betta is okay

I checked his tank parameters- so far there is no sign of a mini cycle

the buces settled to the bottom- enough substrate particles clinging to them they weighed down, but all the stems and crypts and others not tied to hardscape are a floating jumble. I had to bump the heater up a notch, the basement is cooler and it wasn't keeping the tank warm enough on the prior setting.

Ruby doesn't seem to mind the move now, he's settled right in. He'll have another day of upheaval when I do get a stand and can rinse and put back in the substrate . . . .

in garden

Peas are tall enough to start climbing!

the back row against the house wall finally sprouted, too. Must be difference in temperature.

Sweet peas are also coming up now

and the first few threads of carrot greens

My little turnips have their first true leaves

I thinned the beets,

and ate the tiny handful (after a rinse)

Lady isn't

Well . . . I think after all, I was mistaken to Lady's gender. I see signs of bubblenesting on the right side of the tank. I look close at the fin shape- anal fin has a long point, tail fin is looking brighter and longer too. When I hold up a mirror, Lady displays and threatens. Perry acts subdued. I think he finds his conspecific intimidating, in spite of the wall. They try to bite each other again. There will be no reunion.

in yard

The hosta I dug and move isn't the one I thought it was- it's one of the huge light green variety

but I found the real variegated one coming up nearby in the back spot-

so I dug and moved it to the nearby garden area

my favorite blue ones are unfurling under the shrubs

Surprise! I still have a few mayapples!

Either I missed a few when I dug them up to give away, or they're regrowing from broken root pieces that were left

Hydrangeas are greening up fast. Lilac has all its leaves, forsythia is fuller than I expected, summersweet still behind the rest (I think it will always leaf out last).

little cories

I've let my smaller cories out into the main tank, now. They are still half the size of the juvie one, but now more solid than speckled in the body, and showing blue color on their sides. From the shape of pelvic fins, I think the two smaller ones are male, the larger one is female.

I'm dismayed to see they are reacting badly to water changes, lately. They stop moving, fins clamp, eyes stare motionless and they will drift upwards, as if can't control swim bladder, sometimes roll upside down (head tipping up then over backwards) suddenly right themselves and swim off, only to freeze again. Look very shocky. I don't know why? I add the water more gradually dipping with a cup instead of pouring it straight in fast, which seems better for them, but last time I did it careful like that and still they reacted bad.

My kuhlis and shrimps are unaffected, they dart around excitedly or just chill like normal. Hm. Lately, my shrimps often crowd together. For two days they were all crammed under the sponge cave arch, then I found them all gathered together on top of the heater:

Are they afraid of the fishes now? My striped kuhlis are bolder, out and about more. The female cory is larger, maybe she's been bothering them? I thought perhaps they were all molting and hiding together- but have not seen any shed skins.

I added a few stems of anacharis last week. Bought from a fellow forum member. To my surprise the plants didn't go through a large melt- only the tips of stems that were a bit damaged, disintegrated, overall they look pretty good. There's a few stems in the window tank, and more in the 45 (anchored by a glass bead each).

Also all the subwassertang from the fry box is now across the bottom, which makes the tank overall look quite a bit greener. Dwarf water lettuce up top is slowly recovering from its travels to me in a box. There's new little root hairs growing.

If you look close, there's a little male cory in the middle of the subwasser here:

new green on a few

of my houseplants: asparagus fern has sent out another new frond

Philodendron in the pot has quite a few new leaves. Which is nice, because it looks like the cutting on the angel tank is dying.

My lovely cyclamen died.

mints!

Wow my chocolate mint pot is growing quickly

the ginger mint is slower and not as thick with plants:

my betta tank busted a seam

After the last water change there was a bit of a drip at one corner- I thought I'd refilled a bit too high and it was seeping out under the tank rim (has happened before) so wiped up the drips and lowered the water level a bit, laid paper towels down they were getting a bit wet- I thought it was just wicking water out where it had dripped into the lower tank rim.

Then later SO GLAD I went upstairs- the towel was soaked. The panel under the tank was wet in that corner. I looked closely and the seam had lines of separation all up and down that corner- white streaks and air bubbles in rows, where I never saw them before. I grabbed my spare 10g (newer, in much better shape) and several buckets, immediately scooped out most of the water, all the plants on hardscape and floaters, Ruby the betta. The heater and filter. The light and sliding lid. Hauled it all downstairs- where there's space on a table in the basement- and put it all in the spare tank. So basically Ruby has everything but the substrate. I was going to leave all the stems, crypts and rooted buces in the substrate because I can't deal with this properly for a few days but then I went to move the leaking tank and realized it was worse than I'd thought, I really narrowly avoided disaster I think.

