A Mossie Tale.
By unclescott from the feeding the fry department, Section Diaries Posted on Mon Jul 07, 2008 at 11:14:34 PM PST Tags: (all tags)
I like swinging by the farmer's market they have here on Saturdays. The weather has been glorious and the company is fine! There are some wonderful food items one can find (though some of the produce is just picked up in the city until local crops come in.) (2 comments, 420 words in story) Full Log Entry

Now Might Be the Time to Repair Leakers
By unclescott from the Mr. Fix-it department, Section Diaries Posted on Sun Jun 08, 2008 at 02:40:36 PM PST Tags: (all tags)
This weather has forced us to take shelter from a wave of tornadoes. While waiting for the railroad trains in the sky to go by, it occurred to me that after the storms pass, this is also the hot muggy stuff that works best when resealing leaky aquariums. (3 comments, 859 words in story) Full Log Entry

Life expectancies of fish
By unclescott from the actuarial department, Section Diaries Posted on Mon Jun 02, 2008 at 06:57:33 AM PST Tags: (all tags)
I'm in kind of a lazy mood at the moment. (As with most everyone else, the day will get frantic in a bit anyway.) I mention that because there was a neat article on another site (about.com's Freshwater Aquarium Fishes) where the indefatigable Shirley Sharp offers up an article on the life expectancy of several species. She had done the compilation and I'm content to appreciate and be grateful for her work. :) http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/beginnerinfo/a/lifespan.htm?nl=1 (2 comments, 599 words in story) Full Log Entry

Spring Cleaning Amid The Snow Flurries
By unclescott from the Hi-Ho! Ho-Ho! It's Off To Work We Go! department, Section Diaries Posted on Mon Apr 28, 2008 at 02:16:12 PM PST Tags: (all tags)
The mud room/laundry room is covered with plants, pots and their hangers. They're refugees from the recent cold front. The carport is mostly empty, except for two clean aquariums. One can find a lot more of the fishroom floor now. (4 comments, 1036 words in story) Full Log Entry

A Word About Drinking Water in Stores
By unclescott from the Practical Aquarist department, Section Diaries Posted on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 08:16:57 AM PST Tags: (all tags)
We've talked before here about using bottled water from grocery stores for emergency water changes, when one has no treated and "seasoned" water.  At least one manufacturer of those Betta vases suggests doing that too, thus avoiding the chloramines (chlorine and ammonia) and other toxins put in our water supplies, hopefully at such a level as kill bacteria and protists but not us. Raw tap water of that sort can be very dangerous for aquarium fish and we've flogged that a lot. (But see Immediate Help for a little more info.) (1 comment, 1390 words in story) Full Log Entry

A Handy Aquarium Glossary
By unclescott from the What did he say? department, Section Diaries Posted on Fri Mar 07, 2008 at 02:31:27 PM PST Tags: (all tags)
I still get thrown by some terms which people throw around. One can highlight the term, copy it and paste it into Google to see what it is. (178 words in story) Full Log Entry

And now a BLA auction across the Big Pond!
By unclescott from the in the swim department, Section Diaries Posted on Fri Feb 15, 2008 at 08:19:30 PM PST Tags: (all tags)
While scouring the Net on another project, I touched on one of Tim Addis' UK sites. (He also has an interesting series of images on building his 5th fishroom.) His work on-line illustrates a much closer organizational cooperation between the British Killifish Association and BLA - the British Livebearer Association than exists between their US counterparts. Because the national UK guppy organization ceased to be a decade or two ago, guppy people may especially need the BLA as a national hobbyist organization they can work though and with. (4 comments, 652 words in story) Full Log Entry

We get mail - auctions and shows
By unclescott from the on the road again department, Section Diaries Posted on Tue Feb 12, 2008 at 12:27:34 PM PST Tags: (all tags)
Several messages about up and coming shows and auction have come our way. Also did a little list browsing. Unfortunately I blew it and didn't get this up in time for that auction in the middle of Massachusetts. In Seattle there is an auction TONIGHT! (2 comments, 1223 words in story) Full Log Entry

Surprise! Another Auction!
By unclescott from the On the Road Again department, Section Diaries Posted on Fri Jan 18, 2008 at 12:57:31 PM PST Tags: (all tags)
As we are battening down for sub-zero (Fahrenheit) weather and very cold wind chills, it is easy to get cabin fever. Some years ago, modeling on the Chicago Killie club's show, a couple of friends (with their own money as working capital) started what became a very popular annual event the last full weekend of February in Northern Indiana. Every year, when we get a new calendar, my lady and I go through it, jotting down important dates. Along with birthdays, anniversaries, conferences, special things at church and elections, events like that fish show always get recorded. Part of the reasoning behind the timing of that event was that by late February, some killie nuts would be really glad to get out of the house and go somewhere and even (gasp!) spend money. (1224 words in story) Full Log Entry

A Visit to the Frugal Aquarist's "Library"
By unclescott from the Getting off to the Right Start department, Section Diaries Posted on Tue Jan 08, 2008 at 09:16:46 PM PST Tags: (all tags)
We dropped by Borders (a big box bookstore) yesterday evening for a couple hours' serious browsing. Usually a cheap date in that one can buy a cuppa coffee and sort through a fair amount of what might be called literature. The air vents were blowing cool air pretty vigorously and customers were casually slipping their coats back on as they read. (1149 words in story) Full Log Entry

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