Our New Pseudo-Iwagumi Nano Tank

Well, we've begun our dive into aquascaping. Noah has had a lot of fun helping set up our new aquarium. Here is the progress we've made so far:

The first thing we had to do was to rinse out the plant substrate. We chose flourite - the most economical, as well as dusty. We rinsed the substrate until the water ran clear in order to remove any residual dust. This step is primarily to avoid cloudy water and a clogged filter.

Flourite is an ideal medium for growing aquatic plants as it does not alter the pH of the water, and it is also a rich source of iron, removing the need for iron supplementation.

After it was rinsed, Noah filled the bottom of the aquarium with the flourite.

Next, we arranged our rocks and began to fill the tank with our dechlorinated tap water. I tried to keep the principles of Iwagumi in mind as I arranged the rocks, however, our local aquarium supplier did not have a large variety of rocks to choose from that would fit such a small tank (4 gallons). We ended up choosing petrified wood (cool!). I tried to break one of the pieces (the rectangular piece on the upper right) in order to achieve my desired look, but the wood is...well, definitely petrified.

We selected one plant to start out with, Hemianthus callitrichoides, better known as Dwarf Baby Tears. It should create a nice low lying carpet of green, assuming everything goes well!

Here is Noah with the tank - notice the cloudy water despite all of the gravel rinsing! The water is now clear, it took over night. As soon as the nitrogen cycle has worked itself out we will be adding some fish.

We will be keeping a journal of the progress of our tank. We will include photos, descriptions, as well as the chemistry of the water. Here are the water parameters as of Day 2:

pH: 6.2

Ammonia: 0.25 ppm

Nitrite: 0.1 ppm

No fish yet!

It is amazing to think of all of the ways a fish tank could be used to teach children - kids of all ages for that matter! Just to name a few things...nutrition, genetics, and reproductive physiology (through the caring for and breeding of fish), chemistry and microbiology, (through the testing of ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, pH, water hardness, chlorine, salinity, specific gravity, tracking the nitrogen cycle, learning about nitrifying bacteria, aerobic/anaerobic bacteria), art appreciation (careful arrangement of aquarium decor & plants, aquascaping, study of gardening styles), horticulture (through the keeping of aquatic plants), as well as simpler concepts such as counting and other forms of measurement (measuring food, counting during H2O testing, counting fish, measuring and distributing other supplements for the aquarium). This list could go on forever...if you thought an aquarium was just a pretty thing to look at, think again!

I have been a lover of all things aquarium since I was a little girl. Prior to moving away for college I had a a number of large aquariums, all of which I sold out of necessity. There just is not enough room for grandiose fish tanks in our apartment.

I've got the itch once more. We have a small 6 gallon aquarium and I am eager to get it established so that I can begin to share this hobby with Noah. He always enjoyed watching our aquariums before (see picture above), and I think it would be so special to involve him in the process of setting up and maintaining an aquarium on a smaller scale.

I used to keep brightly colored, aggressive freshwater fish, Mbuna (rock-dweller), better known as African Cichlids. Because of their territorial and aggressive tendencies they not only need a large volume of water, but also elaborate aquascaping in order to provide everyone with the necessary terrirtory they need to not be killed.

I have always been a Takashi Amano fan, and I am looking to him for inspiration for our new tank. I plan on doing a planted freshwater setup. 6 gallons does not allow you a wide selection as far as live stock is concerned, and I have never kept live aquarium plants, so I will have to do some more research beforehand. I will keep track of our progress here.

Unfortunately, Noah woke up with a fever this morning. He has caught whatever virus Scott had picked up from campus, so we won't be running and aquarium related errands until he is well again. Until then, it's nothing but low key for us...

Happy New Year!

Hope everyone was fortunate enough to have as wonderful a start to 2008 as I was.

I have much to share...I am slowly working on a recap of our holiday travels. Pecking it out between hang-out time with Noah, delicious meals, and good times with my family.

No resolutions for me, as usual, but this time of the year is great for reflecting on where I am at in my life and thinking about all of my "gratefuls". Looking at this picture of Noah's first New Year's Eve is just another way of reminding me of all of the brilliant experiences we have had since he has entered our lives.


I will have my next post done soon, promise!

Good To Be Home

We've safely returned from our travels to the "paradise coast". All in all we had a great time. Here are some highlights from our trip...

Mote Marine Laboratory - Sarasota, Florida

This laboratory and aquarium is small (translate: totally do-able with small children in tow) and staffed entirely with devoted volunteers. I was blown away by their eagerness to share their knowledge of the specimens in house, all of which had either been injured or otherwise incapable of survival in the wild.

I really liked the fact that the entire operation was scientifically oriented. They were truly interested in spreading the understanding of sea creatures to the public, and made all of the information and resources available to them readily accessible to visitors.

Scotty particularly enjoyed the sharks (there were live ones, however the one pictured above is not) - he has been fascinated with them ever since he was a boy.

Above all, I was most impressed by the manatees. It was amazing to see them up-close. It makes me wonder why noone has passed a law requiring cages on boat motors to protect these beautiful animals. I was surprised to learn that they actually have fingernails on the ends of their flippers! No doubt they are cousins of the elephant.


National Audubon Society's Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

Scott's favorite sighting in the swamp, of course. The american alligator.

Little Blue Herons were abundant, and were also accompanied by other wading birds (Ibis, Great Blue Herons, etc.). We actually saw one catch a frog and eat it. So cool!

