Merlin's new home...

Well, here we go again...


So... My better half wanted a fish for the kettle,
See here: http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/showthread.php?8228-So...-My-kettle-broke

Well, along came Merlin (the Siamese Fighting fish,) After about a month, I wasn’t happy as
the kettle is a novel idea, but not a good home for him and I still haven’t figured out the
heater as yet.After a quick trip to Pet Stop today, Merlin (the Siamese Fighting fish,) has a new home.


Equipement:
Tank: 300mm x220mm x300mm Open Top
Lighting: 1 x Sunsun (HMD-B2) 14 LED Mini-clip-light 2.5W White Light
Filter: 1x Slightly modified corner sponge filter
Air Pump: 1 x Terta APS 50 air pump (for filter)


Hardscape:
1 x home made tree
Lots of smallish Tigers Eye, aquamarine, amethyst, agate, beryl, white topaz, garnet, emerald, aquamarine, and tourmaline


Substrate:
About a cup and a half of old soil from the outdoor tropical tank, capped with pool filter sand.


Flora:
1 x Anubia, 1 x baby Tiger lily, 3 stems of Water Hyssop, Bacopa monnieri.



Fauna:
1 x Siamese Fighting fish.


The first thing I did was to modify the sponge filter so that it was a bit more compact...

...Then I had some moss (Christmas moss) that I got at Pet Stop and an unknown bit that Loolitube gave me when I was there. So, I had wanted a moss tree, but was stumped with the high temp of my discus tank. Ah... this nano will be parfect to try my hand at it.

Cut the tree to sise and made the mesh 'sandwich,"

Then I nuked the tree in the microwave for 15 min.
(Be careful here as the wood will catch on fire if not placed in a bowl of water.)

Sewed the tree to a bit of grating (helps to stop it from floating as the substrate
keeps the grating down.)

 

Then I sewed the mesh sandwich together with the unknown moss inside
(decided to use the unknown moss,)and attached it to the tree...


Placed the tree inside the tank, Put the substrate in, scattered the stones around, filled with water from the Discus tank, Introduced Merlin to his new home and 3 hours later he seems much happier and has more room!

 

That is going to look stunning!

 

Hey @barry M, you really are very clever at coming up with novel ideas. I love the tree idea, I was thinking of something similar using a mesh bag. I love the whole thing and even the crystals. You should put some rose quartz crystals in as they offer a calming & healing energy to animals. BTW how did you "stitch" the tree onto the grid? What type of grid are you using?

The tank looks absolutely stunning.:adore:

 

Is that bits of the Hygrophila polysperma I gave you in there - stuff grows like a weed oesnt it - took some more clippings today....such a rewarding plant....

 

Thanx for the compliments, I was a bit hesitant about using the simi-precious stones, but was instructed to use them!

Skye01, The grid is the green 4mm nylon mesh available from builders warehouse. I cut two square pieces, placed them on top of one another and then cut an oval out of them. Then spread a thin layer of moss onto one, placed the other oval on top and did a blanket stitch all around the edge (not to tight.) I also stitched two lines down the middle to keep the mesh from bubbling.

When ever I have to attach plants or anything in an aquarium, (if I don't use super glue,) I use a very fine strong black nylon thread. I bought a huge reel of the stuff years ago for sewing leather saddlebags and still have a nearly full reel. Ideal, as it just doesn't rot. The tree has a 3mm hole drilled horizontally through the end of each branch and I stitched it onto the mesh like you would stitch a button onto a shirt.

The mesh bag is a good idea, but the thinner the initial layer, the faster the moss will establish itself. I went to my local spar today and bought a fine see through hair net and am going to wrap it around a rock with some moss inside. Tie it up at the back of the rock and as the net is also nylon, think it will work much better and neater than wrapping the rock and moss with thread.

The crystals and semi-precious stones came from a visit by my son to Gold Reef City years ago. He got them for his first goldfish tank and they've been in various tanks since then. I think there are a few rose quartz crystals in there, I just wrote down the few that I remembered!

