#no time to nitrogen cycle sorry fish | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

whumpbby · 3 years

Note

Hi! So this is kind of a random ask, but I know you have beta fish, and I’m considering getting one. I’ve had beta fish in the past, and despite educating myself on how to take care of them they haven’t lived very long, so I’m hoping you’ll be able to help me. For my past beta fish, I keep them in a five gallon tank (for clarification, I never had more than one beta fish at a time. So I didn’t have multiple of them in the tank don’t worry—they just all lived at different times in the same tank) that had a filter with a pretty low flow on it. I never saw any of the fish have problems swimming with it on. I always used a highly rated water purifying product for the tank water (I forgot what it’s actually called) and I never had any sharp plants that would hurt their fins. I fed them a little every two days because I heard that feeding them everyday was bad for them. Do you happen to know what I was doing wrong? It was frustrating for me because I put a lot of effort into keeping them alive and healthy and then I would see people who kept them in small half gallon bowls have their fish outlive mine. It’s been a couple years, and I want to get another, but I don’t want to accident hurt/kill another one. How do you care for your beta fish? Do you have any advice? Sorry about the rant, but I follow you for your Jason content and happened to stumble upon some of you fish posts and need help. Thanks so much for reading this, and if you do end up offering any advice, I want to thank you for that too!

Hi dear, sorry if I took long to answer - tumblr notoriously does not inform me of messages>>

I understand your pain - especially that the situation with bettas is very frustrating. They tend to suffer from quite a few genetic defects (they are prone to tumours, for example) and are a very abused fish in the aquatic industry. Oftentimes by the time they will get to a caring and dedicated owner, they’ve already went through a lot:0 We just don’t know how healthy the fish is before we got it.

I am by no means an expert, I have lost a few babies since I started the hobby a couple years ago and I can only assume what a few of them suffered from:( One thing that seems to work is leaving them and the tank alone for as long as you can once it’s all set up and cycled and running - apart form the regular maintenance. I am a chronic fiddler who needs to change and add plants, filters, etc, so I constantly have to hold myself back form doing things to the tank. My sister has the same betta for a second year now and the only thing she does with her tank is water changes once every couple weeks - and both him and a thousand of cherry shrimp that live there thriveXD

Some things I nowadays pay attention to that may be useful, however, are:

- water temp has to be consistent, on the warmer side. I keep mine at 26-27C (I don’t know how much that is in F, sorry>>). To that effect the tank needs a lid - it will trap the warm air, protecting the betta form inhaling cold air then they come up for a breath. They labyrinth breathing organ is quite sensitive to that.

- I feed my boys twice a day, so I am not a part of the ‘feed them little’ club. I give them a little pinch of the good flake in the morning (Bug Bites is nice) and a 3-4 granules of a King Betta or a pinch of a protein-rich micro pellets in the evening. A betta breeder I talked to a couple times advised that it’s better to feed the boys a couple times a day in small quantities rather than once - keeps their digestive tracts working and they can avoid constipation. Constipation happens often with bettas and is a headache to solve. I leave frozen bloodworms for special occasions and just rotate the dry foods for variety.

- I change water every week - and every other week make sure to vacuum gravel the substrate. In the planted tanks I vacuum only about 2-3cm of the top layer to not disturb planting substrate below and not to suck up any shrimp, so it’s a gentle operation. In the gravel where there is no growing substrate I go deep - the reason being that I want to free any possible air bubbles stuck underneath where bad bacteria may grow.

- Pick a filter and stick to it. I was very bad at that, but I finally managed to hotwire a combo that seems to work so I will stick to it;) If you can stand the noise, I advise a sponge filter - it’s so easy to clean and manageTT If you can’t stand the hum of the air pump and the bubbles, I recommend a matten filter - or hotwiring an internal filter to a sponge filter - like so - instruction in German, but the visuals are very self-explanatory;] I used gel superglue to connect the filterhead to a sponge filter and now all I have to do once a month or rarer is to pull the sponge off and squeeze it few times in the used tank water! And sometimes clean the showerhead from algae;] It saves you so much money on the cartridges (corner sponge filters are a couple £/$ and last years) and provides extra filtration. My shrimps also eat off it;]

- get a snail. Seriously, I have a snail in every tank - a single nerite will do best for a 5gal. They don’t breed in sweet water, don’t grow large and will keep your glass clean for you - I have not cleaned my tanks’ glass since... ever>> Joe I and Joe II do it for meXD They also provide company for the betta and something fun to look at. And he will scarf uneaten food form the gravel.

- I assume you know about the nitrogen cycle, so I will not bore you here about bacteria and such. But a best chance of saving the betta form stress when you get him home is a cycled tank. You can get an ammonia testing set - or, if you find that a bit intimidating (I do for some reason) you can go to an aquarist shop and they will check your water for you. My local store in town does it for free. I am not sure about big box stores, tho. If you see something being wrong with the betta, check water and see if it needs to be changed asap.

- water changes are mandatory and have to be regular. A 5gal is a convenient size - I am using a 5l bottle left over from mineral water as a measuring tool;) This way I know I am always changing roughly 1/4th of the tank’s water. It’s very easy to see how much water I removed and how much I have to put back in - I can control the water temp and add dechlotinator/vitamins etc before it goes into the tank, so I do not shock my critters with too hot or too cold water. The rule I practice is leaving the dechlorinator in the bottle for about 10 mins before pouring it all into the tank.

- you don’t have to be intimidated by planted tanks:) A little bunch of anubias on a stick is often enough to start with and a good look for a tank, in my opinion. It also makes for a more natural space for the betta he will certainly appreciate. The less fancy stuff the better - I got my first natural rocks form the side of the road (ofc I boiled the life out of them before they got even close to the tank) and they are usually quite cheap on amazon. A stick with a plant and a rock and some small-size gravel is often enough to look good. The plants will also help with eating up nitrites and keeping the water healthy.

- goodness, what else. Medicaiton. Ok. I have tried many meds for my boys and once the fish is in a bad way not much will help, form my experience :( My med set consists of Melafix - I add it to water according to instructions whenever I see my betta without appetite or acting off. It’s a mild anti-bacterial mixture that does not affect snails/shrimp. If that does not help, I use eSHa 2000 or eSHa Exit - they are two very comprehensive meds that deal with a variety of problems. I have never used aquarium salt, but some people swear by it - there’s no specific reason I don’t use it, I just never got around to it.

This is all the chaotic advice, but things to remember (I am not trying to be condescending, I just don't know how much you know;]) are: cycled tank, regular water changes&filter maintenance, consistent temperature and quality food. Bettas are hardy little suckers, but sometimes they are also frail in ways we can’t see until it’s too late. I am already seeing a tumour growing on one of my boys and there is nothing I can do about it except giving him the best life I can - he is still going strong, but I know he will probably not last to the end of the year. It’s a hobby that sometimes seems thankless, but if you do everything right, even if they leave early, at least you’ve given them a good and peaceful time before that:)

If I you have any more questions or just want to share woes, feel free to message, I will do my best to answer:)

#bettas #fishkeeping #Anonymous

14 notes · View notes

betta-butch · 3 years

Note

I’m getting a new betta today and have a planted tank ready that’s been circulating for several hours, any tips? I’m hoping to get a female betta and maybe a snail or a shrimp (maybe both, the tank is 6.8 gallons)

hi, that’s really exciting! I am curious if the tank has the tank cycled yet? it’s really important that you let the tank cycle before adding creatures in so that ammonia can be converted to nitrite (less toxic but still not great) and then into nitrate which can be taken up by plants and removed via a weekly 10% water change.

I would research the nitrogen cycle some more if you aren’t familiar with it and hold off on stocking your tank until it has been running for a longer period of time, sorry! I know it’s tempting to get a fish now but your new friend will be a lot happier & healthier if you hold off a bit.

if I misunderstood & your tank has been running longer & is already cycled, then go ahead! you could probably get a nerite snail as well but I’d wait on a shrimp or mystery snail, you should get a feel for your betta’s temperament before getting a shrimp or a snail with more exposed eye stalks due to the possibly of your betta attacking their new roommate.

I hope this helps, when you do get a fish, I’d love to see a photo of them! 🐟

10 notes · View notes

addiethefoodbringer · 4 years

Text

Fish-in cycling sucks! So here’s how to get through it.

So, I’m an idiot. I absolutely had every intention of waiting for my tank to cycle fish-out but I found a fish who needed a home and caring treatment NOW and I’m a sucker and I’ve done fish-in cycling before.

Now, this is a “do what I say, not what I do”. Don’t use this guide as an excuse. Or do, but read it through, and understand what commitment you’re making.

But I don’t actually see any in-depth guides of fish-in cycling so here I go 🤷‍♀️

🐟Part one: the essentials🐟

So what do you absolutely need to buy the SECOND you realize you have to go through the process?

Here’s your shopping list:

a tank that suits the minimum of your fish’s requirements. I’m going to assume most of you are cycling for a single domesticated betta splendens. I recommend 5 gallons or more. If you can afford the space for more, do more. Seriously.

Seachem prime. You can get the cheaper stuff later, seachem prime has ammonia binding properties, and can neutralize ammonia for 24 hours after added. ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL.

