Man's best friend "and other pets"

[my67xr]

Here's another name option, how bout Fiddy ?

 

[velociraptor]

my girl Wilbur lol boys name long story

 

[Railsplitter]

Well, Boyz, I got off to a bad start with the ol' aquarium... lost a few fish already, and I need to change the water too, it smells foul in there and I've only had the tank full for what? Two days? Like a fool, I dumped a nug o' chronic in the tank yesterday, then proceeded to rearrange things while hammered last night, and the tank is now an unholy marine disaster. I lost DAX (the angelfish, expensive at $12.99) and Ratchet (he turned his last wrench... sob), and I think Donald Trump went to that Great Aquarium in the Sky, along with one of The Three Stooges. In an effort to save the other fish, I drained some water and replaced it, and I swapped out the filter cartridge too. The other fish seem to be doing okay, but I'm still gonna drain most of this funky water and replace it with nice clean water, leaving just enough of the funky stuff to keep that nitrogen cycle going. Dang, this aquarium business isn't as easy as it looks in the store, that's for sure.

The larger Pleco (Bert, of Bert & Ernie) was MIA this morning, I thought maybe Wingnut had fished him outta there, but I eventually located him upside down in the DinoCroc skull. Thought he was dead and just trapped in there, but when I went to pick up the skull, he darted on outta there, LOL. So that was good news. Fish that seem to be doing well: Stroker the Bala Shark, Nitro the Betta, the entire Redline Crew of Neon Tetras, Wheelie the Molly, the Plecos Bert & Ernie, Paris Hilton the Painted Platy, the Vegas Hooker (Black-Skirted Tetra), and two of The Three Stooges (the third died awhile ago). Hopefully, I can make things right and get the tank cleaned up again, maybe buy some nitrifying bacteria to get that nitrogen cycle working properly. I know one thing: I ain't gonna have a foul-smelling tank in my room, I'll turn that thing into a reptile tank if necessary, LOL. But I'm hoping I can make things right...

P.S. All dead soldiers (finned variety) received a good Christian burial in the back yard, the tropical fish placed under the Plumeria (skirl o' bagpipes as a soulful Scottish funeral dirge sounds here). Their earthly troubles are over... may they rest in peace.

 

[Cordogs]

Angel fish are incredibly temprinental mate and not recommended for beginners. Did you float your fish for a good 20 mins before releasing them?

What kind of filter have you got with you tank? Also may pay to check your PH and water hardness.

 

[Railsplitter]

Good news, Boyz!!! I got rid of the funky water from the tank, rinsed everything, and started fresh with live nitrifying bacteria this time around, and the remaining fish are all heller lively, darting around in the nice clean water and having a good time. I used distilled water this time, instead of the "Spring Water" I used last time, but I added AquaSafe anyway to deal with any residual rinse water (tap). The fish all look good right now, lots of life in 'em, 10-4??? Here's a list of survivors:

Nitro, the Betta

Stroker, the Bala Shark

The Redline Crew---five Neon Tetras

Paris Hilton, the Painted Platy

Vegas Hooker, a Black-Skirted Tetra

Wheelie, the Dalmatian Molly, doing just fine, thank you, LOL

Bert & Ernie, the two Plecos

Two of The Three Stooges, who I am about to rename... can't have just Two Stooges, that sounds ridiculous, so we'll name one Donald Trump, to bring "The Donald" back from the dead (so he can go independent and win the election), and we'll name the other Ratchet to make up for his loss, 10-4?

I think that's it, I'm just glad I caught that New Tank Syndrome before it killed the rest of the fish. Wingnut the Cat is lying next to the tank right now, I just took some pics of him eyeballing the various fish up close, he even tried to bite Nitro through the glass, LOL, probably chipped a tooth, the knucklehaid.

Anyway, my big mistake was NOT adding Quick Start with live nitrifying bacteria at the outset the first time around, but now I have a big ol' bottle of that stuff for every water change. As I key this, the remaining fish are all darting around like they should be, and even the Plecos are doing their jobs, so maybe I'm on the right track.

Note to self: NO MORE NUGS O' CHRONIC IN THE TANK!!! LOL. Wouldn't ya know, the nug I dropped in there last night was a hybrid called Chem-Wreck, part Trainwreck and part Chem-whatever... it figures, a hybrid partly named Trainwreck contributed to the marine disaster last night, LOL.

