Corny's picture whoring thread

[GhostMost]

These are three pictures I took. flickr.com/andygast
I might upload some self portraits soon.

 

[giftart]

So So So pretty!

 

[mark1111]

I really enjoyed that, thanks for sharing and please keep posting more. I liked visiting Germany, and always had a good time, especially embarrassing drivers on the autobahn.

 

[Ekim23]

I like ... LOL

 

[Corny]

Now for something less pretty.

Pictures from the former KZ Dachau, now a memorial site.

Front gate

Front gate detail:

Main building:

Barracks:

 

[Corny]

Watch tower (and behind it, regular family houses .. who wants to live there???):

Inside the barracks:

Lockers

Washing room

Toilets

 

[timboy]

The only part of Germany i have been to is Bertchesgaden , stunningly beautiful

 

[80KGold]

So, is your bf's turtle a snapping turtle?

 

[Corny]

Nope, they are a Russian tortoise and a Hermann's tortoise

Here the russian is chilling in his jacuzzi

(flickr seems to have problems right now, if the pics don't appear - try again later)

 

[looseliam]

Nope, they are a Russian tortoise and a Hermann's tortoise

Here the russian is chilling in his jacuzzi

(flickr seems to have problems right now, if the pics don't appear - try again later)

he looks like he's pining for the fjords...

 

[BreakTheIce]

One more with pets

Curious tortoise has a look at the Axolotl whose tank is being cleaned.

You know, any aquatic creature shouldn't be removed from its tank while you clean it, and you should never clean their entire tank in one go. I've kept fish for ~10 years now and this is one of the biggest mistakes new fishkeepers make (this along with not cycling their tanks and usually overstocking). You use a gravel siphon and only drain about 25% of a tank's water in one go. Do not siphon the entire gravel, only siphon about half of it per water change, and siphon the other half on the other go. Same goes with filter maintenance, you never clean it all in one go as this will probably kill off all your beneficial bacteria.

I am an author on the aquarium wiki and here's a good introductory link on your Axolotl: Ambystoma mexicanum - The Free Freshwater and Saltwater Aquarium Encyclopedia Anyone Can Edit - The Aquarium Wiki

In general though the best information you will get with regards to fishkeeping is still through books and magazines. The internet is very limited on their information.

Not trying to be an a-hole just watching out for your Axolotl since taking fish out of their tanks to clean them will end up in a stressed fish which = shorter lifespan .

 

[Corny]

well, first an Axolotl is not a fish and I am quite well read on almost anything about them. Axoltols are very curious. As soon as you do something in the tank they will come towards you and check you out, maybe try to bite your finger (harmless). Because of that it happens very often that there fragile skin is hurt by the siphon's suction. While they generally heal very well, a big surface wound is very likely to get infected. Thus they are removed from the tank while it is being cleaned. Even if you are extra-careful leaving them in is more stress for them because you will just chase them from one corner to the other. They are not fish, they do not swim. They are on the ground and try to find caves or a corner. Since they are as curious as they are, I will just lower my hand in the tank. Wait until they come and very slowly lift them out of the tank. They won't even move if you do it right (and they can live several minutes on land since they have rudimentary lungs) and slowly place them in the temp. tank. It's quite easy to see how stressed and Axolotl is because their veins get visible when they are. The more, the worse. If you leave them in the tank, after cleaning they might hide for days. If you take them out and put them back in, they almost always immediately are in an "activity phase" and explore the tank, run around, beg for food ..

 

[BreakTheIce]

^I never called it a fish. I called it an aquatic creature. But they come into the hobby of fish keeping (as do aquatic snails and shrimp). Every time you are taking him out of the tank and putting him back in his body has to re-acclimate to the new water, and not to mention a heavy water change is killing off all the Nitrifying bacteria in the tank.

Gravel siphons actually have very weak suction power. They are even weaker than a direct hose siphon. and if you take your hose, start a siphon and move it near anything in the tank, they wont even get sucked up unless they are dead or close to dead. Many siphons come with an adjustable water flow/suction power.

With fish keeping, or keeping alive in water, it's basically an intricate science experiment where you try to emulate their natural habitat as best as possible in a finite volume (tank's volume). Hence taking them out of the tank is never recommended and a 100% water change is always harmful. What you have is pet water. You keep the water stable and in good condition. The water cares for your aquatic creature.

An Axoltol being curious has nothing to do with this. Try keeping an Oscar. My Oscar rolls over on his back like a dog so I can rub his belly while he's in the water and he even lets me pet him frequently. Doesn't mean I need to take him out of the tank during a water change.

Also, it's time out of water is not relevant here. Keep a Betta out of water but in a moist environment, it will live for 24 hours+. Even a gourami could do that.

 

[BreakTheIce]

And also, the fact that it stays at the bottom is pointless also. There are many fish that are exclusively bottom only (sometimes even burrowed in substrate at times). There are other fish that are purely at the top and will NEVER leave the surface of the water. Try seeing an African butterfly fish. It will probably spend just 1% of its life not near the water surface just laying there like a leaf all day, everyday and only springing into action when its owner comes by to feed it.

 

[frankfrank]

There are many fish that are exclusively bottom

There are other fish that are purely at the top and will NEVER leave the surface of the water.

Some guys are like this too

 

[Corny]

Axolotl are not very stressed about the water change. They can also deal with quite a change in temperature. And I don't get how you came to the conclusion that I am changing too much water. I never said anything about that and I am quite focused on testing my water values every week.

A gravel siphon may havea low suction .. but it's enough to hurt an axolotl. Here is a picture where this happened (not mine)

And that's why they get moved out of the tank. Most Axolotl keepers who don't have big tanks (like 1,20m or more in length) do that. It's even advised to newbies, since accidents like in the pic above are not rare.

So I'll say it again: They are no fish.

 

[BreakTheIce]

So I'll say it again: They are no fish.

Neither are aquatic snails, aquatic shrimp, aquatic plants, aquatic live rocks, but they come into the same hobby. So don't give me that

 

[Corny]

And the conditions that snails can tolerate are quite different then those that fish can cope with. Even amongst fish, there are vast differences. Just because you own something that's in a tank, too - it doesn't make you an expert on everything else living in a tank.

 

[Robertwho]

^ Looks more like a salamander to me... Sorry, I must confess, I find the chest hair protruding from underneath your t-shirt in the your avatar far more interesting though!

 

[BreakTheIce]

And the conditions that snails can tolerate are quite different then those that fish can cope with. Even amongst fish, there are vast differences. Just because you own something that's in a tank, too - it doesn't make you an expert on everything else living in a tank.

Depends on the snail in question really, and most snails are easier to care for than fish. And I know there are differences in fish, but that doesn't change the fact that an Axolotl is an aquatic creature and it's care falls under the category of fish keeping. So saying "it's not a fish" doesn't matter, lol.

Anyway, I was just trying to help but this getting silly really. It's your pet, it does look nice, and your pictures are great. I just thought I'd say that as a warning. If your Axolotl is doing fine then hey that's great. There are many fish kept in open systems (flow throughs) that are undergoing 100% water changes almost all the time (essentially emulates a fish in a river). Then again nothing wrong with large, frequent water changes. It's the infrequent ones that throw the balance of a tank off, but once again: your pet, your call.