The panel that was under my tank- half of it is soaked through. Luckily the end table it's been sitting on was just barely damp. I felt really dubious the tank would hold the last inch of water until I could take care of it- and nowhere to put it- except in the bath, with plastic wrap over to keep in the humidity but then I thought crap there's no heat or light the plants will start to be dead in four days probably- we have familiy stuff going on for end of the spring break and I just can't deal.

So I pulled up all the stems and crypts with tweezers, rinsed off their roots and dropped them in the betta's 10g to just float. Ruby looks fine. He's exploring around and looks relaxed. It's all a jumble, but I think I saved most everything. Nerites moved over on the plants, trumpet snails will survive in the substrate layer meanwhile.

That was a stressful hour just now SIGH. I have to find a stand- don't want to put it back on that end table, in fact don't want to put it back in my bedroom (I already miss seeing the betta and the plants in here but wow it sure is nice and QUIET now) and then I can move the substrate out of the leaky tank into the good one, replant and rescape everything. Crossing fingers there isn't much of a cycle, going to skip feeding a few days. Blarg.

feathered ones

I found a robin egg on the ground. I couldn't see the nest anywhere, but I've noticed a robin darting in and out of euonymus by the front corner of the house, so maybe it's hidden there. Regardless, the egg had small weight but was cold so probably dead. They are my favorite color.

Yesterday evening heard a commotion in the yard. Reocognized sharp alarm calls- several birds, robins and a catbird or maybe a mockingbird. I thought they were fussing over my cat, but he was tucked into the grass under a tree, nobody bothering him. The birds were shrieking around a tree on the other side of the yard. It was a barred owl.

Not just one, two!

They must be a mated pair.

in tenner

I'm glad I moved the dwarf sword in here, it's looking so much better

One of my buce 'isabella' is flowering!

A few of the others look like they might be, but I'm not sure. Often a new leaf, still tightly furled, fools me.

some wild things

I don't have any pictures, but have seen wildlife around the yard- mostly birds. A robin was rustling in the large holly shrub for many days in a row, until the cat sat on the railing of the fence it grows against. The robin still comes by, but doesn't hang out in that bush anymore. I saw and heard a pair of cardinals quietly conversing together in the euonymus by the garden, hoped they might build a nest there, but they went elsewhere. The wren is back! (or at least, a wren. "How do you know it's the same one?" my husband says reasonably.) The first day I saw it, the wren was hopping along the deck railing, then it flew to the closed table umbrella and flitted around among the folds. I wonder if it was looking for bugs. I've seen it here and there on the edges of the yard, since. I don't see or hear the mourning doves often, but there's a new bird call I can't identify. I see mockingbirds and jays. I hear the catbirds crying, but don't see them in my yard. Redtail hawks often circle overhead, and sometimes I hear a barred owl calling in the late afternoon- it must have a roost in a tree nearby.

Such a little thing, but I was tickled to see the tiny jumping spider on deck railing by my planter boxes the other day. It turned and turned to face me. Found another one in the garden, on a pole that holds up the pea support. I like the tiny spiders.

A fox has been facing off with our cat. My husband saw it standing in the yard, yipping at our cat who sat on the porch, for long moments late at night. My neighbor saw the fox chase our cat onto the deck, after some yowling and screeching between them. I found feces deposited on one of the stumps in the yard- somehow I suspect the fox did that. Our cat is on the large side- he weighs nearly thirteen pounds- but is also getting older and stiff in the joints. I worry sometimes the fox will hurt him.

cold nights again

Nearly all of my young plants had to come inside.

view from the other side:

some closeups: epazote, celosia behind

Opopeo amaranth, sweet basil, celosia:

Hyssop:

Peppers in front of tarragon (doing great) and sweet potato vine (ailing from something):

Zinnia and cosmos:

Cosmos in front of cucumber seedlings

Nicotiana are quickly becoming very crowded. I realized too late I made the mistake again of sowing in a tray and not directly in the ground . . . dang

Tithonias:

These are looking great (except one that's stunted). I can't wait to plant them out and see if the hummningbird visits again.

Only those that can withstand down to fifty degrees stayed out in the coldframe over night (with a blanket over it): tomatoes

marigolds, chervil, basil and cranesbill

When it warms up to sixty air temp, window lid comes off and I tuck some of the cosmos and zinnias in there- shelter from the high winds we've been having. It fills up the space!