I will be putting in a few more of the Bacopa monnieri stems to hide the filter, as I HAVE to do a major pruning in the discus tank with tomorrow's water change... The plants are going ballistic in there!

 

Ah. Thanks azurekoi
I thought I got the ID wrong! I may shout tomorrow afternoon for a bit of help with the trimming as I'm not to sure how to trim those really long things that were sold as "old crypts" by the other shop! we could just turn it into a good excuse for a braai!!! Hehe!!!

 

The cat discovers a new water bowl... Fish flavour as well!

Buttons, "Ah, here's a handy water bowl! A bit oddly shaped though!"

Merlin, "GO AWAY...YOU MAD CAT!..." Damn stupido, "I shall attack you with my... my... my...
THIS LETHAL PIECE OF MOSS!..."

"Good heavens, They've even flavoured this water with fish flavour...
Mmmmm... I luurve my human slaves!" "Oh wait... What's that! A fish,
with a piece of moss hanging out it's mouth...
These people in this house are truly deranged!"

 

How is that possible?

 

Hi Jimmy,

Well, without going into a heavy and very technical explanation on the metaphysical properties and make-up of our planet, here’s a very shortened description.
[FONT=&quot]Rose Quartz is a pink-colored variety of Quartz (Silicon Dioxide) that can be found in a wide variety of igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks but most commonly forms as solid crystalline masses in the core of large pegmatites (blocks of coarse-grained granite).[/FONT]

Quartz is a natural crystal and it has a very consistent arrangement of atoms. In quartz these atoms vibrate at a stable and measurable frequency. These characteristics make quartz an excellent receiver and emitter of electro-magnetic energy. Piezo electricity relates to the electrical dielectric charges in quartz crystal when subjected to mechanical pressure (squeezing and tapping etc). The crystal will transform the mechanical frequencies of the stress into electrical frequencies and voltages. The conversion of quartz crystals into silicon chips has transformed the world; this is why quartz is commonly used in the workings of a typical quartz watch and piezoelectric transducers used in acoustic guitar pick-ups and numerous electronic technologies.

Quartz is also pyro electric and additionally, it will resonate when influenced by electromagnetic fields, including our own human electromagnetic fields. Quartz crystal, when used, holds and produces a flow of energy. In the case where quartz or other crystal substrates are subjected to any kind of kinetic energy or electro magnetic stimulation; and not connected into an electrical circuit, then the energy is dissipated via dialectical resonance into the local environment, (affecting you, me and any other living organism in its vicinity.) It should be understood that the internal atoms of the crystal are bonded to each other by their valance electrons. In the case of the atoms at the crystal’s surface, three electrons of each atom are not bonded to anything. These electrons are ‘orphan’s’ and they generate the electrical potential. Their only connection to the local environment is via capacitance.


It is this dialectical resonance that inter-acts with our own (or any other,) electromagnetic field when ever we come close to the crystal. It so happens that the basic resonant frequency of quartz, in particular, rose quartz, vibrates at the same frequency that the atoms in living matter, (us, dogs, fish, etc) vibrate at when they are at rest and peaceful. Because of the stable nature of the crystalline structure, it tends to pull or bring our electromagnetic field to the same frequency as its self thereby producing a calming effect.


Ok. Hope that helps... Enough of this Metaphysical lesson, This is a fish forum... Lets keep it as such!

 

Can we agree to disagree? I do know quite a bit about the formation and properties of quartz. I can just not find any valid research into these claims.

