Aquariums

Things are moving along with the new aquarium we're setting up at my school. Thanks to the pandemic, some supplies that we were hoping to get (for the aquascaping) are hard to find right now. Before heading to the school yesterday, Gregg scooped up every last bit of "dragonstone" that he had at the pet store to see if it would be enough. Although we didn't have as many big pieces as we were hoping for, I think we'll be able to squeak by with it. A small pile of rocks (rocks!) was $150 worth and we could definitely use more.

I snapped a picture of the empty tank to show you all after we put it in position in the lobby.

Of course, more photos will be forthcoming as soon as it's up and running.

Gregg also had to clean the planted aquarium in the school library. He's been maintaining that one for at least 8 years now, and it's his favorite of all the tanks he services. The plants are healthy and thriving, and the fish are gorgeous. Here's a picture I took of one of them, a Diamond Tetra. It's hard to get a good picture of a fish, but it's not too bad.

The library is getting new carpet this week. The principal had to fight with the head of maintenance to convince them that having Gregg move this tank to put carpet underneath it was a bad idea. They finally saw reason and decided to put the carpet down around it, much to Gregg's relief. He says the tank might never be the same again if he had to break it all down and then set it back up anew. We were so grateful to Mr. Oates for going to bat for us on that issue! Not only would it ruin years worth of extraordinary aquatic plant growth, but everything (including the wet substrate) would have to come out to make the tank light enough to pick up and move. Talk about a work intensive process! So that was great news. It had been weighing on Gregg's mind.

Also, while Gregg and Mr. Oates were talking, I walked up in time to hear Mr. O saying really nice things about me. Something about I was a blessing to the school and "I don't know what we'd do without her." Now, wasn't that nice?! I was taken off guard and I could feel myself blushing. It made me feel so good, though! That's been the highlight of my summer so far.

More aquarium updates to come!

A fishy post

As some of you may remember, my husband maintains an aquarium at the school where I work. He's taken care of it for years, much longer than I've worked there. It's a gorgeous planted aquarium (people always assume the plants in it are fake, they're so green and lush) about 75 gallons I think, with schools of Diamond and Neon tetras. Unfortunately, it's in the back of the library so visitors to the school (and some of the teachers) hardly ever get to see it.

Diamond Tetra

Neon Tetras

Last year Gregg's doctor friend wanted to take down and get rid of the beautiful custom built aquarium he'd had in his home (and Gregg had maintained) for over a decade. The family travels a lot and it had become something of a burden. When Gregg took it down, the friend told him to keep it and do whatever he wanted with it. Well, we have plenty of tanks in this house, and don't need any more empty ones to store in the garage, so he suggested that they might want to donate it to a school. They loved the idea! 

I took pictures of it and offered it to my school first, and the administration very enthusiastically said "Yes!" to having a second tank! It really is beautiful and obviously expensive. The band director helped us move it up to the school and for the last 6 months it's been sitting in a workroom, waiting. Decisions had to be made about where it was going to go, and of course what we were going to do with it. Then Covid-19 struck and school was no long open and I figured setting up the tank was put on hold indefinitely.

Then on Monday afternoon the bookkeeper texted me to tell me that the principal is ready to set up the aquarium (!!) and to ask if Gregg could prepare a quote for the cost of everything by the end of the week. Of course, we have to know what kind of tank to set up for them, and they were clueless about the options. To help them in the process, Gregg came up with ideas for three very different tanks that would be suitable. We're excited to see what they choose, and of course there will be lots of room to put our own touches (like with décor) into it. I'm excited! The new tank will go into the main lobby of the school so it should get lots of attention.

And maybe best of all, after the tank is up and running Gregg will make a little more money when he comes to our school, now that there will two tanks for him to care for instead of one. Yay!

Here are some of our ideas:

Tank #1: Tiger Barbs---easy to care for, active, pretty, inexpensive. Lots of varieties of them that you could mix, or you could stick to just one kind.

Tank idea #2: Fancy goldfish, like Shibunkins. They would be playful, goofy, and relatively easy to care for. The tank is a bowfront, 80ish gallons, with a stand and hood that look like brushed nickel. I think these goldfish along with a minimalist aquascape would look great. This is my favorite idea.

Tank #3: Rainbow Fish. They're gorgeous and make a beautiful display, and they're relatively easy to maintain. The downsides: they'd do best in a planted aquarium, which we already have, and the fish and their set up would be slightly more expensive than the first two options. Also, these fabulous colors take a while to develop in the fish, and until they do, they might be almost colorless and not very eye catching. But when they do finally color up....hoo boy!

What's your favorite idea of the three?

Catfish Party!

For those who have asked to see some of our aquariums, here is a link to one of the videos I've uploaded to YouTube. It's a peek into our 120 gallon planted aquarium. I focused entirely on the bottom of the tank where, as you will see, a whole lot of catfish live peacefully together. Enjoy!

*** Quick FYI....the plants are much more natural shades of green than you would think by looking at this video. The angle of my phone while I recorded it made their colors look a bit "off". Also, you can hear George barking outside for background music! 

Aquarium art

After reading John Wooldridge's last post over at Of Brambles and Bears about setting up a planted aquarium in the the style of the late, great, Takashi Amano, I had to share a couple of pictures of with you all.

 Gregg creates and maintains aquariums for a living at various local businesses, schools, and hospitals. (He also manages the aquarium section of a retail pet store). He doesn't want me to share any photos of our current home aquariums,  because he's growing out aquarium plants in them to sell online and so they don't have the kind of design he would want to show off, but he did send me a picture of a tank we had last year, as well as one that he's currently caring for at an elementary school. 

These are works of living, underwater art.

120 gallon planted tank
in our den, with discus.

Here is a close up of the 120 (another incarnation).

One of several planted aquariums
he maintains at local schools.

Close up of the school tank.
The fish are called Rainbows.