Because I don't want to do the many things I have to do, a fish update.

[damselfish]

1.5 Gallon, Angrydome
In an attempt to keep Angryfish out of the filter-- he'll creep past the baffle and get inside, only to be blown out and look perplexed by his expulsion-- I sought out a cave thing. Most aquarium decor has sharp edges, I've learned. I never bothered with the pantyhose test, I just touched things and occasionally came away with scratches on my admittedly sensitive and uncalloused skin (I am secretly a princess of unsurpassed delicacy). I considered cups or bottles but couldn't find one that would fit in the 1.5 gallon Angrydome that was also big enough for him to get inside. I finally found a betta log online. No, not the floating log that's in stores. This ceramic log from the same company sold under the same name. It isn't as ugly as it looks.

Angryfish doesn't use it.


6 Gallon, Fluval
For the past few weeks the Fluval has been plagued by a truly godawful smell. Fortunately it has a tiny opening so the smell doesn't invade the apartment. After a while, I started to see black fuzz on the rotala. I pulled it out, and it stank, so I tossed it. Repeat with the ludwigia. Then I see the black fuzz growing on all the decor and the remaining java fern. Am mildly baffled. Later I go to tear the moss off the potted plants on my balcony, and the smell that hits me is the exact same smell of the aquarium.

I promptly google algae in planted tanks and find my aquarium hosts black algae. Realize I threw away some plants for no good reason, and am angry even though they were $2 each.

I tear everything out and dump it into a sink full of almost boiling water. I murder countless snails and copepods along the way. The copepods are harmless but I'm still bitter about them being there because it's a reminder of how I failed to properly dip the rotala. I take the filter apart and start cleaning everything. Go to class with stuff in a hot water bath. Come back to a still-warm slurry, scrub, and put it all back in the tank while the fish look on in bafflement, then play in the current as I turn the flow up. Faster flow and turning off the lights for a few days should cut down on the algae.

Wonder what the hell the oto cats are eating, if not the algae.

Feel very Zen and accomplished for sticking it to unicellular plant life.

75 Gallon, The Big Tank
I didn't tell you the story of how I almost returned this sucker. Well, I got it delivered and all was dandy. Then I rinsed the gravel, put it back, and started filling it up.

It... smelled.

Everything associated with the tank smelled. I was driven to tears. I covered it with a tarp and drained it as best I could, banishing the filters, heaters, rocks, decor, and gravel outside. My balcony promptly began to stink. But after a week I threw away the gravel, the tank dried, and the smell was gone.

Asked on plantedtank how to fix it, and they recommend bleach and rinsing. Well, it's dry and has been for nearly a month, and it should be fine, right? Yesterday, I started scrubbing at some of the dry residue on the aquarium, and the familiar smell rose to greet me. Tonight, will make friends with the bleach.

Feel good about getting things done, even if they're not school or work things.

Plot the aquascape of the big tank.

Cry a little, because the Angrydome is the best aquarium in the history of aquariums. It's ugly, it's full of fake plants, and it houses a single fish, but it hasn't had any problems except for being ugly.