A filter. Whatever kind you want. As long as it circulates the water through it, it’ll do. I prefer internal filters and HOBs. Some people prefer sponge filters. Whatever man, whatever is most accessible for you to get ASAP, you can switch later. Keep in mind what flow rate is most comfortable for your fish.

Filter media. Those carbon pads given with filters are utterly useless most of the time, you’re gunna wanna Kobe those straight in the trash can and pick yourself up some media. The cheapest I think is aquarium sponge, I bought a three pack for 5$.

A liquid testing kit. Most people buy API’s, it’s readily accessible and has a price tag averaging about 30$. It’s the most expensive of the “need now” items but it is absolutely the key for success. You have a little leeway with saving up to buy it, but without it you’re going to be guessing in the dark, which is not ideal.

So I’m not going to explain the basics of the nitrogen cycling process here, especially since there is a lovely in-depth guide I could link instead. (Note to self, link scalestails here) I’m merely explaining the steps of how to go through this carefully with the least likely damage of hurting your fishy friend.

*NOTE* I did not include a filter on this list because it is not esstential for in-fish cycling. However, if you have a tropical fish, getting a filter and thermometer is essential for their needs, not but for in fish cycling. (Sorry new fishkeepers, setup is very expensive.)

🐟Part two: the process🐟

So, let’s assume you weren’t able to obtain the testing kit right away. The game plan is as follows: 50% changes every single day, with a 100% change at least weekly. We can assess later when you have the testing kit if this often is necessary (it probably is).

So you do have your testing kit? Great! Test your tap water’s ph, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates reading. Take a note of this number. For example, mine are 0/0/5 with a ph of 8.2!

And the game plan is still the same as without the testing kit, daily 50% changes, but you should be testing every single day to keep track of how fast the waste stacks up.

I don’t know about y’all, but I was reading at at least 1.0ppm every day. Which is where the ammonia binding in prime comes in. It neutralizes ammonia for 24 hours, so it’ll keep the water safe until you can come take care of it every day. You’ll have to adjust your water change schedule accordingly, changing more or less water depending on how fast the waste is building.

For reference, ammonia is toxic at .50ppm and nitrites is toxic as soon as it’s read. Nitrates, which is what we’re after, is toxic at over 20 ppm. But we won’t be seeing nitrates for a while.

And that’s what you’re going to do for a while. You’ll slowly watch your ammonia turn into nitrites and your nitrites turn into nitrates, all the while constantly changing the water and keeping waste production low. You’ll be able to stop testing every day but you should still test several times a week to keep an eye on the tank progress. Eventually your readings will fall to 0/0/x, and you can celebrate! You’re at the home stretch. This is where you’ll be testing everyday but you can give daily water changes a break, making sure you never get a reading over those 0s. If you do, change the water and keep testing.

If you can make it a full seven days without getting a single reading on ammonia and nitrites, congrats! You’ve made it to a fully sustainable cycle! I’d keep an eye on it for a while longer, cycles can be a bit unstable when they’re new. But you should be able to downgrade to weekly 20% water changes (or as your tank needs.) and keep up with weekly testing :)

But congrats you made it!!

🐟Part three: So why did you say this wasn’t the ideal way to cycle, again?🐟

So this is, while a LOT of work, totally doable, why is it so unfeasible?

A normal fishless cycle takes 6-8 weeks on average.

My cycle took me 8-12 weeks with high maintence and risk to my fish. It’s not ideal.

Again, if you have a choice, do it right, but if not, you’ve got options

#fishblr #ive had this guide sitting in my drafts forever #foodbringer speaks #guides

16 notes · View notes

betta-every-day · 5 years

Text

Fish Tank Size

Tank size is a huge issue here on tumblr.com. As it should be because an animal is going to be totally dependent on their owner and confined to a box of water for the entirety of their life. That being said, I acknowledge the fact that bigger is always better. However, I feel as if the community took a drastic turn from the “bare minimum” being typical (remember I’ve seen the discourse over 5-6 years), to above and beyond. I love it. I’ve had bettas in ten-gallon tanks all alone and seen them thrive. I also see my current fish display the same behavior in my 2.5-gallon. I wish I could go larger, but at this point in my life, I cannot.

Yes, the hobby is fluid. It evolves. But that does not imply that the standard now is correct in the same way the previous standard is now rendered incorrect. Keeping betta sororities or with other fish is one huge surge that I totally disagree with based on the readings I have done. I am not perfect, but I strive to do my best. With my research project, I had to learn the signs of distress in bettas (paired with my own years of experience, of course). I see none of those now in my current tank. It is my belief that he is thriving.

That begs the question of what defines appropriate tank size for fish? Funnily enough, I found nothing on this topic (except one study that didn’t even use statistically significant sampling size and thus is invalid frankly). So here is my definition.

The size of a fish tank plays a role in three aspects of the health of an aquatic organism:

1. Activity

2. Stunting

3. Parameters

1. The fish actually being able to swim is very important (obviously). However, it’s hard to monitor activity. I can show you this time lapse from a while ago:

Link doesn’t work my b if you wanna see it I can send it to ya

However, a better way of judging activity is that my fish is fed every day, yet he is not obese. Yes, a bigger tank has more room, but my point is he is healthy in his current setup.

2. Stunting is caused by a plethora of variables:

genetics/parentage

malnutrition

dissolved oxygen levels

poor parameters

Just to name a few. Now genetics cannot be helped. As for malnutrition, I dose vitamins every week in addition to feeding two high-quality (high protein) betta foods (omega one pellets and bug bites tropical formula (which the recipe is identical to the betta formula; I compared all the ingredients in the store)). I also feed a high-quality shrimp food (bug bites shrimp formula), and frozen brine shrimp and blood worms. I will admit, my proof of dissolved oxygen (DO) being alright is a little rough, however, it is likely my shrimp would not survive. They are sensitive (1), and sensitive organisms that are normally at the bottom of the tank would tend to perish in low DO environments (2).

3. Finally, parameters get lumped in with the above but are very important on their own. Poor parameters are a sign of an unstable nitrogen cycle. The nitrogen cycle is vital for all overall aquaria health. Shrimp, which I stated already as being more sensitive, are thriving in my tank. My parameters are zeros across the board every week. While I prefer weekly water changes, My tank can go at least two weeks without and still show zeros for nitrogenous compounds (I missed a week due to health reasons once and do my best to not let it happen again). This is why I do not see my tank as overstocked. My tank can go 1-2 weeks with or without partial water changes and still have zero nitrogenous compounds.

BIGGER IS ALWAYS BETTER!!!! Yes, That Is True I Am Not Arguing That Fact. My size tank is NOT for everyone. However, I have done everything I can and believe that I have succeeded in making it healthy for my pet. I did my research and made my observations and this is what I have concluded.

Sorry for the rant and thank you for reading.

#fishblr #bettablr #aquablr

50 notes · View notes

backroombuzz · 6 years

Text

100 Failed Climate Change Predictions Made In The Past 150 Years

Climate Change activists and politicians who cry 'Believe Us Because We're Smart and You're Not' have been declaring that the sky is falling for over 150 years.

