Beware the Black Mooooor!!!

This is Bubba, our new Black Moor fancy goldfish.

Picked up three new fancy goldfish. One Fantail, one Chocolate Pom-Pom, and this big guy, Bubba, our resident Black Moor. Black Moors that exhibit white and black coloring are called Panda Moors. I wish the local aquarium had one of those.... dang.
[[Don't worry, team! Several of you voted for a Veil Tail in the America's Next Top Goldfish poll and I'll be adding one to the reservoir as soon as Austin Aquadome gets a new shipment in!]]

I'm thinking it might not be a bad idea to install some tasteful soft lighting underneath the teak rim on the reservoir. The water is so dark that it makes finding this guy (and practically all our other fish) pretty difficult.

Changed out the sponge debris filter today. It was naaaaasty. Glad I wore white pants today :/

Battling Fungus and Disease: Powdery Mildew

One of our pothos suffering from mild mildew growth.

We've been battling powdery mildew, a fungal disease that affects a wide variety of plants, for several months now. The outbreak hasn't been severe enough to warrant serious concern, just bad enough to slightly annoy me on a daily basis. The surface of the leaves become sticky and the white spores are unsightly and strangle the stems. Several gardening advice sites recommend completely removing the part of the plant that's infected, but since about 40% of our plants have a least a sprinkling of mildew on them, I'd rather treat the disease than trash the plants.

At the suggestion of my contact, Dwayne, at Texas Hydroponics we purchased an organic broad-spectrum biofungicide. I will admit that I've only been using it sporadically. It has an intense vinegar smell and can't be  applied during working hours. But since sporadic treatment has only barely kept the mildew at bay, I'm going to try to commit to returning to the office at least 2 nights per week to apply the spray after hours. 

In other good news: our fish friends are still alive 5 weeks and counting! I bought two of them for the reservoir, but one went missing for almost 2.5 weeks. I thought he had been sucked up through the water pump and PVC irrigation system (gruesome, I know!), but he reappeared 2 weeks ago, so all is well! I think we're about ready to add some more impressive species since we can properly control chlorine and chloramine levels and the nitrogen cycle is well established. Please participate in the poll on the right side of this page to vote for America's Next Top Model Goldfish!

pH: 6.8

Ammonia: 0 ppm

Nitrite: 0 ppm

Nitrate: 80 ppm