For my husband's birthday I wanted to make him something fun! I decided to go with a yard game called Kubb (pronounced koo-b). The cool part was I used a bunch of scrap wood from our deck project, and it was completed in an afternoon. Here are the items you need to make the game:
6 batons: 1.75" x 11.75" (use a dowel rod)
10 kubbs: 2.75" x 2.75" x 5.9" (Use a 4x4)
1 king: 3.25" x 3.25" x 10" (Use a 4x4)
(All wood pieced were coated in boiled linseed oil after they were cut and sanded)
Playing field: 16.5'x26'
I was probably most proud of how the king turned out. I used a table saw to cut all of the detail. I wish I would have taken a video, it was surprisingly a lot easier that I thought it would be. Just adjust your blade to a 30 degree angle.
I found the cutest crate at Hobby Lobby. I used a silouhette machine to make the KUBB letters for each side of the box. I ironed these on after coating the box with boiled linseed oil and letting it dry over night.
NOTE: I picked a nice day and left all of the items coated in boiled linseed oil outside to dry. The stuff smelled bad and I don't think you will want it fuming up your home.
I also made a wooden stake with a pink string attached to it that has knots tied off at 16.5' and 26' so the field can be marked easier. You will also need to have 3 extra dowel rods (to use to stake the field) or I had 3 yellow plastic stakes on hand already (1 stake with the pink string + 3 additional stakes = 4 stakes to mark your field).
This was probably the simplest video for explaining how to play Kubb.
My daughter has been talking about these creatures forever....what in the world is an Axolotl?!? Little did I know, she would be bringing one home after a couple years of talking about them. What I didn't realize, was the initial start up process. So here is the Axolotl Story:
She began saving up her money and soon discovered that the initial setup would cost quite a significant amount. Here were her initial purchases after doing several weeks of research:
20 gallon long aquarium with lid $20 (30.5 x 13.125 x13) from Facebook Marketplace
So initial start up for her somewhere in the realm of $150, for me $171. Keep in mind, we don't even have the Axolotl yet and we are combined already $321 deep into this investment. But seriously, look at how happy she is...how could you not say yes.
(photo April 7, 2022)
Continuing on with our story. As I said, we did some research about these creatures and here are the notes I took down. I'll see if I can get a photo of her journal because it's pretty sweet too.
Food:
Carnivores - they will eat no-live food, but movement entices them to snap. Feed every other day. Try to aim for their stomach to be as wide as their head. They swallow food whole and will vacuum in water or anything else close by (gravel, sand, etc).
Types of food:
Earthworms: best food to give them. Smaller axolotls need to be cut up. 1-2 worms/day
Daphnia: good for freshly hatched axolotls
Pellets: good staple
Bloodworms: fresh or frozen
Grubs or maggots
Tank Cycling:
Check water every other week (once cycled). Takes approximately 6-8 weeks to cycle.
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrites: 0 ppm
Nitrates: 5-20 ppm
Water changes:
Once cycled, 20-30% water changes weekly
Quick way to start cycling:
Quick Start
Already established media
Additional Notes: Media will create ammonia (bad bacteria), eventually nitrites will generate and eat the ammonia (nitrites are also bad bacteria), and then you will generate nitrates (good bacteria) that eats the nitrites. This is the simplest way to explain what is called The Nitrogen Cycle.
Alright enough with my research, so I went on to cycle the tank. We brought home a sponge filter that was used in my betta tank to begin getting ammonia. We checked on it every few days. This was a long, long, LONG process! We began on April 7th and didn't cycle our tank fully until June 26th. I'm going to stop for just a moment to let you know, I did this process incorrectly. I will go in order of sequence of events for this story but just know...I goofed up.
On to June 26, we searched and searched. Scout was low on funds and didn't feel like doing chores...ha. We ended up finding a local hobbiest who had baby axolotls. She said they were about 3 months old...looking back though, I'm thinking I may have misunderstood and they were actually just a few weeks old. He was just over an inch long and barely had his back legs.