Which Climate Change politician said "Planet Earth is sending out distress signals. They carry ominous messages. They tell us that the world is about to grow warmer, warmer than at any time in recorded history and that the warmth will bring catastrophe." Al Gore? Barack Obama? Some moronic UN Official? The Answer is George J. Mitchell. Many will ask "Who in the hell is George Mitchell? Mitchell was the former Democrat Senator from Main who served 15 years in the U.S. Senate, between 1980 and 1995. The quote above is from his 1991 book, World on Fire: Saving an Endangered Earth. It just goes to show you that we aren't the first generation to be lectured about how we don't care about saving the planet. And we certainly won't be the first, nor the last to hear "If we don't act now, it'll be too late." (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); 100 Failed Climate Change Predictions 1865 - Stanley Jevons (one of the most recognized 19th century economists) predicted that England would run out of coal by 1900, and that England’s factories would grind to a standstill. 1885 - the US Geological Survey announced that there was “little or no chance” of oil being discovered in California. 1890 - Is our climate changing? The succession of temperate summers and open winters through several years, culminating last winter in the almost total failure of the ice crop throughout the valley of the Hudson, makes the question pertinent. The older inhabitants tell us that the Winters are not as cold now as when they were young, and we have all observed a marked diminution of the average cold even in this last decade. - New York Times June 23, 1890 1891 - it said the same thing about Kansas and Texas. (See Osterfeld, David. Prosperity Versus Planning : How Government Stifles Economic Growth. New York : Oxford University Press, 1992.) 1895 - The question is again being discussed whether recent and long-continued observations do not point to the advent of a second glacial period, when the countries now basking in the fostering warmth of a tropical sun will ultimately give way to the perennial frost and snow of the polar regions - New York Times - February 24, 1895 1912 - “Fifth ice age is on the way…..Human race will have to fight for its existence against cold.” – Los Angles Times October 23, 1912 1922 - The Arctic ocean is warming up, icebergs are growing scarcer and in some places the seals are finding the water too hot. Very few seals and no white fish are found in the eastern Arctic, while vast shoals of herring and smelts, which have never before ventured so far north, are being encountered in the old seal fishing grounds. - Washington Post 11/2/1922 1922 - The Associated Press reported that coastal cities would be uninhabitable in a few years due to “a radical change in climate conditions” 1923 - Scientist says Arctic ice will wipe out Canada, Professor Gregory of Yale University stated that “another world ice-epoch is due.” He warned that North America would disappear as far south as the Great Lakes, and huge parts of Asia and Europe would be “wiped out.” – Chicago Tribune August 9, 1923 1933 - America in longest warm spell since 1776; temperature line records a 25 year rise - New York Times 3/27/1933 1939 - The US Department of the Interior said that American oil supplies would last only another 13 years. 1939 - More than eighteen years of observing the fluctuations of Arctic weather conditions in the fifty-eight Soviet scientific stations in the Far North....lead Russian meteorologists to a forecast of warmer winters and hotter summers for the North and South Poles. They believe that the earth is entering a new cycle of warmer weather. 1944 - Federal government review predicted that by now the US would have exhausted its reserves of 21 of 41 commodities it examined. Among them were tin, nickel, zinc, lead and manganese. 1947 - A mysterious warming of the climate is slowly manifesting itself in the Arctic, engendering a "serious international problem," - New York Times - May 30, 1947 1949 - The Secretary of the Interior announced that the end of US oil was in sight. 1954 - Greenland's polar climate has moderated so consistently that communities of hunters have evolved into fishing villages. Sea mammals, vanishing from the west coast, have been replaced by codfish and other fish species in the area's southern waters. - New York Times August 29, 1954 1961- After a week of discussions on the causes of climate change, an assembly of specialists from several continents seems to have reached unanimous agreement on only one point: it is getting colder. - New York Times - January 30, 1961 1962 - Like an outrigger canoe riding before a huge comber, the earth with its inhabitants is caught on the downslope of an immense climatic wave that is plunging us toward another Ice Age. - Los Angeles Times December 23, 1962 1968 - A comparison of climatic data for the eastern United States from the 1830's and 1840's with the currently valid climatic normals indicates a distinctly cooler and, in some areas, wetter climate in the first half of the last century. The recently appearing trend to cooler conditions noticed here and elsewhere could be indicative of a return to the climatic character of those earlier years. - Monthly Weather review Feb. 1968 1969 - Col. Bernt Balchen, polar explorer and flier, is circulating a paper among polar specialists proposing that the Arctic pack ice is thinning and that the ocean at the North Pole may become an open sea within a decade or two. – New York Times - February 20, 1969 1970 - Get a good grip on your long johns, cold weather haters--the worst may be yet to come. That's the long-long-range weather forecast being given out by "climatologists." the people who study very long-term world weather trends…. Washington Post January 11, 1970 1970 - Harvard biologist George Wald estimated that “civilization will end within 15 or 30 years (1985 - 2000) unless immediate action is taken against problems facing mankind.” 1970 - The day after the first Earth Day, the New York Times editorial page warned, “Man must stop pollution and conserve his resources, not merely to enhance existence but to save the race from intolerable deterioration and possible extinction.” 1970 - It is already too late to avoid mass starvation,” declared Denis Hayes, the chief organizer for Earth Day, in the Spring 1970 issue of The Living Wilderness. 1970 - Peter Gunter, a North Texas State University professor, wrote “Demographers agree almost unanimously on the following grim timetable: by 1975 widespread famines will begin in India; these will spread by 1990 to include all of India, Pakistan, China and the Near East, Africa. By the year 2000, or conceivably sooner, South and Central America will exist under famine conditions….By the year 2000, thirty years from now, the entire world, with the exception of Western Europe, North America, and Australia, will be in famine.” 1970 - Life reported, “Scientists have solid experimental and theoretical evidence to support…the following predictions: In a decade, urban dwellers will have to wear gas masks to survive air pollution…by 1985 air pollution will have reduced the amount of sunlight reaching earth by one half….” 1970 - Ecologist Kenneth Watt told Time that, “At the present rate of nitrogen buildup, it’s only a matter of time before light will be filtered out of the atmosphere and none of our land will be usable.” 1970 - Barry Commoner predicted that decaying organic pollutants would use up all of the oxygen in America’s rivers, causing freshwater fish to suffocate. 1970 - Ecologist Kenneth Watt declared, “By the year 2000, if present trends continue, we will be using up crude oil at such a rate…that there won’t be any more crude oil. You’ll drive up to the pump and say, `Fill ‘er up, buddy,’ and he’ll say, `I am very sorry, there isn't any.'” 1970 - Harrison Brown, a scientist at the National Academy of Sciences, published a chart in Scientific American that looked at metal reserves and estimated the humanity would totally run out of copper shortly after 2000. Lead, zinc, tin, gold, and silver would be gone before 1990. 1970 - Sen. Gaylord Nelson wrote in Look that, “Dr. S. Dillon Ripley, secretary of the Smithsonian Institute, believes that in 25 years (1995), somewhere between 75 and 80 percent of all the species of living animals will be extinct.” 1970 - Kenneth Watt warned about a pending Ice Age in a speech. “The world has been chilling sharply for about twenty years,” he claimed. “If present trends continue, the world will be about four degrees colder for the global mean temperature in 1990, but eleven degrees colder in the year 2000. This is about twice what it would take to put us into an ice age.” 1971 - “In the next 50 years fine dust that humans discharge into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuel will screen out so much of the sun's rays that the Earth's average temperature could fall by six degrees. Sustained emissions over five to 10 years, could be sufficient to trigger an ice age." – Washington Post - July 9, 1971 1971 - New Ice Age Coming---It's Already Getting Colder. Some midsummer day, perhaps not too far in the future, a hard, killing frost will sweep down on the wheat fields of Saskatchewan, the Dakotas and the Russian steppes…..Los Angles Times Oct 24, 1971 1972 - "Arctic specialist Bernt Balchen says a general warming trend over the North Pole is melting the polar ice cap and may produce an ice-free Arctic Ocean by the year 2000." Christian Science Monitor 1974 - "There is very important climatic change (Global Cooling) going on right now, and it’s not merely something of academic interest. It is something that, if it continues, will affect the whole human occupation of the earth – like a billion people starving. The effects are already showing up in a rather drastic way.” – Fortune Magazine February 1974 1974 - A number of climatologists, whose job it is to keep an eye on long-term weather changes, have lately been predicting “the facts of the present climate change are such that the most optimistic experts would assign near certainty to major crop failure in a decade,” If policy makers do not account for this oncoming doom, “mass deaths by starvation and probably in anarchy and violence” will result. New York Times - December 29, 1974 1975 - A RECENT flurry of papers has provided further evidence for the belief that the Earth is cooling. There now seems little doubt that changes over the past few years are more than a minor statistical fluctuation – Nature - March 6, 1975 1975- Meteorologists disagree about the cause and extent of the cooling trend. But they are almost unanimous in the view that the trend will reduce agricultural productivity for the rest of the century. – The Cooling World Newsweek, April 28, 1975 1976: The late Stephen Schneider who went on to become one of the world’s leading Global Warming alarmists claimed A cooling trend has set in – perhaps one akin to the Little Ice Age. 1976- This cooling has already killed hundreds of thousands of people. If it continues and no strong action is taken, it will cause world famine, world chaos and world war, and this could all come about before the year 2000. -- Lowell Ponte "The Cooling", 1976 1978 - An international team of specialists has concluded from eight indexes of climate that there is no end in sight to the cooling trend of the last 30 years, at least in the Northern Hemisphere. - New York Times - January 5, 1978 1978 - The Brutal Buffalo (NY) winter might be common all over the United States. Climate experts believe the next Ice Age is on its way. According to recent evidence, it could come sooner than anyone expected. - In Search of - "The Coming Ice Age" 1978 1980 - Evidence has been presented and discussed to show a cooling trend over the Northern Hemisphere since around 1940, amounting to over 0.5°C - Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society - November 1980 1986 - A global warming trend could bring heat waves, dust-dry farmland and disease, the experts said... Under this scenario, the resort town of Ocean City, Md., will lose 39 feet of shoreline by 2000 and a total of 85 feet within the next 25 years - San Jose Mercury News - June 11, 1986 1988 - Philip Shabecoff, “Global Warming Has Begun.” “If the current pace of the buildup of these gases continues, the effect is likely to be a warming of 3 to 9 degrees Fahrenheit the year 2025 to 2050…. The rise in global temperature is predicted to … caus sea levels to rise by one to four feet by the middle of the next century.” 1988 - Greenhouse Effect Culprit May Be Family Car; New Ice Age by 1995? We may be less than seven years away, and our climate may continue to deteriorate rapidly until life on earth becomes all but unsupportable.... New York Times - Larry Ephron , Director of the Institute for a Future - July 15, 1988 1988 - The West Side Highway will be under water. And there will be tape across the windows across the street because of high winds. And the same birds won’t be there. The trees in the median strip will change. There will be more police cars. Why? Well, you know what happens to crime when the heat goes up... James Hansen testimony before Congress in June 1988 1989 - “Using computer models, researchers concluded that global warming would raise average annual temperatures nationwide two degrees by 2010.” Associated Press, May 15, 1989. 1989 - Associated Press: “UN Official Predicts Disaster, Says Greenhouse Effect Could Wipe Some Nations Off Map.” The director of the UN Environment Program (UNEP) claimed “entire nations could be wiped off the face of the earth by rising sea levels if global warming is not reversed by the year 2000.” 1989 - "Using computer models, researchers concluded that global warming would raise average annual temperatures nationwide two degrees by 2010." Associated Press 1989 - 'New York will probably be like Florida 15 years from now,' - St. Louis Post-Dispatch Sept. 17, 1989 1989- Some predictions for the next decade (1990's) are not difficult to make... Americans may see the '80s migration to the Sun Belt reverse as a global warming trend rekindles interest in cooler climates. - Dallas Morning News December 5th 1989 1990 " 1995, the greenhouse effect would be desolating the heartlands of North America and Eurasia with horrific drought, causing crop failures and food riots. Michael Oppenheimer, "Dead Heat," St. Martin's Press, 1990. 