We saw many species of caterpillar - two in particular that had poisonous fuzz. This is called the saddleback caterpillar - can you tell why? Absolutely gorgeous.

Words cannot describe this beautiful place! A few miles of boardwalk in the middle of ancient cypress swamps...bursting at the seams with wildlife...totally awesome.

We are returning to Florida again in March, so we will definitely have to visit the sanctuary again and see how it changes from Winter to Spring...

Yes, it took me THREE weeks to write this post. The Spring semester has begun and has our household running at lightspeed...some things wind up getting left behind.

I do have more to share, though, and intend on doing so. Stay tuned!

Been a while...

So, yeah. I'm not the best at keeping up at this blogging thing. I do have some great excuses, though. I'm sure you'd love to hear all about them.

Spent Thanksgiving with Scott's extended family. Won't go into that.

Scott's dad had triple bypass surgery. Thankfully he is on the mend and doing great now. I'll spare you the details.

Last week was the last week of the Fall semester. Boy am I glad that is OVER. It was our first semester in our new city. Our first semester with no built-in babysitters (AKA Grandmas who live right down the street). It was hard. Sometimes I wondered whether or not we would survive, but we did it! Both Scott and I did pretty damn good. I now feel more confident about this Spring and we've developed a sense of comfort and routine that will make things much easier next time around. I am signing myself up for one more class than I took last semester. At this rate I'll graduate in a decade. Okay, not really, but it feels like it!

So the stress and pressure of exams has proven to decrease the amount of energy I've spent making sure we do "schooly" stuff. Whatever that means. I need to remember that Noah is only two years old, although it is difficult at times. It is easy to fall prey to the mentality that we need to continue pouring more and more information into our children - heaven forbid they fall behind. (behind who/what?)I even start feeling guilty about it. I've gotta let that go. All I need to do is look at Noah, and it is easy to see that he soaks up so much each day...there is no reason for me to try and force it in. In fact, doing so is probably detrimental. I read something really great about this same idea this month written by Paulo Freire. Check it out HERE.

A bad shot of me after my final exam - the celebratory midnight snow angel!

In other news, we are leaving tomorrow afternoon to visit Scotty's parents in Florida. We will be staying through Christmas. Two weeks in the Sunshine State! It will be a welcome vacation, although I will definitely miss snowy Michigan for Christmas. We have lots of fun stuff planned for our visit including a trip to Mote Aquarium, The Naples Zoo, and plenty of trips to the beach. My favorite part about visiting Florida as a kid was catching the little lizards that seems to be climbing on the walls just about everywhere you go. I will be sure and catch one for Noah to inspect.

I'm bringing my camera, so I'll bring back pictures! Promise!

More after the New Year...

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Rhythms

"It is important to understand that "rhythms" are not really like schedules and/or time tables... but more like the flow of the way the day begins, continues, closes, etc... If your rhythm at dinner is to set the table, light a candle, say a blessing and eat the meal, then if it's at 5:00 one night and then at 6:30 the next night because daddy is running late or the beans aren't cooked, but you still follow the pattern of setting the table, lighting the candle, saying the blessing and eating... then you DO have a rhythm." Source.

Word.

It has been frustrating for me at times to attempt to explain this simple concept to "Scheduling Types". When I say that Noah does not have a bed time, a nap time, a lunch time, or a bath time, it is often received with a contorted and doubtful, if not just a little bit judgemental, expression. You know the look. Yes, we do all of these things, however the times at which we do them are not dictated by the clock. If one of them does not end up happening, that's OK, too.

People claim that schedules are beneficial for children because they offer predictability and stability for them. In a sense this could be true, but it could also be said that this stiff rigidity with daily happenings can create an inflexible and mundane experience for children, and those too dependent on schedules may even become unable to cope with change or the unexpected. I know a few of these people personally. By letting go of scheduling and embracing our natural rhythm I believe we can provide that sought after sense of security, familiarity, and confidence for our children.

In other news, we've been very busy as usual. We made an impromptu trip up North to visit family. The future in-laws have sold their home and will be moving to Florida. We will be helping them pack up the moving truck this weekend, but wanted to get in as much quality time as possible because the next time we will see them after that is during our possible trip down before Christmas.

While we were up there we stopped by our favorite pumpkin farm. Noah had plenty of fun, and we got some good pumpkins for carving.

I am making an attempt at increasing Noah's awareness of the changing seasons, and our pumpkin patch trip was one way of helping him experience fall - despite the 90 degree weather.

I also got a much needed hair cut today. I got it done at Douglas J Aveda Institute, which is basically Aveda beauty school. Yes, I let a student cut my hair, and I am actually very happy with the way it turned out. Plus, it was CHEAP! :) I love the way Aveda products smell, and that their ingredients are natural. I even got a complimentary (translate: attempt to get you to buy more services) peppermint scalp massage. Yummy.

Aside from that, I have been looking at Waldorf dolls. Initially I thought I would wait to get/make one until I had a little girl, but I've since realized that I am a victim of silly preconceived notions about boys and what they are supposed to be. I found an interesting book titled William's Doll which attempts to deal with this phenomenon. A review from the Waldorf homeschoolers website says, "This is a beautiful book that shows how our preconceived notions twist and make ugly a child's innocent desire to practice being a father. The author shows us that playing with dolls is not just for girls, rather it's a way of allowing our sons to get in touch with the more gentle and loving side of themselves." I will have to check out our library to see if they carry it.

Finished reading "What Should I do Monday". Still anxiously waiting for the other Holt book I ordered...

More later.