Above the Tavern with Parka!

[Parka]

beware of predators

I have another issue to speak of. I put 11 of those baby Shebunkins in the Hard Working Akron, super crisp, clear as can be, now I only have 4 Baby Bunkins left in Akron and I suspect my clan of five Pictus catfish were able to devour the smallest seven, and the four that survived, all them have their tails frayed, probably in the struggle to survive predation, oh my!

The good news is that I still have three more baby Shebunkins in the mighty Chicago and I'm going to let them size up for a few more weeks before putting them in the Akron.

I have a total of nine Koi and I have the six largest ones in the pool. Of the three remaining in Cleveland, two are much smaller and the both also happen to be Butterfly Koi and because of their smaller size I hope to keep them alongside my Goldfish. So I only need to catch one more Koi to put in the pool.

I can already tell the Koi are loving the pool. All my Koi were outgrowing the Posh Cleveland faster than I expected.

I know I'm taking a chance putting my Koi outside, I always hope for success!

Look how much new root growth, in just a few days after being cropped.




How long until all the water lettuce gets eaten? I'm guessing less than ten days...

 

[Sassafras]

arghhh! Hate the fate of the late babies mate. I also suspect the pictus cats. Those koi do look like they are enjoying themselves immensely. What is the temperature of the pool?

 

[Parka]

late babies

I did lose 7 baby Bunkins! However, the four that survived the move to Akron, they are doing fine and I do have 4 more baby Shebunkins still in Chicago, at least four, so I will still have 8 new Shebunkins to raise up. Three of the Shebunkins are the solid brown color with a lighter belly and I am actually eager to have the brown ones. The brown ones might be females or not, I don't know. But I do know that every single brown feeder goldfish I raised, they all turn orange!

So it will be interesting to see if the brown Shebunkins stay that muddy brown color. I hope they do.

I only have one Koi left to remove from the Cleveland.

What is the temperature of the pool?

I have not checked in a week but a week ago it was 77, and I bet it is still close to that because the ground temp is helping regulate the water temp and it only gets about 4 hours of direct sunlight. I will check the temp again tomorrow and report!

also suspect the pictus cats

For a long time 3 would stay at one end and the other 2 would hang out at the opposite end of Akron. Well now all 5 seem to be keeping house together. I bet they enjoyed their live meals! An army of Pictus catfish are fun to watch.

I sure am glad I separated my Koi from the more delicate Goldfish and I know for sure that the Koi are loving all that extra room to stretch out because it was obvious to me that they felt cramped in the Posh Cleveland.

I did put one of my large Plecos into the Chicago from Akron. I used the hoop net to trap him and I plan to catch the other one and put both together again, in the Chicago. They hang around together.

The Posh Cleveland is the perfect sized tank. It is so easy to work on because the bottom is reachable, where as the Chicago, I can't reach the bottom, I have to use grabbers and stuff like that plus it helps to lower the water level a foot or more, and then ya still have to lean way in, it is very cumbersome! Especially for the Clumsy!

I think I might turn the Posh Cleveland into a very exciting Community Tank, I want to get some Angelfish anyway! Get like a dozen Cory cats, a bunch of Khuli loaches, all kinds of cool fish, .

Here are a few pics.

 

[Sassafras]

I have not checked in a week but a week ago it was 77, and I bet it is still close to that because the ground temp is helping regulate the water temp and it only gets about 4 hours of direct sunlight. I will check the temp again tomorrow and report!

That's not bad! I was expecting higher, but like you say, ground contact and shade are a big help.

For a long time 3 would stay at one end and the other 2 would hang out at the opposite end of Akron. Well now all 5 seem to be keeping house together. I bet they enjoyed their live meals! An army of Pictus catfish are fun to watch.

They are! Love them whiskers!

The Posh Cleveland is the perfect sized tank. It is so easy to work on because the bottom is reachable, where as the Chicago, I can't reach the bottom, I have to use grabbers and stuff like that plus it helps to lower the water level a foot or more, and then ya still have to lean way in, it is very cumbersome! Especially for the Clumsy!

I know what you mean. 24 inch depth is very manageable, 30 inch and you've got to be on a tall step and lean in, 36 inch and it takes tools, which are frustrating to manipulate.

I think I might turn the Posh Cleveland into a very exciting Community Tank, I want to get some Angelfish anyway! Get like a dozen Cory cats, a bunch of Khuli loaches, all kinds of cool fish.

I love that idea! small fish in a big tank allows for observing much more natural behavior. Lots of spawning too. I have a 325 with small Amazon community fish. I've had lots of baby Corys, Angelfish, Whiptail cats, and several Tetra species spawn and suddenly show up in the tank from out of the plants when they get big enough.

 

[Parka]

Well this evening the outside pool water temp was up to 82 degrees. I think it cools off a degree or two overnight but almost every day the high temp is in the mid 90's with more of the same in the ten day forecast. I feel pretty sure most local water temps are peaking about now and in just a few more weeks, temps should begin to lower with the shorter days.

I have some pics with words!

I trapped the second Pleco from Akron and now both are in the Mighty Chicago, I have an algae thing happening in Chicago, Let's get this mess cleaned up!






The water in Chicago is getting clear, it just looks murky but it is not murky, I really like the new clean roots on the water lettuce.







