So today I went to Petco and bought some filter media for my Tetra EX70 filter, and frozen”Fish Gum Drops” brine shrimp.  The fish seem to love the brine shrimp (including the goldfish).  Well at least the first time.  The second time I fed them they were not very interested at first, but I blame that on a unusual 3rd feeding (I get antsy and wanted to see how the Oscars reacted to the frozen food).

I also got the EX70 filter media like I said above.  I was highly tempted to buy the Marieneland Emperor Power Filter 400 but at the end of the day I decided in the long run it would be much easier to use two filters that both used the same exact media.  More on that in a moment.

I then went to Pet World, with the intent on buying some Neon Tetras.  Sadly they didn’t have any.  They said they may have some later today so I might go check tomorrow, but I’m not positive yet.  So instead I bought 50 pounds of tan gravel.  Why?  I don’t know.  I need another 50 pounds to be where I want to be as far as gravel goes, and I can’t even really put it in yet…  Well I could put it in but I’m going to build a stand for it, and I have no desire to move the water out and then back in, much less take the gravel out and then put it back in.  No reason to make things any more difficult then they already are I figure.

The funny thing is I went home and looked at my online statement and saw a duplicate charge of $31.30.  I quickly glanced at the description and say “pet” in both places.  I figured I got double charged somewhere.  Then I realized somehow both my totals at Petco and Pet World were the exact same for very different items.  Strange.

I then went home and ordered the Tetra Whisper EX70 filter from Amazon.  This is why I didn’t get the Emperor 400.  Now let me say this.  From everything I heard I was very tempted to get the Emperor, but the bottom line is this.  I’m happy with the Tetra filter, and since I’m happy I see no reason to change anything for the second filter.  Of course I also don’t have to buy two different kinds of filter media which makes it easier to keep the filter media stocked.

So my fish seem to have gotten Ick.  I’m not a very happy camper to say the least.  A few days ago I tried to solve the problem with salt.  Mostly because I wasn’t positive what I was dealing with and was told that salt could possibly deal with the ick problem and another issue that it could have been if the problem was ick.

I was willing to try the salt mostly because the salt at worst would have no effect what so ever on the ick, but still provide a kind of stress relief for the fish and at best deal with the problem.

Honestly I don’t think I have given the salt a long enough time to take effect (ick could only be killed at a certain point in the 1-2 week cycle), but I’m not willing to fool around with this, so I bought a product from API.  It’s called “Super Ick Cure“.  We shall see how this works.  Sadly it takes quite a while to work, but so be it.  Seems the real issue is catching the ick when it can actually be killed and not so much it taking a long time for the medicine to take effect.

The first step is putting the meds in the water and then waiting 48 hours until the next step at which point you put in more meds and wait 48 hours.  Then you wait another 48 hours and put in new carbon (you have to take it out so the carbon doesn’t destroy the medicine).

I’m not a big fan taking out the carbon as it contains beneficial buildup of bacteria, but you do what you have to do I suppose.  I actually was going to buy neon tetras (even though its iffy with the Oscars), but they can’t really stand the medicine so I’m holding off.  The real issue isn’t so much wanting to put new fish in the tank so much as wanting to get the food prone neon tetras into the tank ASAP so the Oscars can get used to them ASAP.  The otherwise awesome reality is the Oscars are growing very quickly and the bigger they get the more prone I suspect they will be to trying to eat the neons.

So the other day I decided to take my air bubble bar from standing upright in the corner with a fairly limited air flow to having it sit on the bottom of the tank with small (1/2″-2″) rocks covering it with a heavy air flow.  I like this because it sends a lot of oxygen into the tank while distorting the flow so huge bubbles don’t reach the top (just lots of small ones).

Now of course I have seen Finding Nemo where the one fish likes the bubble flow, but I didn’t actually think this was something fish actually like, but my Oscars seem to love it.  They will get right into the middle of the flow, and allow the bubbles to push them to the top of the tank.