1990 The Platte River of Nebraska would be dry, while a continent-wide black blizzard of prairie topsoil will stop traffic on interstates, strip paint from houses and shut down computers." Michael Oppenheimer, "Dead Heat," St. Martin's Press, 1990. 1990 - Giant sand dunes may turn Plains to desert - The giant sand dunes discovered in NASA satellite photos are expected to re- emerge over the next 20 to 50 years, depending on how fast average temperatures rise from the suspected "greenhouse effect," scientists believe. -Denver Post April 18, 1990 1990 - ''I think we're in trouble. When you realize how little time we have left - we are now given not 10 years to save the rainforests, but in many cases five years. Madagascar will largely be gone in five years unless something happens. And nothing is happening.'' - ABC - The Miracle Planet April 22, 1990 1990 - The planet could face an "ecological and agricultural catastrophe" by the next decade if global warming trends continue - Carl Sagan - Buffalo News Oct. 15, 1990 1993 - Most of the great environmental struggles will be either won or lost in the 1990s and by the next century it will be too late. -- Thomas E. Lovejoy, Smithsonian Institution “Real Goods Alternative Energy Sourcebook,” Seventh Edition: February 1993 1995 - the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) - Based on the findings of three working groups, the IPCC says that the earth’s temperature could rise by between 33 and 38 F by the year 2010 1996 - Today (in 1996) 25 million environmental refugees roam the globe, more than those pushed out for political, economic, or religious reasons. By 2010, this number will grow tenfold to 200 million. - The Heat is On -The High Stakes Battle Over Earth’s Threatened Climate - Ross Gelbspan - 1996 1997 - It appears that El Ninos are going to become more frequent, and they're going to become more intense and in a few years, or a decade or so, we'll go into a permanent El Nino. You'll have an El Nino, that instead of lasting 18 months, lasts 18 years," he said. - BBC November 7, 1997 1997 - One of the world's leading climate experts warned of an underestimated threat posed by the buildup of greenhouse gases ' an abrupt collapse of the ocean's prevailing circulation system that could send temperatures across Europe plummeting in a span of 10 years. If that system shut down today, winter temperatures in the North Atlantic region would fall by 20 or more degrees Fahrenheit within 10 years said Wallace S. Broecker, Newberry Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University's - Science Magazine Dec 1, 1997 1999 - Scientists are warning that some of the Himalayan glaciers could vanish within ten years because of global warming. - The Birmingham Post (England) July 26, 1999 1999 - A report last week claimed that within a decade, the disease (Malaria) will be common again on the Spanish coast. - The Guardian September 11, 1999 2000- the Independent March 20th, 2000. According to Dr David Viner, a senior research scientist at the climatic research unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia,within a few years winter snowfall will become “a very rare and exciting event”.Britain Snowfalls are now just a thing of the past “Children just aren't going to know what snow is” 2001 - A 2001 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicted that “(m)ilder winter temperatures will decrease heavy snowstorms” but increase the number of ice storms. 2001 - THE Arctic ice cap is melting at a rate that could allow routine commercial shipping through the far north in a decade and open up new fisheries...But in 10 years' time, the North-West Passage could be open to ordinary shipping for a month each summer. Peter Wadhams of the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge said "Within a decade we can expect regular summer trade there," he predicts. New Scientist Feb. 27, 2001 . 2001 - In ten years time, most of the low-lying atolls surrounding Tuvalu's nine islands in the South Pacific Ocean will be submerged under water as global warming rises sea levels, CNN Mar 29, 2001. 2001 - (1) global warming will cause milder winters and (2) global warming will cause a decline in heavy snowstorm events. IPCC 2001 Third Assessment Report. 2002 - In the North Atlantic, an increasing amount of fresh water, perhaps coming from melting ice in the Arctic, has been accumulating and lowering the salinity of the ocean for the past 30 years...that would cause an abrupt drop in average winter temperatures of about 5 degrees Fahrenheit over much of the United States and 10 degrees in the Northeast. This change could happen within a decade and persist for hundreds of years. - Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute Sep 6, 2002. 2004 - Without urgent measures to rapidly reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, the possibility of limiting the temperature rise below a dangerous level will have disappeared within a decade. Report commissioned by Greenpeace and written by Jean-Pascal van Ypersele and Philippe Marbaix, Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium. July 2004. 2005 - The UN Environment Program (UNEP) warned that imminent sea-level rises, increased hurricanes, and desertification caused by Global Warming would lead to massive population disruptions. Especially at risk were regions such as the Caribbean and low-lying Pacific islands, along with coastal areas. The 2005 UNEP predictions claimed that, by 2010, some 50 million “climate refugees” would be fleeing those areas. 2005 - A task force of senior politicians, business leaders and academics from around the world claimed In as little as 10 years, or even less, their report indicates, the point of no return with global warming may have been reached. - Michael McCarthy - Environment Editor UK Independent - 1/24/05 2005 - Environmental refugees to top 50 million in 5 years --and may grow exponentially as the world experiences the effects of climate change and other phenomena," says UNU-EHS Director Janos Bogardi. - United Nations University news release - October 11, 2005 2006- NASA scientist James Hansen claimed the world has a 10-year window of opportunity to take decisive action on global warming and avert catastrophe. NBC news . 2006 - A few more decades of ungoverned fossil-fuel use and we burn up, to put it bluntly - "The End of Nature" Bill McKibben 2006 - Al Gore claims Mount Kilimanjaro Africa’s tallest peak will be snow-free ‘within the decade. 2006 - Summer sea ice will decline as CO2 rises; 2007 marked the beginning of a ‘death spiral’ for Polar bears as CO2 levels rise. 1995 Polar bear population was around 25,000 instead of a "death spiral" their population was estimated to be about 31,000 in 2015 2006 - NOAA announced its predictions for the 2006 hurricane season, saying it expects an "above normal" year with 13-16 named storms. Of these storms, the agency says it expects four to be hurricanes of category 3 or above, double the yearly average of prior seasons in recorded history. The 2006 Atlantic hurricane season was the least active since 1997 as well as the first season since 2001 in which no hurricanes made landfall in the United States 2007- Professor Wieslaw Maslowski “Our projection of 2013 for the removal of Arctic ice in summer is not accounting for the last two minima, in 2005 and 2007, So given that fact, you can argue that may be our projection of 2013 is already too conservative.” 2007 - IPCC AR4 predicts that by 2020, between 75 and 250 million of people are projected to be exposed to increased water stress due to climate change. In some countries, yields from rain-fed agriculture could be reduced by up to 50%. 2007 - Rajendra Pachauri, the former head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said in 2007 that if “there’s no action before 2012, that’s too late.” 2007 -NASA climate scientist Jay Zwally - Climate models show the Arctic Ocean could be nearly ice-free at the end of summer by 2012, much faster than previous predictions. - National Geographic Dec. 12, 2007 2007 - "The mid-winter temperatures are now around 10.8 degrees Fahrenheit higher than they were 50 years ago." If the trend continues, Bill Fraser, an ecologist with the Polar Oceans Research Group in Sheridan, Montana. predicts that Adélie penguins will be extinct within five to ten years. National Geographic Dec. 28, 2007 2007 - Dr. Felix Landerer of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg, Germany, published a study predicting that Global warming will make Earth spin faster. 2008 - THE vast Arctic sea ice that spreads across the North Pole could disappear during the summer within five years (2012-13), leading ice and snow scientists are warning. 2008 -Arctic warming has become so dramatic that the North Pole may melt this summer (2008), David Barber, of the University of Manitoba, told National Geographic News aboard the C.C.G.S. Amundsen, a Canadian research icebreaker. - National Geographic News June 20, 2008 2008 Al Gore on 13 December 2008: “The entire north polar ice cap will be gone in 5 years” 2008 - ABC News predicted that NYC would be under water by June 2015. 2008 - The Telegraph, Climate change will force refugees to move to Antarctica by 2030, researchers have predicted. 2009 - The former U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown predicted that if they didn’t solve the climate change “impasse” they found themselves in within 50 days, the world was pretty much doomed. 2009 - Prince Charles said, without revealing how he had “calculated” climate change threatens to engulf us all, ”we only have 96 months left to save the world. 2009- A Pennsylvania state government “Student and Teacher Guide” reads: “Some estimates of the oil reserves suggest that by the year 2015 we will have used all of our accessible oil supply.” 2009 - The world has less than five years to get carbon emissions under control or runaway climate change will become inevitable, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has warned. - Oct 19, 2009 2010 - Dr. Morris Bender, from NOAA, and coauthors predict that “the U.S. Southeast and the Bahamas will be pounded by more very intense hurricanes in the coming decades due to global warming.” After 40 years of so-called global warming no increase in hurricanes has been detected, in fact, a very unusual 11-year drought in strong hurricane US landfalls took place from 2005-2016. 2012 - “It could even be this year or next year but not later than 2015 there won’t be any ice in the Arctic in the summer, which he calls “the Arctic death spiral”. - David Vaughan Glaciologist & IPCC scientist - Financial Times Magazine Aug 8, 2012 2013 - For the record—I do not think that any sea ice will survive this summer. An event unprecedented in human history is today, this very moment, transpiring in the Arctic Ocean….” - Paul Beckwith Sierra Club – March 23, 2013 2014 - France’s foreign minister said that we only have 500 days to stop “climate chaos.” This ABC 2007 video showing what it will look like in 2015... Jackasses! (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); None of the 100 failed predictions above are from the king of Bullshit predictions, Paul R. Ehrlich, because he would have taken up half the list by himself Ehrlich became the poster child for the loony toon climate activist when he published his book The Population Bomb, written with his wife Anne Ehrlich in 1968. Here are some of Paul R. Ehrlich's more notable failed climate change predictions he made in his book as well as other publications. In a 1969 essay titled “Eco-Catastrophe! "Most of the people who are going to die in the greatest cataclysm in the history of man have already been born,” “Air pollution…is certainly going to take hundreds of thousands of lives in the next few years alone.” Ehrlich sketched a scenario in which 200,000 Americans would die in 1973 during “smog disasters” in New York and Los Angeles. Warned in the May 1970 issue of Audubon that DDT and other chlorinated hydrocarbons “may have substantially reduced the life expectancy of people born since 1945.” Ehrlich warned that Americans born since 1946…would have a life expectancy of only 49 years, and he predicted that if current patterns continued this expectancy would reach 42 years by 1980, when it might level out. (Note: According to the most recent CDC report, life expectancy in the US is 78.8 years). Confidently declared in the April 1970 issue of Mademoiselle. “The death rate will increase until at least 100-200 million people per year will be starving to death during the next ten years.” 1970 Earth Day issue of The Progressive, assuring readers that between 1980 and 1989, some 4 billion people, including 65 million Americans, would perish in the “Great Die-Off.” In 1975, predicted that “since more than nine-tenths of the original tropical rainforests will be removed in most areas within the next 30 years or so, it is expected that half of the organisms in these areas will vanish with it.” “By the year 2000 the United Kingdom will be simply a small group of impoverished islands, inhabited by some 70 million hungry people … If I were a gambler, I would take even money that England will not exist in the year 2000.” Paul Ehrlich, Speech at British Institute For Biology, September 1971. “By… some experts feel that food shortages will have escalated the present level of world hunger and starvation into famines of unbelievable proportions. Other experts, more optimistic, think the ultimate food-population collision will not occur until the decade of the 1980s.” 1970 - The First Earth Day “In ten years (1980) all important animal life in the sea will be extinct. Large areas of coastline will have to be evacuated because of the stench of dead fish.” Ehrlich admitted that while most of his predictions never came true he added 'they will eventually, just give it some time'... Wait, What? Ehrlich also tried to say while he was wrong, he was also right because '600 million people were very hungry'. Seriously, he actually said this in his defense. Click Here To See What Would The Earth Would Look Like If All The Ice On The Planet Actually Did Melt? Read the full article

