Diver's Paradise: The Sequel (Vacation Pics pg. 48!)

[Chris!]

Yeah, I think it will be fun. I spoke with Redneck and one of their regular employees for quite a while at MACNA and they were super cool. Very different than how they're portrayed on the show and they seem much more knowledgeable about the hobby than the show makes them out to be. They get a lot of hate, but I think its still a pretty cool company. I'll take some photos to share with you guys.

 

Yeah the show is really more for entertainment purposes, alot of people that talk bad about the show shouldn't play violent video games either lol I look forward to seeing the pics, hopefully they don't mind photos I know some places even that show alot of tv don't allow it

 

Ha! Its so nice to lay by the pool with a cocktail and a good book. Alcohol and a good book is my favorite way to unwind. I've always been a bit of a book worm though, so yep, I'm a nerd and I'm ok with this

 

Nothing wrong with that

 

Thanks! Its not nearly as exciting as it sounds most of the time I'm in the Materials Science and Engineering department. I work on developing polymer-based biomaterials for preventing/repairing heart muscle damage from heart attacks. Yeah, I'm being optimistic about this exam, but I have to be realistic about it too so I'm not too devastated if I fail the first time. A lot of very smart people I know have failed their first try and then done great the second time, so I'm ok with that if it happens.

 

May not be the most exciting to many, but sounds extremely important to those who need it! Coming from a long line of heart failure, heart attacks and all that lovely stuff... Thank you in advance

 

Thank you for the support everyone! It went really well! So glad to have that out of the way. Now its time for VIVA LAS VEGAS!!!

 

Glad to hear it went really good!!!! Is it safe to say you passed or is there a waiting period before you know for sure?

[1.0reef]

Hey Felicia, I know you've been to Baja Reef and was wondering if you knew anything about this.

[Felicia]

Alright, so now that I've recovered a bit from my Vegas trip, how about some photos? I promised photos of my visit to Acrylic Tank Manufacturing (ATM), so here they are!

 

Out front of their store.

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With one of the display tanks.

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Their retail tank, which was pretty lame. Just some shrimp and basic fish.

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Coral retail tank.

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Bettas

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Does anyone recognize this tank from the show?

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The manufacturing area.

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They have a pot belly pig at ATM named Kevin Bacon, haha!

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One of the many parrots at ATM.

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So many parrots.

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He was shredding a box

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One of the parrots taking a shower, ha!

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[Felicia]

And how about some more aquarium-related photos? We went to the Shark Reef Aquarium in Mandalay Bay.

 

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Me with some lionfish.

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Komodo Dragon

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Cute lizard

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Horseshoe crabs!

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Stingray mouth

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My, what big teeth you have!

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Turtle!

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Me photographing the turtle.

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Anyone who was at MACNA will get this one. #ROSSING!

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[Felicia]

How about a few more photos from the trip?

 

We went for the Route 91 Harvest Festival, which was 3 days of country music outdoors on the Vegas Strip. You can see our hotel, Mandalay Bay, behind the stage.

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Randy Houser

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Blake Shelton

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Dierks Bentley

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Miranda Lambert

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Jason Aldean

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Rockin' the cowboy hat!

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And the cowboy boots!

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Amazing view from the hotel room.

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View from the top of Mandalay Bay.

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So much amazing food and drinks!

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[Felicia]

In actual tank news (although not reef tanks haha!), I decided to upgrade the betta tank. The plants were crazy overgrowing that tiny tank, which was limiting the swimming room for the betta and my mini pleco, so I decided it was time to get them a slightly larger tank. A quick trip to a local LFS and I found this nice rimless 4 gallon with rounded front corners.

 

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I spray painted the back, added plant substrate, and hooked up the equipment. I'm running the same heater and 6500K 9 Watt compact fluorescent clamp light as on the smaller tank. For filtration, I decided to add an AC20 with the sponge, carbon, and bio-media. Sorry the water is so cloudy. That happened from adding the fluorite substrate and hasn't cleared up yet.

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Since this tank is a bit larger, I decided to add 2 tiny corydoras catfish, which are one of my favorite freshwater fish.

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The betta is loving having so much more swimming space.

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I added a few plants today.

