One Dead Fish and Blossoming Beans

Went to Vegas last weekend and put an automatic feeder on the tank.  Came back and had one floater.  I wasn't really surprised. I was actually expecting closer to a 50% mortality rate when I thought I was going to get fingerlings, so this isn't so bad.  The only problem was that I'm not sure how long it was dead (it was pretty stiff), so I don't know how long it was decomposing and contaminating the water.  I took ammonia and nitrite readings and they were a little high, but not too bad.  I held off feeding until the next day, then my readings were normal, but the water is still a little cloudy.  The rest of the fish seem to be doing OK, though.  They love feeding time.  I turn on the light underneath them and I can see a bunch of them start swimming all crazy when I drop the food in. 

BTW, Fishcam is dead.  Uh, I guess my Ziplock idea wasn't so airtight after all.  At least not the last time (and I do mean "last time") I used it.  At least I got one sort of good little video.

The bush beans that think they're pole beans are finally starting to blossom, which means I should hopefully have some green beans soon.  Peas are doing OK, but no flower buds yet.

The beans are still growing crazily toward the window, as expected, to the point that they're pretty much lying flat on the ground.  Not sure what that means for bean production, but I guess we'll see.  I put a full spectrum light in the room and leave it on for a couple of hours a day (when I remember).  Hopefully that will help even them out a little.  Here are a few pictures.

30 Sept 2011

Green Bean Blossoms

Green Beans in Growbed 1

Green Beans in Growbed 2




 That's all for now.  Thanks for reading! 





Fishcam1

Since I can't really see very far into the tank, I decided to try taking a video of the fish.  I don't have an underwater camera, so I took an old video camera that has a "night vision" setting, sealed it in a Ziplock bag (the kind with a double seal), and sealed the top of the bag with duct tape (good old duct tape).  I tried to hold the camera in the water near the light so the camera could "see" better. 
As you can see in this video, I didn't get a great picture, but considering my resources, it's not too bad.  You can see a couple of fish swim by a few times in this video.  Sorry for the camera movement, but I was doing this blind, with both arms submerged past my elbows in 56 degree water.
Maybe with a little practice, patience and a brigher light or two, I'll get better at this, but for now, here's Fishcam1.

I've seen a picture of someone else's tank with a section of the tank cut out and a piece of plexiglass somehow secured over it.  I don't really want to introduce more possible leak sites, but if I can find out how to seal it well, I might do that next year between sets of fish.

Fishes Be Crazy

Got my fishes yesterday. 

I called Liley Fisheries earlier in the week to see if I could come pick up some trout and we decided on Thursday morning for pickup.  Originally, I thought I would get fingerlings (very small fish), but the smallest they had were 4-6 inch fish, which makes sense since the fingerlings they had earlier in the summer would have grown.  Anyway, this changed my original idea that I could pick up the fish in a big bag inside a box.  The man I spoke with (K.C.) told me I would need about a 30-gallon container and that I would need to have a way to aerate the fish during transport.  Apparently, cold-water fish are very sensitive to low oxygen levels, so even the two-hour drive would be too long for them to be without some kind of aeration.  So, I went to Walmart and bought a power inverter so I could use my aquarium air pump.

Power Inverter

I also purchased a 35-gallon trash can and drilled holes in the top so I could run the air hoses into the container.  I packed my air pump, air hoses, tie downs, and my trusty roll of duct tape and at 6:45 Thursday morning, I was on my way.  I knew driving through Denver at 7:30 wasn't a great idea, but I needed to be back by 11:00 for a meeting.  When I got to the fish farm, the guys were expecting me.  The guys at Liley Fisheries are awesome!  Very friendly and helpful - nice guys!  I was worried about having to tie down the trash can and get everything prepared for the drive home, but the guys at Liley were awesome.  They filled up the container with water, added the 40 fish, tied down the trash can and set up the air pump for me, ensuring that everything was secure.  And, of course, the duct tape came in handy.  :-)

Tied down and taped up



Air pump and hoses running into container




















The ride home was uneventful (and much faster than the drive up).  I tried to get a few pictures of the fish, but the container was so dark, I couldn't see more than a couple of inches into the container.  Even with a polarizing filter, I couldn't see very far into the water.  Here are a few pictures.  I adjusted the brightness and contrast a little, which helped.  I used the green bucket to move the fish a few at a time from the trash can to the fish tank.

