John's Jungle

[John]

John's Jungle will be a ****journal of experiences I gather with my aquatic animals.

As a 14 year old boy, I don't exactly have a bunch of money lying around to spend on tanks, however, I am hopefully going to be hired this summer by the owner of my local fish store - way better than McDonald's. ****My mother and I share the hobby together and she buys a lot of the equipment if I can't afford it. ****She's really doing a great job of helping me towards my goal of working with animals - possibly becoming an aquabiologist someday.

News: Awesome! ****I'm about to hopefully get on Wednesday a used 60 gallon square tank in good condition with a nice filter, nice heater, gravel, a homemade stand, and a 10 gallon feeder tank thrown in... ALL FOR THE PRICE OF $40! ****That's less than the price of a 10 gallon setup!

Right now, I have a 55 gallon aquarium at home in the sunroom, a 10 gallon aquarium at home in my room, a 10 gallon aquarium at school in my science class, a 10 gallon aquaterrarium at school in the science class, a 30 (?) gallon aquaterrarium at home in the basement, two 10 gallon quarantines that aren't being used, and a 5 1/2 gallon terrain quarantine tank that isn't being used.

~My Aquatic Animals~

55 Gallon

*currently in a slump - being converted to cichlid tank*

1 Lionhead Goldfish
1 Fantail Goldfish
1 Electric Blue Cichlid
2 Paradise Fish
1 Rainbow Fish
1 Plecostomus
1 Leopard Eel (?)

10 Gallon

*my room aquarium - needs cleaning - just lost two swordtails and an angel fish*

1 Albino Corydora
1 Weather Loach (Dojo Eel)
1 Silvertip Tetra

10 Gallon

*at school - just had a molly birth - worried about leakage until I realized it was just water getting pushed over the top by an oxygen tube*

3 Kissing Gouramis
4 Mollies (dalmation, white w/ sailfin, gold, gold w/ black spots)
1 Corydora Catfish (not sure which species)
1 Khuli Loach
1 Plecostomus

10 Gallon

*my aquaterrarium at school - new crab is other molting or getting attacked (missing 3 legs)*

3 Fire-Bellied Newts
2 Fiddler Crabs (different species)
2 Silvertip Tetras

30 Gallon (?)

*my aquaterrarium at home - only occupied by an African Clawed Frog*

1 African Clawed Frog

[John]

Wow! BIG development I'm going to be setting up a fish room over the next few months!

I'm getting a section of our basement that will be walled of when we remodel it. I think the area is about 100 sq. feet, maybe smaller. Not a huge area but pretty cool nonetheless!

Right now it's in the planning stages, but I've got a pretty good idea of what I want to have in it:

-Two full 10 ft. walls of two-racked shelves with a foot and a half of room to walk behind for maintanence.

-A three foot by one foot indoor pond made bigger by a small five inch channel that will creep around the perimeter of the room. This will house Koi, Comets, other kinds of goldfish, etc. I will move larger individuals outdoors to our existing pond when they are ready.

-The 60 gallon aquaterrarium I just mentioned (of course). This, and some of the other larger tanks will be placed on tables (in the middle of the room?) because they won't fit on shelves. They will be my "Display Tanks."

-The shelves lining the two walls will have a bunch of 10 gallon tanks (hopefully 20 total) (plus a few others of varying size). Maybe 10 or so of these tanks will be completed tanks that will have permanent residents. The rest will be breeding tanks (plus rearing tanks), live food tanks, and quarantine tanks.

-I will probably try to breed mollies, platies, swordtails (maybe try to crossbreed platies and swordtails), bettas, koi (maybe, I'll try) fancy guppies, and maybe some cichlids. I will keep most of the offspring, and try to sell some to the local fish store (I know the owner pretty well - I might get a job there this summer or next summer - and he might buy some).

-I will also breed/raise cultures of live food, including feeder guppies, feeder goldfish, crickets, earthworms, mealworms, fruit flies, infusoria, and brine shrimp. Obviously, I'll do this to feed my animals, but I'll also do it for the challenge.

-I'll have a few tanks devoted to various reptiles and various amphibians. I might try to breed some of them.

-In a corner I'll have a small refrigerator for keeping things like frozen foods, a cabinet for disease treatments and commercial foods, and a small TV so I can basically live in the room, lol.

I am very excited about all this, and I hope it comes through.

[John]

Here's a timeline of what's happening in the next week or two for my fish room:

1. THIS SATURDAY (4/30) ~ I'm pretty lucky, because this coming Saturday, when my dad picks me up to go to his house, he'll hopefully bring his digital camera (he sells rescue trucks to airports, and he got an expensive digital camera for his job from the company) and let me take pictures of the room and the basement in general. I'll probably post the pics on Sunday.

2. FRIDAY AFTER NEXT (5/6) ~ My friend is going to come over on Friday (not this coming friday - the friday after that) and he is going to help me start to move everything out of the one corner of the basement. Sort of hard to describe, so you'll see it in the pictures. He's staying over night so we'll probably have enough time to get the general area cleared out.

