# Good Heavens.... "Pets", Horses without morals.... Lions and Tigers and Bears, OH MY!



## Jane in Upton (Aug 10, 2005)

*Good Heavens.... "Pets", Horses without morals.... Lions and Tigers and Bears, OH MY!*

Good Heavens!

I've been away for awhile (and its SO nice to come back to APC again) and it seems that all sorts of stuff has been happening!

There's lots more Sponsors (Yipee!) and both familiar folks (some with new avatars) and new folks with lots of fresh questions and enthusiasm! Double Yipee! Not only were there new avatars, but some folks had animals in their personal area on the left of their posts, along with the number of posts, location, and various ICQ, Yahoo and other IM icons.

I must confess, though - it took me awhile to figure out the whole "Pets" thing. Knowing nothing, I saw it in the main menu bar and assumed it was an area to discuss our less-wet pets. OK Folks! Brace yourselves for a picture of the cutest Pomeranian in the whole wide world..... *click* But then there were all these icons. .... One even said "Graveyard" when I did the roll-over, and well, gosh, I just COULDN'T resist that..... *click*

Lo and behold..... There's a Dead Horse in the Graveyard! And its associated with our own John N! For a split second, I thought it was a real horse, and wondered if there was a link to some sort of tribute or something. Thoughts raced through my head, including memories of the death of my buddy "Tuffy", an ancient Morgan horse who had a tumor on his pituitary gland that made his hair grow in long and curly, leaving him looking more like a teddy bear than a sturdy brown horse. The afternoon after the morning he had to be put down, my mother pushed me to go out with friends. There, in my little town's one and only McDonalds, a friend accidently made a wisecrack that the burgers were probably made out of horsemeat. ----- I lost it in a big and dramatic way, and unfortunately with a large and impressionable audience, too.

But what about John's horse? What's this? OH..... Its some sort of cyber-pet. But what's this about the pet's having morals? By the looks of that there measure bar, John's former horse was obviously morally bankrupt. Is that why it perished? And look.... Jimbo's critter (what IS that, anyhow?) has incredibly high morals! But wait.... there are treats one can "buy", and it will boost the morals..........OH.... I think it boosts MORALE ! Of COURSE! Ice Cream treats wouldn't boost ones morals (Although, one could always WISH such a thing were possible.... what a great excuse to indulge in a second scoop of Peppermint Stick!)... but it could (and usually does) boost ones Morale! Ah..... things were beginning to get clearer!

Whew! Finally, after much searching, and catching up on all the fun and games that have been going on here, I began to undersand.

Now..... what are those things under your signatures with the hatch dates? Inquiring minds (well, this one at least) want to know!

Nice to see everyone again!
-Jane


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

Yeah, some of this pet stuff is a bit off the subject, IMO. Good to see you again. What fish are you keeping these days? I bet you miss the congos.


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

Hi Jane! Welcome back to APC, I was wondering what happened to that El Natural fanatic. 

The eggs icons on people's signatures seem to come from this site (http://thegab.org/Eggs/index.html). These pet hatching signatures aren't related to APC though, but seem to be something that people like to showcase as their signature for fun.

The pet's you see under folks avatars, and my long ago passed away "Horse" are however part of APC's Features Enhancement Fundraising Drive that you may or may not have heard about. The pets are a fun way to say thank you for supporting APC and helping this venue spread the passion of the aquatic plant hobby. As you can tell by the many people like Jimbo205, Cassie, Cs_gardener to name a few, they really enjoy the Digipets. My digipet "Zinthos" seems to love those biscuits, and I think is a father of someone's pet now. Good Job "Zinthos!"

Anyways, it's great to see you return! Looking forward to your postings and enjoy the improved and upcoming features here at APC. 

-John N.


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## Jane in Upton (Aug 10, 2005)

Hey John! Thanks for putting up with my teasing!

Yes, I eventually figured out the digipet thing. And I think your "horse" (RIP) is father to a unicorn!

