Javascript Disabled Detected

You currently have javascript disabled. Several functions may not work. Please re-enable javascript to access full functionality.

UncleWillie's 46 Gal

Started by Guest_UncleWillie_* , Sep 19 2008 10:24 AM

Prev

Please log in to reply

54 replies to this topic

#41 Guest_UncleWillie_*

Guests

Posted 14 November 2008 - 09:21 AM

Matt, believe it or not, your name popped up a few time this summer since I was with Jason.. Don't worry, didn't hear to many terrible stories :smile2:

. I also think getting a decent grasp on mussels this summer will help with employment.

nativeplanter, If I decided to work on one of these 3 projects, it would be with Jim Peterson, with Robert Bringolf as a co-advisor.

Natureman, Thank you. Will do.

Back to top

#42 Guest_ashtonmj_*

Guests

Posted 14 November 2008 - 09:59 AM

Oh boy, now I'm curious. Hey if you hear from him or see him sometime soon ask him about the time he fell off the bank into the stream when we were sampling together in South Chickamauga Creek. To make things even more odd, we just hired someone that was working with Brett the past 6 months, so they may have worked with you.

Back to top

#43 Guest_farmertodd_*

Guests

Posted 14 November 2008 - 11:21 AM

If you're going the ecological route, it won't matter what group you're "trained" on, because you can use any group. The graduate training should be on the methods for experimentation and the tools for analysis. I could switch to plants (my hobby) and be a professional scientist (with an M.S.) working on plant questions, without having done a plant project, just because I know the system and I know the analyses. You can learn organisms on your own, if you're motivated to do it, and you'll be so far ahead of your cohort for doing it.

It was difficult in the past to just do it with field guides and on your own... But with places like this forum and e-lists now, there are experts just a couple clicks away. NANFA, for example, has made my professional training and networking so much easier just through participation.

But I will say, if you've got a musselhead who's got money and time for you to work closely with them... Holey moley, that's the real schpiel. Especially if they're doing ecological work, not just inventory. They will help grease the wheels for you in malacology (I wish I had Ashton's bells and whistles training, for example). You can back fill the fish stuff on your own, it's far easier to get your mind around the nuances.

So congrats, you're already ahead of your cohort because you're here, and you've got fish and shells at home

Most people do not.

Todd

PS Matt: I'm only right about 2 Unio things? Dang, my inventory is lower than I thought!

lol

Back to top

#44 Guest_ashtonmj_*

Guests

Posted 14 November 2008 - 12:40 PM

Yes just two! I ment the two things you mentioned; needing to make some more regional collections and how it helps you with a job because it's another skill set. But if we're talking Unio the genus then I'm right on none!

Trying to stay humble, and honestly because I just didn't notice until recently, I now understand what Todd is saying about my experience and Jason's for that matter. I've gotten a few "that's your collection?!" in the past year. I had a luxury (Todd's "major schpiel"). I could have, and some including myself say should have, stayed longer in my advisors lab group. I was his first masters student in years, maybe a decade, that completed a project and defended in two years. The first year I came in ended up being one of the wettest years in Kentucky so I lost an entire year of oppurtunity to be on the Green River. Thankfully, it was the exact opposite for those years in Tennessee and I can't say that many (if any) people were on ceratin parts of the Duck and Clinch Rivers more than me. Even though my project funds had run their course there were certainly things I could have been transfered over to to fund me while I refined my thesis and wrote manuscripts.

Getting back to the thread topic....Don't throw out those gallons of hornwort next time! Spread the wealth around. Am I right in assumnig you were catching the redbreasts hook and line and in TN? I've caught a ton in the Hiwassee, but none less than 4".

