They’re always off kilter. Either they’re way too into the fact that their pet eats their prey alive, or they’re taking very improper care but way more self assured, or they’re meth addicts
I feel like the conversation always finds itself centered on a one state solution where Israelis are ethnically cleansed as somehow being the just and reasonable outcome
Ignore the red part, that is from a Roseafolia tissue culture. This was from a petsmart tank (I work there), and in the last few months since I’ve noticed it in one of the tanks it hadn’t spread super far. It doesn’t really look much like duckweed either.
I think that I work at one of the better PetSmarts as far as our husbandry goes, primarily due to the effort of our morning Specialist who I do appreciate a lot. There’s so much more that we aren’t doing but apparently corporate watches resources that get store used very hawkishly, so we can’t give the hamsters adequate bedding or wheels…
Anyway one silly little thing is that my store has like a dozen common plecos sitting around. If they’re dying in there then I’m not the one pulling them; they seem to be subsisting okay for now. But you all hopefully know as well as I do that they do get absolutely massive and, if you just want a bandaid solution for algae overgrowth, the juice is not worth the squeeze.
I actively discourage all the fish people that come in (I don’t think I can call them aquarium hobbyists) from buying them for their nano/sub-nano tanks for those reasons, directing them instead to shut off their lights and keep them on a timer or to get live plants or, if they really really want to throw an animal at the problem, some nerites or harmless pest snails.
Is that why we have so many plecos sitting around? Or is the corporate quota really that ridiculously high for them?
The pics yesterday weren’t super great quality but anyone can see how starkly she has improved already. I don’t believe the black on her forehead was there before.
I'm a little excited now. For the first time since entering the hobby 5 years ago with a 20 gallon high starter kit from Aqueon, I am graduating from the shoddy "Econohood" lighting setup it came with. My new lights, 2 Hi-Tops as suggested by this website will be here on Sunday.
For some context, I am running what I would call a fairly decently planted tank. There are lots of java ferns, who are currently experiencing a bit of a potassium deficiency but we are working on that, some amazon swords, anubias, and a bit of java moss. These plants coexist with a school of neon tetras, black neon tetras, and neocaridina cherry shrimp. And ramshorn pest snails. I have had failures growing wisteria and dwarf hairgrass, and I had long wished to see more accelerated plant growth, not knowing what the problem was except that I was not dosing CO2 or ferts (the aquasoil should have been enough!)
Turns out lights were the problem. Aqueon makes it hard to view wattage specs for their low end lights but there weren't many LEDs on the hood and as far as I can surmise from internet sleuthing I was only ever really getting 5-10 watts. So I am actually very pleasantly surprised my plants did as well as they did! This is not helped by the fact that about two thirds of those LEDs have corroded as of late, meaning I'm hardly getting any lights in there at all. The plants are still experiencing new growth, albeit very slowly, and the critters don't care.
Come Sunday the tank will suddenly be getting exposed to 40 watts of light at any given time. I'm fully expecting an algae bloom in response to this-- my current algae growth is almost none. But I'm also excited to see how this impacts regular plant growth too. Like I said, my java ferns are currently suffering quite a bit from neglecting potassium but I started dosing Leafzone weekly and am looking into better liquid ferts. With my foray into medium tech lighting and possibly buying better fertilizer, and maybe eventually finally biting the bullet and investing in CO2, I am excited for the future.
Has anyone else had experiences with massive lighting upgrades? What should I be excited for and what problems should I be looking out for?
How can I be expected to harass customers to get a phone number, download the app and activate offers in an area with no cell service, pre enroll with autoship they don’t need because they like coming in person on that same app, buy a puppy guide, and talk up training courses in one transaction while I’m the only cashier? People don’t want any of this stuff and even trying to do one of those things creates a massive line. This doesn’t even include the seasonal stuff like chance and friends or adoption week. It’s not good for anybody! I’m not getting paid $14.50 to be a master salesman, that’s hardly enough for being a regular cashier let alone being the only thing standing between our animals and an early death from abusive would-be customers.