So many things are working well, but I’ve also had some setbacks that are extremely frustrating to say the least. I’m not going to let the failures outweigh the successes and I am determined to get this business off the ground.
So what’s been going on?
I’ve been winterizing my outdoor ponds, which includes buying heaters. I bought a couple with good reviews, that are designed for outdoor use. I put one in my larger pond to test it and got a nasty surprise a couple of days later. I reached in to pull out a plant and felt the distinct tingle of electricity. The fish are still alive and seem unscathed, but I can’t put it back in the water and risk killing them. I’m going to do some troubleshooting and try the other one I bought at the same time to see what happens. I’ll test it in a pond with no fish just to be safe.
The pond itself looks fantastic and I really love sitting on the porch listening to the water. I built it in the early part of the summer and the plants around it have done really well. I expect it to look even better next year, but I have to take the smaller pond out and put some more sand underneath to re-level it. The elephant ear is coming inside to overwinter, because I’m not certain it will be winter hardy here. Most of what is planted will die over the winter, but I have cuttings of the sweet potato vine. I don’t think I could kill the creeping Jenny or the sedum if I tried. I have big plans for the ground around the pond, but I strained the budget buying the retaining wall blocks. I’ll be doing some add-ons in the spring of 2025 and rearranging some planting schemes.
That jar of green water is part of my Live Food Project, which is going pretty well. All the rain from Francine made the daphnia/scud tank overflow, but no real damage done.
I bought fish recently from PetCo, which is a one hour drive from my house. Their selection is better than my local PetSmart, which is about fifteen minutes from home, but the store seemed…dirty. I have no other way to describe it. I made the mistake of not quarantining the fish long enough and wound up with ich in three of my tanks. I also lost every single panda cory that I bought within 48 hours. They were really too young to be in the store and I’m surprised any of them made it through shipping alive. Due to the aforementioned one hour drive, it’s just not convenient to return dead fish in a timely manner. I will likely not purchase from them again unless I need tanks or equipment and they have a super sale.
The whole reason I decided to try launching this business was to offer an alternative to the chain stores in my area. The closest LFS is an hour away, and it’s just not convenient for anyone who has a job or obligations outside of work. I’m hoping to change that. I have several other projects going, including the IBC Aquaponics Experiment, and the Platy Breeding Project which I’ll be posting more about later.
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Until next time!
Jennifer
