Rookie Mistake - Help?
- Thread starter Heck
- Start date
We get equipment donations regularly and sometimes the sumps have utility pumps in them that push water back to a tank. IDK why they are called utility. They are magnetically driven, very similarly built to other tank and pond pumps but these do tend to produce higher head pressure and lower flows at the same wattage. Here are 1200 GPH and 1800 GPH examples of ours:
I think we must get well and truly ripped off for electricity cost here in the uk. If I were considering running any pump at 110 watts for any length of time it would have to be moving at least 6 -10 thousand gallons to be even considered as an option. And then just that one pump is gonna cost me around 70p per day to run or £21 per month, £252 a year!
Are you sure about that? Are we talking about a 110-watt pump? In constant use, that would consume less than 3 kilowatt-hours per day. In these parts, that would cost about 30 cents per day, or about $100 per year of continuous use.
I haven't had my coffee yet...but I think one of has a decimal floating around somewhere...
Yup, 25p per kWh plus a daily standing charge now that the price has come back down again.Are you sure about that? Are we talking about a 110-watt pump? In constant use, that would consume less than 3 kilowatt-hours per day. In these parts, that would cost about 30 cents per day, or about $100 per year of continuous use.
I haven't had my coffee yet...but I think one of has a decimal floating around somewhere...
Hence my aversion to seemingly cheap “utility” pumps. The word to me says expensive to run rather than poor at doing the job.
Wow...you are paying roughly 4.5x as much for electricity as I am...and I am always complaining how expensive it is!
I am strictly comparing the cost of the power itself; we have a handful of additional charges, surcharges, fees, taxes and sundry add-ons, but those charges are mostly poorly explained and cunningly presented things that serve to complicate the interpretation of the monthly bill, so I didn't think to include them. As a Canadian, I am fully accustomed to being reamed/robbed/ripped-off by any Crown corporation, so I have become jaded...
I am strictly comparing the cost of the power itself; we have a handful of additional charges, surcharges, fees, taxes and sundry add-ons, but those charges are mostly poorly explained and cunningly presented things that serve to complicate the interpretation of the monthly bill, so I didn't think to include them. As a Canadian, I am fully accustomed to being reamed/robbed/ripped-off by any Crown corporation, so I have become jaded...
Well, hell. The Other One, one of the bigger Mystus Leucophasis (and by far the shyest) has one eye bulging. I have not been able to get a photo. The other eye is fine and I can't see anything else wrong.
Everyone else looks fine, and I haven't observed any real aggression - the Crime Fish mostly completely ignore each other and stay in their claimed spots, with the occasional power struggle over food in which whoever is lower in the pecking order will simply retreat to their spot - with the exception of Stegosaurus the Eupterus, who completely ignores the social hierarchy, engages in zero conflict, and is himself (or herself) ignored by the others.
This happened once before to Megalodon, Epalzeorhynchos bicolor, and it went away quickly with no intervention months ago.
Should I assume the eye issue is from trauma or disease? What action should I take?
I really don't want to separate them if it's a one off from a scuffle, but if it's a sign of escalating aggression as they age, I know I'll have to if I don't want a murder. If I do end up needing to separate I'll need to rehome some of them, which is fine if I can find good homes. The MLs are +/- 8" and their growth has slowed, so I could probably keep them in fairly small tanks for a little while, but 4 of them? Mayhem!
Everyone else looks fine, and I haven't observed any real aggression - the Crime Fish mostly completely ignore each other and stay in their claimed spots, with the occasional power struggle over food in which whoever is lower in the pecking order will simply retreat to their spot - with the exception of Stegosaurus the Eupterus, who completely ignores the social hierarchy, engages in zero conflict, and is himself (or herself) ignored by the others.
This happened once before to Megalodon, Epalzeorhynchos bicolor, and it went away quickly with no intervention months ago.
Should I assume the eye issue is from trauma or disease? What action should I take?
I really don't want to separate them if it's a one off from a scuffle, but if it's a sign of escalating aggression as they age, I know I'll have to if I don't want a murder. If I do end up needing to separate I'll need to rehome some of them, which is fine if I can find good homes. The MLs are +/- 8" and their growth has slowed, so I could probably keep them in fairly small tanks for a little while, but 4 of them? Mayhem!
Thank you.
The eye is improving, other eye is still fine, everyone else is fine, and no indication of increasing aggression. I'm cautiously optimistic that they seem to be mostly keeping a truce, but MLs have *such* a reputation for being criminals, so it's always in the back of my mind that they're still young - maybe this is the calm before the storm and they may get nastier when they mature. I dreamed that I woke up to check on her and the others had eaten all her fins off, but that didn't happen, just a reminder that I can't assume everything will stay fine.
