Now We have some works.....i am fell by tired but i go to
working to complete the first grow bed....
And At morning i go to finish the end touch ...
If you feel with healing illness ... Thank God for everything
.....
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Tampilkan postingan dengan label story. Tampilkan semua postingan
Jumat, 29 April 2016
Rabu, 13 April 2016
Fish Fetching Fail 2013
I took a half day off yesterday to go to Boulder to get my 50 new baby trout. Had the trash can cinched down tightly. Had my inverter, air pump, and duct tape.
It was so exciting seeing the 50 baby fish swimming around in their little bucket before we headed out. I couldnt wait to get home and get some pictures...theyre just so cute!
After a 2+ hour drive from Boulder, at least half of which was spent in a pretty major rain storm (yay, rain! boo, low visibility), I ran in the house to grab my cameras. When I removed the lid, my heart sank....all but five or six of my new babies were lying at the bottom of the trash can, not moving. :-(
I started scooping them out so I could move them to the big tank to see if any could be revived. After several minutes, out of 50 fish, only ten survived. Worse than the dumped-out-in-the-bed-of-a-hot-truck-in-the-scorching-sun episode of last year! The only thing I can think of is that when I put the air tubes into the trash can for transportation, I didnt put the air rocks on them because they were kind of gummy and I was afraid they would get less air that way. Instead, the rocks werent there to weigh them down, so I think the tubes popped up to the top of the water and blew out into the air instead of into the water. So sad seeing all those cute little rainbows dead. :-(
Today, on the way home from work, I decided to cheer myself up, so I stopped at PetSmart and bought three small koi fish to put in the tank with the trout. Koi can survive cold (even freezing) water, so I figured why not add some color to my sad little tank of survivors.
As soon as I added them to the tank, the koi swam right over to the group of trout. The trout were like, "whuuuuttt???" and swam away. But within a few minutes, they were all hanging out together like a nice blended family. Dont ask me how I am going to "harvest" one set of fish and keep the others. Or how I will explain the sudden disappearance to my Koi babies. One day at a time...
I tried to get some video of the new fish. Sorry for the awful cinematography - trying to hold the aquarium light just right, while ducking under the grow beds and holding the camera steady. Hopefully no one gets sea sick from watching this.
Continue reading
It was so exciting seeing the 50 baby fish swimming around in their little bucket before we headed out. I couldnt wait to get home and get some pictures...theyre just so cute!
After a 2+ hour drive from Boulder, at least half of which was spent in a pretty major rain storm (yay, rain! boo, low visibility), I ran in the house to grab my cameras. When I removed the lid, my heart sank....all but five or six of my new babies were lying at the bottom of the trash can, not moving. :-(
I started scooping them out so I could move them to the big tank to see if any could be revived. After several minutes, out of 50 fish, only ten survived. Worse than the dumped-out-in-the-bed-of-a-hot-truck-in-the-scorching-sun episode of last year! The only thing I can think of is that when I put the air tubes into the trash can for transportation, I didnt put the air rocks on them because they were kind of gummy and I was afraid they would get less air that way. Instead, the rocks werent there to weigh them down, so I think the tubes popped up to the top of the water and blew out into the air instead of into the water. So sad seeing all those cute little rainbows dead. :-(
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| One of the babies - This is how big Fatty McFish was when I got her last year. |
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| Zipped up bag of fish failure - I read that if you fry them up crisp enough, its easier to get the tiny bones out. Worth a shot. Or I guess I could boil them for fish stock - yum! :-{ |
Today, on the way home from work, I decided to cheer myself up, so I stopped at PetSmart and bought three small koi fish to put in the tank with the trout. Koi can survive cold (even freezing) water, so I figured why not add some color to my sad little tank of survivors.
As soon as I added them to the tank, the koi swam right over to the group of trout. The trout were like, "whuuuuttt???" and swam away. But within a few minutes, they were all hanging out together like a nice blended family. Dont ask me how I am going to "harvest" one set of fish and keep the others. Or how I will explain the sudden disappearance to my Koi babies. One day at a time...
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| Trout and Koi Buddies |
Jumat, 25 Maret 2016
Strawberries in December
Last winter, I didnt get any plants because there was a big gap in the dog door that allowed sub-zero winds to blow into the room. I dont know how cold it got, but it was cold enough that nothing grew.
We replaced the dog door this year, and, after a mostly unproductive summer (too hot), Im actually getting strawberries! I bought a cheap thermometer that records high/low temperatures over a 24-hour period. So far, even with outside temperatures approaching zero, the room temperature has only gone as low as 48 degrees Fahrenheit.
Ive only got a few strawberries and a couple of basil plants. In November, I had a cantaloupe plant that actually flowered, but then it wilted. Because Ive only got one fish left, I turned off the water flow to the bed that the cantaloupe was growing in.
