NH Homesteader's journal

[Lazy Gardener]

Went and got fish for DD1's tank finally. They're cute (for fish). I had a hard time in the store though, they had a giant catfish and a bunch of other large, creepy fish. I couldn't walk down all the aisles lol. I have a serious fish phobia... these little ones are acceptable since DH does all the work with DD1.

What did you get? It's very easy to overstock a fish tank. A well balanced tank should have no more than 1" of fish per gallon. If you find a cheap used 20G tank, you might want to step up to that size. The bigger the tank, the easier it is to keep the water quality balanced.

I had a lot of fish and tanks a few years ago. At one time, I had 14 + tanks going, was doing VHO lights and CO2 supplementation for planted tanks. And I got into breeding Angel fish for a while. Tore down my tanks when I started planning for a chicken flock and increased gardening ventures.

 

[sumi]

I finally bought a fish tank a few weeks and "upgraded" my two goldfish from their bowl to roomier accommodation. And went and got them two companions, who I found now do NOT like cold water. Every time I clean the tank they spend about 4 days hanging around the corners, swimming sideways and making me think they are about to croak. I cannot remember what they are called. They are silver with blue splashes. Pretty, but worrying! lol

 

[NH Homesteader]

My husband had fish tanks growing up and the lovely man at the pet store helped us , they will have plenty of space and they're easy keepers. I don't want a larger tank.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

@sumi , your fish may be exhibiting swim bladder issues from the cold stress or change in water chemistry. OR, if the light is coming from the side, instead of overhead, this will cause your fish to swim sideways. They orient to up/down based on direction of light, rather than gravity. For a fun experiment, turn out all the lights, then shine a strong flash light through the side of the tank! When you clean the tank, I assume that you are replacing the removed water with unchlorinated water, and you are not replacing more than 25% of the water at a time, being sure to age the water and have it the same temp as the water you've removed from the tank???

 

[sumi]

I don't age the water no, but last time I did add hot water to warm it up to roughly the same temperature as the water I removed (all of it). They handled the change much better.

 

[baymule]

And the lady in MA also got back to me and only has one person waiting on a doeling, so she's likely to have available kids. One way or the other, I'm gonna get me a kinder! Lol.

And next year I'll need a kinder buck.

And then they'll have pretty kids so I'll have to keep one.

And then I'll need new blood so I'll probably buy another one.

You know how it is

That sounds like me and my sheep. LOL We are going to Tennessee to get a ram, then after I save his daughters, I'll have to get another ram and have two. LOL LOL

 

[NH Homesteader]

Sounds fair to me! Lol how many sheep are you planning to keep in your flock?

I haven't even thought about getting a ram... gonna need one eventually, need to think about sheep plans too... might not get too excited about sheep until I have less brush and more grass. Need to get the goats and pigs to work!

 

[baymule]

We just finished lambing. I didn't cross post this time.

https://www.backyardherds.com/threads/baymule’s-4th-lambing.38775/

We had 9 ewes have 15 lambs, lost 2 for a total of 13 lambs. 5 are ewe lambs, waiting to see how they grow off for which ones I keep or if I keep them all. LOL My target is 12 ewes, so I will begin selling a few of them. My criteria is twins, LOTS of milk, good mothers and good dispositions.

But you know......sheep math strikes.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Tough gender percentages, Bay.

 

[NH Homesteader]

Sounds great, lots of ram lambs... lots of yum, lol!