This is my Stonhenge Tribute in total ruins! Such disrespect! It happened as the Super Athletic Koi were being chased with a big net, some of my Koi are Certified Acrobats, True Story, as told by the High Bishop!





Allow me to make a Proper Introduction! Erry Body, this is Milk Weed! My Inner Junkie named him.





I think my Koi have been in pool about4 or 5 days? And I already noticed that the water lettuce has greened up considerably in that short time and the only thing I can guess? The introduction of the Koi is the only change. I am wondering if the addition of ammonia from the live fish, i just don't know for sure, however, before I added the Koi to the mix, the water lettuce in the pool looked a bit yellowy. Also, the Koi don't seem to have eaten much of the water lettuce, and it looks to be spreading nicely. And the Koi had hundreds of tadpoles in their pool. The tadpoles got eaten, so I understand! My guys are eating good!




This still amazes me, especially now that the pool is stocked with six Koi, a nitrate water test today is still showing near zero ppm nitrate.
I have to believe the sunshine and the larger surface area of the pool have a lot to do with the lack of nitrates.


Okay, Good Night!

 

[Sassafras]

The water lettuce are turning the nitrate into green-ness. Stonehenge is unrecognizable, better start a restoration project. Pond really looks great. Did you see this post? Makes me want a pond like that.

 

[Parka]

The water lettuce are turning the nitrate into green-ness.

Yeah, with the added Six Koi, I suppose it got a boost in the bio, Look how much greener...



I had one of those patches start to leak so I took it Seriously and got out my repair equipment and completed the procedure in mere minutes!

Did you see this post?

Not until now. Those look like My Fancy Splashers! Well, my aren't that big yet. That pool is very stylish, it reminds me of a coffee table! I Love Cobby! One time I got in trouble with Johnny Law because of the 'bean', the Caffeine had me all outta sorts and I got arrested and the Judge, he sent me up to the Maxwell House, for six months with NO Cream & Sugar, I had to drink black coffee for six months instead!

. Stonehenge is unrecognizable,

I'm gonna go ahead and put in a request for Govt. Grant! I'm gonna line my pockets! My Inner Junkie has all kinds of great ideas on how to get easy money WITHOUT having a job.

 

[Ogertron3000]

I think I might turn the Posh Cleveland into a very exciting Community Tank, I want to get some Angelfish anyway! Get like a dozen Cory cats, a bunch of Khuli loaches, all kinds of cool fish, .

I really like this idea, you dont see big tanks filled with smaller community fish very often, When done well they look great. How big is the cleveland tank?
This has become a very interesting but sometimes quite bizarre thread to keep an eye on.

 

[Parka]

How big is the cleveland tank?

The outside dimensions:
11 feet, 3 inches long
35 inches tall
31.5" front to back

That last measurement, less than 32 inches wide means it can fit through a 32" door way, that is the size door I have in the basement where I keep tanks.

The inside dimensions figure out to 519 gallons. 132" length, 32" deep, 28.5" front to back.

Now the front window openings are 7.5" up from the bottom of the tank and that leaves room for a deep bed of gravel. I use about 3 to 4 " of lava rock topped with 2 or 3 inches of pea gravel and underneath all that is a sprinkler hose that is hooked up to a pump and it is an incredibly effective undergravel filter. I copied the design from Koi farms in Japan. The Sprinkler Hose was my idea! I am running the same type of filters in all three tanks and they can run maintenance free for years... When I remove the pre-filters, they are simply NOT in need of being cleaned for months on end and even longer.

But yeah, Cleveland is the Mama Bear of my tanks, not too big and not too small, it's just right!

interesting but sometimes quite bizarre thread

You should see how happy you just made My Inner Junkie! He took it as a very High Compliment! Me too! Thanks!

 

[Ogertron3000]

The outside dimensions:
11 feet, 3 inches long
35 inches tall
31.5" front to back

That last measurement, less than 32 inches wide means it can fit through a 32" door way, that is the size door I have in the basement where I keep tanks.

The inside dimensions figure out to 519 gallons. 132" length, 32" deep, 28.5" front to back.

Now the front window openings are 7.5" up from the bottom of the tank and that leaves room for a deep bed of gravel. I use about 3 to 4 " of lava rock topped with 2 or 3 inches of pea gravel and underneath all that is a sprinkler hose that is hooked up to a pump and it is an incredibly effective undergravel filter. I copied the design from Koi farms in Japan. The Sprinkler Hose was my idea! I am running the same type of filters in all three tanks and they can run maintenance free for years... When I remove the pre-filters, they are simply NOT in need of being cleaned for months on end and even longer.

But yeah, Cleveland is the Mama Bear of my tanks, not too big and not too small, it's just right!

You should see how happy you just made My Inner Junkie! He took it as a very High Compliment! Me too! Thanks!

I am happy if your inner junkie is happy......

I would love to do a south american tank on this scale. I imagine big schools of lots of different small fish and a nice big crew of angelfish as the main attraction.
It would be good to see how common fish such as tetras act in such a large space and being kept in groups of 30-40 instead of 5-10. How soon until you get started?
If you want to build me a tank and send it to me in australia i will be more than happy to let you know how it goes.