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Comment by Sheri Schmeckpeper on February 1, 2012 at 10:11am

BTW, we Papa is working on a nest with another Mama, so I THINK they'll be breeding today. This will be our third proven female.

Comment by Sheri Schmeckpeper on February 1, 2012 at 10:09am

David, the filters are nice for indoor tanks because you have to look at them all the time. They provide bacterial support and clarification. But for your garden tanks you'll use the growbeds as bacterial filters, and you can make a filter or us a sediment tank to handle the muck. The water is not pristine, but once the cycling is completed the water clarifies enough to make the fish happy. We have canister filters on our breeder tanks because they're also "decorative pieces" in our home. For the fry tanks we use the old-fashioned bubbler filters, one of which I made from tupperwear, and all other tanks use growbeds and a simple homemade filter that we change occasionally.

Comment by Sheri Schmeckpeper on February 1, 2012 at 10:01am

Holly,
Worms don't smell bad and aren't messy. They eat almost anything, once it starts to decay. We have them in a bucket with aeration, and they just kind of sit in the corner doing their thing, happily munching and trying to kill themselves by crawling into their own "tea." I'll explain that when I have a little more time today or tomorrow. :)

For your fish, are you referring to the filter's suction, or do you have a vacuum? Even with a filter you need to vacuum regularly.  If you don't have a vacuum, you can get one from a pet store; they run on gravity, so you can suck the yuck into a bucket and pour it onto garden plants. They love it!

For feed, give them what they'll eat in 3-5 minutes. Imagine their little tummies and how much they can hold.

Make certain you have something the bacteria can grow on, like rocks or other course material. If you have a growbed, that'll suffice, but if you don't, have gravel in the tank or some good, rough rocks.

As for the numbers, if you have high nitrites, it means you have bacteria changing ammonia to nitrites, and that's good. If you have nitrates, it means you have bacteria changing nitrites to nitrates, and that's good, too.

Change water only enough to lower the numbers to acceptable amounts, not enough to take all the readings to 0. You're going through the cycling process, aka nitrification, and it's a process that will balance itself out in a matter of 4-6 weeks.

Comment by Holly Curtis on February 1, 2012 at 9:26am

GOOD NEWS: I got a test kit.

BAD NEWS: All the numbers are bad. 

QUESTIONS:I replaced half the water in my talk last night and did the same this morning.  When I add new water I see lots of fish poopies swirling around.  I think I need some more info on how to take care of fish.  Can you send me hints or direct me somewhere?  I have a heater, aerator and a filter. I am probably over-feeding so I can fix that right away.... my suction hose doesn't seem to pull up the poopies and I clearly don't have the right bacterial load to degrade them....ideas?  Oh, I just have a tank right now.  No plants or anything, just a simple fish tank.

Comment by Holly Curtis on February 1, 2012 at 9:21am

Sheri...I would love more info on keeping the worms in the kitchen...do you get flies?  Are the messy?  Do they smell bad?

Comment by Sheri Schmeckpeper on February 1, 2012 at 7:33am

That's not too bad!

Comment by David Schwinghamer on January 31, 2012 at 10:12pm

No we arent across the street Sheri but I got to your house in 20 min, thats pretty close.

Comment by Sheri Schmeckpeper on January 31, 2012 at 9:25pm

We bought some worms about a month ago, David. We've put about 1/4 in our beds and have recently found eggs in one bed! We have a worm pail in the kitchen with the others, and one day we'll add more to the beds, but right now they eat kitchen scraps. :)  I wish you lived closer-we could split what we have with you.

Comment by David Schwinghamer on January 31, 2012 at 7:50pm

Would anyone be interested in splitting a 1000 worm order with me? The cost to you would be 13.00? I have two small growbeds and that many worms would be too many.

Comment by David Schwinghamer on January 31, 2012 at 6:07pm

I was having a bad time with my small aquarium used just for smaller fish to get bigger. This tanks water was disgusting in only a few days until now when I discovered the power of Eheim filter 2211. Now my water is clear and now things are better. Its funny you have to jump through hoops to find things that work.  

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