New tank syndrome
For our 2 year anniversary, Marie completely surprised me with a 29 gallon aquarium and stand that I had been keeping my eye on at VI Pets. After our weekend up at the cottage, I came home to it sitting in the knotty pine room! I had absolutely no idea. I just love surprises like that. Marie’s parents also pitched in and got me a filter and power head. Since I’ve been doing research for the past couple of months, I knew exactly what equipment I wanted and unfortunately what they bought me wasn’t it. I returned them to VI Pets for store credit. After shopping around to a couple of different pet stores, locally and online, I got everything I needed. Here is a shot of my tank right after I got it setup (minus the filter):
The filter I ordered from Petco.com ended up being bad (the impeller was extremely loud) so I had to return it for another one. I didn’t want to wait a week for them to get me a new one so I called the local Petco but they didn’t carry that model. Fortunately, Pet Supplies Plus did and let me exchange it. I got it installed and let it run for a couple of days before adding 3 green tiger barbs on Wednesday night to cycle the tank. They are great fish - very active and lots of fun to watch. It’s been 5 days and I’ve been watching my ammonia, ph and nitrite levels. My pH is about 7.8 and my ammonia and nitrite levels are 0. From what I’ve read, it can take weeks for the ammonia and nitrite levels to peak and for the bacteria to kick in and convert them to nitrates. Patience is the key.
For Marie’s anniversary present, I ordered her a bird cage she picked out on eBay and bought her two zebra finches from VI Pets. We picked up the finches last night and they are loving their new home. We got a male and a female and the two of them are attached at the wing. I just love the cute sounds they make and how they hop around like crazy in their cage. We setup the bird cage in the knotty pine room along with the aquarium and it’s now our favorite room in the house. Marie & I just love relaxing in their, listening to the sounds of the running water and the finches chirping. Now if we can just get the cats to quit stalking the birds…
Ethan is 10 weeks old today. I know I’ve said this before but I can’t believe how fast the time goes by. He’s doing great and he smiles like crazy! He had a doctor’s visit on Friday and got three shots, some of which he will get again when he goes back in 2 months. He now weighs 10 pounds 3.5 ounces. The doctor told us to increase his bottles to 5 ounces each serving and to let him drink 2 ounces before burping him. He’s still sleeping around 6-7 hours a night, which is really nice. I recently added some new pictures of him to the Gallery. I just love his little Sweet Pea Halloween costume!