Welcome home Kimchi.
(photo June 26, 2022)
We kept him in this little cup for the first week before we began tubbing.
(video June 27, 2022)
We were told to feed Kimchi bloodworms or brine shrimp, both recommendations were frozen that we would could get at Petco. They were about $6 each so she's down another $12. She also provided us with a gallon sized tote/tub, a gallon water jug, 2 clear punch cups (which you can see him in) and an indian almond leaf. She said to keep Kimchi in the tub for about 3 weeks.
Tubbing - a term used to temporarily keep your axolotl in a tub full of freshwater. The water must be the correct temperature and also use Prime to get rid of the chlorine and make it safe. You have to do this every 24 hours, dump the old water and refill it with new primed water that's the correct temperature.
Getting the chiller setup wasn't too bad. The hoses did leak without clamps and plumber's putty.
(video August 30, 2022)
After a week of having Kimchi, he went into a tub and began having 1 gallon of water to swim in instead of the little punch cup. Still daily water changes with 2 drops of Prime.
(video July 2, 2022)
After 6-7 days of having Kimchi home, he began floating. I've never had an axolotl before but floating didn't sound good. He either had swallowed air or there was something else wrong. It turned out, he was floating because the temperature was too high. His water was 71 degrees at room temperature. We had the room fan on but it wasn't enough to cool down the water in the tub. We ended up "floating the tub". That means, we placed his 1 gallon tub in the 20 gallon long tank and let it float on top of the water. The water in the aquarium was 60 degrees, thanks to the chiller. This cooled the tub water off and within a couple days, Kimchi was no longer floating on the surface.
(video July 8, 2022)
Feeding Kimchi bloodworms.
(video July 12, 2022)
(video July 13, 2022)
We continued to do this for 3 weeks. After that, I purchased the breeder box (referenced above) and placed it in the aquarium. He looked so small compared to the 20 gallon long tank that I just didn't feel comfortable putting him in there, so I got the breeder box as a compromise. For some reason, I had the feeling that keeping Kimchi in the tub wasn't in his best interest. I had cycled his aquarium (or so I thought) and it didn't seem like he was growing.
(video July 31, 2022)
More feeding of the bloodworms. Turns out, bloodworms are not the most nutritional thing for axolotls. We should have been feeding him cut up blackworms, the problem is...there are none to be found in our area and they are quite expensive to ship. I found this out after he was big enough to begin eating cut up earthworms. We tried a smaller worm called red wrigglers. You are supposed to blanch them (put them in hot water) to get the bitter taste off of them, Kimchi didn't like them regular or blanched. I've since been told that bloodworms are a treat and shouldn't be given daily to feed. I have noticed his growth since we've discontinued feeding him bloodworms.
(video August 2, 2022)
Decided to take him out of the breeder basket and let him into the big tank. You've probably noticed by now that majority of the videos are updates I sent to my daughter (probably way too many updates), she is at her mom's house during these.
(video August 2, 2022)
August 2, 2022
You can see he is a lot darker than when we first got him and he's longer too. He's 2" in this picture.
August 9, 2022
Kimchi measuring in at 2.25"
(video August 9, 2022)
Kimchi's first worm! Warning this first video is a little sad.
(video August 14, 2022)
(video August 14, 2022)
August 18,2022
Houston...we have a problem. Here's when I began to notice that something was wrong with our water parameters. I noticed that Kimchi wasn't as active as he usually is so I decided to test the water. In the photo below you can see to the far right, I barely have any nitrates left. To the far left you can see that there's ammonia in there, that shouldn't be the case. I did a 50% water change hoping to get the ammonia to go away.
August 23, 2022
Well, a test a few days later would prove that I did something wrong. My nitrates were gone, Kimchi got tubbed until I can figure out where I went wrong.
(video August 27, 2022)
Tank update:
(video August 27, 2022)
August 27, 2022
September 13, 2022
September 16, 2022
For Scouty's birthday I got her a couple new items to update her tank appearance. I bought the following and think each are super cute!