 

Peacock Fern

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Driftwood

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Rosette sword and anubias

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Java fern

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[Felicia]

And finally, a halfway decent shot of my green dragon pleco.

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[Chris!]

Looks like you guys had an amazing time

 

The FW tank aint so bad either lol

[Felicia]

Looks like you guys had an amazing time

 

The FW tank aint so bad either lol

We did! It was such a fun weekend

 

Glad you aren't too bummed those aren't reef tank photos Gotta give the little FW planted tank some love.

[Chris!]

We did! It was such a fun weekend

 

Hit the tables pretty good too??

 

Glad you aren't too bummed those aren't reef tank photos Gotta give the little FW planted tank some love.

 

I think most of us have had a FW tank at some point, they are still alright in my book..... now quite the colors a SW reef has but still better then nothing

[Felicia]

Hit the tables pretty good too??

 

 

I think most of us have had a FW tank at some point, they are still alright in my book..... now quite the colors a SW reef has but still better then nothing

I'm not much of a gambler, but we hung out in the casino for a while one evening. Eddie did pretty awesome playing craps and blackjack

 

I got the FW tank for my desk at work because I wanted a small tank on my desk, but didn't want the maintenance of a saltwater tank at another location. The last thing I wanted was to need salt, refractometer, 2-part, etc in two different places (home and work). Plus I missed my zen freshwater tanks. They're not as colorful, but they have that relaxing underwater forest feel. Plus, FW has plecos which I have always loved.

[Chris!]

I'm not much of a gambler, but we hung out in the casino for a while one evening. Eddie did pretty awesome playing craps and blackjack

 

They let a pro play blackjack at the regular tables even when hes not on tour? Eddie knows what I'm talkin about lol

 

I got the FW tank for my desk at work because I wanted a small tank on my desk, but didn't want the maintenance of a saltwater tank at another location. The last thing I wanted was to need salt, refractometer, 2-part, etc in two different places (home and work). Plus I missed my zen freshwater tanks. They're not as colorful, but they have that relaxing underwater forest feel. Plus, FW has plecos which I have always loved.

 

Totally understandable on not wanting all that in 2 places or to have to remember to bring it to work all the time. Plecos are pretty cool tho, my parents had renters when I was a kid that had a huuuuugggee like 15" pleco in a 20 long it was crazy.... that and a probably 10" "iridescent shark" lol

[Mr. Microscope]

Fun pics! That picture with those horseshoe crabs (scandalous pic BTW ) reminded me that I had a dream the other night that I had one of those in my tank. lol. How's your's doing BTW?

[Felicia]

They let a pro play blackjack at the regular tables even when hes not on tour? Eddie knows what I'm talkin about lol

 

 

Totally understandable on not wanting all that in 2 places or to have to remember to bring it to work all the time. Plecos are pretty cool tho, my parents had renters when I was a kid that had a huuuuugggee like 15" pleco in a 20 long it was crazy.... that and a probably 10" "iridescent shark" lol

Ha! Yeah I am clueless when it comes to gambling and it stresses me out. I mostly just watched and served as "arm candy" haha!

 

Yeah, plecos can get massive like that. I had one that got huge in my 10 gallon growing up. I gave it to my friend with a 55 gallon after that and by the time it died, it was like 18" long, which is still small for a standard pleco. The pleco I have now is a bristlenose species, so they max out around 6 inches and they're much slower growers. Iridescent shark...haha! Gotta love all the weird little FW species that no one even knows what they really are. I had red tail sharks when I was young...not remotely sharks, but actually in the carp family.

 

Fun pics! That picture with those horseshoe crabs (scandalous pic BTW ) reminded me that I had a dream the other night that I had one of those in my tank. lol. How's your's doing BTW?

Thanks! Yep, those hoseshoe crabs are getting it on They had a bunch of them in their touch tank and all of them were breeding. Must be that time of the year. Unfortunately, mine got itself flipped on its back while I was away for 24 hours, so I didn't see it and flip it like I normally do. He got beat up/eaten by the fish and hermit crabs They're apparently like astrea snails on that front, which is an annoying evolutionary flaw.

[owenj]

Love the pics. That potbelly pig! So cute.