Time for another round o' cold beer, ADIOS, MUCHACHOS!!! Free "Concert In The Park" night this evening, and some band is rocking out... we can hear 'em from our house, no need to attend, LOL. Me beloved elderly mum is lying here on the rack in my room, and we're both listening to the music, LOL. HASTA LUEGO, MONKEYBIKING HEROES!!!

 

[Railsplitter]

Damn, this band is rocking, playing old school rock and pop from the '60s & '70s: Steppenwolf, Santana, Journey, Boston, and maybe one or two others. I've lost track after a few cold beers and a big ol' B-rip, all of which were absolutely DELICIOUS, LOL. Note to self: NO MORE CHEM-WRECK IN THE TANK!!! LOL.

P.S. Whoa, the band playin' in tonight's free "Concert In The Park" just launched into that classic old Lynyrd Skynyrd number, "SWEET HOME ALABAMA"---and the band is doing a FINE JOB, LOL. When I say THAT, it means the band is F____G JAMMING, WOOHOO!!!!!!!

 

[Railsplitter]

Holy $h!t, the band just launched into "FREE BIRD" by Lynyrd Skynyrd, and they are ROCKIN'... WAHOOOO!!!

 

[motovert24]

got my dog back on friday after spending afew days at the vet. had lead poisoning from the ****ty old home i live in

 

[my67xr]

Wow, so are dog's affected more by lead than human's ?
You guy's aren't getting sick from it too are you?



Our little miss has grown a lot, her paw's are already bigger than our other staffs', and i reckon she is a little taller than him too, but still has a bit more growing to do
She like's sitting all unco like this in the morning's trying to soak up the heat from the sun

 

[motovert24]

yeah 10 years ago my cat almost died from it, he was so bad they are suprised he didnt have brain damage, but he survived it.
my mum had 3 times the limit back then but they just said it disappears each time you go to the toilet.
dunno why animals are more affected by it

the dog had 2.6 levels of lead or whatever they called it. not enough to really do anything but she had abit of constipation and diarea last week so thats why she went to the vet. they did some blood tests because of the cat. which they couldnt find anything wrong thats why they sent him home the week before he died..

stupid lead paint and renovating, hate old homes now

 

[Railsplitter]

Angel fish are incredibly temprinental mate and not recommended for beginners. Did you float your fish for a good 20 mins before releasing them?

What kind of filter have you got with you tank? Also may pay to check your PH and water hardness.

Yeah, I floated all of 'em for almost half an hour. I have the standard filter which came with this basic starter kit, but I'm thinking of adding a better filter on top of the stock version, as well as an air bubbler to keep the tank water moving and sparkling clean. Need to bag a PH kit today also, consider it done. Gonna drop photos of the cats checking out the aquarium, go bag the items I need while the film is processed onto a disk, then post up the shots later... I'm hoping the shots turn out okay, I kept the flash off because I didn't want the glare reflected off the tank, aye??? We shall see how the pics turn out, LOL. All fish listed as survivors yesterday are still alive and seem to be doing well, that Quick Start with live nitrifying bacteria made all the difference in setting up the tank for the second time.

MONKEYBIKING MANANA, BOYZ!!! WAHOOOOOOO!!! (Weather is finally cooling off a bit, the humidity backing off as well.)

 

[Railsplitter]

Oh, yeah, one more thing, I feel as if the Plecos got shortchanged when it came to receiving their names: The Muppets are cool, but Bert & Ernie are NOT very dignified names for these Plecos, who are doing a bang-up job of controlling algae, LOL. Therefore, I've decided to drop those names and bust out a couple o' names from Norse Mythology: henceforth, the Plecos shall be called THOR & LOKI, LOL. WOOHOO!!!

P.S. Thor is the larger of the two Plecos... LOL.

 

[Railsplitter]

Well, Boyz, I have good news and bad news... I'll give ya the bad news first, just to get it out of the way. I returned from a bad@$$ monkeybiking adventure yesterday to find that Loki, the smaller Pleco, had vacated his quarters in Asgard and gone to Valhalla (also in Asgard, just not the same location as Loki's quarters). In other words, Loki bit the proverbial dust while I was having a blast on my bike... may his soul rest in peace.

The good news is that I'm just about done with this laundry (and other chores), and I'm about to get cleaned up and go bag that photo CD of yesterday's primo ride... once I do THAT, I can post some killer pics of my excellent monkeybiking adventure. I still have a couple of other missions to perform, so look for the pics in the usual thread sometime this afternoon. HASTA LUEGO, YOUSE MONKEYBIKING HEROES!!!

