Well, time for another update on my challenge fish. Seems like I've had them longer than since May 21st but that's all it has been. The fish have been doing very well. They're still eating like pigs on a variety of beef heart, bloodworms, two types of ON flakes, and color bits. Been trying to get them to take brine shrimp but they don't really go for it. They'll eventually eat them but not with the gusto they go for the other foods. Beef heart is definitely their favorite. So far it has been the purchase variety by SF but I bought a heart and some shrimp so I'm going to try and make a batch of my own.
Tank parameter really haven't changed since the last update except the nitrates appear to have dropped with the frequent water changes. I have to wonder how accurate the tests are though at the low values that the challenge fish are being kept at. I got the issue resolved with the lights that I thought were too bright. I followed Als advise and used some foil that I cut holes in to allow varying degrees of light. Half the tank has few holes to create a darker area while the other half of the tank is brighter due to having more holes. Al suggested that the holes could be cut in the shape of leaves. Let's just say that I didn't go there. :) The idea worked out well in my opinion.
Had my first mishap last night while doing a water change. The fill hose going to my storage tank came out somehow and was dumping the water onto the basement floor. Luckily I caught it fairly quickly so I didn't have too much water to squeegee to the drain. Even more luckily my wife was in bed asleep when it happened. I really need to get the entire setup completed so that I don't all the temp hoses on the floor. So far I haven't heard too much complaining about it.
The one other thing I want to do is come up with some way of tracking their size without pulling them out for measurement. I know a lot of people do that but I'm just not that comfortable yet and maybe never will be. I thought about putting a disk of appropriate diameter on the tank for size reference. Not sure though so I've come up with another idea that I'm going to try out and see what the forum thinks.
Again, as I've said before (as have all the other challenge contestants) many, many thanks to Al, Kenny and Forrest. I really do appreciate this opportunity. Well, without further ado, here's the pics for the week.
http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/o...8/th_001-2.jpg
http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/o...8/th_002-2.jpg
http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/o...8/th_003-2.jpg
http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/o...8/th_001-1.jpg
http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/o...8/th_004-1.jpg
Take care everyone,
Kirk
