The Value of a Photograph

I look at my tanks day in and day out. My head is constantly in the tanks checking fins, checking webbed feet and scaleless bodies, but sometimes I miss things. Those things get picked up by the camera and let me know that I may need to do more than a head count and body check. I may need to do more cleaning of rocks and the sides of the tanks.

Today I photographed the frogs tank. I photographed that one because I just did a thorough wash of the rainbows. I should go back in a few days and photograph it though to see if there are any changes. I know this is primarily a forum for fish but....it is an aquarium and I think being conscious of what the eye can't see is important. When I look at the frog's tank day in and day out I may miss what the camera picks up. I think there is value in photographing our tanks so that we can truly 'see' what is happening in there.

You might ask yourself, how did she miss all that on the back of the tank. I don't know, I just did.

This week end the frog's tank will have all the large river stones removed and scrubbed down. The back of the tank will have a good cleaning. I've got good filtration in there and regular water changes with quality food being fed. But I've got some maintenance to do that I didn't realize needed to be done until of course I pulled out the cam and saw it.

After the removal of the two large goldfish that were in with the African Clawed Frogs I've noticed a calm that wasn't there before. They are much happier and not constantly in predatory overdrive. I HATED to remove those goldfish but it was for the overall good of the tank and was the right decision to make. I sure love my goldfish and will once again have a goldfish tank. I've got a 90 gallon pond sitting in my closet. When I finally move from this place you can bet this chick will have goldfish.

The larger frog is almost 5 years old. She's an African Albino Clawed Frog. The smaller frog is a male Reticulated African Clawed Frog, age 5 months. There are a total of 4 frogs in a 60 gallon tank who are about to get a serious housecleaning. ***For fun art piece of me with my head in my tank checking the fish see my profile page.***

Until again,

Faith

SUNDRIP - Art for Life

http://www.sundrip.etsy.com

1 member likes this

Comment by Faith-Magdalene Austin on January 29, 2013 at 12:37pm: Thank you.

I wasn't sure what type of blogging was acceptable for this forum but it did say 'blog'. So, that was my aquarium blog entry. :-)

Comment by seth roach on January 30, 2013 at 7:00pm: nice read. im glad to see something other than the what type of light or will this fish fit in this tank on this forum. Its nice to hear some more in depth looks into the subtleties in the relationship of people and their tanks....plus i like that your an artist too. i'm a potter and lately ive been really day dreaming of creating custom clay fixture/systems to fit on/in the tanks and having a whole show with really nice planted tanks designed by me...ha ha but that would be wuite the undertaking; someday....

Comment by Faith-Magdalene Austin on January 30, 2013 at 8:55pm: I say your undertaking sounds like a wonderful idea. You know handmade is huge and will only get bigger as time goes on. I think your idea sounds wonderful.

I've had over the side filter engines fail, so I strip off anything I can still use and save it, but then keep the filter body. I fill the body and hang it off the back of my tank as a planter.

Comment by Robert Jango on January 31, 2013 at 12:49am: Faith, I agree with Seth; your posts make for interesting reading.

Seth... you talk about "custom clay fixture/systems to fit on/in the tanks". Can you give me an example of what you mean? It sounds intriguing but I'm not really sure what you mean.

Comment by seth roach on January 31, 2013 at 7:17pm: im not really totally set on a specific base model type design but i would think it would be a lid sort of thing that would fit on the top of a tank of maybe around the back and partial sides that would have and open area on the surface but would also house a light and maybe work an aquaponics grow bed on the top as a filter....basically a nicer looking lid that could double as a pot or just looks nicer......and sharon they seem endless because they are!! haha and you get extra brownie points for talking to your local potter. that probably doesn't really help much its hard to describe i could try drawing it for you but that would probably be equally confusing, guess ill just have to start working on prototypes...

Comment by Robert Jango on February 1, 2013 at 1:10am: I saw a video of a guy who put way too many Discus into a large tank to grow them out. He says he can get away with this because the tankwater is pumped through an aquaponics tray underneath the tank. And he only changes the water a few times per year!

Walstad non-withstanding, the amount of plants needed to suck up all the nitrogenous waste in a tank is daunting. So a lot of plants inside and outside of the tank makes sense. My chemist friend tells me that the types of plants you choose also makes a big difference. Anyway, this is a long way of saying your aquaponics hood idea sounds like a keeper. I have no doubts Dustin will somehow work some kind of aquaponics system into his greenhouse.

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