Kimchi measuring in at 4.5". He will eat pellets from time to time, but he really loves his nightcrawlers. They still have to be cut up though. I learned to cut them to a length that is as wide as his head. He slurps them down just like spaghetti. As you can see, he is still being tubbed. I am so ready for his tank to be cycled, I'm on day 25 of re-cycling and I don't think it will be that much longer.
What I have noticed during the cycling process is the following:
Using a log was helpful
Dose aquarium every 24 hours to 4ppm
In the beginning you have to dose minimal ammonia, I used Dr. Tim's I got from Amazon and was dosing around 80 drops. As nitrites (another bad bacteria) begin to form, they begin "processing your ammonia". Your nitrites will spike really high, and your ammonia will get very low, you still have to dose your aquarium back to 4ppm ammonia every 24 hours. Finally your nitrites start coming back down but you will notice your nitrates get super high. Once your ammonia and nitrites are at 0 ppm (after dosing to 4ppm) after 24 hours of dosing, for 3 days in a row....your tank is cycled. You are left with high nitrates, but you will do water changes 50-75% daily until your nitrates are at a safe level which is between 5-20 ppm.
Keep your pH up
I noticed when my ammonia began to process, that my pH went low. To increase the pH you add baking soda to the aquarium. I used 1 teaspoon/5 gallons. So to increase from 7.0 to 8.0 I used 4 teaspoons of baking soda. I waited about 30 minutes and retested and it was back to where it should be.
Topping off water
I noticed if I had to add a lot of water to my aquarium, due to evaporation, that it seemed to messaround with my parameters. Maybe it was just a coincidence but after adding 5 gallons of primed water, I noticed my nitrates went from red to orange (it resumed it's red color after a few days) andmy pH lowered, making me add baking soda for the 2nd time. Make sure your water is treated withPrime!!
Using a heater
I didn't do this the first time around, but I can tell things are moving quicker with a heater in theaquarium. Something I need to keep in mind, once my ammonia and nitrites are at 0ppm, I need toslowly introduce the cooler water so I don't shock the bacteria. I would hate to start cycling all overagain.
Using Ammonia & Bacteria
I used Dr. Tim's ammonia for daily dosing. In the beginning, I would recheck my ammonia after an hour or so from when I dosed it just to make sure the label was correct about how much to add to get to 4ppm. Once I knew I could trust it, I stopped doing that. I also tried using FritzZyme7 at the beginning of cycling, and I do think it helped with getting the process started quicker. Toward the end I bought Fritz Turbo Start 700, which is way more expensive but with the dosing it looks like it's more potent stuff. I haven't tried it yet, but we will see how it does. You do have to keep the bacteria refrigerated.
September 25, 2022
I bought a canister filter off an online auction site for $34.57, they are $200 on Amazon. I believe it's rated for a 250 gallon aquarium, we have a 20 gallon aquarium....what could go wrong? These videos are long and painful to watch. Long story short, if you don't care to watch them...here's the main thing of what I learned, when starting the filter, make sure the output hose it out of the aquarium! I had a Clark Griswald moment (when he finally gets his Christmas lights to work) in video #3.
Canister Filter Video #1....I need more supplies. I ended up purchasing some more media because it had a fine bio-floss pad and a more coarse bio-sponge with it already. Based on some YouTube videos, I decided to add ceramic bio-media as well. I still have two empty trays in the canister filter that I can eventually add more items, like additional filter floss or charcoal bags. Make sure to rinse any media before putting it in your canister filter! After reading, the whole purpose of the canister filter is not only to keep your water clean, but things like the ceramic bio-media will help your good bacteria have an additional place to grow! Not to mention, the water comes out of the aquarium, through the filter, then to the chiller (so the chiller gets nice clean water) and then returns to the aquarium.
Canister Filter Video #2....why isn't this thing working
Canister Filter Video #3....Clark Griswald moment around 9 minutes in.
