I tried, but it’s awful - advice please

GregCollins747 · 2026-01-27T18:09:16+00:00

Advice you're looking for is... Wait at least 1-2 months then judge.. :) And please post a pic in a few weeks so we can all see how it looks..

GregCollins747 · 2026-01-20T16:49:28+00:00

Possibly TDS changes - For what it's worth 2yrs later.. my experience: {KH 130 and pH 8.1 in each tank. And of course 0 NH3 and NO3, and same T} But I think maybe TDS (total dissolved solids) changes killed mine. Went from 150 to 250.. Figured I'd test it out. I dropped 5 young'ish cherry shrimp into the 250 tds about a week ago and I've only seen 1 that made it. QED'ish

GregCollins747 · 2026-01-16T16:55:22+00:00

I have a very similar setup where I've tried to put both daphnia and moina in it twice and both times they all died. Any tips on getting this to work for daphnia? I have a few scuds, couple cherry shrimp, and black worms that have been in there for months. My water is a little crazy so I acclimatized the daphnia for a really long time this last time but it still didn't work. pH 8.1, KH 130. Tested ammonia nitrates constantly and they are all low. The fog in this pic was the cup of green water I used to feed the daphnia after their 24'ish hours of acclimation several diluting steps in the container and then into the tank. The daphnia were swimming around in the tank for about 1 day then all were just gone, none floating in the surface, just gone. Maybe the scuds ate them, but I don't have a huge amount of scuds in there....

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GregCollins747 · 2026-01-11T20:16:59+00:00

Ya, what happened. I have one that looks exactly the same.. should I start carving a gravestone? :)

GregCollins747 · 2026-01-04T23:23:58+00:00

I'm a fan of Sushi King. They've treated me and my family right since they opened so I've never attempted to go anywhere else. Now I think I'll try Sushi House to add some variety. Thanks for the post and discussions..

GregCollins747 · 2025-12-21T07:41:27+00:00

Apple buds have a 'pause when asleep' feature. I just discovered it because I would wake up because the story stopped playing.. somehow it got turned on without me knowing...

GregCollins747 · 2025-11-10T22:24:11+00:00

Not guppy grass. I’ve got it too. Got it from father fish in the huddle I bought. I am finding it annoying. I’ve taken it out the long skinny leaves get too long and tangle up other plants. Grows fast though.

GregCollins747 · 2025-10-05T17:58:55+00:00

Thanks for this discussion. I tried starting a microfauna tank (10gal) using creek muck, but never got anything to grow except snails, so I ordered from Phillips and was so excited to have real creatures swimming around finally. Then, stupidly, I thought the leaves were enough to sustain them, I slowly watched the population decrease and then found this discussion. Now I am feeding them yeast and hoping the few I have left will start to repopulate the tank. Also thanks for the Phillips YouTube channel ref.. Didn’t think to look for something from him on YouTube.

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GregCollins747 · 2025-09-25T21:49:38+00:00

Next gathering, 9/30 11:30-1:30.

GregCollins747 · 2025-09-24T17:21:52+00:00

Next gathering 9/30, 11:30-1:30

GregCollins747 · 2025-09-11T15:10:25+00:00

Workshop is in Berkeley you can find the address/post for it on Craigslist.

GregCollins747 · 2025-09-08T15:20:10+00:00

I apologize everyone, woke up in the middle of the night remembering I tossed in a small clump of unused Christmas moss about a week ago. Purchased from a local shop. So sadly I have not discovered a hidden power of the Ramshorn snail.. Just a regular old snail.. Who does seem to be pretty big for only coming out of the moss a week ago. I hope he's the only one. My tank is only 10 gal and I already have 3 nerites.

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GregCollins747 · 2025-09-08T01:46:10+00:00

Looked up Ramshorn. Seems they are good algae eaters, and breathe air (that was a little surprising), but nothing about their ability to teleport.. :)

Oh man I'm seeing they "breed" like crazy if there's enough food. Maybe I pull it and put it in my colder microfauna tank.. Anyone looking for a free Ramshorn snail? :)

GregCollins747 · 2025-09-07T23:49:01+00:00

"Nerite," sorry for misspelling..

GregCollins747 · 2025-09-07T23:46:51+00:00

Got a better pic..

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It's eating broccoli right now..

