TimesToCome

Today we went to the Huntsville State Park. There are several trails, we walked about 4 miles and covered less than a third of them. It was dry there too, every thing is so dry this year. So we didn’t see any alligators or water birds. There were lots of ravens and the usual woodland birds.

We weren’t sure about the snake till we got home and id’d him. The yellow bellied water snakes flatten their heads and coil and make like a water moccasin when they get scared. Had I known he was faking I would’ve got some better shots. The round eyes are the give away.

If you like biking through the woods ( 10 speeds ) then this is a great park. There were mountain bikers on most of the trails and they are clearly welcome there.

It has taken a while to get the aquarium stable and I’m still working on the plants. But the critters are all happy now.

I found out we have very hard tap water and tried using bottled water – don’t do that. Nor should you use distilled water – it’s dead water. I do filter the tap water and the tanks’ve done fine for two years now swapping out a gallon of water a week.

We have two biorbs, one 4 gallon, one 16 gallon.

The 4 gallon has a male betta and an African dwarf frog. They make great companions. The betta eats betta food, the frog eats freeze dried blood worms and so there is no competition between them.

In the larger, 16 gallon tank we have 1 male betta, 2 glass fish, 8 neon tetras, and 2 African dwarf frogs. Everyone gets along well. To put other fish in with a betta you need space in the tank, non aggressive fish and a gentle betta.

The gentle betta is a bit of luck, so pay attention when you bring him home. I made sure he was well fed before adding him to the tank with the other fish also.

Generally, but not always, if a tank is over 10 gallons and you put in more than 4 tetras ( with out over stocking the tank ) the betta and tetras will leave each other alone. If the tank is crowded or there are not enough tetras to form a decent size school, you’ll have trouble. Someone will be chomping on someone.

We’ve found the frogs work well with the bettas even in the 4 gallon tank.

The frogs hang out at the bottom under rocks most of the time and occasionally swim up to the top for a gulp of air or to hang out a little while. They only need a fresh gulp of air once a day.

I usually avoid bettas despite the fact they are great fish because I want more than one fish in the tank. Now that we can add some companions I’ll be more likely to add bettas to our biorbs. Just remember, you can get an aggressive betta who will kill your tetras and frogs just as easily as you can get a well mannered one, so try this at your own risk!

I swapped out the biorb rocks for some smooth black ones, you can find them at most fish stores.  This let me add algae eater fish and that has made a huge difference in keeping the tanks clean. It has also made a huge difference in how well the plants do.

As far as upkeep, I’m swapping out a gallon of the water weekly and adding the recommended amounts of Aquarium plant fertilizer, ‘StressZyme’ and ‘StressCoat + ‘ each week. Fish get fed daily. Filters get swapped about every month or two as needed.

Biorb fish tanks and water plants