Dawn's seahorse garden. Farewell 36g bowfront!

[gena]

Oh so I know you mentioned before that when you are driving through states on your motorcycles...part of the wonder is the scents of each state. Did you notice that again this time? Is there a strong pine/wood smell in Wyoming and Idaho. I know when we went to Yosemite it was such a heavy smell .

[vlangel]

This pretty little super clean stream and others like it run all through Yellowstone.

Oh so I know you mentioned before that when you are driving through states on your motorcycles...part of the wonder is the scents of each state. Did you notice that again this time? Is there a strong pine/wood smell in Wyoming and Idaho. I know when we went to Yosemite it was such a heavy smell .

Yes, there was a lot of scents this trip as well. Of course in Yellowstone in some sections is a strong sulfur smell. I remember a definite pine aroma in Washington state. And corn in Nebraska even though it is still small.

We saw a multitude of elk but this guy had antlers to impress!

Our last destination was the motorcycle museum in Anamosa, Iowa.

[gena]

This pretty little super clean stream and others like it run all through Yellowstone.

 

Yes, there was a lot of scents this trip as well. Of course in Yellowstone in some sections is a strong sulfur smell. I remember a definite pine aroma in Washington state. And corn in Nebraska even though it is still small.

So pretty yet so stinky LOL. I've never been to Yellowstone but I've read a lot about it .

[vlangel]

If you love motorcycles the way I do, then this is a must see. They have all the different types and all different vintages with all the different applications from the rocketship bikes that raced on the salt flats, to speed track racing, cafe racing, motorcross racing and hill climbing, (which is what I did as a kid). It was so cool to see all that history. I loved it.

So pretty yet so stinky LOL. I've never been to Yellowstone but I've read a lot about it .

Its not all stinky, just certain spots. Some of it is so spectacular that neither words nor pictures do it justice.

So concludes my motorcycle roadtrip. Hope you enjoyed it!

[vlangel]

Kind of like my seahorse tank, my flower garden was a beautiful hot mess. I had not asked my sister to water or weed it because she was doing enough taking care of my fish tanks. I figured whatever I came home to I would accept. I was pleased to see lush thriving flowers amongst weeds. It took me 2 days to get things in order but I am happy.

[vlangel]

After 2 water changes, syphoning some cyano out and a cursory glass cleaning the seahorse tank is only a luke warm mess now, LOL!

[gena]

After 2 water changes, syphoning some cyano out and a cursory glass cleaning the seahorse tank is only a luke warm mess now, LOL!

Awww..I've missed your tank!!! So nice to see it again .

[Felicia]

Glad to hear you had such a great trip, Dawn! That's some serious mileage! I'm very impressed. Such a cool way to see and experience different parts of the country. I bet that drive down through Tahoe on a motorcycle was just amazing (minus being cold). That are is so scenic and I love driving through there!

 

Also glad to see that your tank is doing well. Your sister sounds like a very capable tank sitter Tanks are always such a hot mess after vacation aren't they? I'll have been gone for 3 weeks when I get back from this trip and I'm sure I'll have to do some serious scrubbing on mine to get it back in ship shape. Your tank is looking amazing for being post-vacation! Nice to see the seahorse right up front like, "You're home! Feed me!"

[teenyreef]

Welcome back! Love the vacation pictures, especially Yellowstone.

[vlangel]

Awww..I've missed your tank!!! So nice to see it again .

Thanks Gena. Its not as striking as it was at the end of last year when I lost a few of my vibrant coral, (like the yellow polyps)buts its doing fine so I am ok with it.

[vlangel]

Glad to hear you had such a great trip, Dawn! That's some serious mileage! I'm very impressed. Such a cool way to see and experience different parts of the country. I bet that drive down through Tahoe on a motorcycle was just amazing (minus being cold). That are is so scenic and I love driving through there!

 

Also glad to see that your tank is doing well. Your sister sounds like a very capable tank sitter Tanks are always such a hot mess after vacation aren't they? I'll have been gone for 3 weeks when I get back from this trip and I'm sure I'll have to do some serious scrubbing on mine to get it back in ship shape. Your tank is looking amazing for being post-vacation! Nice to see the seahorse right up front like, "You're home! Feed me!"