Back to top

#45 Guest_UncleWillie_*

Guests

Posted 14 November 2008 - 02:59 PM

Thanks for all the advice, guys. I really appreciate it.
Matt, The girls who has gone you work with yall is Rebecca. She was part of the Stream Survey Team, but worked with us with Brett on a few Fridays when we did shocking at our snorkel sites. I usually talk to Jason once every 3 weeks or so to keep in touch and updated, so I will have to ask him!
I will be sure to announce when I need to clean out some hornwort. I may only take out small clumps from now on, rather than waiting till it blocks all light and my other plants start dying. But I will let you, and others know.
As for the redbreasts, I have only caught them on hook and line. I havent really been able to get my feet wet up here much. I have caught all them on the TN mainstem, in just a riverside park, along with some bluegills. Of course I am just out there fishing for fun - I wouldn't dare eat a fish out of that water.
I have just recieved word that I will be going out on Monday morning (only for about an hour) to do some boat shocking on Ft. Louden Lake of the mainstem TN. I will post some pics of any good finds, but we usually only catch largeouth, drums, carp, shad and some bluegills in the area we are going.

Back to top

#46 Guest_fishlvr_*

Guests

Posted 15 November 2008 - 10:18 AM

Then again, I don't need to shell out $115 a night for the FMCS meeting in April, so things aren't that bad.

Ha. Nice pun.

I've seen only two mussel species in my life. One at Lake Westpoint (Chattahoochee) and the other in the creek at my grandparents' house, and in the latter I only found one. At Westpoint there were tons of them.

Back to top

#47 Guest_UncleWillie_*

Guests

Posted 23 November 2008 - 08:47 PM

Hello again. A nearby LFS is going out of business and their tanks are dirt cheap. I pucked up this 20 Gallon long and filter for $20. I got rid of the blue substrate and undergravel filter tray. I went out to a nearby creek to collect substrate to set up a stream tank (however, the substrate is quite dark and jagged). If I decide to gte back into darters, I may end up getting that substrate - I like the smooth gray rocks instead of jagged brown ones. I will need to add a powerhead for current and get a light. I have never bought a powerhead and I don't need a light that will grow plants, so any suggestion is appreciated.
I moved my crayfish in there and he seems happier with more gravel and wood, plus I like him not snipping my plants all the time. I scooped up a few juvi blacknose dace (and I got 3 tiny creek chubs as bycatch). BND were the first natives I ever kept, so I am excited to get them again. The chubs will be put in my 46 when they get larger. They all ate bloodworms within 24 hours of capture and flakes within 48. The sunfish you see are being held until my buddy's 55 fully cycles. Here are some pics. The water was foggy from adding the new substrate and you can see I am trying to water log some wood. The scaping will be changed after the wood sinks and I return from home with some slabs of rocks. Currently the lighting is from my desk lamp, and I keep it covered with a screen for now.
Posted Image

I would also like to take this time to announce that my payment for NANFA membership is en route with PayPal, and I am happy to finally join everyone in this wonderful community. Thanks, everyone. :-D

Back to top

#48 Michael Wolfe

Board of Directors

North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 25 November 2008 - 09:11 AM

I scooped up a few juvi blacknose dace (and I got 3 tiny creek chubs as bycatch).

I would also like to take this time to announce that my payment for NANFA membership is en route with PayPal, and I am happy to finally join everyone in this wonderful community. Thanks, everyone.

Congratulations and welcome to NANFA... and I am sure that you know this, but as a guy that loves the little minnows, I feel a need to warn you that creek chubs are just a large mouth with a fish behind it... they are not compatible long term with anything that fits in their mouth... and their mouth gets big... I love your BND, but I fear your CC.

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin

Back to top

#49 Guest_UncleWillie_*

Guests

Posted 25 November 2008 - 11:43 AM

Thanks, Michael. I also have some news regarding the 'chubs'. I was intending on moving them with my sunfish when large enough. HOWEVER, after the water cleared and the fish settled down and I got a long look, I actually only have 2 of these guys and found that they are very young bluntnose minnows. I dont know how I confused the two, as the spot just before the dorsal is so prominenent even in small chubs. I could also tell the mouth was not right right for a chub. Since I have have never seen any bluntnose minnows except in spawning condition, I didn't really know what I was looking at. I tried to take a dozen pictures to post on here of them, but they are too fast and everything has come out blurry.
These guys took no time to convert to flakes as seen above. BND were my first natives, and I kept 9 that were all in the 3-4 inch range. I can wait till these guys grow up. I got an accurate count on them yesterday: 10 BND and 2 bluntnose minnows. (EDIT: 2 fell victim to the floor -since the picture- before I got a proper fitting lid for the tank. I knew from experience that the blacknose dace are jumpers, but there should be no more fish on the floor now.) Although the girlfriend prefers something more colorful (like her guppes and rummynose tetras), I kind of like the look of my 'brown tank' as I have come to call it.