This setup also has the nice side effect of causing a nice current in the tank, and lots of oxygen input.

Later on (when I buy more rocks) I plan on doing the same thing on the right side of the tank.

Okay so I have some fish related complaints.

“Big Box” stores are bad Myth

The first one is simple. Tearing apart “big box” pet stores is absurd. Why? Simple. You could happen to have the very best Petco in the world. The store manager may just care, and only hire (or at least keep) people who also care. It’s possible. On the flip side (even more possible I would say as far as extremes go) a local pet store could simply not care about anything but money.

Now don’t get me wrong. I fully understand the issues and why this seems to be on otherwise good sites.  They use the same filtration system for every tank, and simply put they are a “big box” store.  I work for Wegmans.  We thrive on NOT being a big box store – While being just that…  I fully understand the paradox.  Again – Working for Wegmans – I also understand that it is completely possible to provide both the services of a independent store, or the volume of a big box store.  And yes – Believe it or not – Inside companies that clearly are big box stores you have certain stores that are very much like Wegmans.  It is fairly easy to figure out after only a couple visits.  The people either do care, or they don’t.

Back to the central filtration thing though.  I again fully understand why this is potentially deadly.  The reasons are obvious.  One tank gets sick, and the rest follow suit.  I have a few problems with this logic though.

The first one is I’m not convinced they use a central filter every tank.  If nothing else once one tank gets sick it seems to me that tank gets moved to a special independent filter till the fish get healthy.  Or at least something along these lines.  If this was not the case all big box stores would be out of the fish business very quickly, because all their fish would be sick or dead.

The next thing – I’m convinced Pet World is a good pet store.  I’m convinced they care, and I’m convinced at least someone knows something about everything.  On that note Pet World I would say has more sick fish then Petco.  Pretty simple.

Bottom line?  Go to each area fish store a bunch of times.  Figure out what each one is like.  Buy from the one that seems the best.  Pet World here is by far the cheapest.  Petco I think has the better fish.  Pet World has the better selection.  It is all relative.

And DEAD FISH DON’T MEAN THE REST IN THE TANK ARE SICK  —  It means one fish died.  Simple.  From there you investigate if you want a fish from that tank.  I know from experience.  Petco had a dead Tiger Oscar.  It creeped me out, but when I came back a week later the rest of the fish were still alive and very alive.  1 fish had bad luck.  I bought one of those fish – a week later (more then 2 weeks total) he is by FAR the most active and healthy fish in my tank.  I don’t think I could have done better.  Now if I used the “big box” myth and “dead fish” myth I may have ended up with bad luck and a unhealthy fish (I do doubt this).  I’m positive I would have ended up with a less active fish one way or the other though.

Oscars are mean myth

I have heard just about every “mean Oscar” myth there is I think in a very short amount of time.  Again.  There are exceptions, but I don’t believe my fish (or my mom’s for that matter) are the exception.  I’ve heard everything from you can’t have more then one (which is so absurd for so many different reasons – its a FACT their one of the most loving mom AND dad fish around) to you need a school (6+) of Oscars for them to play nice (because you know – each one keeps the other ones in check… or something…) to “they may be nice when their young but they will turn when they get older”.

I think the last one is the one that ticks me off the most.  “They may be nice when their young but they will turn when they get older”.  You know what that sounds like to me?  Like a cover so right up until they die they can go “just wait”.  Please.  Give me a break.

Now I’ve heard from many people that Oscars get mean when they are breeding (including people who wouldn’t call Oscars mean).  This is obvious though.  They are protecting their babies (fry).  The last thing the mother wants is some non breeding Oscar to come eat the eggs for lunch.  The mother has enough problems trying to keep a generally protective father in check!