Yes, I am almost getting too old to do that kind of a trip or at least that fast. We were doing 500 miles a day and I got very sick from dehydration one night. Its hard to make that kind of mileage when you are stopping to use a bathroom all the time so I was drinking 5 hour energies to reduce my fluid intake. That was a bad move and I wont make that mistake again. We are looking into riding to Alaska next summer. I think I have 1 more really big ride left in me!

 

I was so happy to see the ponies looking fit and fat that I didn't care that the tank was a hot mess. I never want anyone to clean the glass on my aquarium because then any scratches on it are what I have done. Scratched glass is scratched forever so I just wait til I get home to tackle that. It does make the tank look rough though.

 

I hope you come home to a tank in good shape too with happy hungry fish. I hope you are having a great time too.

Welcome back! Love the vacation pictures, especially Yellowstone.

 

Thanks teeny, its great to be home and settling back in. I am glad you liked the pics and yes, Yellowstone is a very special place. Everyone should see it sometime in their life.

[Felicia]

Yes, I am almost getting too old to do that kind of a trip or at least that fast. We were doing 500 miles a day and I got very sick from dehydration one night. Its hard to make that kind of mileage when you are stopping to use a bathroom all the time so I was drinking 5 hour energies to reduce my fluid intake. That was a bad move and I wont make that mistake again. We are looking into riding to Alaska next summer. I think I have 1 more really big ride left in me!

 

I was so happy to see the ponies looking fit and fat that I didn't care that the tank was a hot mess. I never want anyone to clean the glass on my aquarium because then any scratches on it are what I have done. Scratched glass is scratched forever so I just wait til I get home to tackle that. It does make the tank look rough though.

I definitely don't think you're getting too old! I'd be pretty worn out myself after all that! I know plenty of young people who wouldn't be able to handle a trip like that! A trip to Alaska sounds amazing! I've been up there once and it is so stunningly beautiful. I bet riding motorcycles will allow you to enjoy the scenery even more. Sounds like a dream vacation for you! I'm sure you can handle that one more big ride!

 

That's all that matters is the health of the fish and corals! I always tell my tank sitters not to worry about glass scraping or anything. As long as I come home to healthy fish and happy corals, I don't care about the mess. I just know I'll have to do a deep cleaning when I get home. My tank is definitely a hot mess at the moment. I keep checking in on my WiFi camera and its getting hard to see anything because of the algae on the glass. Your tank looks amazing after your TLC, so I'll call that a successful vacation

[Orangutran]

Looks like you enjoyed your road trip! Besides the dehydration, hopefully no other issues. Looking forward to more pics.

 

Trip to Alaska sounds amazing! Don't forget to ride thru Banff on the way there!!

[vlangel]

Looks like you enjoyed your road trip! Besides the dehydration, hopefully no other issues. Looking forward to more pics.

 

Trip to Alaska sounds amazing! Don't forget to ride thru Banff on the way there!!

 

Yes I am back to full strength. I will have to look up Banff and see if that is possible.

Squeezing some seahorse tank maintenance in between visiting and advocating for an older aunt in the hospital. We are also keeping her little schnaunzer until she is back to full strength. All is well with the ponies.

[Felicia]

Sorry to hear about your aunt! I hope she gets better soon. I love schnauzers. We had when I was growing up and he was such a great dog

 

Have fun with the maintenance! That's what I've been doing yesterday and today as well. Gotta get everything back in good shape after vacation.

[vlangel]

Sorry to hear about your aunt! I hope she gets better soon. I love schnauzers. We had when I was growing up and he was such a great dog

 

Have fun with the maintenance! That's what I've been doing yesterday and today as well. Gotta get everything back in good shape after vacation.

Thanks Felicia. Yeah, poor Aunt Pat...she has had spinal stenosis for 25 years and she had a fluke fall and now her back, neck and shoulders are in really bad pain. She has something odd going on with her legs too, a weird rash. Hopefully they will get to the bottom of her problems and be able to remedy everything.

My maintenance is mostly water changes as I am not finding the time to do the more fine tuning. I am guessing that all was well with your tank when you returned? Glad you are home and your fish probably are too.

[Felicia]

Thanks Felicia. Yeah, poor Aunt Pat...she has had spinal stenosis for 25 years and she had a fluke fall and now her back, neck and shoulders are in really bad pain. She has something odd going on with her legs too, a weird rash. Hopefully they will get to the bottom of her problems and be able to remedy everything.