#ClimateAction #ClimateChange #ClimateChangeDenier #ClimateChangeFails #ClimateChangepredictions #ClimateCrisis #Earth #Fail #GlobalWarming #LiberalLies #Parisaccord #PlanetEarth #SavethePlanet

3 notes · View notes

hella-free-space · 6 years

Note

HELLOOOO how are you? :D So I want to get a puffer and I know the basic care of it. I'm still going to do some research though! But there's something about the TANK care that i'm having trouble getting a grip on. And thats cycling the tank. I tried looking at tutorial videos on fishtube to really understand it but I'm dumb so I got nothing. Can you help me or give me a rundown on how it works? Thanks so much if you can! Sorry this is so long btw :')

HELLLLOOOO @animaluva :D i’m doin pretty good! just got some more hours at work, qbert the ham is warming up to me a lot more, just got a new betta (her name is pearl and she’s precious af) and i got some new plants for my tanks! wbu, how’re you? :Di’ve compiled a few puffer posts/resources so let me know if you’d like them! a pea puffer is on my dream fish list so i’ve been slowly collecting them over the past year or so ^-^”of course i can! :D– What is Cycling a Tank? –“Cycling a Tank” refers to making sure a tank can perform the Nitrogen Cycle efficiently, in order to process fish waste. Once the tank can perform the entire Nitrogen Cycle in 24-48 hours and gives readings of 0 ammonia / 0 nitrite / X nitrates then it is “Cycled” or referred to as a “Cycled Tank” :p– What is the Nitrogen Cycle and how does it work? –The Nitrogen Cycle:Fish waste (ammonia) -> bacteria #1 -> nitrite -> bacteria #2 -> nitrate -> water change (and/or plants)

Fish produce waste in the form of ammonia. You know that strong litter box smell? that’s ammonia. If its really strong, it burns to breath in, and it’s toxic to your fish as well! :O but how do we get it out of the water so it doesn’t harm your fish!?

well, there’s this (good and helpful) bacteria that grows all over your tank, right? it grows on the decor, the sides of the tank, in the substrate, etc. but we want to worry about the bacteria that’s going to be growing in your filter media (sponge, ceramic, filter pads, etc.)! this 1st bacteria is going to grow and start to colonize the filter media and “eat” all of that ammonia and turn it into nitrITE! :p but nitrite is still toxic to fish, so we’re not done yet!

so there’s bacteria #1 and they’re growing and they’re eating this ammonia, but now there’s a new food source (the nitrITE) and a 2nd type of bacteria grows and it eats this nitrITE and turns it into nitrATE :D

nitrATE is safe for fish (up to 20ppm)! :DD and eventually, these different types of bacteria get really in tune with your tank and how much waste its producing and it will eventually be able to turn ammonia into nitrite then into nitrate in a matter of hours!

then, once too much nitrate builds up (since there’s no bacteria to eat this) we have to manually remove it by doing a water change! which is why changing the water on your fish tank weekly is really important :)

note: live plants can also help to absorb ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates since they’re all a form of/have nitrogen! live plants shouldn’t replace water changes altogether, though, so be prepared to do water changes even on a heavily planted tank :3 (i’m not familiar enough with the walstad method to give advice on that, but if anyone is interested in it, definitely read the book a l l the way through before attempting it

– Aight cool, so how do I cycle the tank?–There are two main categories of tank cycling: fishless and fish-in. We’re going to focus on fishless because fish-in cycling is stressful and many species of fish cannot survive a fish-in cycle. There are a few ways to fishless cycle a tank though, so hopefully one of these works for you! note: you’ll need a water test kit so you can measure ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels.The fish food method: so you go out and buy some really cheap fish food/flakes and you stick them in a panty hose and tie it off. you put this in your tank and as the food decays it’ll break down and create ammonia. because there’s lots of food that’s slowly breaking down it’ll be constantly producing ammonia. this production of excess ammonia in the water will prompt the growth of ammonia-eating bacteria that we talked about in the sections above! test your levels at least once a week (if not a few times a week) and keep track of them :) you should start off seeing 2-4ppm ammonia (if it doesn’t get that high after a week or so, add some more fish food). over time, you’ll see this ammonia drop and nitrIte levels rise. after this the ammonia should drop off to nearly 0, the nitrIte will become lower, and you’ll start to see nitrAtes! once your readings are 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, X nitrates, your tank is cycled! after cycling and introducing your fish (if you’re stocking a community aquarium, fish should be added a few at a time so as not to cause an ammonia spike), you should perform water changes when your nitrates reach 20+ppm. some fish can tolerate up to 40ppm nitrates but i personally like to keep nitrates 20ppm or under.The pure ammonia method: you’ll need to pick up some pure ammonia (like dr. tim’s!) for this method~ it usually comes in a bottle and you add it to the water in your tank. instead of something breaking down in the tank (like with the fish food method) to produce ammonia, we’re going to be adding the ammonia ourselves. add ammonia to the tank til your readings are 3-4ppm ammonia. write down / remember how many drops it took to get 2ppm and 4ppm! you’ll want to keep your ammonia reading at 3-4ppm until you start to see a rise in nitrates, at which time you can decrease the amount of ammonia you add to 2ppm. eventually you’ll see ammonia start to drop off BUT keep adding the same amount of ammonia at regular intervals (every few days). you want to make sure that there’s still plenty of ammonia for the bacteria to eat! soon you should start to see nitrites and then after this the ammonia should drop off to nearly 0. the nitrIte reading will become lower, and finally you’ll start to see nitrAtes! once your readings are 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, X nitrates, your tank is cycled! after cycling and introducing your fish (if you’re stocking a community aquarium, fish should be added a few at a time so as not to cause an ammonia spike), you should perform water changes when your nitrates reach 20+ppm. some fish can tolerate up to 40ppm nitrates but i personally like to keep nitrates 20ppm or under.– Other cycling guides– there are a few different ways to cycle a tank and this post is insanely informative!how to do the thing cycle your tank!Hopefully this clarified some things for you! :D

6 notes · View notes

fabermemorialrink · 7 years

Text

some mistake, part 5

When exactly is something going to happen in this story, you may ask. Soon, but the pacing will be super weird, I tell you. In other news, to answer a question that I am too dumb to understand how to tumblr-reply to, this story isn’t yet on AO3 because it’s very unfinished, but hopefully someday I’ll get it together! Thanks for reading so far!!

