YAH!*

* Yet Another Hobby — or two.

We seem to have gotten pretty gung-ho in the birding department, with a new feeder to be permanently installed, and a stronger support for the old one. An, all ready, Donna’s talking about another new feeder out in the front. If nothing else, it’s fun for photography.

At the same time, I’m getting ready to set up a fresh-water aquarium. No, it’s no longer enough for me to peruse the tanks at the local pet emporiums. I’ve been wanting to do this again for several years (I almost did it at my apartment, but just didn’t quite get around to it).

It’s interesting how much the hobby has changed in the past few years. People running the more modern manufacturing companies, such as Marineland, have doctorate degrees! Filter systems are commonly three stage varieties now, and water conditioning has gone far beyond measuring pH and temperature. Now, there are nitrite, nitrate and ammonia levels involved. Bacteria has to be cultivated to keep all of these things in balance. Hell, it’s not just a hobby — it’s biology and chemistry now!

After a lot of research, I’ve figured that I’m going to go with a 25 gallon “Eclipse combo” kit from Marineland. It’s got one of the fancy three-stage filter systems built into the hood. And, I’ve found a nice, local, independent store to buy it from — their price is better than the big chain stores in the area!

The Eclipse systems get excellent reviews, and the store has been around for a long, long, long time. To those of you who are local, no, it’s not Aquarium Center or That Fish Place. It’s the local pet store in The Mall.

Anyway, more than anything at this point, we’re struggling with where to put it. I think we’ve narrowed it down to two or three locations: the dining room or the bedroom would be best for the tank (and wouldn’t require buying additional furniture), but there’s a space in the living room where it would look really nice. I’ll probably get the tank in the next couple of days, and get the location sorted out.

Of course, we’ll keep you apprised of the progress. We’re actually quite excited about the photographic prospects of the project.