Edited by UncleWillie, 25 November 2008 - 11:48 AM.

Back to top

#50 Guest_UncleWillie_*

Guests

Posted 19 January 2009 - 04:46 PM

Update
After being away from my tanks for 4 weeks (left in the care of my GF), I have returned and wanted to post some pics.
While I was away, Michael Wolfe and I swapped my extra hornwort with his extra java fern. By my return, the 46 gal had been again overrun with hornwort. Most of the ludwigia had rotted. So I again got rid of a huge amount of hornwort, salvaged the best of the battered ludwigia and started planting Michael's java fern.
Here's how she looks now. Thanks Michael, it makes my tank look 10x better!
Posted Image

What's an update without my favorite...
Posted Image

And flaring gills...
Posted Image

After the loss of a female spotfin shiner, the total tank stock is
1 Redbreast sunfish
2 Spotfin shiners
1 juvi Bluegill
2 Sailfin mollies
5 Gambusia holbrooki (and shrinking because they are treats for the redbreast)

When it warms, I will add more spotfins and remove the mollies

Back to top

#51 Guest_BTDarters_*

Guests

Posted 19 January 2009 - 07:04 PM

Looks great, UncleWillie!

Brian

Back to top

#52 Guest_UncleWillie_*

Guests

Posted 26 January 2009 - 05:49 PM

Well, I got a new camera. The one I had for 6.5 years finally conked out. I was messing with it a bit and figured I'd just post a few.
It's an OLYMPUS Stylus 1030 SW I was messing with a few settings...

Sailfin molly in the 46 gal.
Posted Image

Blacknose dace in my 20 long stream tank. I had to post these because these guys are near-impossible to photograph.
Posted Image

Back to top

#53 Guest_UncleWillie_*

Guests

Posted 21 February 2010 - 09:00 PM

This is a bit of an update. I have had a few requests via PM for showing my current 46 gallon setup.
I am NEVER happy with it. And my time to dedicate to tank appearance is limited. These next few pictures will show my setup from when I set it back up in August 2009, until tonight February 2010.

2-3mm gravel from Little River, TN
Posted Image

A few hours later..
Posted Image

Rescape and a black paper background.
Posted Image

Back to top

#54 Guest_UncleWillie_*

Guests

Posted 21 February 2010 - 09:06 PM

And then this is what happens to tanks when you start graduate school..
Posted Image

The tank becomes overrun with moss and just turns into a mess.
Even though this looks 'nasty' I keep up with water changes and my fish appear happier than ever with this mess. Here is my setup as I looks at this very moment:
Posted Image

Believe it or not, the entire left side is driftwood, but has been choked-out by java moss. The wood in the center it hanging down from the center of the tank and also covered in moss. The flagfish occupy this area the most. The 2 bluehead chubs always swim along the front glass where there is the most water movement. And the 2 Seminole killies swim in and out of the masses of moss.

I have sold most of my plants, but will have a much better aquascape in the months to come.

My plan (when i have the time!) is take all the moss from this tank and my other and create a moss wall. This way it shall look neat and my driftwood will be visible.

Edited by UncleWillie, 21 February 2010 - 09:07 PM.

Back to top

#55 Guest_UncleWillie_*

Guests

Posted 21 February 2010 - 09:10 PM

I also want to say thank you to everyone who has helped me since I first joined the forum. I feel like my knowledge base has increased exponentially in the past few years and I want to thank everyone for taking time to help me. I almost am embarrassed to look at old posts and see my ignorance. Again, thank yall!