Silvery 1

Silvery 2

Silvery 3

Silvery 11, Silvery 25 and Silvery 31

I was worried that the pH of my water was going to be too high, but a few days ago, it actually lowered a little.  When I got home, I checked the pH and temperatures of the water from the fish farm and the water in my tank.  The pH of the water from the fishery turned out to be as high as mine was when I first started cycling the tank (about 7.4), so apparently the theory that the pH is more important to the plants than it is to the fish must be true.  These guys grew up in high pH water and they seem to be fine.  The temperatures happened to be almost identical.  I replaced some of the water in the trash can with my tank water a few times, but when the pH level in the trash can didn't change, I got impatient and just started moving the fish over. 

I was upstairs working from home for the rest of the day.  Within the first hour, I started hearing fish jumping.  Not good, since the water level is only a few inches from the top of the tank, so they could easily jump out.  Apparently, trout like to jump, and are especially prone to do so when they're introduced to a new environment.  So I went downstairs and covered the tank with chicken wire.

Fishy Lockup

I was so excited to get my fish so I could watch them swim around and name them (Silvery 1, 2, 3...), but unfortunately, this tank is really dark and I can't really see anything.  I bought a submersible pond light and put it at the bottom of the tank, so now I can see a few of the fish.  They actually like to swim up to the light and look at it.  But I can't get any pictures of it.  Maybe my next purchase will have to be an underwater camera with a light.  :-)

BTW, the fish cost $1.21 each.  And I highly recommend Liley Fisheries to anyone who is in the market for trout and other game fish.  They're great guys!  They stock public and private ponds (and other bodies of water) and perform other types of services, such as pond aeration and consulting services.

Bizarre Beans

The bush beans seem to be growing freakishly tall.  It might be because they're trying to find full sunlight, so they're growing toward the window and won't branch out much until they find the amount of sunlight they want.  That could make for a really strange sight from the outside of our window in a few weeks.
  

Beans want sunlight

 





Growing toward the sun













In contrast, below is a picture of several bush bean plants.  You can see they are a lot shorter than the indoor ones and they branched out a lot.

Bush beans growing outside in full sunlight

Since we're going to get even less daylight until next spring, I might need to consider supplemental light.  Maybe I will use some high-watt fluorescent lights in the overhead light fixtures and keep them turned on for several hours per day.

Below is a picture of what I think are tomato plants.  I planted them several weeks ago, and they're just now sprouting.  Maybe it was too hot for them before, I don't know.

Tomato plants (maybe)

Plant Pictures and Water Data

Here are a couple of pictures of the growbeds today.  The lettuce in growbed #1 had stopped growing and started wilting right after it sprouted.  I think this is because of a heat wave we had.  That was the same time the mature lettuce we had outside had turned bitter and started bolting, which is what lettuce does when it gets too hot.  I was about to give up on the lettuce, but once the weather cooled down this weekend, it started to grow again.

Growbed #2, which had tiny pea sprouts on Sept 1, now has lots of peas and beans, and I think even some tomato sprouts.



Growbed #1-beans, peas, lettuce and basil



Growbed #2 - beans, peas and tomatoes

I had to add a little bit of ammonia last week because the nitrate levels dropped.  I need to keep the nitrate levels up until I get the fish.  Once the fish are introduced to the tank, their waste should produce enough ammonia to keep the nitrate levels up.  Here is the data I've collected since starting the tank.  Note that our tap water pH is about 6.5. 

Date	pH	Ammonia	Nitrite	Nitrate
17 Aug 2011	7.2	0	0	0
18 Aug 2011	7.6+	4 ppm	0	0
23 Aug 2011	(not taken)	2 ppm	0	0
24 Aug 2011	7.6	1 ppm	0-.25 ppm	5 ppm
27 Aug 2011	7.4-7.6	0.5 ppm	5 ppm	8 ppm
31 Aug 2011	7.8	0 ppm	0+ ppm	2 ppm
NOTE: added about ½ tsp ammonia powder on 31 Aug 2011
06 Sept 2011	7.4-7.6	0 ppm	0+ ppm	30 ppm

Room and water temperatures in degrees Fahrenheit -

Date	Room Temp	Water Temp	Notes
16 Aug 2011	70	56	This is fresh from outside tap
21 Aug 2011	70	65	9:30 am
24 Aug 2011	75	68	8:00 pm
25 Aug 2011	68	65	7:14 am
25 Aug 2011	75	68	6:00 pm
27 Aug 2011	75	66	1:00 pm
30 Aug 2011	72	64	6:00 pm
06 Sep 2011	66	62	9:30 pm – closed window at 7am when room temp was 62