Derek’s first year at Phillips Andover finally draws to an end, and it's as he’s locking his dorm room closed that he takes a deep breath and decides that yes, he's got this. He can make it through the next three years.

Summer passes in a blur of lazy days spent lounging at the Met trying to find inspiration for his summer writing assignment and hot afternoons on the balcony looking out on the city. Derek rides four different airplanes and swims in two different oceans; he visits family down the east coast for the Fourth of July and hits up Chowder in early August to see all the local sights in the Bay Area. Chowder takes him to San Francisco where they walk along the wharf and gawk at fish at the aquarium. He drinks milk tea full of custard and eats enough egg tarts to last a lifetime. They go surfing and Derek manages to trip while underwater, causing Chowder to go into heroic lifeguard mode even as he's shrieking barely censored profanities in alarm. C helps him pick out a tiny orange crab keychain for Dex that Derek wraps protectively under several layers of tissue paper.

Derek returns to New York to hang out with his parents before their schedules de-sync again. Mama takes him to the ballet while the other two are busy. He goes with Mom to Central Park where they eat ice cream and people-watch for an entire day. Dad decides they should try a glassblowing class together while he's not needed for a few blessed days at the company. Derek makes a clear paperweight with a golden-red heart, like a flame suspended in crystal. It's pretty and pointless and it makes him think of Dex, who'd hate to know what Derek's comparing him to. He wonders what Dex is doing for the summer. Is he working somewhere else, or still doing his odd jobs in the forest? Derek can imagine him working in a hardware store half the week and on the docks for the other half, plus baby-sitting duties on top of it all. Dex has never talked about his family, but he seems like he would have siblings. Derek's never asked if Dex is home-schooled, though he suspects it might be the case. Why else would he have so much time to spend in the woods? He figures he'd have learned by now if Dex went to Andover High. Maybe he attends the technical school in town?

There are a lot of things he still doesn't know about his best friend. It's sad, he realizes as he watches sunset dip into twilight over the skyline. He knows little things, like Dex's favorite cookie and that he likes all bugs except mosquitoes, and that he knows how to ask for a glass of water in French and Russian. He knows that Dex is afraid of the undertow in one of the forest's brooks, and that he has a collection of odds and ends that's been bestowed upon him by the forest crows (which Derek maintains is the most YA protagonist shit that he's ever heard of).

But none of the big stuff. Where Dex lives, what his parents do, how many siblings he has. What his hobbies are and what his dream job was when he was a little kid. Whether he's ever broken a bone or his favorite Halloween costume or the first person he gave a real valentine's card to in middle school. Who he is when he's not with Derek. Who he is when he's not in the woods.

Derek doesn't even know Dex's real name.

That's a part of the rules though. Derek knows that, but it doesn't stop him from wanting.

Early at the start of sophomore year, Derek finally takes Chowder into the woods with him. Chowder waffles between being excited to meet Dex after so long and wary of all the rumors that still float around the school.

“Do you think Dex knows about all the ghost stories?” he asks as they trek across the field. “Do you think he’s ever seen a ghost?”

“Even if he has, he probably wouldn’t admit it to me,” Derek says. It seems like the kind of thing Dex would remain tight-lipped about. Dex can talk for hours with Derek about fly fishing and carnivorous plants and the nitrogen cycle, but important subjects like Dex’s birthday and rumored exorcisms have him clamming up before Derek can even think of an objection.

“Maybe he’s shy because he thinks we won’t take him seriously! Nursey, you’ve gotta tell him that I won’t laugh at him. I mean, unless he does something hilarious. He sounds like a funny guy.”

Derek isn’t sure where exactly Chowder got that idea from, but Chowder does have a hidden streak of schadenfreude under his naturally caring personality. He and Dex probably have that in common. Derek’s been chirped enough times by both of them for injuring himself whilst just trying to live his life.

Shit. What if they get along too well? Not that Derek’s jealous or anything. He just doesn’t wanna get ganged up on by these two terrors.

They enter quietly, with Chowder making a suppressed fuss over every cool thing they see. Derek brings him to his hollow tree, where they huddle together trying to listen for ghosts, or birds, or any other sign of life. Nothing appears, as always, so they lie there trying to decide if they should take digital photography or sculpture next year.

“But think of how sick it would be if you woke up and were like, ‘oh I sure would like some wheaties-’”

“C, wheaties, really?”

“ ‘-wow am I glad I can eat out of this mad awesome bowl I made in sculpture with my buddy Chowder!!’” Chowder’s New York accent is so exaggerated it warps into Jersey, Appalachian, and leprechaun by the time he's done.

“Okay, but consider this: you, fifteen years in the future, sitting at your desk coding or some shit. You look to your right, it's to a stunning framed photo of your beautiful spouse and your beautiful kids. You look to your left and see a gorgeous photo of yours truly that you keep on your desk to remind you of what a hella cool idea it was to let me convince you to take photography!”

“Pretty convincing, but why does ‘hella’ always sound so wrong coming from your mouth?” Chowder ponders, which is when Dex pokes his head into the hollow and observes them needling each other about regional slang, Chowder starting to put Derek in a headlock.

“Yeah, I think I'm gonna go,” Dex says blandly, ducking back out as Derek tries to pinch behind Chowder’s knees.

“No, wait, hold up,” Derek gasps out as Chowder lets him slip free. He falls to his knees, about to introduce them to one another when Chowder releases him like deadweight and springs to his feet outside the tree.

Chowder opts for a wave at the same moment that Dex reaches for a handshake, and they wind up swaying their hands around in that dance of indecision, until they settle on some sort of awkward introductory fistbump mush. Derek clears his throat to pretend he isn't laughing. Without further delay, Chowder jumps right into his spiel, full speed ahead.

“Hey, Dex! Nursey’s told me all about you. You can call me Chowder! I know you have these, um, special rules, but I swear I won't break them, so I hope we can be friends too. Not to pressure you or anything! Acquaintances is fine! People in casual acknowledgment of each other, or whatever! It's all good!”

He finishes by tossing up his arms in a mix of declaration - here I am! the famed chowder! - and apology, which Dex watches with a sort of baffled fascination in silence. He looks somewhat overrun, Chowder drops still after his stream of crescendoing words, and Derek has flip-flopped from being afraid they'd like each other too much to being terrified they won't like each other at all.

But Derek’s told Chowder all the rules before, made him promise to remember every single one or Dex would blow his fuse and murder them both, and it pays off, because all Dex does is take a deep breath before meeting Chowder’s greeting with his own slightly flabbergasted one.

“Hey...Chowder. Nursey talks about you all the time. But I didn’t realize you were, uh. So exuberant?” Dex scratches at the base of his skull, watching Chowder like he might solve him if he looks long enough.

“Oh my god, it’s too much, isn’t it? Shit, sorry, I know, I know, I'm way too excited, but like, Nursey’s my closest friend here? I still feel like the ‘new guy’ with everyone else, and you’re his best friend, and I just thought it’d be ‘swawesome if we could also be...something? I should just shut up, sorry-”

“No! No, ch- calm down,” Dex says, biting back the ‘chill’ that Derek is positive he was about to let slip. Derek cackles internally, expressed as a smirk, and Dex glares at him before continuing. “You’re fine. I just don’t hang out with people much. Besides this guy,” he says, jerking a thumb and Derek, and how he manages to make it sound both fond and contemptuous is impossible to understand. “I need to adjust, but it’s not a big deal. You're kind of refreshing.”

Chowder goes from raincloud to solar flare in under a second, beaming at Dex so brightly that the redhead staggers momentarily under his light. “Really? I mean, since you mostly talk to Nursey, and he’s a huge dork-”

“What,” Derek interjects.

“-I mean, I love him and all, but…”

Chowder stops to give him a pointed look, which Dex notices with a stifled laugh, and he claps C on the arm.

“Yeah, I know,” he says, the lines of his frame finally loosening up. “I’m with you on that one.”

Derek eyes them suspiciously. “Yo, are you two just here to slander my name, or-”

“Oh! I brought you a burrito!” Chowder interrupts, swinging his backpack around to present his prized offering to Dex, who accepts it with an unholy gleam in his orange demon eyes.

Chowder had wanted to bring a gift for their “host” because it’s only polite, and Derek has learned by now that Dex, despite being a self-professed unadventurous white American, will eat basically anything Derek offers. Junk food, spicy food, vegan food; “anything but bugs” seems to be the general rule. Regardless of his height and a fair amount of muscle from what Derek can make out under Dex’s loose flannels, Dex’s poor dietary choices can't be doing him any favors.

“Wow, thanks,” he says blankly, trying to absorb the burrito through its foil wrapper with his stare.

“Go ahead; we’re down to chill while you eat,” Derek says, and Dex tears into it, dropping to sit up against the roots of Derek’s tree. He's toting a canvas bag that he dumps in favor of food.

“What's in the bag?” Derek asks.

