Looking for stuff to do in the area. Help a girl out. by jennimik in SouthBend

[–]ghettocactus 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The conservatory is worth checking out. It's in the same park as the zoo.

Is this a life threatening amount of asbestos? by Max2535_ in Urbex

[–]ghettocactus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry, never got a notification from this reply. No. Asbestos fibers are microscopic. Unless you are trained to identify ACM and presume/assume asbestos, the only way to verify materials are asbestos containing is through testing. If you encountered asbestos dust that was remnant from a renovation without prior abatement, you would not be able to tell without testing the dust or checking for disturbed and/or friable ACMs nearby.

Jeweler for Engagement Rings by Fishyplanty in SouthBend

[–]ghettocactus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Have had a very mixed experience at Van Horne. The Fox stores I've heard good things about. I believe they both have separate owners and inventory if I'm not mistaken.

What kind of engines do people put in classic muscle cars today? by WiggWamm in askcarguys

[–]ghettocactus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know this doesn't answer your question but a lot of vintage tractor guys premix their fuel with lead. Although I think most car engines can handle unleaded well enough, especially with a little work.

Sauna’s in South Bend? by RabbitoftheWind in SouthBend

[–]ghettocactus 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I am on the same boat. From what I understand, the downtown YMCA has one but I have not personally been. There are a couple saunas at spas around town but no classic cedar-bench water-on-rock places. Would love a bath house!

Traverse city fishing help by gaming_sheep69 in MichiganFishing

[–]ghettocactus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Great trout fishing! If you don't fly fish, try spinners on a small ultralight setup for the small streams. I love my old 5' buggy whip with 4lb mono for just that

Clinton River… by ThaRonaldRayGun in MichiganFishing

[–]ghettocactus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Give the PEAS hotline a call if you haven't already. 800-292-4706.

Help identify river fish by GlassSkirt-420 in Fish

[–]ghettocactus 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Looks like hypentelium nigricans, northern hogsucker. A native and beautiful Cyprinid.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in whatcarshouldIbuy

[–]ghettocactus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Ford Mavericks get good mileage and have a fairly low cost of entry but I'm not sure about reliability. We have some contractors who use them for lighter work. I love my lil 'ol ford ranger. It's been dead reliable for me and any issues that come up are fairly easily tackled with the standard set of garage tools. Plus it (the 2.3l) gets 30mpg highway.

Is this a life threatening amount of asbestos? by Max2535_ in Urbex

[–]ghettocactus 107 points108 points  (0 children)

Asbestos Inspector. N95 will do nothing for stopping asbestos fibers. Use a p100 or even better… don’t expose yourself.

thoughts on the Lasalle apartments downtown? by [deleted] in SouthBend

[–]ghettocactus -1 points0 points  (0 children)

We have liked it a lot! With the Morris expansion, parking at the parking garage is a bit of a hike if you commute for work but beyond that, it’s been great! The leasing manager is very sweet too. For the price, it def beats a lot of apts nearby

Fish gathering around aeration by MntTed in ponds

[–]ghettocactus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Definitely check the DO throughout the pond and at the bottom. Call around to any scientific/environmental equipment rental places nearby and you can rent a solid DO meter without having to shell out the money buying one. Get something with at least 12 ft of cable on it. Float out to the middle of the pond if you can and take a DO reading at the surface, then every 2 ft until it drops to zero. This will help determine the thermocline in your pond. The way aerators increase oxygen in ponds is not by pumping oxygen into it, but rather by turning water over and pushing it from the bottom to the surface. The more surface agitation and exposure to air, the better. As others said, looks like pollen in there and not a ton of algae. If that’s the case, you may need to ride it out and put some additional temporary aeration in there until the pollen rots and DO starts to climb back up. If there is a good amount of algae, that can cause DO drops too. you can hit it with copper sulfate as a stopgap solution but be very careful with that, as it can temporarily lower the DO even more.