Another rumor is Oscars won’t play nice with other fish.  I think this is partially crazy talk, and partially reality.  Now my Oscars are not big, but I have feeder goldfish in my tank.  The most they do is chase them around…  Only killing the sick ones (BTW goldfish have been known to hunt down sick fish also).  If you have a fish in from the start that is the same size or bigger I don’t think there is going to be a issue.  The trick is to either get a fast fish, or one that isn’t afraid of the Oscars.  Look at the Pleco.  He can be smaller then the Oscar, and is very slow, but a Oscar won’t chase much less kill him because the Pleco simply isn’t afraid.  On the flip side goldfish of the same size are just to fast for the Oscar.  My Oscars chase the goldfish a little bit, and then literally 10 minutes later swim next to each other like they are best friends (also realize that Oscars are VERY smart, which means they are very prone to the ability to PLAY with their fish mates).

Similarly I have been told different species of Oscars won’t pair up.  Tell that to my White Albino and Tiger who are paired up half the time after only about a week.

Fish are just like any other creature with a measurable amount of intelligence.  They have personalities.  You want a Oscar that will kill anything you put in the tank with it?  I’m sure you can find one, however I’m sure if you want a nice fish that plays nice with other fish you can more easily find that one.

The hood didn’t come with a center brace. Like I said it had been a long time since it was set up so beyond the obvious issues I wasn’t sure of any problem. The entire stupid frame is missing from tank.

So I went to Pet World (a local pet store) and asked them what the solution is. From the sounds of it the entire molding on the tank needs to come off and be replaced, and she didn’t hold back making it pretty clear (with out actually saying as much) that it wouldn’t be cheap. Obviously they don’t stock this type of thing so she took my name and number. That was before noon. She never called me back. Ugh.

Well I wanted to take pictures of my fish and I simply couldn’t do so without a tank light. So what did I do? I went to Home Depot and bought some tie straps (pretty much 22 inch versions of this). I bought 3 and layed them across the tank. Eventually I’m going to cut them down to 16 1/2 inches so they fit perfectly inside the tank. Frankly after they are cut down this may work just as well as the real frame. I’ll see how it works out. Either it is a short term fix or a long term fix. Either way it isn’t a very bad way to spend 8 bucks.

With the light you can see pictures here, and videos here.

Today I also bought a air pump. Now I wanted to get a air pump soon (like next week) anyways, but I had a issue. My Oscars like the water anywhere from 74-82 degrees (still trying to figure it out exactly). My feeder fish (which the only way I want them dying is as a result of being ate) don’t like the water anywhere near that temperature. Reason being because at that temperature there isn’t nearly enough oxygen in the water. I’ve had at least 2 fish die because of lack of oxygen and potentially 3. Last night I tried to save one, but I had no idea what to do really. He was dead in the morning.

So I bought the Tetra Whisper Air Pump rated for 100 gallon tanks. The ratings are really pretty bogus. If you only need air for one thing in a 500 gallon tank a air pump for a 10 gallon rated tank would be plenty. On the other hand if you have 5 things going on in your 10 gallon tank you may need one rated for a 100 gallon tank. I don’t think I need the 100 gallon rated one, but better go big then have to upgrade and end up paying more in the long run. I also bought a 12″ air stone (this), and some tubing. I didn’t think it was going to be very big (didn’t really pay attention to the measured size). Got home and it was plenty big enough…. times like 5… (this). BTW I didn’t buy anything at Liens and Things, and all the prices were cheaper.

Then I went and bought a Pleco. Or Plecostomus for people who are jerks. It’s like calling a “Astronotus ocellatus”… Ya it’s right, but no one with any common sense does it. Okay I guess it isn’t quite like that, but it’s close enough that a otherwise nice guy doesn’t need to look at me like I’m a idiot for calling it a Pleco. So I got one.

So I put it into the tank and came back a little while and couldn’t find him. I kind of freaked. Now I know Plecos like to hide. Thing is there is no where in my tank to hide. No gravel yet (1 or 2 weeks away), and no wood or anything (I’ll have that after the weekend when my brother stops using it as a decoration on his bookcase and gives it back). Obvious first thought were the damn Oscars ate him. Of course that wasn’t even possible. Even if the Oscars had killed him they wouldn’t have had enough time to eat his entire body. Second thought was he had jumped out of the tank (the hood was not on yet). Turned out he was sitting behind the filter intake. UGH!