I'm super aware that I'm over-fished. Everything I've read says I can't have 4 of them together with a eupterus, redtail shark, and sun cats - but they've been stable since June, so maybe I've lucked out? I don't want a bloodbath.
I've been surprised by the sun cats - they were incredibly shy at first and everything I read about them indicated that they're peaceful. I'd been hoping their size would protect them, but they're still only maybe 7ish inches and *far* more assertive than expected - they hold their own just fine.
I've also just given in to the need for hides over my preference for a beautiful tank - I have less driftwood than before, in favor of a rather trashy looking assortment of PVC pipes and joints. I have a few plants, although only the lily is doing well, and styrofoam trays of soil floating on the surface starting some garden plants - my tomatoes sprouted!
Jose the ML has taken to resting upside down under one of the surface trays. He's my favorite ML. I have come to believe, based on size and behavior, that I have 3 females and 1 male. Bucket, Digger, and The Other One are larger - longer *and* fuller bodied - and reserved and more sedentary, while Jose is smaller, more active, and becoming quite interactive. Even during the day with the lights on he'll swim up to the front and dance on the glass when he sees me. I think he's begging for food - his tagline is, "Yeah, I could eat!" I guess Bucket is my second favorite. She's the biggest, and I guess the meanest of the group although she really isn't mean, just territorial. The other MLs and the sun cats respect her space. The eupterus, Stegosaurus, ignores her space but she ignores him right back - it's almost like he's invisible to the others and they're invisible to him. Stegosaurus is far and away my favorite fish of all time - interactive with people, an active, goofy swimmer, and I admire his complete refusal of drama and hierarchy. I never thought I wanted a eupterus because they're so plain, but Steg fell into my lap and I've seen the error of my ways, and now I have 3 of them
The shark also ignores Bucket's space, until she spanks him and he runs away. He's the only one in the group with fin damage, and he sure earns it - that fish doesn't learn. He starts fights he can't finish, violates the treaty, gets spanked, repeats. Poor dummy. I'd move him to the 55g for his own safety, but he'd terrorize the littles in there, and it's hard to feel sorry for him when he keeps getting exactly what he asked for.
In the little tank (55g) I still have 3 pictus, 2 striped Raphaels, 6 synodontis nigriventris, and 2 baby eupterus. This tank is overstocked and may become a problem when they all grow up; I'm waiting to see which fish I like best before making any big decisions. The pictus are so shy, I hate it - they're beautiful, but their anxiety gives me anxiety. I like the Raphaels, when I see them, but as they mature they've become more sedentary and reclusive. My previous experience with nigriventris years ago made me expect to never see mine, and that was my experience with this group for the first several months, but they have gotten more relaxed with age and although they're still very nocturnal, I can watch them under the blue lights at night and they don't mind me.
The 2 baby eupterus in that group are Brontosaurus and Herschel. Brontosaurus has some of the best dorsal ribbons I've seen - he's kinda fancy - but he's not as brave as Stegosaurus or Herschel. Fun to watch, less of a pet.
Herschel is a whole different fish. She's the piebald eupterus from Predatory Fins that Mr. Heck surprised me with for Christmas. As she grows up her dark patches have darkened and her white patches are becoming brighter - less translucent pink and more clear white. I know one guy who got 2 and one of them turned gold on its "white" areas when it grew up - also striking. I don't know if that will happen to Herschel or not, and have no preference. She is becoming incredibly tame - I believe she would like to jump out of the tank and play with me if she could. She's constantly attention seeking, and unlike any of the other fish, she's not intimidated by my dog - she'd come out and wrestle him if she could. I wonder if the difference is that she was tank raised? Idk. She has the same social indifference to the other fish that Stegosaurus has. Brontosaurus, who is older and bigger, *tries* to bully her, but it's like she doesn't notice. I hope she grows up bigger than him and kicks his ass, but she probably won't because she doesn't care.
My 29 gallon, the original Carrot Box, has no fish in it at the moment - I'm saving it for an emergency hospital just in case. It has 8 million bladder snails, planaria, limpets, and some locally invasive plants I apprehended in the creek and put in Plant Jail - they're some varieties of hairgrass, ludwigia, and hornwort. The ludwigia is doing exceptionally well; the others are growing slowly but fine. I haven't decided if I want or need to do anything about the planaria. The bladder snails and limpets are okay by me - they've tried to infest the other tanks, but get eaten almost instantly.
So that's the update from Heck - mostly pretty normal stuff except my apparently stable herd of Mystus Leucophasis.
The eye is improving, other eye is still fine, everyone else is fine, and no indication of increasing aggression. I'm cautiously optimistic that they seem to be mostly keeping a truce, but MLs have *such* a reputation for being criminals, so it's always in the back of my mind that they're still young - maybe this is the calm before the storm and they may get nastier when they mature. I dreamed that I woke up to check on her and the others had eaten all her fins off, but that didn't happen, just a reminder that I can't assume everything will stay fine.