P.S. The surviving fish seem to be doing fine, and I checked the PH twice yesterday (lowered it as well), but the tank still has a whiff o' funk to it... is this normal for aquariums? It's not really that bad, but I don't want ANYTHING stinking up the joint in my room, and I'm wondering if this is a normal condition for rapid starts in an aquarium? I'm operating two filters, I have a big ol' air bubbler bar under the gravel in back, I bought some other stuff that's supposed to help clean up the aquarium and eliminate odors, so WTF???

 

[Railsplitter]

Okay, just a few quick pics of the cat-and-aquarium scene... many of the pics are dark because I didn't want to use the flash, I figured it would create glare, 10-4? Meh, look closely enough and you'll get the general idea, with Wingnut and Dixie and maybe Sage checking out the seafood buffet. I've lost half a dozen fish so far, but there are still about a dozen left:

Nitro the Betta

Stroker the Bala Shark

The entire Redline Crew (five Neon Tetras)

Wheelie the Dalmatian Molly

Thor the Cowardly Plecostomus (hides in the DinoCroc skull most of the time)

Newly-renamed Donald Trump (I believe he's a Wag-Tailed Platy, not really sure)

Ratchet (Guppy)

Maybe one more I can't remember right now because I'm in a hurry... here are the shots, I'll say "ADIOS!!!" in advance, LOL.



















P.S. Wait, that's me beloved elderly mum's arm in that last photo, not mine, LOL.

 

[Railsplitter]

OI, YOUSE CRUSTY AUSTRALIAN DEMONS O' DIRT!!! It's me beloved elderly mum's birthday today, she's 89 and she's gonna receive the royal treatment, including a killer brunch made here shortly by yours truly, LOL. So I don't have time to post this whole message again (at least not yet), AYE??? Check out the post I made this morning at lilhonda.com in the Gastank Forum, under the thread titled "Idiot Wannabe 'Sport Hunter' Who Killed Cecil The Lion" (I will repost it here later, once the birthday celebration is over, 10?). There are some excellent observations upon hunting in that post, if ya know ANYTHING about hunting... even if ya don't, read the post ANYWAY, AYE??? ADIOS, MUCHACHOS!!!

 

[Railsplitter]

Hey, Cordogs, I siphoned off most of the water in the tank today and replaced it with treated and tested tap water, and not only is the water crystal clear, the fish all seem quite lively... maybe this treated tap water is better than purified or distilled water, due to the hardness of the water itself? Round here, the tap water is kinda CHUNKY, if ya gets my drift, but the fish seem to like it. Should I have started with tap water, instead of twice wasting $1 per gallon on the fancy water??? I sure hope this works and the water stays clear for a much longer period of time... the fish are darting around like they're having a blast, chasing each other and then holding convos in various corners. Ratchet the Guppy is like a new man, really lively in the tank, but not in a bad way, I reckon. Honestly, it seems as if the fish are having a big ol' party in the tank, and NO, I did NOT pour tequila into the aquarium, though I might pour some down me gullet later if I run outta cold beer, LOL. Meh, no worries, I just wanted to ask ya about the water hardness issue, 10-4??? Does that really make such a big difference? If so, holler back and give me yer perspective on that whole scene, aye???

Alright, I'm off to work on my bike out back as I listen to tonight's "Concert In The Park"---Louis Beltran's Latin Jazz, WTF, it's free for this old school local (and John Q. Public), the difference being that I don't hafta schlep gear to the park one short block away, I can hear the music from my patio no problem, LOL. Don't hafta wait in line to slash either, and I have cold refreshments in the fridge... you should see how loaded down with gear some of these concertgoers are, some of them schlep enough gear to establish Base Camp under K2, LOL. Damn, my cat Dixie just knocked over my goddam longneck beer here in my room... we were both sitting in front of the aquarium, with Dixie on the table, and she went to leap on the nearby rack and clumsily knocked over my beer, which landed on the utility carpet below and promptly drained half its contents. Ah, well, I cleaned up the mess, and I still love the ol' girl, she's not a bad cat when she isn't knocking over my beer. Okay, I'm off to hear the Latin Jazz (punctuated by gunshots recorded in the ghetto, LOL), y'all be good, I'm outta here, color me gone, ADIOS!!!

P.S. Monkeybiking this week, WOOHOO!!! Gonna be a heller ride this time, I have a plan, you see... not an evil plan, just a monkeybiking plan, LOL. HASTA LA VISTA, MONKEYBIKING HEROES!!! WOOOOOOHOOOOOO!!!