& that totally reminds me that I need to work over my betta's planted 5gal. It's a jungle in there.

[Zia]

Hit the tables pretty good too??

Because of lady luck next to me. Never done so well for playing such a short amount of time. Walked away with a nice bank roll that evening

 

They let a pro play blackjack at the regular tables even when hes not on tour? Eddie knows what I'm talkin about lol

They just didn't let me in the poker room

 

Now i'd love to have his bank roll! One day...

 

 

 

Ha! Yeah I am clueless when it comes to gambling and it stresses me out. I mostly just watched and served as "arm candy" haha!

Pfft...You did good You even played roulette and came out better than me. But yes, you looked aH-Mazing in that little # you were wearing

[FlowerMama]

Definitely looks like a fun trip. Thanks for sharing. Looking at the food you ate made me hungry!! And you look so pretty decked out in skirt & all, nails all pretty.

[Felicia]

Love the pics. That potbelly pig! So cute.

& that totally reminds me that I need to work over my betta's planted 5gal. It's a jungle in there.

Kevin Bacon was pretty adorable. He rolled over for a belly rub Too bad they get huge! He's only 7 months old.

 

Yeah, my betta tank was a neglected disaster, which helped spur the upgrade

 

Because of lady luck next to me. Never done so well for playing such a short amount of time. Walked away with a nice bank roll that evening

Pfft...You did good You even played roulette and came out better than me. But yes, you looked aH-Mazing in that little # you were wearing

You're too sweet. Gambling is not my thing. It stresses me out. But I enjoyed watching

 

Definitely looks like a fun trip. Thanks for sharing. Looking at the food you ate made me hungry!! And you look so pretty decked out in skirt & all, nails all pretty.

It was an amazing trip! Thanks, Annette! It was nice to have an excuse to get all dressed up

 

I have a few more photos of the freshwater tank. The water is slowly clearing up, but its still a bit cloudy. Not sure why its taking so long to clear up, especially since I'm running carbon. Anyways, I picked up the last of the plants, so its all set now. I also picked up a tiny panda cory, so I have a little school of 3 of them.

 

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I had a custom glass lid cut because I don't want to lose any fish to jumping or have Lily playing in the tank.

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I'm running an Aquaclear 20 with the standard media on this little tank.

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New plants!

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And the tiny panda cory.

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For the Lily fans...here's the cutie pie sunning herself on my bed this morning.

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[Mirya]

Love the planted FW tank. It looks like such a nice home for a Betta compared to how so many poor Bettas are housed. What do you find helps you be successful with maintaining a planted tank? Back in my FW days I always failed at keeping live plants. Granted this was 20 years ago, and I don't think I knew anything as a teenager about TDS (and I know the water in my hometown was super hard) or other nutrients.

 

Thanks for the Lily update aka Lily looking gorgeous and knowing it. I've been out of state all week on a job interview (I've actually been in your neck of the woods! Interviewing in Davis and visiting my sister who is interning in Cupertino), and sorely miss my husband, cat, and fish. At least said husband has been texting me lots of pictures.

[Cameron6796]

Love the planted FW tank. It looks like such a nice home for a Betta compared to how so many poor Bettas are housed. What do you find helps you be successful with maintaining a planted tank? Back in my FW days I always failed at keeping live plants. Granted this was 20 years ago, and I don't think I knew anything as a teenager about TDS (and I know the water in my hometown was super hard) or other nutrients. Thanks for the Lily update aka Lily looking gorgeous and knowing it. I've been out of state all week on a job interview (I've actually been in your neck of the woods! Interviewing in Davis and visiting my sister who is interning in Cupertino), and sorely miss my husband, cat, and fish. At least said husband has been texting me lots of pictures.

Yeah I can't keep any live plants except for some little more terrestrial plant but everything even hogwart died on me

 

I have a fluval edge though so I mostly blame the light

[Felicia]

Love the planted FW tank. It looks like such a nice home for a Betta compared to how so many poor Bettas are housed. What do you find helps you be successful with maintaining a planted tank? Back in my FW days I always failed at keeping live plants. Granted this was 20 years ago, and I don't think I knew anything as a teenager about TDS (and I know the water in my hometown was super hard) or other nutrients.