Okay. So I have some complaining to do. Read the next post for that…

Now as far as my childhood goes I don’t really remember exact details. Frankly my memory sucks in general and that’s what I blame it on, but without question I remember the Oscars. For anyone that doesn’t know Oscars are some of the most popular freshwater fish around, and for good reason. Their smart. They swim all over the place, and they eat just about anything that finds its way into the tank.

Food? Anything. If it be normal flake food right down to cooked steak, and just about everything in between.

I had to have these fish again.

So over like the last 5 years or so I have tried to get my mom to set the tank back up. Ya… 5 years or so. We have not had this tank set up in like 12-15 years. A 90 gallon fish tank just sitting there.

Well now I can afford on my own (although slowly). So that is exactly what I have done.

Frankly I have been moving faster then I should have but I think I am past the most dangerous part as far as going to fast. Everything from this point on should be at “normal” speeds.

The first thing I did was filled up the tank. Duh.

Then I bought a 70 gallon rated Tetra Whisper EX70 filter and a dozen feeder fish (got 14 – only 13 made it into the tank). This was obviously the first part where I was moving to fast. I should have waited a week until I bought the first fish, but there was a method to my madness.

I figured I would buy cheap semi hardy fish (goldfish) and have them help speed up the acclimation process. If they died oh well. If they didn’t everything was great.

1 didn’t even make it into the tank. Instead while I was trying to release water from the bag to dump him into the tank he went through the tiny hole and down the bathroom sink. Oppps. Since then I now dump the water (and fish) into a bucket then net the fish and put him into the tank. This is better all around.

The next day I found a floater. Well within the parameters of feeder fish I figure.

The next day my goldfish got to enjoy the huge 90 gallon tank. I figure they loved the upgrade from the fish shop. Much less fish in a much larger tank. This I figure was the last complete day of enjoyment for them.

The next day I bought my primary tenets. A White Albino Oscar (Named “Whiteout”) and a Tiger Oscar (Named “Sleepy” because it almost looks like he yawns). At first I was going to get two Tigers, but the White Albino caught my attention.

I picked Sleepy because he was getting nipped at (but no teeth contact) and I figured he would be the least aggressive – He wasn’t even fighting back (I would learn otherwise very soon). The reason I wanted a less aggressive fish is because I still don’t know what my master plan is and I want to leave my options as open as possible.

I picked Whiteout because he was the most white Albino, and none of the 3 there seemed very aggressive at all towards each other. Whiteout has proven to be pretty laid back, but as you will read in a little bit he will kill.

The next morning there was a death. Actually I would call it more of a murder. Whiteout decided it was okay to simply kill one of the feeders. Now don’t get me wrong. I could care less if my Oscars eat the feeders. In fact I would prefer it. But simply killing could get kind of annoying. It’s not a money issue either.

So I left the dead goldfish in the tank for 3 hours. I thought maybe he would eventually eat him – Or Sleepy would. But after 3 hours I removed the fish. Now don’t get started on how I should have removed the fish right away. Frankly I was lucky to have seen the kill at 6am. I’m pretty sure the goldfish was having breathing problems anyways, so I suspect he was a easy target.

I also think perhaps the 2 inch Oscars are not quite big enough to eat the 1 inch goldfish yet, but I don’t know this for sure.

So I plan on getting some small live (or frozen live) food, because I would like them to start getting big. And big they can get. Sometimes up to 12 inches in a tank (18 in the wild). I want to point something out. I have been watching many videos on YouTube. People put Oscars in far to small tanks. A 40 gallon tank isn’t going to hold even one adult Oscar. It’s kind of sad to see.