Continue reading
We replaced the dog door this year, and, after a mostly unproductive summer (too hot), Im actually getting strawberries! I bought a cheap thermometer that records high/low temperatures over a 24-hour period. So far, even with outside temperatures approaching zero, the room temperature has only gone as low as 48 degrees Fahrenheit.
Ive only got a few strawberries and a couple of basil plants. In November, I had a cantaloupe plant that actually flowered, but then it wilted. Because Ive only got one fish left, I turned off the water flow to the bed that the cantaloupe was growing in.
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| Aquaponic Strawberries - December 2012 |
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| Aquaponic Basil |
My lone trout is getting pretty big. I havent decided what to name him. "Silvery 1" doesnt sound right. Hes kind of fat, so I thought about "Fatty," but I decided that was a bad idea, since the grow lights in my window already have my neighbors suspicious. Maybe "Big Fat Grandpa Fish." The bigger he gets, the harder it is for me to think about...harvesting...him. Ill probably get a new batch of little trout in the spring. I hope he doesnt become Big Fat Bully Fish.
I tried to take some video of him, but he just sat there...until I brought out the still camera and the flash freaked him out and he wouldnt sit still. Crazy fish.
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| Big Fat Grandpa Fish |
Kamis, 24 Maret 2016
May 2014 Update
Ive still got five trout in the tank. I threw a bunch of wildflower seeds in one bed, just to see what happens. The plants have grown, but no flowers, probably due to the cold water temps. Now that its starting to warm up, I expect the cilantro to grow a lot more quickly, and maybe I will get some flowers. Because we dont have A/C and we heat mostly with a wood stove, the temperatures inside the house arent as constant as they would be with central hear and air, so the water temperature fluctuates with the seasons.
Instead of typing a bunch of stuff, this time I decided to just narrate the video. Not sure if anyone can understand my mumbling over the sound of the water draining...
UPDATE: After I uploaded this, I watched it and realized you probably cant hear anything I say, so heres a rough transcript:
Me: "Blah blah fish blah blah....I still have five fish....one is a lot bigger than the other. Lets feed them. They love dried meal worms....blah blah blah....
Here are the plant beds."
Cat in the backgroud: "meow."
Me: "In the left plant bed, I planted a bunch of wildflower seeds. They havent produced any flowers yet, probably because the water is too cold. Oh, that looks like some little flowers coming in. In the right plant bed, I have some basil and cilantro. And here is Armando, the fish keeper."
Continue reading
Instead of typing a bunch of stuff, this time I decided to just narrate the video. Not sure if anyone can understand my mumbling over the sound of the water draining...
UPDATE: After I uploaded this, I watched it and realized you probably cant hear anything I say, so heres a rough transcript:
Me: "Blah blah fish blah blah....I still have five fish....one is a lot bigger than the other. Lets feed them. They love dried meal worms....blah blah blah....
Here are the plant beds."
Cat in the backgroud: "meow."
Me: "In the left plant bed, I planted a bunch of wildflower seeds. They havent produced any flowers yet, probably because the water is too cold. Oh, that looks like some little flowers coming in. In the right plant bed, I have some basil and cilantro. And here is Armando, the fish keeper."
Jumat, 11 Maret 2016
A Fish Story
About a month ago, I decided it was time to get more fish. I had cleaned out the tank, just in case there was any fish disease (even though I was 99% sure the fish deaths were due to user error) and cycled the tank.
I made the trip to Liley Fisheries in Boulder to pick up 50 - 2"-4" rainbow trout. Boulder isnt really too far from Colorado Springs, but going through Denver - AHH!!! What a headache. It seems more like L.A. every time I have to drive through there. Although, at least when traffic stops in Denver, theres usually a reason for it. It just might take you an hour to drive the ten miles to find out what the reason is. Anyway, the point is that picking up the fish is pretty much a journey.
I arrived at Liley and the nice man there filled up my fish "tank" (trash can) with water, poured in the fish, and I was off. I got about 3/4 of the way home when I decided to pull off the freeway and get a soda. When I pulled off, everything was fine until I pulled out from the stop sign. Thats when I found out that I had not properly secured my cargo. The barrel fell over, dumping all of the water AND the fish in the bed of the truck!!! I went about a half mile and pulled into a Safeway parking lot. The baby fish were flopping all over the bed of the truck. I climbed into the bed, set the barrel upright, and tossed all of the fish into the empty barrel. Even though I figured they would all be dead, I ran into the store (my pants were soaking wet with stinky fish water BTW), bought eight gallons of distilled water, ran back out to the truck and poured the water into the barrel. At this point, I was thoroughly discouraged, and decided that I was going to give up the fish part and just do hydroponics because I couldnt handle another four-hour round trip to get more fish.