“Garbage,” Dex replies. “No, seriously, I was picking up litter,” he says when Derek tries to sneak a peek after that unsatisfying answer. True to Dex’s word, there's nothing but wrappers and styrofoam and cigarette butts.

“Whoa, that's great! Nursey says you’re really into nature and science, but I didn't know you were such an environmentalist!” Chowder, squatting next to Dex, bounces on his heels.

“It's not quite like that,” Dex says, words only a little muffled by all the food he’s crammed in. “I'm not planning to study this at college or anything, but- it's just something I do. I take care of the forest.” He scrunches his mouth on one side as he tries to find the words; Chowder waits patiently until he starts explaining. Both of their hands soon join in the conversation as Dex gives Chowder an overview of what he does in the woods all day. Derek watches as they string together movement and sound, orchestrating words with every sweep of their arms. There’s poetry in it, but Derek is content to let the words flow through him without trying to capture them.

He lets them talk without giving much input, happy to sit back and see where things go. Around him, the forest is quiet and light, an island of respite from outside. Conversation between the other two runs easy, a comfortable air already settling around them, and Derek lies down to rest his head on Chowder’s shin. He feels almost completely at ease.

He doesn't realize he's dozed off for a short while until he’s woken by the sound of his name from Dex’s mouth.

“Y’know, I'm, uh- I’m glad Nursey has you at school. He was- I think his first semester was hard for him. But you’re actually normal and nice, unlike all those dyed-in-the-wool old money jackasses. And me, who lives in the fuckin’ woods.” Dex’s voice is wry, but truthful, and Derek studiously keeps his eyes shut so Dex doesn’t stop talking. It feels slightly disingenuous to be listening in like this, but when else will he get the chance to enjoy Dex being the secret sap that he is?

Chowder, perfect as he is, hasn’t moved at all since Derek passed out on his leg. He keeps his legs still, though Derek can feel that his upper body must be moving as he speaks. “No, you're super cool! Living like a book character from one of those outdoorsy survival books like The Hatchet? And you're really nice too!”

“I’m really not,” Dex says around a smile; Derek can tell as much even with his eyes shut.

“Even better, then,” Chowder declares. “It's good to have at least one friend who’s kind of a dick.”

Dex’s laugh slips out, raucous and surprised, and Derek bites his lip to keep from laughing himself. “That's a role I can play,” Dex replies warmly, and for the first time in his life Derek is truly, legitimately glad he came to Andover, if only for the chance to meet these two.

With a loud yawn Derek visibly rouses, stirring on Chowder’s shins. He meets Dex’s upside-down gaze and crosses his eyes even though it makes him dizzy, just to see the way Dex’s mouth twitches as he raises an eyebrow.

“Good nap?” Chowder asks.

“Of course; you're the best pillow I could ask for,” Derek replies, and both his friends snort.

“Don't sugarcoat it, Nursey. I know I'm all bones down there,” C says, nudging Derek with his knee to drive the point home. “Good thing you woke up. I was just about to ask Dex for camping tips! He lives in the woods, you know. Oh, you probably do know - have you seen his house before?”

Derek, stretching his arms wide enough to almost punch Dex in the side, finally lifts himself off Chowder as he tells him, “C, he doesn't actually live in the forest. He just spends like 85% of his time here.”

“Ha, yeah, what he said,” Dex says hurriedly, taking another bite of his burrito. “This is really good; thanks, C,” he mumbles, cramming the rest in and tossing the tin foil ball into his rubbish bag.

Chowder goes supernova when he notices Dex using Derek’s nickname for him, and dives into an extended analysis about the burrito places he's encountered so far in the northeast, and how they can never compare to the ones back home. Dex, used to Derek’s rambling, impassioned treatises about food, flashes him a knowing smile and settles in to listen.

When sunset draws close, Dex walks them to the field. Derek stays behind a minute to dig up a few pieces of trash Dex didn’t notice: glass shards and what looks like a crumpled dryer sheet. Carefully, he wraps the glass pieces so he doesn’t cut himself and jogs to catch up with C, who is saluting Dex goodbye and starting to walk swiftly backwards out from the trees.

“Hey, wait for me,” Derek calls, but Chowder shakes his head, yelling back, “I’m not gonna get stranded in pretzel prison again!” as he hustles across the grass at an alarming rate while waving at Dex.

Derek resists the urge to pull a face, but Dex notices his displeasure anyway, asking, “Pretzel prison? What the heck is that?”

“Team movie night. Coach always buys these unsalted wheat pretzel sticks and someone gets stuck with the responsibility of eating them. Usually it’s last one through the door; C learned this the hard way.” Derek wrinkles his nose, then gets an idea. “Hey, you wouldn’t happen to-”

“I’m not going to pretzel prison for you, Nursey.”

“Weak.” Dex bats Derek’s thumbs-down away, his face a ruddy pink. Odd. “Why do you look like a Valentine’s Day candy display?”

“Shut up, that’s why.”

“Ooh, nice burn,” and when Dex just rolls his eyes, Derek decides it’s time for his customer satisfaction survey. “So, um, Chowder’s cool, right? You guys had a lot to talk about.” A flutter of worry lands on his chest at the thought of them somehow hating each other, regardless of any evidence saying otherwise.

“Yeah, he’s really- uh, he’s great. How do you handle it? He’s so...dazzling,” Dex hisses. He looks overwhelmed still, a tinge of pink on his cheeks. He keeps glancing away from Derek to return another little goodbye wave to Chowder, who's shuffled backwards quite a ways on the soccer field, waiting for Derek despite his fear of low-sodium snacks. Dex’s gaze won't hold for long though, and keeps skittering back to rest safely on Derek, who doesn't make him act like a shifty corner dealer. Suspicious.

“Holy shit, you have a crush on Chowder,” Derek accuses when he realizes the truth.

“I don't have a damn crush-”

“Your face is fluorescent pink right now, you liar-”

The color only worsens. “He gave me a hug, okay? I haven't hugged anyone in years, and he's good at it, so sue me.” Dex’s choppy robot arm movements aren't doing him any favors. “And you know I turn red at everything; it doesn't mean anything, Jesus.”

“Years?” Dex's family must not be big on physical affection. “You should've told me. I could hug you.”

“Why the hell would you hug me?”

Derek fixes him with his sternest frown. “You're clearly hug-deprived; it's my duty to fix that.”

“It's really, really not. Stay back, Nursey, don't you come any cl- aaaurgghhh!”

It's unintentional, of course, but when Derek latches on for a hug and unavoidably knocks them to the ground, Dex lands in a painful heap on a cluster of roots and rocks, and he groans miserably into Derek’s shoulder.

“Shh, shh, there there. I'm here now.” Derek uses one hand to pet gently at Dex’s hair; Dex wriggles anemically in his grasp for a moment before sagging into the ground, his face still buried in Derek’s shirt. He’s solid under Derek’s weight, all his sharp corners leaving Derek comfortably uncomfortable.

“Thanks. Now please leave.”

Derek already knows he’s going to be turned down, but he can’t help asking on the off chance that one day Dex decides to accept, so as they walk to the treeline he asks, “You sure you don’t wanna come crash movie night? We’re watching Toy Story 3. It’s supposed to be incredible.”

“They made a third one?” Dex looks pleasantly surprised, but he shakes his head. “You know me; I’ve got wood to chop and fires to extinguish. Maybe next time. Good luck on your math test tomorrow.”

Maybe next time is better than all the other previous rejections. Someday perhaps it’ll become a yes.

“Alright, Smokey Bear. I’ll save you some pretzels.”

By the time Derek catches up with Chowder, Dex has retreated back into the forest, but Derek is left pondering one glaring oddity about his friend that he’s wondered about before.

It’s been over a year, but Derek has never seen Dex cross the treeline before. At the very most, Dex will linger right at the edge of the wood, but Derek has never seen him step foot on the soccer field. That, he could attribute to some kind of superstition, but what he really wants to know is...

Does Dex actually live in the woods somewhere?

His stories - the ones about Bitty the baker and his boyfriend J, about Lards and Cam and April and the party girls - mostly seem to happen in the woods. Could it be that they all reside in some kind of wilderness commune?

Dex talks more about his friends than his family, and Derek would assume that Dex just has a shitty home life, or terrible parents, but the few times he does mention them in passing during vague anecdotes of his childhood, he always sounds fond. Sometimes he seems envious of the good relationship Derek has with his parents, but as if he misses them. Maybe his parents passed, or there's some other complicated situation with his folks, but Derek doesn't know how to ask without making Dex feel trapped and on edge, so he continues to keep his mouth shut and wonder about all the sad possibilities.

Because there are times he wants to ask more, wants to press his luck and tell Dex, hey, you're my best friend and I'm here for you; you can tell me anything. Like when Derek asks why Dex has such strong feelings about the fishing industry, or where he grew up, because sometimes his inflection and the draw of his vowels doesn't quite match any of the Massachusetts accents Derek’s used to.

Or when Dex traces those three letters on his hatchet, KAP, and his eyes go dark and wistful before shuttering when he notices Derek watching.

But Derek is patient, and if he needs to wait a lifetime until Dex is comfortable enough to tell him all his forest-kept secrets and the memories he holds close to his heart, then he will. He will wait until they're both ready.