You see, we (my Mom and I) are finishing the whole basement (insulation and drywalling, adding furniture, bar, rec room, bathroom - the works, and I'm getting a walled off 10' by 10' corner for my fish room. However, since we can't begin the project until the Summer, I might have to wait until the room is dry walled. I might be able to get away with starting the room before then though.

The friend I mentioned (Justin) is going to help me with the room because our goal is to start a small fish business (only small at first). By the way, does anyone know how much a business liscense/permit costs and where to get one? Really though, please!

Anyways, that's the plan for the next few weeks and the plan in general.

[John]

*UPDATE*

Here's what's happened over the last week:

(Lots of deaths The tanks are in a "transition phase" right now - moving 10 gallon to fish room, converting 55 gallon to cichlid tank, school ending in a month and a half so I have to take down school tanks soon).

-Deconstructing the 10 gallon in my room to put in fish room (once it's completed)

-The Khuli Loach and the Corydora at school died

-Moved Weather Loach and Albino Corydora to 10 gallon community tank at school (took the place of the Khuli and the Cory that died).

-Will move Fantail and Lionhead to outdoor pond soon - the Electric Blue is stressing them out now

-Found the Leopard Eel! I didn't see him the whole month we were fighting ich, and he just showed up two days ago like it wasn't anything! Man those spiny eels are tough! The cool thing is he is a lot more active now, and he's coming out in the daytime more (must be secure with the surroundings, what with the Reed Fish - A.K.A. Rope Fish - gone, and only a few other fish in the tank). I've heard it's possible to breed spiny eels (although pretty challenging) and I think I'll get him (her?) a mate once I set up the fish room. That would be awesome.

-Newts in aquaterrarium at school still won't eat - but they are still alive and I'm still trying

-Lost a Silvertip in aquaterrarium at school, and I will move Silvertip in 10 gallon (by itself right now) to take its place

-Purchased a beautiful male gold/metallic/pink Molly for the tank at school (will hopefully serve some breeding purposes in future also) and 3 Ghost Shrimp (not sure if I was thinking of them as feeders or what, letting nature take its course I guess). 1 Dead, 1 Missing, 1 Okay but hiding. The molly is getting along with the others and the Kissing Gouramis like an old friend.

-Hopefully next week will be better!

[John]

Here's the new diagram for the fish room.

I'm really excited about the pond

[John]

Okay, so Justin came over and we pretty much have the room cleared out! It's still a little messy, but we should have it ready for tanks in a month or so!

We took some "before" pictures, that show how messy the room was. Hopefully I'll scan them and put them here when they're developed.

[John]

Tomorrow I'm going to take inventory of all of the equipment we have and have gotten (a lot of it was for free).

"Before" pics are coming soon!

[John]

Here are some of the things we've gotten for free so far:

- 10 gallon tank w/ flourescent hood
- 10 gallon tank
- 10 gallon tank cracked
- 15 gallon tank cracked
- 20 gallon long tank
- 5 gallon tank
- two sets of gravel
- various ornaments
- lots of old food
- four old carpets (1st layer of pond liner)
- pond liner (2nd layer of pond liner)
- old bricks (pond foundation)
- air pump
- two shelves
- makeshift table

Also, the pictures are finally getting developed.

[John]

The "before" pictures of the fish room are here!


Picture 1 - Southwest view of the room.

Picture 2 - Southeast view of the room.

Picture 3 - Another southeast view.

Picture 4 - Northeast.

[John]

Picture 5 - Northwest view with Justin. I took this picture while Justin was talking mid-sentence. I think you'll agree that I'm the brains behind this operation.

Picture 6 - Justin doing all the manual labor.

Picture 7 - Kids, Justin the ghost says "Don't do drugs!"

Picture 8 - We went through a lot of coffee that night.

[John]

Picture 9 - Yes, that's me. Yes, that is my real face. No, my mom didn't die at childbirth.

Picture 10 - "You idiot, get your thumb off the lense!"

Picture 11 - Justin showing off his footwork.

---------

I'm really progressing with the pond. I just got a lot of good bricks for free. All I need now is the liner. More pics will come soon.

[John]

-The fish room is nearing insulation!
-500 Gallon Indoor Pond Coming Soon! (in Fish Room)

-55 Gallon Aquarium
2 Lemon Yellow Malawi Cichlids (Apollo, Ra)
1 Cobalt Malawi Cichlid (Belushi)
1 Electric Blue Malawi Cichlid (Jake - R.I.P. Elwood (Blue's Brothers))
2 Paradise Fish (Romulus, Remus)
1 Rainbowfish (Wolverine)
1 Leopard Eel (Nightshade)
2 Plecos (Drifter and Godzilla)

-200 Gallon Outdoor Pond
5 Koi (Tre, Bessie, Creamer, Seth, Marshall)
1 Butterfly Koi (Angel)
1 Oranda (Oedipus)
3 Comets (Buttke, Star, Rocket)
1 Blue Channel Catfish (Lock)

-10 Gallon Aquarium
2 Kissing Gouramis (Romeo, Juliet - R.I.P. Shakespeare)
5 Mollies (DaVinci, Mona Lisa, Galileo, Mary Magdalene, Jumper)
1 Weather Loach (Storm)
1 Albino Corydora (Swiffer)
1 Pleco (Picasso)

-10 Gallon Aquaterrarium
1 Fiddler Crab (Crusher)
3 Fire-Bellied Newts (Sir Isaac Newton, Fig Newton, Draino)
1 Silvertip Tetra (Stargazer)

[John]

So I haven't posted in here in a while, since I've been working nonstop on the fish room, the business involved with it, and getting prepared for starting high school in september.