When I got home, I dragged the barrel out of the truck, trying to figure out what to do with it, when I noticed one little shadow moving around near the surface of the water. I started taking out dead fish and noticed that there were still several fish struggling, but still swimming and breathing. I scooped the live fish into their new home, but judging by their appearance, I didnt expect them to survive more than an hour or two. I had to take my son to youth group, so I changed and left, expecting to find a bunch of dead fish floating at the top of the tank when I got home. When I got back home that evening, I was shocked to see fifteen fish swimming around the tank, looking nice and healthy.
One month later, those same fifteen fish are still alive and well. At the time of my fish disaster, I would have been pretty happy if just one or two fish had survived, but to have almost 25% of the original 50 fish survive for at least ten minutes out of water, and survive the stress of the ordeal...that still amazes me! My miracle fish are getting fat and sassy, as you can see in this video. The water has been too cold for algae, so its a lot clearer than it was in the last tank.
On the plant side of the house, not much activity until lately. Even though I added some fluorescent grow lights, the water and air temperature in the room were too cold. The dog door in the room had a little strip of rubber around the edges that gets pulled off when the dogs come in the room. For most of the winter, the "arctic" air from outside was blowing in through this gap in the door. A few weeks ago, my husband replaced the dog door, so the room stays a lot warmer. Plus, I think (hope) the sub-zero temperatures are gone for the year. Here are some pictures of the plants.
The beans below are a good example of how important temperature is when growing plants. When I planted bush beans this summer, they sprouted in about three days, then grew like crazy. I planted these several months ago. It took 2-3 months just to see sprouts, and these have been about the same size for at least two weeks now. Not that the water temperature is closer to 50+ Fahrenheit, I think the plants will start to grow.
Continue reading
I made the trip to Liley Fisheries in Boulder to pick up 50 - 2"-4" rainbow trout. Boulder isnt really too far from Colorado Springs, but going through Denver - AHH!!! What a headache. It seems more like L.A. every time I have to drive through there. Although, at least when traffic stops in Denver, theres usually a reason for it. It just might take you an hour to drive the ten miles to find out what the reason is. Anyway, the point is that picking up the fish is pretty much a journey.
I arrived at Liley and the nice man there filled up my fish "tank" (trash can) with water, poured in the fish, and I was off. I got about 3/4 of the way home when I decided to pull off the freeway and get a soda. When I pulled off, everything was fine until I pulled out from the stop sign. Thats when I found out that I had not properly secured my cargo. The barrel fell over, dumping all of the water AND the fish in the bed of the truck!!! I went about a half mile and pulled into a Safeway parking lot. The baby fish were flopping all over the bed of the truck. I climbed into the bed, set the barrel upright, and tossed all of the fish into the empty barrel. Even though I figured they would all be dead, I ran into the store (my pants were soaking wet with stinky fish water BTW), bought eight gallons of distilled water, ran back out to the truck and poured the water into the barrel. At this point, I was thoroughly discouraged, and decided that I was going to give up the fish part and just do hydroponics because I couldnt handle another four-hour round trip to get more fish.
When I got home, I dragged the barrel out of the truck, trying to figure out what to do with it, when I noticed one little shadow moving around near the surface of the water. I started taking out dead fish and noticed that there were still several fish struggling, but still swimming and breathing. I scooped the live fish into their new home, but judging by their appearance, I didnt expect them to survive more than an hour or two. I had to take my son to youth group, so I changed and left, expecting to find a bunch of dead fish floating at the top of the tank when I got home. When I got back home that evening, I was shocked to see fifteen fish swimming around the tank, looking nice and healthy.
One month later, those same fifteen fish are still alive and well. At the time of my fish disaster, I would have been pretty happy if just one or two fish had survived, but to have almost 25% of the original 50 fish survive for at least ten minutes out of water, and survive the stress of the ordeal...that still amazes me! My miracle fish are getting fat and sassy, as you can see in this video. The water has been too cold for algae, so its a lot clearer than it was in the last tank.
On the plant side of the house, not much activity until lately. Even though I added some fluorescent grow lights, the water and air temperature in the room were too cold. The dog door in the room had a little strip of rubber around the edges that gets pulled off when the dogs come in the room. For most of the winter, the "arctic" air from outside was blowing in through this gap in the door. A few weeks ago, my husband replaced the dog door, so the room stays a lot warmer. Plus, I think (hope) the sub-zero temperatures are gone for the year. Here are some pictures of the plants.
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| Plants look a lot greener with the extra light - before, they were a sickly yellow color |
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| Broccoli |
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| Cilantro |
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| Bush beans |
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