I'm super aware that I'm over-fished. Everything I've read says I can't have 4 of them together with a eupterus, redtail shark, and sun cats - but they've been stable since June, so maybe I've lucked out? I don't want a bloodbath.
I've been surprised by the sun cats - they were incredibly shy at first and everything I read about them indicated that they're peaceful. I'd been hoping their size would protect them, but they're still only maybe 7ish inches and *far* more assertive than expected - they hold their own just fine.
I've also just given in to the need for hides over my preference for a beautiful tank - I have less driftwood than before, in favor of a rather trashy looking assortment of PVC pipes and joints. I have a few plants, although only the lily is doing well, and styrofoam trays of soil floating on the surface starting some garden plants - my tomatoes sprouted!
Jose the ML has taken to resting upside down under one of the surface trays. He's my favorite ML. I have come to believe, based on size and behavior, that I have 3 females and 1 male. Bucket, Digger, and The Other One are larger - longer *and* fuller bodied - and reserved and more sedentary, while Jose is smaller, more active, and becoming quite interactive. Even during the day with the lights on he'll swim up to the front and dance on the glass when he sees me. I think he's begging for food - his tagline is, "Yeah, I could eat!" I guess Bucket is my second favorite. She's the biggest, and I guess the meanest of the group although she really isn't mean, just territorial. The other MLs and the sun cats respect her space. The eupterus, Stegosaurus, ignores her space but she ignores him right back - it's almost like he's invisible to the others and they're invisible to him. Stegosaurus is far and away my favorite fish of all time - interactive with people, an active, goofy swimmer, and I admire his complete refusal of drama and hierarchy. I never thought I wanted a eupterus because they're so plain, but Steg fell into my lap and I've seen the error of my ways, and now I have 3 of them
The shark also ignores Bucket's space, until she spanks him and he runs away. He's the only one in the group with fin damage, and he sure earns it - that fish doesn't learn. He starts fights he can't finish, violates the treaty, gets spanked, repeats. Poor dummy. I'd move him to the 55g for his own safety, but he'd terrorize the littles in there, and it's hard to feel sorry for him when he keeps getting exactly what he asked for.
In the little tank (55g) I still have 3 pictus, 2 striped Raphaels, 6 synodontis nigriventris, and 2 baby eupterus. This tank is overstocked and may become a problem when they all grow up; I'm waiting to see which fish I like best before making any big decisions. The pictus are so shy, I hate it - they're beautiful, but their anxiety gives me anxiety. I like the Raphaels, when I see them, but as they mature they've become more sedentary and reclusive. My previous experience with nigriventris years ago made me expect to never see mine, and that was my experience with this group for the first several months, but they have gotten more relaxed with age and although they're still very nocturnal, I can watch them under the blue lights at night and they don't mind me.
The 2 baby eupterus in that group are Brontosaurus and Herschel. Brontosaurus has some of the best dorsal ribbons I've seen - he's kinda fancy - but he's not as brave as Stegosaurus or Herschel. Fun to watch, less of a pet.
Herschel is a whole different fish. She's the piebald eupterus from Predatory Fins that Mr. Heck surprised me with for Christmas. As she grows up her dark patches have darkened and her white patches are becoming brighter - less translucent pink and more clear white. I know one guy who got 2 and one of them turned gold on its "white" areas when it grew up - also striking. I don't know if that will happen to Herschel or not, and have no preference. She is becoming incredibly tame - I believe she would like to jump out of the tank and play with me if she could. She's constantly attention seeking, and unlike any of the other fish, she's not intimidated by my dog - she'd come out and wrestle him if she could. I wonder if the difference is that she was tank raised? Idk. She has the same social indifference to the other fish that Stegosaurus has. Brontosaurus, who is older and bigger, *tries* to bully her, but it's like she doesn't notice. I hope she grows up bigger than him and kicks his ass, but she probably won't because she doesn't care.
My 29 gallon, the original Carrot Box, has no fish in it at the moment - I'm saving it for an emergency hospital just in case. It has 8 million bladder snails, planaria, limpets, and some locally invasive plants I apprehended in the creek and put in Plant Jail - they're some varieties of hairgrass, ludwigia, and hornwort. The ludwigia is doing exceptionally well; the others are growing slowly but fine. I haven't decided if I want or need to do anything about the planaria. The bladder snails and limpets are okay by me - they've tried to infest the other tanks, but get eaten almost instantly.
So that's the update from Heck - mostly pretty normal stuff except my apparently stable herd of Mystus Leucophasis.
