Hello everybody! I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend!
We were worker bees and homebodies all weekend, which was nice. Billy worked more on the door/inside part of the ramp project while I did some work on our new fish tank. Wyatt has wanted one and with his mornings being so not fun these days, I decided to get one when we got a little surprise bonus check.
I had no idea that setting up a fish tank was so involved, but now I know. On Friday after dinner at our local pizza place, we decided to see if the aquarium store was still open. It was about 7 so we thought there was a chance it would be closed but we were happily surprised to find it open – and busy! The woman working was extremely helpful and kind, and is exactly the type of person you want working in your store. I can’t say enough good things. The store itself was really neat too – there were so many cool fish and little shrimp and snails and axolotls, and all sorts of things to look at inside – even bullfrog tadpoles! We saw the tadpoles inside and then the actual bullfrogs outside. It was neat.
We also got a little Mystery Snail that Wyatt named Sunny, who spent the night in a glass jar with a strainer lid on my nightstand. I heard him clinking around in there all night. We all are fascinated by him to be honest. He only had to stay one night in there because we set up the tank Saturday morning, one step closer to getting Wyatt’s fish.
Then it was time to add the beneficial bacteria! I had no idea this was a thing, but my friend Kelly did, and she also gave me some. I guess this is good for your aquarium to help break down bad stuff like waste, dead plants, etc and you can buy it but Kelly gave me some from her axolotl tank instead. Which meant a trip to Kelly’s – who has more animals than I do! Two axolotls, 6 toads, 2 tree frogs, and some baby toads that she raised from tadpoles last year. She also has a bunch of cats, but we only saw one, Pal. I didn’t get to see my favorite Buddy, but maybe next time.
We added the beneficial bacteria and then it was a waiting game. We let it cycle a few days then on Tuesday I took a water sample to the aquarium store and had them test it. I figured the woman could let us know if we were good to go, and if not, what we needed to do to get there. Wyatt was very happy when she told him things were good to go! He looked at all the betta that they had, so many colors and varieties, and finally made his choice.
Meet Moonlight, or Moon, for short. (and Sunny the snail again)
Moon is so pretty! He did a great job! He was thinking that he wanted a yellow one but when the lady told him that this was a Halloween betta ( I am pretty sure she was just calling it that and that it is not an actual type?), that was it for Wyatt. That was the one he wanted, my little Halloween loving boy. He named it Moon although I was petitioning for the names Spooky or Stormy. Moon is a great name though, and it is his fish so he wins!
The art exhibit that Billy had his work entered in opened on Thursday, and we went to that too. It was pretty neat seeing all of the small works of art, but Billy’s was the smallest. I am quite proud of him! He was interviewed by the Downriver Council for the Arts while we were there, which was neat to watch. We had a good time exploring all of the pieces on display, and it was hard to pinpoint our favorites. We all loved the lizard/dinosaur/dragon eye, which is amazing. I also could not get over the detail on that portrait! Look at Billy’s little terrariums down there! So exciting!
Oh, and I got a boba tea for the first time. Except I got boba lemonade, and it was delicious.
And now, some random photos!
And that is it from me this very early morning! I hope that whatever you do today, that you do something that makes you smile.
Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs.. 
Congrats on the new fish! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a beta that color before but it is beautiful. My middle son had a fish tank for the longest time and I too was surprised that they weren’t the “easy” pets I thought they’d be. But it is very calming to watch.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! I was astounded at how much work this took – and money! LOL. Fish are very complicated. We are enjoying watching Mr. Moon and Sunny though, so it is worth it!
I had read that betta could change color once you got them home and it is crazy, Moon already has a bit more purple and blue to him.
LikeLike
I like Billy’s art! Three cheers! And the aquarium sounds like quite a big deal to get going but I’m sure you’ll enjoy!
LikeLike
My brother got my oldest son an aquarium for Christmas one year. We went through so many fish! I have never heard of beneficial bacteria…maybe that’s why our fish tank always stank. But, there is something so calming about watching them. All of the art is so cool, but I like Billy’s best!
https://marshainthemiddle.com/
LikeLike
We had 2 tanks and a separate beta tank at one time. We even brought our last fish with us when we moved here and set up a small tank for him. A 400 miles journey with 3 cats and a fish! Moon is a great name and yes he does look like a Halloween Beta. It was a great experience for us. Have fun!!
-Soma
LikeLiked by 1 person
Aw that is awesome!!! And that is quite a journey lol! How did you manage that?
Wyatt is loving his new tank; I think we all are!
LikeLike
Fish tanks are so confusing, I would love to have fish because they are so beautiful, but I can’t get past the complexity of it all. That Beta is beautiful.
LikeLiked by 1 person
They are!!! I had to go really slow and write down steps. I used the Josh’s Frogs care guide to help, and bought a betta fish tank kit from them so I didn’t need to worry about buying all of the right things. But I agree, it was way more complex and confusing than I had anticipated.
LikeLike
Pingback: My Sunday-Monday Post – Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs..
Tanks are a lot more complex than one thinks. My husband got one about a year after we got together because apparently having me in his life gave him the confidence to do it – he’s got a degree in chemistry so he loved doing the testing and really I did little apart from help him change the water (we had a big corner tank so that was quite an undertaking). We did a lot of rainbow somethings first then went on to tetra before having bigger ones – I liked our catfish and we had a big lobstery thing too (did you know they shed their skins? I didn’t!). We moved it when we moved to Birmingham but had a special man (called Gavin. This was 19y ago. Why do I remember that) who did it for us. In the end we let it go but we had one fish it in for years as we wanted to let it live out its life! We gave it to a kid with autism through a neighbourhood giveaway thing (the tank not the fish). I’m glad we don’t have it with the cats we have now, I have to say!
LikeLike
Congratulations on the fishtank! How fun and relaxing to look at (though not to maintain I bet!) I love boba tea! I haven’t had some in awhile but we are going to a ramen place tomorrow that is right next to a boba tea place and I might have to stop by for a little after dinner drink.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is so relaxing! It was a whole situation to set up but so far the maintenance is not too bad! It sort of takes care of itself. We just need to do a 25% water change every week and we have a little vacuum thing that does it for us. My plants are enjoying the fish water – I have three new leaves forming on plants right now!
I need to go back and get the boba tea. The lemonade was good but now I want to try the tea. Lol. Maybe this weekend we will go.
LikeLike