Basically, here's what is really happening as I type this: The race is on. Justin and I need to get the room cleared out in the next few weeks. Once that is done, we can purchase the lumber for the dividing wall and his dad can come and help us assemble it. After that, the indoor pond will be created and we will start putting shelves/tanks/everything else in the room.
Overall, we need to get it cleared out soon, so we can sell the tools my dad left. I'm gonna spend a few days down in Lake Geneva for the fourth of July, then Justin will come up sometime next week and we can get the hard parts done.

In the meantime, I am going to get a headstart on our product catalog/inventory list and start brainstorming product ideas.

----

-200 Gallon Outdoor Pond
5 Koi (Tre, Bessie, Creamer, Seth, Marshall)
1 Butterfly Koi (Angel)
1 Oranda (Oedipus)
4 Comets (Buttke, Star, Rocket, Red Baron)
1 Shubunkin (The Corporation)
1 Blue Channel Catfish (Lock)
4 Leopard Frog Tadpoles/Halflings -natives- (F, R, O, G)
2 Platies (Doug, Bill)
10 Fancy Guppies -various species- (The Deltas)
1 Weather Loach (Storm)
1 Pleco (Drifter)

-55 Gallon Aquarium
2 Lemon Yellow Malawi Cichlids (Apollo, Ra)
1 Cobalt Malawi Cichlid (Belushi)
1 Electric Blue Malawi Cichlid (Jake - R.I.P. Elwood (Blue's Brothers))
1 Paradise Fish (Romulus - R.I.P. Remus)
1 Rainbowfish (Wolverine)
1 Leopard Eel (Nightshade)
1 Albino Corydora (Swiffer)
1 Weather Loach (Coach the Loach)
1 Banjo Pleco (Note)
2 Plecos (Godzilla and Picasso)

-29 Gallon Aquaterrarium
6 Leopard Frogs -natives- (K, E, R, M, I, T)
3 Fire-Bellied Newts (Sir Isaac Newton, Fig Newton, Draino)
1 Fiddler Crab (Crusher)

-10 Gallon Aquarium
12 African Clawed Frogs (The Herd)
1 Albino African Clawed Frog (Al Byno)

-5 Gallon Aquarium
5 Crayfish -natives- (P, I, N, C, H)
5 Guppies -natives- (G, U, P, P, Y)

[John]

Wow, it's been a while. I'm over halfway through the first semester of my freshman year at Rufus King High School. Since my last post almost four months ago, many, many, many things have happened. Instead of boring you with details, I will go through a very brief summary:

-Justin seemed to lost interest. He claimed that instead of investing money in the business, he would save money for college. At first I was mad, as I was also losing interest myself and I was hoping he wasn't, but now I accept that he doesn't think it's what he wants to do anymore.

-Obviously, since I'm here, I have regained interest. I tend to this, where one hobby of mine dominates all the rest, and then fades away for another hobby to reign, then comes back again stronger than ever.

-My dad helped me clean out the basement, and I must say that it is probably cleaner than it ever has been since long before I was born.

-I am getting ready to find shelves and bricks for the pond, as I already have a lot of the other necessary supplies (including a bunch of tanks).

So there you have it... I will update soon, probably with pics/videos since I now have a digital camcorder.

[John]

Finished knocking down a wall in my basement today... The ball is definitely rolling...

Also, my dad says he'll help me make shelves, walls, etc. if my grades improve.

[John]

I'm making good progress, and grades seem to be improving.

I think I'll try to take some pictures or video soon.

[John]

Will be working hard into the spring...

[John]

Been a while, of course, but it's really happening! It takes a while to move mountains, and trust me, my basement is the Appalachians!

My Dad is going to help me put up a partition wall soon. The wall will block off the fish room and the work room from the rest of the basement (the soon to be rec. room).

The best thing is that I'm finally getting a shelf tomorrow! Only the first of three, of course, but it's still a huge leap and a cause for celebration.

Here are the specs for the rack:
http://www.gorillarack.com/products/....htm#GR%207201

Now's the fun part, where I can start doing the cool stuff to the room. I'll keep you posted with pictures and video along the way. It's taken over a year and a half (since January 2005) but I'm finally doing it. Here's to sticking with your dreams! More updates coming soon.

[John]

Got the shelf and assembled it. Now I've got to level it. Pics coming soon.