So right now I need a second filter to round out the other 20 gallons. I’m not quite worried about this though at the moment for two reasons. I plan on getting a large Pleco (like 4-5 inches) come Thursday, and the tank really isn’t dirty. I don’t have gravel yet so I really can see the “real deal” as far as how dirty the bottom is.

I also want to get a air pump. My fish (with the above exception) seem to be doing fine oxygen wise, but better safe then sorry. I’m also thinking about a second heater to make the water more even in temperature, but I have not decided yet. The current heater is doing just fine in general. Perhaps finding a better position for the current one would make the most sense.

Sleepy seems to have started to learn who I am – After only a few days non the less, but he won’t let me pet him yet (Yes Oscars like their owners pet them). When I put my hand in the water to goes to try and figure out what is going on but is very weary. However every time I put my hand in he gets closer and closer. At this rate he may let me pet him tomorrow. I have little doubt it will take longer then another few days. Whiteout doesn’t seem interested in my hand one way or the other, but he seems to understand who I am also – Perhaps a little less though.

Whiteout and Sleepy seem to have partially paired up. Well about half the time anyways.

Whiteout has some quirks about him. He seems to love hanging out right below the water flow from the filter. He seems to like to be curved. He also seems like he wants to know what is beyond the glass.

I’m very happy to say Sleepy is very brightly colored. In fact the entire tank was. Especially compared to the other store. Although I picked him to other reasons he also have a very cool orange color to his eye. It almost looks like it is in his eye even though it is just the area around the eye.

So far I think I have been very lucky in all respects. My fish are healthy, beautiful and quite peaceful. They seem to have even accepted (for the most part) the feeder fish are going to survive in the tank at least for a little bit longer and only chase them once in a while.

I look forward to this adventure with fish.

So Air Control is the second “Flight Control” clone that I’m going to review.  This game is much like all the other games.  More so then “Flight Director” because this one uses the same basic cartoon images while “Flight Director” chooses to go with a more realistic look to the images.  I should start off by saying that this game crashed for no apparent reason the last time I tried to open it.  It could very well have been a fluke.  I’m not sure.  While I was writing up this review it crashed a second time when I tried to start a new game.  Not sure what caused that either.

One of the nice features of this game is that it tries to make things more interesting by adding “Cargo” mode which in short adds a puzzle element to the game.  In this mode the color or plane type has to be the same as the last one in order to land on the runway.

To start off this clone has some major differences from “Flight Director”.  Some of them I like.  Others I don’t.

In this one all the runways look the same even though they don’t all take the same kind of aircraft.  In the short term this stinks.  In the long term it may not matter to most users.  However even when you have established which runway is for which plane as the game gets hectic I could see brief confusion that would lead to crashes.

In this game when a plane is on a landing course it changes to a white color which is nice when you start to have tons of lines on the map.  I can’t tell you how many times I thought I have had a plane ready to land in “Flight Director” only to be disappointed.

This game has a fast forward button to speed up the planes a play button to return the game to the normal speed which I love.  It also has a pause button.

The flight control seems to be a lot better then “Flight Director”.  Other then when the line flat out stopped being drawn (which I blame on my dirty screen) the lines almost always “connected” with the runway.

Bottom Line:  I like the real life airports in “Flight Director” and the planes are easier to tell apart in that game, but I think I like “Air Control” more.  I paid for “Flight Director” but I think I’m going to also pay for “Air Control”, and depending on my mood play both.  This game gets a 8/10 – If you have to buy one or the other buy this one, but both are great games.

So look for more reviews tonight.  Of course tonight could be anytime between 10pm and 5am for me

Flight Director is a “Flight Control” clone.  Flight Control of course is for the iPhone, but since Flight Control is not made for Android (yet) this is one of very few choices.

Now let me start off by saying that I have never played Flight Control on the iPhone.  I have played clones of this game however.

Lets start off with what this game does and has.  This game has satellite images of real airports.  I think this adds just a little bit more fun that other clones are lacking.  Beyond that the game is simple.  You drag aircraft to runways and helicopters to helipads.  There are two different runways and 4 different planes.  There is only one helipad but it takes 2 different helicopters/airships.

