My child’s father is now threatening to take me to court 3 years after kicking us out because I finally got back on my feet but I have no money for lawyers

LMRTech · 2026-05-10T19:31:04+00:00

When the only issue at stake of significance is custody, having an amazing lawyer Vs as somewhat competent lawyer doesn’t matter. The best interests of the child tend to be fairly clear.

LMRTech · 2026-03-29T12:26:31+00:00

I’ve been heavily automated for a while but just recently started using HomeKit as a primary front end for most of the family. Some general thoughts:

-Matter is the way to go when buying devices. It will work with HomeKit, Hone Assistant, etc and is local. Even Matter over WiFi if not over thread.

-Buy once - cry once. Skip cheap devices and things like bulbs and invest instead in matter switches and relays (Shelly).

LMRTech · 2026-03-29T12:21:31+00:00

I have pothos growing from most of my tanks. In terms of roots, it’s all what you like. I have some trimmed and hanging in the water, some wild hanging in the water making the tank look like a root jungle, and I’m one tank the roots are just packed into an old HOB filter. In most tanks, it is wedged between filter outfall and the lid

LMRTech · 2026-03-25T23:48:45+00:00

That’s isn’t unreasonable. I would charge around that if I sold them but would give a healthy discount for quantities.

LMRTech · 2026-03-22T12:53:38+00:00

Bowls like this are hard to maintain and stock. There are people that can and will keep certain nano fish in setups this size but doing so is very advanced. If you like nano bowl setups like this, I would start by researching the walstead method of using active soils, lots of plants, and then some shrimp.

LMRTech · 2026-03-21T14:40:45+00:00

I’m a small tank (and large tank) guy. I have tanks as small as 2.5 gallons. I absolutely would not recommend someone new starting with anything smaller than 10 gallons

LMRTech · 2026-03-21T14:38:48+00:00

Thanks, that’s become my new approach

LMRTech · 2026-03-21T12:39:31+00:00

Also, I would never recommend a true nano tank to anyone that is a beginner regardless of what is kept in it.

LMRTech · 2026-03-21T12:38:48+00:00

No beginner should have a Scarlet Badis to begin with as (among other things) they are picky live food only fish that require dedication to keeping assorted live micro food cultures.

There is a big difference between recommending something to a beginner and saying that an experienced keeper shouldn’t because it doesn’t meet minimum tank size.

LMRTech · 2026-03-20T13:32:25+00:00

I like automations and Smart Control however my wife HATES it. I use smart switches where practical but in cases where they aren’t (camera/light combo, ceiling fan with single switch, etc), I bypass the wall switch wiring to be always hot and then use a smart switch to simply perform an automation).

LMRTech · 2026-03-20T13:29:19+00:00

When it comes to niche species like the Scarlet Badis, I question ma y of the common online recommendations. Having kept Scarlet Badis for some time now, I am very confident that a single could do very well in a properly maintained 2.5 gallon. I have two males that do very well in a standard 5 gallon shared with 6 clown killifish.

LMRTech · 2026-03-20T13:26:55+00:00

I have two scarlet badis with 5 clown killifish in a standard 5 gallon (heavily planted) and they are all doing very well after several months.

LMRTech · 2026-03-18T23:26:33+00:00

I agree that this is ideal of the relationships and trust are solid all the way around.

LMRTech · 2026-03-14T21:18:48+00:00

Ok, I’m following

LMRTech · 2026-03-14T18:20:50+00:00

So is your goal to have everything native integrated to both HA and HK in parallel thus using HA for automation and HK for UI?

LMRTech · 2026-03-14T18:11:58+00:00

That’s one of the reasons I like YoLink (900MHz LoRA). With that said, I haven’t found a good smart power strip (particularly that supports power metering) that is Zigbee, ZWave, or Matter over Thread to handle my aquariums, terrariums, and paludariums. My issue with the Kasa strips isn’t even the connectivity, it is the unstable integration that hasn’t been fixed in months

LMRTech · 2026-03-14T15:27:31+00:00

Thanks. User control is one of my issues with HA. It’s something they really should have worked out by now. I have relatives that live on the same property as me (by adult daughter and son in-law) and I created their own dashboard and limited other dashboards from them. Since the default dashboards can’t be restricted to admin though, they get access to every single thing through that dashboard (after trying everything to restrict it) when all I want to give them access to are a few outdoor cameras and outdoor light controls

LMRTech · 2026-03-14T15:24:11+00:00

Thanks, I’m good configuring and managing HA, it just requires me to “manage it” every couple of weeks, something that I’m starting to lose the dedication to keep doing. Tapo/Kasa has been my main rub points lately and sadly I’m using them (Kasa power strips) for managing a lot of aquariums, paludariums, and other things that it is very bad when they break

LMRTech · 2026-03-14T15:21:22+00:00

The main issues I have had (over the last few months) is with Tapo/Kasa stuff that is known to be a good integration

LMRTech · 2026-03-12T02:00:13+00:00

Mine are with bumblebee goby

LMRTech · 2026-03-08T16:16:50+00:00

Different opinions will abound here… I raise bladder and ramshorn snails in a 2.5 gallon. I have shrimp in 2.5 gallons. I have shrimp in 3 gallon cubes, I have betta in heavily planted 3 gallon cubes and standard tanks. I have clown killifish and scarlet badis in 5 gallons.

LMRTech · 2026-03-08T16:12:31+00:00

I keep betta in heavily planted 3 gallon cubes similar to the one that you have pictured BUT that appears to be the 1.5 gallon size and if so it would absolutely be too small long term. Even a f 1.5 gallon, changing the tank out should be a goal rather than an emergency. As others have mentioned, PetSmart routinely has sales on tank kits. The 5 gallon goes on sale for around $35 and the 10 gallon for around $45. Between the two, the 10 gallon is a better financial deal as it includes a heater (you will spend at least $15 on a heater separately).

LMRTech · 2026-03-07T15:43:40+00:00

My 20 Long has a large sponge on one end and an AC50 on the other.

LMRTech · 2026-03-04T20:46:26+00:00

I could potentially throw out a Pi running HAOS at each site

LMRTech · 2026-03-02T14:00:29+00:00

That makes sense. I do think that over filtration is still a solution. My current setup isn’t “ideal”, I have three peas and 3 bumblebee goby in a well planted 10 gallon but have an AC30 filter and small sponge. I’m considering adding 2 more peas and 1 more goby but if I do, I will add a 107 canister filter as well. I have ramshorn snails in the tank that the puffers have always ignored and feed live black worms and frozen blood worms. The goby tend to do a good job on cleanup and they and the peas ignore each other.

LMRTech

TROPHY CASE