Hi greenthumbdewd, Those are a lot of questions, but IÂll try to answer them as best I can. Besides that . . . I think I know why your fish died. They died of poisoning. You need to urgently educate yourself on water chemistry. 1. Water hardness is caused by calcium and magnesium salts in the water. Usually in the form of bicarbonates and sulfates. Plants will absorb some of them, but only if there are sufficient other nutrients in the water (such as nitrates). 2. Baking soda does not soften the water. It is sodium bicarbonate, and it does nothing to the calcium and magnesium. 3. Water softeners are not suitable for fish tanks. All you can do is dilute the water with (safe) rainwater, or RO water. 4. Fish urinate ammonia and phosphates. 5. The conversion of ammonia to nitrate is a two-step process carried out by two groups of bacteria belonging to the genus Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter. Neither of these bacteria can metabolize organic carbon to meet their energy requirements. Instead they derive their energy for growth from the oxidation of inorganic nitrogen compounds such as ammonia and nitrite. As a result of their unique metabolic pathways their growth rates are extremely slow and typical doubling times are in days compared to less than an hour for organisms that metabolise organic carbon. The slow growth rates of the nitrifying bacteria make them very sensitive to a wide range of physical and chemical parameters. Consequently a thorough understanding of the operational parameters and regular monitoring of the process is vital to ensure maximum nitrification is achieved. 6. Ammonia is highly toxic. Lethal concentrations at a pH of 6.5 are 0.73 ppm, while at pH 8.5 only 0.17 ppm are considered lethal to inhabitants. 7. Most fish can withstand ±40ppm of nitrate. 8. You canÂt keep your fish in water that is toxic to them, yet you need to bring the nutrient level up as high as you can for your plants. This contradictory requirement gives you but one option: a. You still need to bring the ammonia level down as much as possible. (ie: by using a denitrification filter, but that means that you need to keep your tank sparkling clean. NO DIRT) b. You need to keep fish that are reasonable tolerant to high levels of nutrient. (ie: catfish, tilapia) c. You can only grow light feeding plants (ie: lettuce) d. You need to test the water regularly for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and phosphate. You must do a water change whenever the levels overshoot the safety limits.

Thr following link leads to a number of rooting articles including a free whole book and also Malcolm Manners instructions (he teaches a course in plant propagation). ------------------------------ Whenever possible, I prefer layering (both ground and air). Here is a link that might be useful: Propagating your own New Rose Bushes

A lot depends on for what events/contingencies you're preparing. Some of the list is humorous. "Big dogs"? Kind of goes with goats & chickens? Liquor for bribes! And seeds? Probably should include an alternate mate to repopulate the world! LOL Ease up folks, some of it clearly was for entertainment purposes. But there are basic items I can't excuse people for not having in stock. If you don't have a supply of batteries in your refrigerator drawer, purchased when free or cheap, you deserve to suffer during a power outage. Again I endorse the crank flashlights/radios (until analog radio is turned off of course). I would suggest going with propane for lantern and stove fuel rather than the white gas ("Coleman" type) fuels. That stuff is explosive. If you doubt it, take a tablespoon and throw it on a campfire sometime. But be back a ways when you do it. A 20# propane tank can have splitters on it to run multiple lanterns and a stove, even a heater, much more safely than the white gas. Heavy garbage bags make excellent makeshift raingear. And don't forget about firestarters. If you're talking emergency situations, I'd suggest waterproof matches. Make your own by dipping the wooden matches in paraffin wax. Firestarters are many different kinds. Save some dryer lint. Works great. Keep it in a coffee can. Dip some cotton string in paraffin wax. Some books of matches waterproofed (with? yes, paraffin) works too and even the end pieces from candles you use in the house at holidays. A hatchet is a good idea to keep handy too. Essentially, camping fans will do fine in a lot of emergencies. Other cooking sources are your propane grill, kettle grill if you have charcoal and starters. A good alternative to thermal underwear is sweatpants and shirts. Even southerners often have these. Depending on the clothes sizes you can put a pair under and over a pair of jeans. Or the flannel lounging pants under and sweats over them. A few cans of waterproofing spray like Scotchguard will help keep them and you dry. Another little camping tip. Oh, and instead of a dedicated toilet, a portable toilet is made easily from a 5 gal pail, seat if you want to get fancy or even a folding camp stool or a lawn chair! A camp shovel and squat will work too. And if truly an emergency, modesty goes out the window. Fasten the toilet seat to the 5 gal pail and you won't have to argue about who left the seat up! :) Wire clothes hangers can be versitile tools. Use them to make your own lantern hangers, repairs, tie things together, and you can even hang clothes! (To dry and more.) Can also be used as a weapon to beat off people trying to steal your rats, chickens, goats and big dogs! ;) Personally, I think I would use duct tape instead of stockpiling screen patching but the idea of all of these suggestions is to get you thinking. I really think that doing some research on camping tips and tricks would be of great benefit to a lot of people. I live a rather modest life, austere to the view of many. But when the power was out for a week here the last time, I survived quite well. Comfortably under the circumstances and even had some luxuries that many others didn't. I had tv, radio, light, food, water, telephone... Not a huge disaster compared to some, but being prepared not just with supplies, but also in a state of mind. My last suggestion. On these ideas, why not put together a 3 ring binder or something with lists of what to do in certain situations? For instance, power outage, turn off as many breakers as you can, the crank flashlights are located in the hall closet, 1st aid tips, important phone numbers, insurance info, etc. Even ideas for food, crackers & PB (sans-salmonella, eat first from the frig, etc.) and how about including notes like check on the handicapped neighbor, your elderly relatives, etc. Could be helpful. Even though I disagree with some of the ideas, I do like these lists minnie_tx. Keep 'em coming. I like going through them and see how they compare to my checklists and I get ideas from most all of them. I appreciate your efforts.

Hi, Try a pumice stone to remove the ring. I think the toilet you have has a solid flapper. There should be a float on the flapper chain. The closer the float is to the flapper the more water it uses. Adjust the float up until the flush still works good . That will save water. When the float is too high the toilet won't flush well. Good Luck Woodbutcher