Your Best Aquarium Stories Featured Monthly! - Page 8

Quote:

Originally Posted by Siptang 

Krista, after that tease, you hsve to tell us now.

Oh yes...a pot roast you say?...do tell.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flower 

Oh yes...a pot roast you say?...do tell.
 

 

Bump...we need to know the full story.......
 

The Story of the Pot Roast in a Fish System

OK, a little background info is needed for this one. I was a pet care manager for the company that I work for. This means taking care of the entire fish system, birds, reptiles and small animals. I was transferred to a new location that was opening up (which was awesome since not many people get this honor). I was responsible for monitoring the progress of the fish from the time it was installed until it was operational. The fish system was up and running within couple of weeks. I added the gravel, ornaments, and put the fish picture tags up (so we knew which fish went in what tank when we got our first order). Now, this is a brand spanking new system and the biological cycle had not began. Well, per the company protocol, we were to add Bio Spira. Bio Spira was the bacteria that we were to add to boost the cycle in order to make the fish system more hospitable for fish. I received the Bio Spira on a Monday. The bottle was warm and the ice pack was melted.  I read the instructions for the Bio Spira and it clearly stated keep refrigerated until it is added to fish system. The shipment was supposed to be overnighted and it had been in transit for at least four days before it reached me. Crap, I thought to myself. There was no way that this was going to be salvageable. I email my corporate fish guru and he told me not to worry. I still worried. I had fish coming that week. So, I use my critical thinking skills. I knew you could use fish food or even a small shrimp for a small tank. So, why couldn't I use a large hunk of meat to help cultivate the bacteria for my 1400 gallon system? I knew that the Bio Spira was not doing the trick since there was no increase of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. I bit the bullet and put a nice huge pot roast in the fluidized bedding chamber of my fish system. I did start to see signs of a true cycle. The final test came when I had to add the first shipment of fish. The fish order was huge, but the majority of the fish survived.

You mean like a pot roast from a cow? Did you then make a pot luck lunch for the your fellow employees?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gemmy 

The Story of the Pot Roast in a Fish System

 

OK, a little background info is needed for this one. I was a pet care manager for the company that I work for. This means taking care of the entire fish system, birds, reptiles and small animals. I was transferred to a new location that was opening up (which was awesome since not many people get this honor). I was responsible for monitoring the progress of the fish from the time it was installed until it was operational. The fish system was up and running within couple of weeks. I added the gravel, ornaments, and put the fish picture tags up (so we knew which fish went in what tank when we got our first order). Now, this is a brand spanking new system and the biological cycle had not began. Well, per the company protocol, we were to add Bio Spira. Bio Spira was the bacteria that we were to add to boost the cycle in order to make the fish system more hospitable for fish. I received the Bio Spira on a Monday. The bottle was warm and the ice pack was melted.  I read the instructions for the Bio Spira and it clearly stated keep refrigerated until it is added to fish system. The shipment was supposed to be overnighted and it had been in transit for at least four days before it reached me. Crap, I thought to myself. There was no way that this was going to be salvageable. I email my corporate fish guru and he told me not to worry. I still worried. I had fish coming that week. So, I use my critical thinking skills. I knew you could use fish food or even a small shrimp for a small tank. So, why couldn't I use a large hunk of meat to help cultivate the bacteria for my 1400 gallon system? I knew that the Bio Spira was not doing the trick since there was no increase of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. I bit the bullet and put a nice huge pot roast in the fluidized bedding chamber of my fish system. I did start to see signs of a true cycle. The final test came when I had to add the first shipment of fish. The fish order was huge, but the majority of the fish survived.

LOL...did the company reimburse you for the roast? Obviously they chose the right person for the job...good thinking.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Limpid 

You mean like a pot roast from a cow? Did you then make a pot luck lunch for the your fellow employees?

Yup, it was a whole pot roast from a cow. That thing was rancid when I pulled it out. I almost fell off the ladder the stench was so bad.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flower 

 

LOL...did the company reimburse you for the roast? Obviously they chose the right person for the job...good thinking.
 