 

[Railsplitter]

Alright, same deal with the Wingnut pics, which also have some shots of Sage & Dixie, as well as some shots of various locations here in Dago (pics taken on the scenic route to Nelson Photo). Here we go:

http://postimg.org/gallery/2hq5zdvhq/

And a bonus shot of Little Wing as he screams, "DIE, INTERNET TROLLS, DIE!!!"

View image: c12760

LOL...

 

[Railsplitter]

Well, in that last post, I forgot to mention that the potted flowers and yellow rose bouquet were for me beloved elderly mum, now 89 (I bought her the potted plants)... while the two shots of what looks like a drought-stricken weed patch are shots of Ol' Tex, The Rock, as opposed to Ol' Tex, the Jurassic Desktop Computer. Yes, that's a rock I found in Anza-Borrego years ago, and the rock just happened to look like a T. Rex, which is why I bagged it, 10??? If you look closely at the one photo, you can see the geological dike of crystals which represent Ol' Tex's TEETH, as well as an "eye" above the jawline, LOL. Meh, it'll all be the same in a hundred years... time for this kid to think about some snack items, maybe a full-on chicken burrito from the latest batch of leftovers, said burrito chockablock with nutrients, not to mention the sonofagun plastered with sour cream, guacamole, and additional hot sauce, BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! All the good fresh produce too, the stuff that went into this burrito mix... I like this time of year, if only for THAT reason. I'm outta here, time to mack, color me gone, ADIOS!!!

 

[Railsplitter]

Whooooowheeeeeee, it is HOT out there!!! Good thing I did NOT go monkeybiking today, it would've been a suicide mission, LOL. I'm ready to crawl into the fish tank to cool off, elbowing a few fish aside in the process... maybe get one of those floating pool chairs with an insulated cup holder for my beer, 10-4??? Man, I must be getting older, because I never used to be affected by heat like this, even with the humidity. Jeez, I've been in Quartzsite, AZ, when the tall outdoor thermometer read 118 degrees, so ya know it was around 125 on the paved truck stop parking lot below, and I never gave the heat a second thought... but that was a dry heat, not this humid slop we've been getting for weeks on end. Ah, well, when Indian Summer finally rolls around, it'll be all the sweeter for this hand. I reckon y'all are in the dead of winter Down Under, aye??? Wish I could migrate to and fro like a bird, dodging the worst of the heat as I grow older. Meh, who knows? Maybe my ship will come in at last, and I'll be free to roam wherever I wish, spending summers at higher latitudes and elevations, and kicking it on the beach during the winters, LOL. Y'all be good, I'm back under my 4-speed industrial fan to ride out the worst of this heat, then perhaps watch a flick and drink a cold beer (my first, go figure, it has been too hot to drink, if that makes any sense). No worries, I got a lot done this morning as far as work goes, so to heck with it... tomorrow's another day, and we have two more days of even greater heat and humidity in the forecast. Can't wait till summer is over, LOL. HASTA LUEGO, MONKEYBIKING HEROES!!!

 

[Railsplitter]

Bad news, Boyz... one of the Redline Crew twisted his last throttle and redlined his final tachometer last night, I found him stuck in one filter intake this morning, the same way I found Paris Hilton when she croaked. Poor little Neon Tetra, he only had a few short weeks to live in this aquatic death trap. Seriously, I'm beginning to think I'm no good at this aquarium business, despite taking many precautions and doing my best to make the fish comfortable in their new home. Perhaps that Obamanomic Gubmint KoolAid in the tap water is the real culprit... hard to digest, that b.s. Lord help us if another Bush or Clinton scumbag gets into the Oval Office, the fish will all be dead within a week, no doubt. The price of fuel will also rise, another useless and expensive foreign war will begin, the overall quality of life will drop even further, etc., etc., but these are all side issues, of no consequence to the dead fish. Perhaps it's better that this little Neon Tetra didn't live to see the worst... in the meantime, I'll give him a decent Christian burial in the back yard, he was a good fish while he lived, so he doesn't deserve an all-expense-paid trip down the Mexican Riviera (i.e. to get flushed down the cr@pper). I'll be sure to play "TAPS" as I bury the little guy... or maybe "SHARK ATTACK" by The Surf Punks, LOL. Damn, I'm dating myself by even mentioning that tune, gotta quit doing that, there's no future in it, 10-4??? Alright, youse monkeybiking heroes, I'm off to make some coffee, it's gonna be another long hot day here, according to weather forecasters, so I gotta get my Java early, AYE??? Y'all be good, talk to ya later, HASTA LUEGO, MUCHACHOS!!!