My maintenance is mostly water changes as I am not finding the time to do the more fine tuning. I am guessing that all was well with your tank when you returned? Glad you are home and your fish probably are too.

Sorry to hear that! Back issues are really rough. My mom has a degenerative disk in her neck and a bulging disk with stenosis in her lower back. She's had both for years, but has been having issues with her lower back recently. Sounds like they're going to potentially destroy the small nerves around that disk as the next step to try to relieve the pain. I hope they can figure out how to help your aunt!

 

The fine tuning is not a necessity luckily And yep! My tank was happy and healthy when I got home, so that was a relief. Its just a hot mess, so I'm working on getting it all cleaned up. I'm happy to be home, just trying to get a ton of errands and cleaning and laundry and such taken care of before I start my new job on Monday.

[vlangel]

You all probably thought I took off for some destination unknown on my bike again. Actually I spent a week in the hospital watching over Dave's aunt and then we brought here home to our house to finish recuperating. She has had a rough go of it since her drs are not being very available but we are figuring it out.

 

So time for an update of the seahorse garden. I never really did get to that deep clean after our motorcycle trip. Then once Aunt Pat ended up in the hospital it was all I could do to feed the ponies. I was really worrying that they were going to get sick so finally last night I did a deep clean that entailed taking a lot of coral out and scrubbing off bubble algae and even some rock. Of course that always kicks up detritus so I did multiple WCs while I was overhauling the tank. I had cyano ever since we got home from vacation and I was able to syphon and wash off into a bucket a large portion of that. I syphoned the sandbed too, hopefully not so much that Cukes starves to death. The tank looked pretty good this morning and so do the ponies. I had filters in the sump to catch the detritus that I stirred up but have removed them this morning so that nasty bacteria do not start to grow there. The scape looks a little different since when I remove coral and rock and then put it back, it nevers goes back the exact same way. I am noticing that my tank is getting coraline algae for the first time ever. I guess that is because I switched to Reef Crystals instead of just plain IO. I will take a pic when I get a chance.

[vlangel]

I am still taking care of my aunt at my house which is why I haven't been on N-R much. I have been keeping up with my tanks pretty well however.

 

The seahorse tank did well after the deep clean although I have not seen Cukes much. There is still a little cyano so I syphon the sand bed a couple times a week in the front where most of the cyano is and suck it off of any rocks if I see it there. Its not terrible.

 

The ponies are sleek and healthy with very good appetites as you can see from the pic. The coral have looked better in the past but they could be worse. I have another week's vacation so I feel water quality for the seahorses trumps beautiful lush coral.

[ReefWeeds]

I think it looks great, Dawn!!! Sorry to hear about Aunt Pat

 

I enjoyed looking at your trip photos and boy, your flower garden is gorgeous!

[teenyreef]

Aunt Pat is blessed to have you to take care of her! I'm glad the ponies are doing well - being a caregiver can be all-consuming!

[vlangel]

I think it looks great, Dawn!!! Sorry to hear about Aunt Pat

 

I enjoyed looking at your trip photos and boy, your flower garden is gorgeous!

 

Thanks stella. Actually Aunt Pat is improving so much that we plan to move her back to her house this Sunday. She only lives about a mile away from us so I will stay with her for the first several days.

I am glad that you enjoyed the trip photos. The next best thing to being there, ha ha! The flower garden is pretty nice this year. We enjoy sitting on the patio near the flowers.

[vlangel]

Aunt Pat is blessed to have you to take care of her! I'm glad the ponies are doing well - being a caregiver can be all-consuming!

Yes caring for Aunt Pat when she first came home from the hospital was exhausting and it was so hard seeing her in so much pain. That is behind us now and she is doing more for herself every day. This weekend we plan to move her back to her house which is close by. I will stay with her a few days to help her transition. Aunt Pat never married and is the youngest of Dave's mom's family. Dave's cousins and siblings have all been helpful but we live the closest. Anyway its working out fine.

 

I am glad the ponies weathered the time when I was really busy taking care of Aunt Pat. I think I am caught up now and feel good about the seahorse's condition.

[vlangel]

I am back from our family vacation in the blue ridge mountains. It was great being with kids and grandkids! The seahorse tank is dirty, dirty dirty but I am making water now. The ponies look good even if their house is trashed.

[teenyreef]

Welcome back! I'm so glad everything is OK