#nurseydex #nursey #dex #chowder #omgcp fic #some mistake #hey i love the frogs

49 notes · View notes

waterskies · 3 years

Text

So I posted a while back about my counselor wanting an aquarium in her office. Well we went into lockdown before anything could get started with it. But now with lockdown ending soon we are thinking about going to the fish store to get a filter, substrate, plants and some other stuff before starting up the tank.

But to be honest, I'm getting a little frustrated. Not because of the whole lockdown thing but because she just isn't listening! I must have explained 20 times by now, why we can't just set up the tank and throw fish in. I've explained the nitrogen cycle in the most simple dumbed down version and she still can't seem to understand why you cant just throw a fish in a tank and expect it to live. She keeps saying "well you're the expert!" But it almost seems condescending when she says it. As if she thinks I'm being difficult or making this harder for no reason. What makes it even more frustrating though, is when she asks a question and while you're trying to answer shes asking more questions over top of you while answering her own questions incorrectly, while trying to guess at what you're gonna say next. I'm sorry but please shut the fuck up and listen!! I'm trying to help you get the nice looking aquarium you want, with the plants and fish you want and I'm trying to make sure its gonna start out healthy. But you just won't listen or take any of this in and you keep guessing at what's right instead of actually listening to the knowledge I'm trying to convey to you!! Urgh!!!! Like I must have told her 10 times now that filling the aquarium up with water and letting it sit there doesnt mean that you can add fish in sooner. You need a filter that's established with beneficial bacteria. But nope she just cant seem to comprehend that just because you throw a fish into water it doesnt mean its gonna live. Just... 😓🤦‍♀️

//end rant

#aquablr #fishblr #planted aquarium #aquarium #freshwater aquarium #petblr #plantedtank

12 notes · View notes

aquaticlizrd · 7 years

Note

Hi! I'm about to move from a 10 gallon tank to a 60 gallon tank. Do you or anyone else have any advise on how to better take care of a tank so big? I'm also moving my small black moor fish from the 10 to the sixty and hoping to add more fish. Any advise on that? Thanks so much!

Sure! So I’m assuming that you have a filter on the ten gallon with an established nitrogen cycle with a regular water change schedule. If not, you will need to cycle the 60 gallon tank completely before putting the black moor into the tank. If you do have the ten gallon cycled you can seed the 60 gal with the filter media from the ten gallon. This will speed up your cycle but it may disrupt it. Meaning that you will have to monitor your new tank and do water changes as necessary to keep the toxins at appropriate levels (0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrite, and less than 10-20ppm nitrate) until it is fully cycled and then maintain that tank with weekly water changes.

As for adding fish I only recommend keeping fancy goldfish with other fancy goldfish. I also recommend keeping at least a pair since they are extremely social fish. When adding fish to any tank you want to quarantine them for around 3 weeks but I usually do at least a month in a 20 gallon tank minimum. If you buy from a breeder such as dandy orandas (who doesn’t suggest a quarantine period) you can add the fish directly to your tank. However, if you buy from a pet store and some other breeders you definitely need to quarantine. I would also suggest that you only add one fish at a time as to not shock your bacterial colony with the extra waste created by the fish. I would recommend stocking only three fancy goldfish in a 60 gal if you are a beginner with goldfish/fish in general. However, you can fit four in the tank with more maintenance.

I hope this was helpful, sorry for the long response! Please let me know if you have any other questions!EDIT! I forgot to say that you can and should take the tank water from the ten gallon if it's cycled and put it into the 60 gal to help the cycle stay maintained during the switch. However, this doesn't change what I said above about monitoring the tank while you make the switch.

#anonymous #answered

0 notes

hella-free-space · 7 years

Note

Could you refer me somewhere to learn about taking care of fish? I'm hoping to move out of my house in the next year and get a few more pets, but when I was younger fish seemed to be the only animal I ever had that I couldn't care for and I don't want to get one if I run the risk of letting it get sick or die

Hey there @kat-astrophe! :D If you were younger, it’s very possible that you weren’t given all the fishkeeping tools + knowledge to be successful and that the fish you kept didn’t die because of you or anything you did

Next up, fish will get sick. They just will :T But pretty much any animal will at some point, so don’t let that deter you from getting into fishkeeping! If you want to be extra prepared to handle fish illness stock up on meds like kanaplex, metroplex, aquarium salt, epsom salt, ichx, api general cure, etc. I’m sure there’s a few posts floating around on tumblr about Fishy First Aid kits and what should go in them. If anyone has any meds to add, please do! :p

“Taking care of fish” is a very broad topic (it’s actually an entire hobby + community ;D) and there’s no one resource I can point you to that will have all the info you’re going to need to take care of any one species of fish. However, there are a BUNCH of articles, posts, groups, blogs, and youtubers that I can suggest to you! :) Hopefully this post is a jumping-off point for your research and possibly getting into The Hobby and enjoying these awesome aquatic creatures! :)this post got really long and rambly, so under a cut it goes~

Important Note: Fish. Do. Not. Go. In. Bowls. Don’t do it.

There are some basics when it comes to caring for fish + setting up a tank! :3 This post goes through the basic supplies you’ll need for setting up most fish tanks and provides an overview of the equipment that’s available (like the different kinds of filters!) in the hobby, as well as a crash course on the nitrogen cycle at the end.

Speaking of cycling, it’s probably the most important part of The Hobby :) This article provides a more in-depth explanation than the one I included at the end of the guide, linked above, and also provides some more resources on the subject at the end!

Water changes are also an integral part of fish husbandry and this post explains why water changes are so important and how to determine what kind of water changes you should do for your tank(s)! :p

Most Fishblr / Aquablr / Bettablr posts are also going to be helpful and most blogs on Tumblr will be more conservative and cautious in fishkeeping than those outside of the Fishblr+ community, *especially* with stocking.

So, on tumblr, if you ask anyone if you can keep 5 neons in a 5 gallon, they’re probably going to say “No! I’m sorry but that’s really much too small for a school of fish :/ Not many fish can live in a 5 gallon, let alone a school of fish. Neons are also pretty active and require 15-20 gallons minimum for a good size school of 6-8″ (and that’s also the advice that I would personally give) while if you ask someone on a fish forum or on a facebook group the same question, you’ll get some mixed answers. Some of those answers will be “no, that’s WAY too small.” or “Minimum school size is 6 so no” (I also agree that the minimum shoal or school size should be 6 and not 5 but that’s a tangent) and you’ll also get answers like “Yeah, they’re pretty small fish and would do fine in a 5 gallon” or “Yes! :) I have a similar setup!”

But then you’re like “BUT WHO’S RIGHT? WHOSE ADVISE DO I TAKE??” and that’s where I gotta say that you have to take all the advice you receive with a grain of salt, and then do what’s in the best interest of the fish.

My personal philosophy when it comes to fishkeeping (and animal husbandry in general) is “Fish first.” There’s going to be a lot of conflicting information, especially when it comes to finding care sheets (I definitely recommend reading/looking for more than just one care sheet/resource on any given species), so I do my best to choose the larger minimum (”minimum tank size” and stocking are probably some of the most debated things in The Hobby. This article goes over determining minimum tank size and I found it really informative and helpful. More food for thought on the subject of minimum tank sizes.

On that note, I’d also like to just insert that longer tanks >>>>>>>> taller tanks. Fish swim side to side, not up and down, and a tank that is longer than it is tall is almost always a better purchase. (example: 20 long > 20 tall, any rectangular/square tank > any hexagonal/column tank) Also consider tank foot print, since some fish don’t use the entire water column. Take corydoras, for example. They’re bottom dwellers and most of the time they don’t swim up into the water column. Most corydora sp. have a minimum tank size of 20-30 gallons. Lets say you have a 20 gallon column tank and a 20 gallon long tank. The 20 column is going to have 1-1.5 sq feet of floor space compared to the 2.7 sq ft of floor space that the 20 long provides. In this case, the floor space matters more than the gallonage of the tank, because of this species specifics needs. Keep things like that in mind when setting up a tank :) It’s not just for you to look at! You’re also creating a home + habitat for an animal, so sometimes you might have to remind yourself that their needs > your aesthetic.

If I have any more tidbits to add onto this post, I will, but there’s just SO MUCH information and I don’t think I could ever include it all in one post :p If you ever have any specific questions, tho, feel free to ask :)

This legendary Master Post has A TON of articles + posts to peruse (not all about fish, but a good portion) and I suggest at least looking over the care sheets and other articles listed.Some fishkeeping youtube channels (this post mentioned Tanked. Cool to watch, NOT cool to take stocking or aquarium advice from.) Steenfott Aquatics isn’t listed but he seems like a popular dude too :3Facebook groups and forums are also good for quick references and opinions. I don’t post in any Forums (most ‘forums’ are actually just facebook groups now, since they’re easier to access + use tbh, but when googling stuff, dedicated, fishkeeping forum threads tend to pop up a lot), but I’m a member of a few betta groups and then a few general fishkeeping FB groups like Fish Tank Talk, Sane Fish Husbandry, Fish Tank Addicts, and Steenfott Aquatics.

As a last little note, I’d just like to add a disclaimer:I suffer from Multiple Tank Syndrome (MTS) and so do many of my fellow fishkeepers. You may eventually suffer from MTS as well, because you can’t just have one fish tank.

3 notes · View notes