Ah, I thought I'd seen those Hatchlings elsewhere, not just APC.

And Bryce! Good to see you! I hope your new location is treating you well. How's the water? Yeah, now and then I'll see Congos somewhere, and they're really nice, but those big bruisers were way too much for my tank. I'm sure they're happier in C's 125!

Well, I've gotten into killies lately! Although, I'm "bad" in that I've put most of them into the 30 gal planted community tank, as I just like their pretty colors. Jeepers, that makes me sound like a doofus. I know that purists would frown upon combining them in the event of cross-breeding. I've at least kept different varieties of the same species in different tanks, just in case. I'm not at all versed in their names, but I could probably pick them out if I were to reference my aquarium log, as I do have the proper names documented. They are agressive little guys! When I put in a cube of frozen bloodworms, they group around it like a pack of wolves, and take turns grabbing and shaking it - also strangely wolf like! Of course, the various tetras and rasboras enjoy that, as it scatters bloodworms everywhere like a busted pinata! I even found a baby one, so they must have bred! He too is a pugnacious little guy!

My poor tanks were seriously neglected over the summer, as I had to travel (family stuff) several times. So, I've been doing big cleanups, and revamping. My schedule is more predictable now, so that's good. 

Have you set up tanks in your new location Bryce? I hope so!

Well, good to be back, and yes John, the Upgrades certainly look worth some $ input. 

Thanks!
-Jane


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

Jane,

Yeah, I currently have a 46g and a 180g tank. The 46g is mostly just a plant collection box that I'm using as a storehouse for the 180g. I only have a few glass cats, threadfin bows, and some neon tetras in there. I neglect it severely, throw in some ferts when the plants look like they need it, do WC's about once every 6-8 weeks and the plants are growing like crazy. It's amazing what a touch of CO2, low-medium light, and SMS substrate can do.

The 180g is a work in progress and has been a real algae nightmare until recently. I journaled it here and posted about the algae issues here.

The water has been a bit of an issue. It seems to be ok in the 46g tank and the SMS gradually lowers the KH and GH over time, which is a good thing. I finally set up an RO system for the 180g and it seems to be happier with it. We'll see how it goes over time.

I have 15 congos, 2 doz rummynose, 2 doz otos, 1 doz loxozonus corries, a few rams, and a few SAE's in there. It's a hoot to watch congos displaying up and down the 6' length of the tank. "Explosive shredding" is the name of the game at feeding time. They're all hand-fed, even the rummies eat out of my fingers.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Nice to see you back Jane! Yes, there are always new and fun things popping up here, so you never know what you might find if you've been away for awhile. 

John, your late "Horse" is my "Ziggy's" father too.


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## Robert Hudson (Feb 5, 2004)

Jane! I've missed you! :crybaby:


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## Jane in Upton (Aug 10, 2005)

Thanks, guys! It's nice to be "back"!

And Bryce - what a GREAT thread about your 180 gal setup, it goes to show how LOTs and LOTs of planning really pays off! And gosh, that is a long thread! But a thoroughly engaging one, and such a great read! I'll have to read the algae thread tomorrow. Yeah, you're really doing those Congo Tetras proud! I can just picture the school of them with a 6 foot long "run". wow. 

Well, back outside (while we have an uncanny warmish spell) to rinse/prep more soilmaster - whew is that stuff dusty!

-Jane


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## Jimbo205 (Feb 2, 2006)

> to rinse/prep more soilmaster - whew is that stuff dusty!


 Jane, you do El Naturale correct? If so, why are you rinsing the SoilMaster Select? I thought only High Tech - no dirt allowed members - rinsed their substrate until there was no 'dirt' left? I saw someone's thread posted with photos building a tank with SMS. If you only have a small amount of water over the SMS (an inch or two) and leave it for a day, the 'dust' will settle. If forget if this was before or after putting the plants in.

Jane, you also use SoilMaster Select in your outdoor gardening correct? 
Something about flowers on a hill behind your place.


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