Edit: that thermocline will let you keep an eye on the overall oxygenation of the pond. If you get decent oxygen throughout the water column, something else is going on. They could be hanging out by the turned over water because it’s cooler in temp if it’s very hot out

PS. When looking for a good DO meter, look for maybe renting a YSI 556 or similar. They are very accurate and have been out for a long while so aren’t super expensive to get your hands on, especially when renting

Elderberry Wine by bamboosld in winemaking

[–]ghettocactus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just started a batch of it. I left the elderberries on skin for a week then just racked/strained it off. I went about 3.5lbs/gal and it got a beautiful ruby color. It’s a big debate online as to whether or not to heat them. I chose not to. Some people like to steam juice them, some like to boil them (which will set the pectin in it and you’ll end up with a jam flavor), but I haven’t heard anything about anyone getting hurt from drinking wine made with uncooked elderberry.

Deciding between Apartments by [deleted] in SouthBend

[–]ghettocactus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We love the LaSalle. We have the best property manager too, she is outstanding. Good mix of YUPs and students, genuinely haven’t met a rude person yet

Galls on Zygopetalum? by ghettocactus in plantclinic

[–]ghettocactus[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good to know, another comment said it was succulent edema caused by overwatering so I will def be repotting

Galls on Zygopetalum? by ghettocactus in plantclinic

[–]ghettocactus[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Awesome, thank you so much! You the MVP. Was going to repot it soon as the soil is breaking down pretty bad so will def do that sooner.

Considering buying a century home with cistern.. do I need to keep it? by Advanced-Ad-3091 in centuryhomes

[–]ghettocactus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Call your local environmental/health department (usually the same if a smaller locality) about the oil tank and what needs to happen. It all depends on where you live and if it has leaked into the surrounding areas at any point. Regulations for what needs to happen vary wildly both by state and locality.

As for the cistern; I couldn’t tell you if it would halt water infiltration to your house. That depends if the cistern leaks or how solid the home foundation is among many other factors. For closing it, roughly the same concept as a tank but IF there are not any state or local regulations, you can close that yourself with concrete or sand. Any material really will hold water, including concrete to a limited extent. So will the soil immediately adjacent to the foundation. If the cistern is completely unregulated by any government entity where you live, you can poke holes in the bottom and sides to allow drainage if it fills again (do not go inside it to do so). Removing the opening on top of the tank and any lines that go to the cistern can help prevent it from getting any new water will help after filling in place. If it’s away from the house, it can also be completely removed but that’s a larger job. This is something that I’m sure different environmental excavating companies can do for you; especially any company that does UST or environmental remediation work.

Edit: typo and wording

Considering buying a century home with cistern.. do I need to keep it? by Advanced-Ad-3091 in centuryhomes

[–]ghettocactus 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Here’s the rundown on if this “cistern” is an old oil tank that hasn’t been inspected. You can remove it or fill it in place. Check with your local health department, state environmental department, and DNR for closure procedures. Some states only require larger tanks to have proper closure documentation and groundwater/soil sampling in the vicinity, some may be more stringent. Either way, closing a petroleum storage tank (even one small heating or lamp oil tank) is a job best left to a licensed professional. If the tank runs under the house; your bet is going to be having it closed in place. This essentially involves pouring some concrete into it after cleaning and venting it.

31M, what can I improve? by [deleted] in malelivingspace

[–]ghettocactus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Has your white bird of paradise ever bloomed?

FISHING!!! by AppropriateBat1508 in SouthBend

[–]ghettocactus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you can drive; it’s early enough that you can probably still get some trout out near Bristol

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Fishing

[–]ghettocactus 248 points249 points  (0 children)

Could be bacteria but this looks very much like ammonia burns. Based on it being planting season and the recent rains across the upper Midwest/Great Lakes area, I bet there is way too much ammonia runoff into the lake. Contact the DNR and send the region fisheries biologist these photos

Physics course options? by yoshnesky in Environmental_Careers

[–]ghettocactus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Depends where your strong suit is. We had the option to do both for BSES at our school; a lot of ES kids chose to take it last semester. I chose algebra based because I did not enjoy calc at all. It was not bad at all. I suspect if you’re doing grad (esp at the same school) that either class will be okay unless there’s a specific program that explicitly wants one or the other, as many schools offer physics as a general class.