This is a test post
Ne of the things I am struggling to do is sit at a PC long enough to write
a blog post.
I am therefore trying to configure the blog by email functionality to
enable me to email posts from my Blackberry.
If this works then you might well see all sorts of BS and random thoughts
appear.
It’s fairly annoying that there’s no decent offline editing apps for the
Blackberry though - and no support for tagging via email either.
Amateur Transplants
Most that are even slightly savvy with the web will know of the institution that is The London Underground Song (YouTube link).
Looking round YouTube this afternoon I found their Live show with individual tracks. Some things just make you laugh out loud. To the tune of The Jungle Book’s “Bare Necessities” here’s The Amateur Transplants’ take on Web 2.0:
I got an email from them this afternoon mentioning that they are releasing the London Undergound Song as a charity single. It’s available on iTunes and (from the email):
London Underground Single Launch
——————————–Our funky, punky, new recording of the London Undeground Song is
now on iTunes. Please please buy it because:1. 100% of proceeds go to Macmillan Cancer Support. It’s our big Christmas charity push this year. We can raise shedloads.
2. If enough people buy it this week it’ll get into the charts and then they’ll have to play it on the radio. Hahaha.
Please forward the email, add to blogs etc - but mostly PLEASE spend 79p on iTunes.
The link to the song on iTunes
You can also buy their CD and DVD from their shop, again with the proceeds going to Macmillan Cancer Support.
Go. Buy them. NOW!
Help Me Do Some Simple Sums
Having wandered round a number of pet shops over the last few days I am becoming less and less convinced that my fish tank really holds 39 litres1
Working out the volume of a box is no problem. If the box is (for example) 40 cm square and 45 cm high (these figures will become clear in a mo) then you just multiply length by width by height (LxWxH). So:
L x W: 40 x 40 = 1600 cm2
L x W x H: 40 x 40 x 45 = 72000 cm3
For ease of reference, turning that into litres which is what I want is simply dividing the result of L x W x H by 1000. Correct me (please!) if I’m wrong but I think this can be written as ((l*w*h)/1000). The result is 72 litres. Dandy.
Here’s my problem. This is the shape of my tank:
The grey shaded part is the tank. What I need to do is remove the yellow triangle volume from the square. Measurements are on the image above, height is the same as the tank at 45cm.
I just cannot for the life of me grasp how to work out the volume of the yellow shaded area. Anyone with more brains (and life-force) than me able to work out that volume? I know there’s something about 1/2 base x width x height or similar but I can’t find a good reference on the net (at 11.25 PM on Sunday night…)
On a related note I have added six new plants to the tank today - it was looking much bare. Picture is here (Photobucket link) taken with a Blackberry, I apologise for the quality!
- when filled empty to full, not accounting for substrate and other displacement items. ↩
Fishkeeping and The Web
They1 say that you can find anything on the web. Whilst this is completely true, I find it very difficult without hours of searching to find decent resources that I am entirely happy with.
When I first set up my new fish tank I, like one does, went searching to see what I could find on teh intertubes about the hobby.
My first few “finds” turned up the usual dead or really really old information. What I really wanted was a forum where I could get advice about my new hobby. Of course, the quality of these forums (fora?) differ hugely in quality too.
The first one I found had (like most of ‘em do) a Noob forum for introductions and beginners questions. Most of the replies to threads (mine included) went something along the lines of
Well, that tank’s not really big enough to keep any decent amount of fish. You really want an xxx gallon tank.
That’s not really helpful when I’ve already bought the tank, got the water in it and to be honest, don’t have the requirement (yet!) to buy a 4 foot long 55 gallon tank. Mine is a tiny 39 litre (8 gallon ish) tank that’s sitting beautifully in the corner next to the computer in the study.
So, I tried a couple more. More of the same unfortunately. Then I happened across Tropical Fish Forums aka TFF. I read a few posts and then a few more and then a few more. Next I know it’s 1.30 am on a school night. Ok, that one will do then!
So I joined (my username is Tropicoll - cool huh!), started my first thread and so far am really happy with the responses I have received.
One of the bits of advice from my thread was to be consistent with my log book notes.
For the uninitiated, fishkeeping isn’t just getting a tank, chucking some water in and hoping for the best. It’s much more complicated than that (yay, I like complicated!). Daily and weekly water testing and changing, fishless cycling and water quality monitoring. I read it suggested that fish-keeping isn’t about keeping fish as much as keeping bacteria. The good kind, not the bad.
So, the log book is an accurate record of testing for pH, Ammonia levels (fish poop!), Nitrites (converted by bacteria from Ammonia) and Nitrates (converted from Nitrites). When doing the fishless cycle (linked above) the guys on the forum like to see the results of the regular testing so they can advise the next step and easily see any problems that may arise as a result of the actions.
In my nerdy way I was trying to figure out how I could get my log book easily readable and easily referenced. Then I remembered everyone’s favourite - Google! Free, everyone knows it, well supported. Even better, Google Documents has a spreadsheet which can be filled in online, shared so the whole world can read it and easily linked to. So that’s what I’ve done!
The intention is that I will keep this log updated with every single test, change and anything else I can think of in the hope that it will be of use to me and maybe someone else…
- Who the hell are “they” anyway??? ↩
Awe Man
So, I was going to write something really long winded and probably boring to read about buying bits for the fishtank, testing the water and starting the fishless cycle.
But I can’t be assed. So I won’t.
If you really want to know about the fishless cycle go to www.fishforums.net and do a search instead.