 

I used my company purchase card.

Wow!

Some retail story huh? That was interesting Krista, I had no idea that you could use beef to cycle the tank.

Wow just caught up on this threads last 6 pages.  I love to read all the stories and good and bad experiences everyone has with their tank and in life.  I laughed, I cried (not really, but Siptang made me come real close).  I really liked the one about the FW tank in Iraq, that is dedication. 

I will have to try to come up with something, but I don't think I can come close to all the great ones so far.  Thanks for writing them folks!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Siptang 

Wow!

 

Some retail story huh? That was interesting Krista, I had no idea that you could use beef to cycle the tank.

 

 

 

I have plenty of stories and mishaps with the fish system. I pretty much know how to take apart the whole system and piece it together. I have to do this while there are fish in the system. 

I needed a large chunk of meat (not necessarily beef) to start decomposing and cause the ammonia spike. It was the best thing I had available.

Flower - You have to tell this story! Don't leave us hanging!

Very creative idea!

Quote:

Originally Posted by tirtza 

 

 

Flower - You have to tell this story! Don't leave us hanging!

 

 

 

Very creative idea!

LOL...it isn't a marine tank story...I had freshwater tanks back then. I'm not sure what to do to tell it. It's pretty funny.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flower 

LOL...it isn't a marine tank story...I had freshwater tanks back then. I'm not sure what to do to tell it. It's pretty funny.
 

 

No one can stop you from posting and I think any story that is about fish keeping is worth hearing, especially if it funny. We all need it on a Monday.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Limpid 

 

No one can stop you from posting and I think any story that is about fish keeping is worth hearing, especially if it funny. We all need it on a Monday.
 

 

Definitely agreed.  Please do share flower. :)
 

Wow, looks like I will be doing some coral shopping soon.

Gratz Sip, you should change your handle to StoryMan.

Thanks Jack, i really appreciate ya.

Like I said, time for some coral shopping!

  I knew Siptang won...I thought you already announced it.

Okay...the funny landlady story:

Some have heard this story before….but I submit it here for the telling because folks want to hear it. I call it the mystery leak. This is the story of my 30g long freshwater tanks, that I had 25 years ago.

I lived in Chicago in an apartment building. One night when I got home from work I noticed something was wrong with my 30g long fish tanks. I had two, each stacked on top of the other… resting on one of those metal frame stands. The top tank was half full, and the bottom tank was filled to the brim and almost splashing over the rim. The floor was dry, I couldn’t find the leak.  I refilled the upper tank and watched…nothing…no leak. It had to have leaked and went to the bottom tank but how???? Also why didn’t the bottom tank overflow??? I thought maybe the water on the floor evaporated through the day…if it happened early enough after I left for work…maybe. Needless to say the fish got ich, I lost a few…I had to treat them. I would wake up in the middle of the night and check the tank…still full and running smoothly.

3 months go by…and it happened again! Just like the first time….. Still no water on the floor, the bottom tank almost overflowed, and the top tank half full. The fish would just die…not all of them but quite a few. I couldn’t afford another tank, and why 3 months before it happened again? Was it the HOB filter?...No, I checked and rechecked…I was going crazy trying to figure it out…what was doing it?

This weird cycle went on for the two years I lived in that place. Sometimes it would go 5 months before the half tank syndrome would strike again, and I just couldn’t figure it out. I lost so many fish, I was about to give up a few times.

Then the day came for us to move….I broke down the top tank, certain that I would find the answer to my mystery leak with it empty…. but I didn’t see any cracks, nothing to explain why it would leak and only once in a blue moon…

Then, as I continued on to break down the lower tank, I hear my elderly land lady running down the stairs…she was in such a rush she nearly fell…. and she was shouting to me….”don’t throw out the fish water! It makes my berries grow so beautiful!” That’s right folks…the old lady was stealing my fish water, and she was too old to replenish the top tank, so she filled the lower one to the brim. Being old was her only defense and it saved her life at that moment.

Oh flower that is too funny and not at the same time.