It's been awhile, what has RA been up to?

Where have I been; what's been going on; why no posts?

Firstly all of my project dogs, the ones on here and others have all been adopted. After the holidays I plan to have a new project dog, with the other rescue. Remember Sable? I've posted about her before. I intend to start taking her on "day trips," hikes mostly. At the moment it is far too cold and I am far to busy to commit to her the time she needs. After the holidays I will have more time and will be posting updates on her.

Busy? Yes, busy. I am trying to organize a transport across the US for a number of rats. They are currently in Indiana and have homes lined up from there to Oregon, California and places in between. There is also a second run from Indiana to Ohio, much shorter but still being organized.

I am still apprenticing to be a dog trainer.

I am working on writing a paper/article about corn in our pets (dog/cat) food.

On top of that I will be helping transport a soldier's dog home. The dog in question is a Boxer named Rowdy and will be leaving Colorado on Friday for his home in Georgia. More on that to come after Friday.

But wait, there's more. I was on "the forbidden website" (aka Craigslist) and saw a fish tank I was very interested in having. The photo showed a dirty 20gallon tall aquarium housing four Jewel Cichlids. The ad was for everything; fish, tank, food, heater, filter and lid/light.

Knowing very little about Cichlids I decided to research them more. I came to find out that Jewel Cichlids really need at minimum 40 gallons. It was at that point I need they had to come here. I can't say no to an animal living in dirty, cramped conditions if I can afford to take it in.

So now I have five new fish. As it turns out there is also a Plecostomus, which needs at minimum a 75 gallon tank. Those fish are cramped in the tiny 20 gallon tank but for now it's what they have. I am looking to rehome them, I have no want for a tank big enough to cater to those fish. However until they get a new home with an appropriately sized tank they will at least now be taken care of properly in every other aspect.

The first matter of business was to clean the aquarium, which was much dirtier then shown in the photo. That is how the water looked if it was undisturbed. If a fish took off too quickly all the poo and uneaten food from the bottom would be kicked up, and there was a lot of it. I scrubbed down the full aquarium and thoroughly washed the rocks. The rocks were hiding a nasty build up of  black sludge.

After cleaning the rocks and glass I refilled the tank with new (treated) water and some of the old water they had been living in. I was afraid to clean it any further for fear of killing the fish. The old water was needed for the beneficial bacteria it holds and to help not shock their system. When fish go from something so filthy to perfectly clean the shock can kill them, especially after living in it for two years.

So for now they are living in a much cleaner environment. I have two filters running and plan on vacuuming the pebbles (with a siphon) in about three days to help remove more of the muck. The flake food they were sent with has been thrown out and they will be fed a healthy diet from now on. I've already had three people email me about these fish, but they won't go to just anyone. I have to make sure they won't  go back to what they were just saved from.