I like this game a lot because while most other clones offer 2 different planes and one helicopter this one offers 4 different planes and 2 different helicopters of different speeds which adds to the fun and/or frustration.

The game does have some control issues, but the developer is well aware of them and continues to try and fix them.  I would say that he is close to getting the control issue ironed out, but that it will take at least a couple more tries as this pace.  The control issue is kind of a game in itself.  The developer fixes it, then breaks it trying to fix it then fixes it even better then before and then the cycle repeats.

The game has 3 different difficulty levels.  Easy, medium and hard.  I like to start on medium because easy is just to slow when it starts off for me.  There is a pause feature which has just recently been added which is of course very nice.

The game has 6 different airports all with different layouts.

Really the game could only be improved on in 2 major ways.  First would be fixing the control issue.  It’s good.  Just not great.  The second improvement would be adding a online high score system so you can know just how good or bad you are doing.  Then of course adding new airports is always nice, but this already happens a fair amount.

Rating: I give this game 8/10 with huge potential for a higher score as the game is developed more

Okay.  Allow me to explain the 1 out of 10 rating system.  Well as I see it which may or may not be slightly different then reality.

Now when I talk about the system I call it a “1 out of 10 system”.  When you see the ratings they will be much more simple.  1 out of a 10 is 1/10.  10 out of 10 would be 10/10.  5 out of 10 is 5/10.  Hopefully you get the idea.

Lets start from the bottom then go to the top then go to the rest of the system.

First of all 1 out of 10 – If you get this rating here is what happened.  You got drunk one night.  No…  Hammered and went to bed.  The next morning you find this app you created.  How on earth you created a app while hammered and drunk no one knows, but you did.  This is a 1/10.

Then there is the elusive 10 out of 10 – Nothing should ever be able to get this rating.  Frankly the only way a app should be able to get a 10/10 is retroactively – Like a year after the fact.  Like I said.  10/10 is elusive.  Is it possible to get a 10/10 from day one?  I suppose.  I just highly doubt I will ever do it.

2 out of 10 – This isn’t much better then 1/10.  Typically the only difference is the developer knows the app is garbage and for some reason still decided to publish it.  Actually the app may not even be published to the Market yet.  In that case the developer has saved face – At least for the time being.

3 out of 10 – This is where app can start to show their face.  But hardly.  If you get a 3/10 there is some serious work that needs to be done.  By serious I mean short of a beta this shouldn’t be seeing the light of day.

4 out of 10 -This is why I dislike this system.  Good, bad or indifferent you shouldn’t get this.  If I give this rating either I’m feeling nice, or I’m playing a joke on someone.  They really should call this the “1 out of 6 plus 8 out of 10 system”.  Really.  4/10 has no place in this system as far as I’m concerned.

5 out of 10 – If you get this you are on the right path.  Somehow.  But you just found the right path and you still don’t know it.  You could easily relapse at this point.  That’s the bad news.  The good news is someday your app could be a 10/10.  This is highly unlikely but anyone can dream right?

6 out of 10 – This is kind of like a  4/10, but on the better half of the scale.  It’s a lot easier to get a 6/10, but still doubtful.  The difference between a 5/10 and 6/10 and 7/10 is in the grand scheme of things very small.  Yet to get from a 5/10 to a 7/10 is massive………  If that makes any sense.

7 out of 10 – This is pretty much average.  Ya it’s a high number, but this is where decent apps are going to fall.  It is a lot easier to get then you may think.

8 out of 10 – If you get a 8/10 you know what you are doing.  You have vision.  You have the ability to program.  But most of all you listen to the people using the app.  This app isn’t what you want in a app.  It’s what everyone else wants in a app.

9 out of 10 – A lot more apps will get this rating then they should.  That’s just life.  It still will be a very exclusive club though.

10 out of 10 – You are not paying much attention huh?  We already covered this.