Thank you! Yeah, considering the amount of effort that goes into the reef tanks, its hard to house the betta in a sad little betta bowl. Honestly, I'm very new to FW planted tanks. I had FW tanks my whole life, but I never had many plants, just a few here and there. I was more into the fish at the time. My first big venture into plants was with this betta tank, which was originally a 7" cube tank that I set up about a year and a half ago. I lost about 50% of the first plants I tried to keep and have since realized that if you're not going to do a high tech planted tank, you have to stick to some super easy plant species.

 

I spoke some with a local store that specializes in planted tanks, and they highly recommend having a compressed CO2 cylinder if you want to have success with most species. However, if you want to do low-tech (no CO2, low lighting, and low dosing), then there are some easy plant species that do well. I've personally had good luck with java moss and swords, which were what were thriving in the 7" cube tank. I wanted to get new plants for the upgraded tank, so I tried to stick to the species that are known to do well in low-tech tanks. Swords, anubius, baby tears, and java ferns are all supposed to be super easy. I also grabbed a couple others that the LFS recommended as easy. So we'll see which ones do well for me. I'll keep you all posted. I did hear that you should definitely stay away from any red or orange plants. Those are supposed to be super hard and need high light, CO2, and iron dosing.

 

http://clubfauna.com/articles/fishaquatic/best-freshwater-aquarium-plants-for-beginners/

 

I'll keep you all posted on how the plants are doing, but for the time being, here's the details on what I'm doing for equipment, dosing, and maintenance.

 

Lighting: 9 Watt 6500K Compact Fluorescent

Filtration/Flow: Aquaclear 20 with sponge, carbon, and biomax media

Heater: 25W Hagen Elite set at 78F

Substrate: Fluorite Dark, 2" deep

Water Treatment: Tap Water + Seachem Prime

Fertilizer: 2 Seachem Flourish Tabs in the substrate and occasional dosing of liquid Seachem Flourish

CO2: Daily (if I remember) dosing of liquid Seachem Flourish Excel

 

Thanks for the Lily update aka Lily looking gorgeous and knowing it. I've been out of state all week on a job interview (I've actually been in your neck of the woods! Interviewing in Davis and visiting my sister who is interning in Cupertino), and sorely miss my husband, cat, and fish. At least said husband has been texting me lots of pictures.

She definitely knows how to look pretty I'm sure you're missing your husband and pets! Lily actually came from a rescue up in Davis. So what job were you interviewing for? Is there a potential you could be moving out to my neck of the woods?

 

Yeah I can't keep any live plants except for some little more terrestrial plant but everything even hogwart died on me

 

I have a fluval edge though so I mostly blame the light

Yeah plants are WAY harder than you'd think. I'm just trying to stick to the super easy species. I bet upgrading the light would help you quite a bit. I just have a little 9 watt compact fluorescent that seems to work really well.

[Zia]

I'll keep y'all posted

 

Fixed that for ya

[Mirya]

Thanks for all the background on FW planted! Its amazing how much work goes into it. I look forward to seeing how the Betta tank's plants go for you.

 

She definitely knows how to look pretty I'm sure you're missing your husband and pets! Lily actually came from a rescue up in Davis. So what job were you interviewing for? Is there a potential you could be moving out to my neck of the woods?

 

I interviewed for a faculty position at UC-Davis. Given the speed at which university faculty searches move, I probably won't hear anything until mid-to-late November. I know they have a few other candidates coming in to interview at the end of October.

 

Even if I don't get the Davis job, my sister is trying really hard to land a position at Apple corporate. She had been working in a retail store in Chicago for a few years, but came out to Cupertino this summer for an internship. She has been having a great time and is happy to be doing something outside of retail that actually uses her degree. She has a bunch of interviews lined up for next week.

 

I had my sister swing me by California Reef Company on the way to the airport this morning. I picked up a few zoas. We'll see how they like the flight home, since currently I am in airport delay limbo...

[FlowerMama]

Looking forward to seeing what you picked up for the long flight home.

[RollaJase]

Looks like you and Eddie had an awesome time Felicia! I'm so jealous that you got to go see ATM, I really must try to fit it in when I got to Vegas in January.