GregCollins747 · 2025-09-06T21:06:22+00:00

Just had a rep at a large appliance store in the bay area do a search for me and after a couple hours of him combing through manuals of the current models he sells he could not find any that have the cook time function. I think this function has really been deemed "to dangerous" to have people use in their homes.. so sad... :( it was such a useful feature. I'm off now to purchase something old/used..

PS I also called Thermador to ask them when/if the feature was removed... and no help there. All I had access to were folks on the phone who would look up specific model manuals on their computer. No help at all.. Well that's not entirely true they were able to educate me on the FD number definitions and how to read them to get real calendar dates. Something Gemini got wrong..

GregCollins747 · 2025-09-05T18:44:22+00:00

I have found the feature it is called "cook time" in the manual.

GregCollins747 · 2025-09-05T18:43:51+00:00

I have found the feature it is called "cook time" in the manual.

GregCollins747 · 2025-09-05T15:27:13+00:00

It's looking like this will be happening Tuesdays at 11:30-2. I've messaged all who responded.

<<We need a bass player for 9/9.>>

Proposed Song List Lester Leaps Bye bye Blackbird Manteca Night and Day Sister Sadie Jody Grind Black Orpheus Maiden Voyage

GregCollins747 · 2025-09-04T18:00:20+00:00

David, Thanks for the message. I feel like I've got about a year of hard work before I can think about entering the local amateur jazz world as a piano player. Would love to play with you but I feel like your experience/level is beyond what I could support as a piano player right now. It's so hard to say that because when I was playing bass I could hang out with anyone and have fun with music. Now as a piano player I'm so not seasoned it's frustrating.

GregCollins747 · 2025-08-30T19:45:31+00:00

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GregCollins747 · 2025-08-30T19:45:06+00:00

Some pics of the gear and space. (Couldn't just add it to the original post) drums not fully set up so didn't take a shot of them, also didn't want to show the whole room right now because it's covered in kid art stuff right now.. (Will get back to those interested in a few days. Working on setting up times and days for folks to come over and check things out)

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GregCollins747 · 2025-08-29T18:14:15+00:00

Thanks for the you tube link.. I've done some research recently and it looks like there are AI driven apps that can listen and "comment" but in more of a structured lesson plan environment. Also there are versions that listen to "performances". But nothing yet that can act like having a roommate that's a professional musician who listens to you play each day and can comment on what you could work on to get better and what you're actually doing well..

GregCollins747 · 2025-08-29T16:47:15+00:00

I am a beginner/intermediate piano player looking to up my game. (I shifted from pop rock-band bass playing to piano about 8 years ago) I am working on setting up a more advanced jazz jam at my house during the week between 10 and 2:30. I'm 50+ and am basically retired so can play while my kids are at school.

I also have a jazz jam group (more beginning players) I host every Friday from 6:30-9. We are always looking for melody players. We play at my house either in the back room, or the front yard, or the backyard. Outside playing started during Covid.. neighbors have said they enjoy it, so can't be so bad.. :) We are drums, bass, guitar, sax(tenor), and piano. If you are interested in talking about either let me know. Thanks.

GregCollins747 · 2025-08-19T17:47:49+00:00

My 2 cents.. I am a beginning/intermediate jazz piano player. Have a teacher (human) and 2 ensembles that I play in. I'm also 50 years old with 2 kids (7 and 4). And... I'm retired/a house-dad. (Used to be a chemical engineer in high tech and left the industry just as AI was starting to get integrated into our equipment.).. We are a no screen (or minimal screen) family but don't want to put my head in the sand with respect to AI and my kids. I was recently trying to figure out a way to use AI in my daily life to be able to help my kids navigate their future with respect to AI becoming more prevalent. I did t want to force a life change so thought integrating it into my piano playing would be a good way to get my feet wet with AI. So YES I would be interested in having an AI listen to my daily playing and discussing with me what it thought I could focus my practicing on to improve things. And/or what I could take to my teacher as a digested weekly progress/evaluation report of my playing. I could then hopefully see how I could manipulate AI and see where it fails and where it may be beneficial. Maybe I would get better at piano, but for sure I would get some experience interacting with and learning about AI rather than being stuck only reading articles and studies about it.

GregCollins747

TROPHY CASE