty metal for 40 gallon breeder tanks. I might go up to 46 gl bowfront in the acrylic. Stands are rated to 660lbs. I'll have to make sure Tango's house will fit through the opening up top before I do anything though. I think the dimensions are posted.

The instructions are ass, though. In each pack you get a new Phillips screwdriver, the levelling feet, and two sets of screws (one long, one short). I'll have to look at the video. Just lazy asf no real directions. It's almost like "you figure it out."

 

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Small updates>>>

Got a goofy response from the seller of the stands. They said up to 50 gallon tanks would be safe but make sure to "tighten the screws." Uh why would I have loose screws?

The exterior work repairs outside the fishroom completed today. Trenches dug and packed, foundation cracks fixed. Next up will be the interior restoration of drywall, paint, wall sealant, and pvc baseboards. I already have the paint.

BP Boss has turned into a 'leopard' parrot. He's kinda muddy orange pink with red blotches all over like spots. Another crazy color shift! Parrots are weird.

 

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I assembled one of the stands this evening. The actual assembly is pretty simple (once you figure it out) but getting the screws in takes some serious elbow grease.

Not gonna lie though, this stand is heavy duty and tight, rated to 660lbs. No flex at all once everything is screwed in. The only easy part was installing the leveling feet.

Assembled stand. I'll get to the other one later. Will get two planks 37 1/2" x 19 1/2" for tabletops.

 

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As always there's one screw in a metal post that won't go all the way in. Likely a machining issue but it's as tight in there as the others. Simply won't go in any further. I couldn't get it back out if I tried. Hangs out about maybe 1/8". The screws themselves are around 3".

 

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Not a whole lot happening right now so I figured to post a couple of pics.

Here's Squiggy, an adult son of Slade/Speck. He is co-boss of the 125. Fiesty but not crazy aggressive. Will patrol the tank at times. Stays near Slade. One of the big males with a more submarine shape.

 

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Papa Slade chills under the canopy. His offspring and descendants have amazing diversity of color and patterns. As father of the Quads (4 color morphs) he's got metallic coloring that is subtle. His eyes are actually blue! They appear black but in low light and at angles, they are bright blue. The family dynamics continue to shift. Once again Slade has retaken his Boss slot with Squiggy as his second. Mongo, the other bad brother is now in retreat mode. Slade gets along extremely well with his adult offspring.

I mentioned a while ago that all things being equal the pinks are more aggressive than the stripes. Of course there are exceptions (Tank, Speck and Nix come to mind) but overall its noticeable. At equal numbers the pinks hang out more and are front and center while the stripes tend to retreat. I have no explanation for this.

Slade on an ez afternoon

 

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Slade's son Brutus appears to be headed for the all time family size record. Bigger than Hulk. Bigger than Tank. Bigger than Stripey. I would not have thought it possible. His build is completely different, like solid muscle as opposed to chubby/chunky. And his head is huge. He's now getting a hump as well.

One word. Ludicrous!

 

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Sometimes comparison works better than words. Here he is with his jumbo cousin Scooter. WHUT
He can eat 6 -7 mm pellets no problem, as all the other adult males.

 

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Funny story.

So I get home from work yesterday and get out the pellets. Went in the fishroom and everyone went into hiding. So I'm like "oops, forgot to take off my jacket coat." So most of the fish came back out. Not my parrot Boss...he was spooked by my print top (has a bold pattern in black and gold). Went flying behind a plant and peeped out before hiding in a log. So I put on my work smock which is dark green solid color and he came right out for pellets after that.

The other parrots weren't bothered at all by my print top but Boss was. The most unflappable parrot decided to have a fright fit. I cold wear blinking spinning neon lights and he could care less. Go figure.

So it goes like this.

BP Kong doesn't like hats or green shirts. Patterns are ok but not horizontal lines.
She loves purple plants.

BP Boss doesn't like solid red plants or strong prints and patterns. He used to hate blue plants but is ok with them now,

The HRPS don't like dark color tops/jackets (makes them jump around) but are ok with loud prints and patterns.

I have to keep a running list of these 'scary monsters' for cichlid goofballs.

 

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As always, things happen fast with cichlids.

BP Tango and hrp Mica living together as tankmates is over. I had to rescue her today! She had pinned herself underneath Tango's cookie jar house. He went after her relentlessly, making her scrape from stress and fly all over the tank. Whatever happened occurred overnight to cause this drastic change. Could be that he finally had enough of her annoying aggression. In any case I took her out right away. She's now in the all female breeder with sister Harlequin, aunts and cousins. She has no injuries. Went over immediately to Harlequin.

Got a sudden situation in the 125 where it appears that hrp Dusty now has a suspicious top lip. Probably damage from lip locking but I want to avoid potential infection/issues. Tank got a second 90% w/c today after getting one Thursday. Added 4lbs salt.

Avoided yet another potential issue. Had cleaned all the filter pads/prefilters Thursday but discovered today one filter was loaded with # 2 debris at the bottom under the bio-bale (stuff tends to settle at the bottom of the plastic ribbon). Cleaned that out today as well. Current tank temp at 71 degrees.

Here's an updated pic of Mica taken today. 3 3/4 inches! Has her mother's (Speck) spectacular top and bottom trailers and yellow top fin coloration. She has her father's (Slade) markings and metallic sheen. A perfect combination.