October 2, 2022
Kimchi is 5" long! Don't mind the dirty tub, we were in between switching his tubs for the day. So over that process by the way! I cannot wait to get him in his tank. We are so close to having it cycled!
October 23, 2022
Well, it only took 55 days but the tank is finally cycled and Kimchi is back home. Here's a look at our cycling journey (see what I did there)...
I went as far as buying 15 gallons of spring water. I found out one of my problems is my tap water has nitrites in it. This always seemed to throw off my parameters after doing multiple water changes to bring my nitrates down. There would always end up being nitrites back in the water when they should have still been reading 0. Needless to say the 15 gallons of spring water didn't do anything to bring down my nitrates.
I think the reason it took so long to bring the nitrates down, was not only because of the nitrites in my tap water but also because of the extra 6-7 gallons of water that are in the canister filter at any given time.
Also, Kimchi is now measuring in at 6" long! He's eating about a 1/2 worm a day, cut up into 3 pieces.
October 24, 2022
The tank parameters after him being in there for 1 day. I'm still trying to work on getting the pH down. I added an indian almond leaf in the tank and also boiled 2 of them and put the steeped mixture in the tank after cooling. It gave it the tannins appearance (which I'm not a huge fan of) but didn't change the pH at all. Maybe it will come down after more water changes, which I feel like I've done 100 at this point.
For my son's room, I really wanted to add a bookshelf. I recently bought him a Biorb aquarium and also wanted the tank to be out of his reach also (he's only 2). All of his books are currently being stored on his dresser by bookends or aren't being used because they are on the closet shelf.
I bought a bookshelf off of Marketplace on Facebook. When I was picking it up, the bottom door fell off. So I had to wood glue that together.
I removed all of the shelves and doors. I also cut off the extra couple inches of wood on either side of the top of the bookcase, you can see them in the photographs below. It almost looks like it was put together wrong, it felt like an eye sore and I don't think that's how it was intended to look.
I wish I could tell you this was solid wood but it appears to be made out of particle board. I bought some peel and stick paper from Amazon. Now, obviously I should have waited to put this on the back, because I am wanting to paint the whole bookcase white with the same chalk paint I used to paint my son's dresser. However, when I went to go get the paint, it had dried out (probably didn't get the lid on quite right). I ordered the chalk paint but it's going to take a little bit to get to me and I couldn't waste a whole day and not do something to this project.
I will say, the peel and stick paper was ok to use. It did it's job but due to the design, this paper was almost impossible to match up. If I were to use peel and stick paper like this again, I would measure my project and by some the same width as my project or even bigger. If you are a perfectionist, you will hate this stuff, lol.
We also got his Biorb up and running, isn't it cool?!?! We are waiting on the tank to cycle so no fish in there yet. I got this Biorb off an auction site for $5! What a steal, right? It had a broken seal when I got it, but I used silicone and it seems to be holding water fine now. Waiting on one more decorative item to come in. I will be excited to get this bookshelf project done, it's so tempting for him to want to put his fingers in the tank. He had been telling the "pretty rocks" hi everyday.
I used Annie Sloan chalk paint on the dresser, the color is Old White.
When I've used Annie Sloan chalk paint in the past, I was super impressed with it. This time not so much. I ended up having to use 3 coats and ran out of paint. I'm not sure if something changed with the formula, but I'm not sure I'll be buying it again.
Fish tank time out....we got a few shrimp to put inside. I've never kept shrimp before but they are pretty cool to watch.
It's really fun to see when they are all active, here is 1 swimming around. We ended up buying 2 yellow, 2 red and 2 blue.
Still working on decorating it, but it's anchored to the wall and the fish tank has been moved.
The before and after photo.
Also installed this cool little light switch for Finn to use.
Not a whole lot to show on this project, but I decided to finally fix the railing I tore out. Funny story, I put a hall tree back in that storage area and I sold it. Well, when I went to get the hall tree out...apparently it wasn't as easy to get out as it was to put in there. So I had to rip out the wall partition that was there.