 

@Jimmy
Very definitely, we may disagree. I would in no way expect anyone to accept my opinion
at face value. I am an electronics technician and part of my studies involved the theory
and application of the electromechanical properties of Quartz crystal and a few other
crystals pertaining to radio transmitters and receivers, so the theory behind it does make
sense to me.
The first three paragraphs of my attempt to explain are basic fundamental science. The
last paragraph, very briefly, is my understanding of the metaphysical nature of the crystal,

However when trying to explain the metaphysical properties of the crystals, (or anything
for that matter,) it will always remain very debatable. Mainly because of the nature of
metaphysics... (It is a branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of objects and
their properties and the relationship between the two.) Traditionally, metaphysics attempts
to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:

1. [FONT=&quot]"What is there?"[/FONT]
2. [FONT=&quot]"What is it like?"[/FONT]

In other words, it is an attempt to clarify the fundamental notions by which we understand
the world, e.g., existence, objects and their properties, space and time, cause and effect,
as well as possibility. It covers both the physical, like apples, or in our case, Quartz, and
the abstract such as love, thought, the number 3 or the dialectical resonance of quartz.


I could of course be completely wrong, as this is only my opinion, there is and probably will
never be any physical proof as to how or why Rose quartz produces a calming effect...

 

Ahhhh I see. Thank you for both well explained posts. I would love to get my hands on the course material that you used. Sounds interesting.
Actually got sidetracked. Wanted to say that the tank looks good and that I want to try the moss tree myself.

 

@Barry.M, well explained...:bigsmile:. I'm a spiritual person and believe that everything resonates, or shows some energy vibrations at one level or other. I use crystals in healing methods with great success, both on animals and people, and I keep rose quartz crystals in all my tanks.

 

very very nice dude Barry.M. i cant wait to see it grown out and my cat has a similar opinion of open topped tanks lol. i'm with you on that @Skye01 i have two crystals that i wear constantly an amber and a moon stone and i recently bought a hematite ring which i wear now and then. may think about getting a rose quartz now though, hmmmmm

 

I don't quite know where I stand on the metaphysical qualities (although your explanation has made the most sense to me so far, thanks Barry) but I love precious stones (I blame my magpie mom!).

When I started researching fishkeeping I was wondering whether one could use precious/semi precious gemstones in an aquarium. I couldn't find proper information on it - most of it was the "I wouldn't risk it" or "Sure cause my LFS sells them". In the end I didn't use any because someone mentioned that the stones might not me inert and could affect the water chemistry (eg increasing the hardness).

What are your opinions on this? Do you think there are gemstones that you can safely use and others that you shouldn't at all? Pyrite I think would be lethal as it is water soluble (or I read that a long time ago, will go check again). Do you think weekly water changes would be sufficient to counter any adverse increased minerals in the water?

Okay I'll stop with my questions for now - you just have me imagining geodes in a tank, although I guess they'll be possible too abrasive for many fish...

 

@flammaefata, Most crystals can be used in water, but if you are not sure you can pm me and I can help you out with a decent list of crystals that can't be used in water...

 

pics? please

 

My word... I haven't been here for a while!
Last week, Merlin decided to jump his tank! I walked in and found him on the carpet, picked him up and he gave a rather weak wriggle. His body didn't seem too dry, so I put him back into his tank, keeping him in my hand, while removing some of my Husky's hair off him. Let him go and he had recovered within a half an hour! My wife, Trish, said that she noticed him on the floor about 15 minutes before I found him and thought he was a dead lizard! (The cats often leave us these little presents,) She was going to ask me to remove it later!

So, thank heavens he's an Anabantoidei, this species possesses an accessory breathing organ known as the labyrinth. So-called due to its maze-like structure this organ allows the fish to breathe atmospheric air to a certain extent. (I didn't expect 15 or so minutes!)

Anyway. I decided that it was time to upgrade his home and give him a better interior! So off I went, found a new tank, substrate, hardscape, new HOB filter and got busy.

Here are one or two photo's I found, taken about two to three months after the initial build.



After about two or three months, I changed the filter to a corner air filter.
I removed the original media and put my own in... Much more efficient.




He also got a companion. A Hara jerdoni or Asian stone catfish. (Anchor cat)