Would only like to add that the tank of course will be in your care, lol. (I have an extensive background and too many links so you can email me at sherryazure@yahoo.com if desired) but mainly read up on cycling and maturing a tank before the fish are added. FYI: It is always better to buy a heater for a small tank UNDER watted as they can and do break, overheat. 50 is way to much for a six gallon and 25 would have been perfect (never trust sales people). If it is a great quality should be ok just have it at slightly under where you want temp. (I have dozens of tanks and many therms and all read differently!) Sorry but one should NEVER carry a tank with water in it.. stress not only for tank but for fish. Not a toy and the spot should be chosen for security (ie won't be run into, knocked over, and level table (never near heater or window, but indirect light ok). While small they do stress and break. RE going back and forth, slow down lol, (this post is old but still responding for future readers) plan and do it one step at a time. Do not add fish until all is done and tank has set a bit and matured. Plants are like fish, they need chlorinated water and heat unless cold water plants which those are not, and none live in freezing temps (the cell walls will break down). See below on amount of sand, really not needed unless you have rooted plants which are not always good for beginners (again need to know requirements of, light requirements, fertilizers so on)... get some bunch like anacharis, float them or leave some with weights on... and research plants for later as your knowledge and experience grow. Sand becomes nasty if there are not strong root growth to uptake the poo (and other stuff).. it becomes a breeding ground for "negative" bacteria is too deep and gravel vacuuming not done. a fine layer is perfect for growing good bugs which keep the water cycled. .......................... Then depending on the size (your original size is indeed too small for any amount of any sized goldfish)six is great) of your aquarium you select your fish and that will also affect the type of filtration, heater and water qualities ph, hardness so on. Example: You would not want a betta in a set up with the filtration as mentioned in above posts - the fins would eventually get shredded. A small box filter with valves set on low would be more adequate. Lots of plants as they love to sit on them, hide under then so on (one betta per tank). Cooler temp, small school of fish such as white cloud mountain minnow would be perfect for that size. (they come from Chinese mountain streams.) I would do species only for such a small tank and beginner to boot. White clouds are great beginner fish and there are other small schooling fish but you have to be careful as that tank is too small for more then say 6 really small fish. Priscella tetra is another good choice for beginners. (that was before I read the last post) with six gallon you can add a few more fish, some bottom catfish such as cory catfish which also like to school. See, what fish you plan to get informs you as to your tank set up (after you read up on which are good for beginners) and again sales people (at least hear in NYC) can sale you things that grow huge, or say goldfish with tropical so it is up to you do do resaerch. ........................................... I would also consider plants such as Anubias which are low light easy to care for if they can be found. If not even the beginner Anacharis (not sure how to spell) and other easy to care for beginner plants will help greatly with water quality, security of fish (they hate bare tanks with lights a glare (instinct is to be secure from being eaten) and be careful of being sold land plants as aquarium. Sand is not really needed for bunch plants (Anubias have rizomes and it is never to be planted) but a 1/3 inch layer will help to cultivate the "bugs" bio bacteria which is part of a mature cycled tank and the sand will allow a culture there as well. With no experience in cycling the beginner reason for dead fish is that reason. Adding too many fish in an uncylcled tank. (over feeding, wrong maintenance so on). If you can get filter floss from an (healthy) established tank that will help greatly (put a bit in your filter). Add a few fish after a week or so with plants so on maturing a bit. This gives the "bugs ie organisms) time to establish. The plants will help as well. (Look up ammonia poisoning in fish as it is a really painful way to go, burns the delicate gills.) When you add the fish, do so slowly... any ph difference of a small increment can cause shock and death (as well as temperature change of a small increment)... (There are a great many good beginner books on this, most of mine are from the 50's on up, lol and still serve me well without all the high tech stuff). I lower the lights to avoid stress, put new fish (I always get tons more water from the store) in quarantine tank with filter, heater, towel over end so low light (they are super stressed from bagging (I bag my own and never dump them in - scoop) and transport and stress results in lower immunity and disease)... I put lid on tank (or grid) and slowly with small airline tubing with knot in it trickle new water into the quarantine. Just a little for first day (again depends on ph of your water and stores)...slowly take out some and dribble in new and over time they will be acclimated and you can also watch for disease outbreak. Soft silk plants will greatly add to there comfort. A bare tank is a huge stress for fish. Well there is much more, feeding (eyes are usually size of stomach and do not overfeed) a few flakes (rotate with frozen or live, can learn about this later) twice a day. (smaller faster fish smaller more frequent feeding a few flakes each - that's it). they will nibble on bugs that grow on plants as well (algaes as well) to supplement diet. Again, as a child I went to the library and read for months and set up tank and waited for it to mature before even considering adding fish. This is the number one reason for fish dying or getting sick. And as your child grows older this is a great tool for educational purposes. Good luck and be careful of getting hooked! (it is a habit that can last a lifetime, lol) Best Sherry

In Sparta, we drove to a convenience store parking lot to use the restroom. It was a little bit after noon, well over an hour before peak eclipse time when we got ready to drive around to find our viewing location. Robert just happened to look up with his eclipse glasses before we got into the vehicle and said, "It's already started!" Sure enough, a little bite was missing from the sun! Even that was exciting. The difference between any smaller percentage and a full eclipse is very significant. You wouldn't think so, but it is. Even at the last minute.....99%.....there is still sunlight providing light, if even a little bit. as the moon moved into that perfect position everything changed. It was shocking, startling, gasp provoking. Can't explain it, really. I shouted to everyone to remove their eclipse glasses; it was an amazing thing to see. The corona around black hole was like a dim night light, providing some illumination to the night sky but not to the ground. Can't really explain it. Everyone was quiet, speaking only in whispers to those closest. It was an intimate moment for this small group we were with, thankfully not a mob nor with an idiot who felt compelled to shoot off fireworks. ;-( But that second when the moon moved into that perfect spot, lots of noisy spontaneous reactions. Funny about the bug spray. The guy who came with his little Yorkie (Rocky, a rescue) went around offering spritzes of his organic repellent after the little nuisances came out in hoards; they were ravenous! It duskish at that time and we needed protection! By the way, Huntsville was in the 97% range, enough to enjoy an interesting experience. We chose to "go big" and drive that picturesque two hours to Sparta. Robert took a couple of quick videos and they are both filled with the sounds of the crickets and cicadas. The difference between a couple of minutes before the total eclipse and the big moment was striking. Day and night. I can't quite explain it.

The Control4 techs installed our system so they would be responsible for the wiring issues. Still, I get what you’re saying...system issue vs installation issue...also probably specific to the vendor. Anyway, our system includes a doorbell connection; when someone rings it, the sound on the tv stops working (it used to go from tv to Pandora on tv). When we turn the patio fan on, the tv turns off for a minute before coming back on (it used to go off & stay off). I’m not sure if there’s a connection, but we had our patio pre-wired for a tv (but never installed one after all the issues). The batteries on the remote they provided have to be changed more frequently than normal & the brightness (although at max) is still quite dim. I thought that was normal until I saw an instructional video on YouTube that showed what it should look like.

The teachers at my school (myself included) were so excited to share the eclipse with our students and then this week, we received strict orders to keep all students indoors with the blinds drawn all afternoon. I'm all for safety, but this just seems overkill to me. They sent us links, so we can watch it live onscreen. Sheesh. When I was young, we had a full eclipse here and my mom pulled us out of school and took us cross country skiing so we could experience it out of the city. Even thought it's only partial here, I'm hoping some parents take this route.