This was the only photo I could find of the original partition that I ripped out. This was back when I was purchasing the house.
So here is what it looks like now. I turned this room into a storage area. There's really no other use for it. You can see where the partition used to sit.
I decided to go with a wood railing, the reason was because I recently redid the handrail. It was previously painted white. Have you ever had a white hand rail in your house? Worst mistake I have ever made. I was recently stained in Minwax Early American.
For the railing I used metal conduit that I already had on hand. I spray painted them a black matte color.
Taking some measurements. I ended up by a 4x4 post and a 2x4.
If I were to do this project again, I would wait to paint the conduit until I cut them, because I ended up having to retouch all of them.
Staining all of the wood.
If you're starting to think this looks like a deck railing...I think so too. I did use a lot of elements you would see on a deck, like the post cap. I still think it looks better than it originally did though.
I used a 3/4" drill bit and drill 7 holes on each side (the post and the 2x4). I measured them all out at 4" apart. I read somewhere that 4" is the correct spacing, not sure if that's accurate or not. I tried to hide all of the screws as best I could. I also put a coat of polyurethane on the inside (where the 7 holes were drilled) because I knew it would be hard to do once everything was attached.
Projects are never as easy as everyone makes them look. If you have a house like mine, nothing ever goes according to plan. The problem I found when I went to install the railing was there was a big chunk of concrete at the bottom of the wall. The concrete set me back a day as I had to chip away at it with a rock hammer.
I used a hammer drill to pre-drill holes into the concrete floor so the railing could be a bit sturdier than the wall partition that was up there before.
After it was installed, I put 2 coats of polyurethane on it. Not perfect by any means, but I do think it looks a lot more put together than it did before.
I chose to go horizontal instead of vertical with the railing because I wanted it to be different than actual stair rails. I also didn't want it to look like a jail cell 😂.
Hope you enjoyed this post. I really enjoyed making this railing.
I just couldn't leave this hedgehog cage alone. The next thing we ended up doing was making a homemade wheel and took inspiration from this video. I will start off by saying, if I were to do a redo on this project, I would not have made a huge hole in the center, I would have left it a 5/16 hole instead. In the video I referenced earlier, he too made some notes on what he would have changed, so I took that advice and I got hex bolts instead of carriage bolts. Here are the supplies I ended up getting:
Fidget spinner, I already had this on hand but you can find them cheap on Amazon (to remove the middle portion of the fidget spinner, simply pry it out with a flat head screwdriver, if you can't do it by hand, this is where your 5/16 x 3" hex bolt will go)
I bought all of my nuts/bolts/washers at Sutherlands and spent about $5, since I already had the fidget spinner, this project ended up costing me $15.00. Now, in the video tutorial you will notice that his is on a stand made of PVC pipe. I really liked the looks of that because you could tell it was a homemade project, and that just seemed cool to me. We ended up forgoing the PVC pipe though and mounting it directly to the cage. To do this, all I had to do was measure where I wanted the wheel to end up and drill a 5/16" hole on the back of the cage.
Now Teddy has all sorts of room in his 2 story condo. I was worried that Teddy wouldn't like it, because the wash basin I bought has a slight taper to it. Rest assured though, he loves it and was on it all night. We had a silent spinner before, which isn't exactly silent but I will say it was more quiet than our homemade wheel. Still I like the looks of it and it's so much easier to clean since it's all one smooth surface. All in all, I would rather pay $15-$20 for our homemade version than the $40 store version. This was so easy to do, if you are even thinking about trying it for yourself...you should!
It looks a little shaky here with my son spinning it, but it looks a lot more stable with Teddy on it. We will try to update a video of him on the wheel soon!
More detailed video:
**Sorry for the confusion, in the video I say 5/8, I mean 5/16**
Some recent pictures of Teddy. We tried to get him to love his dig bin by adding treats in there....he is still not a fan.
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