u/PassengerMundane5986

I don't want to dox myself, but preferably around south Michigan Lake, does anyone have good swim spots with clear water? I have been seeing TheMagicCrafter channel lately, a Michigan mermaid who always swims in the most beautiful places! and been wanting to swim in natural bodies of water! I have before but it is scary to put my head underwater in the ones I've been due to debris and mosquito larvae everywhere 🥴.

My essa, Turtle is a Douglas Dog border collie and I feel like this is proof that no matter how popular or famed a brand or plush is, a good bond is not guaranteed. I love Turtle, she's extremely cute and lovely to hold, but I don't quite have the same bond with her as some other plushies, like my catfish, shark or snake plushies, most of them unconventional. I think a part of this has to do with fragility and the fear of ruining my expensive Douglas dog, while the others I can sort of beat around or cry and scream into, and nothing happens, I think I find comfort in their durability. If I never got into the TikTok community I probably never wouldn't have gotten a Douglas. So just a warning that I think the bond of a plush depends entirely on yourself and not the plushie, no matter the popularity or trend. Just ranting because I'm kind of disppointed on not being so close with Turtle.

Also I'm not trying to offend those who have great bonds with trendier ESSAs, just saying choose what you like, let your bond come naturally, and don't force yourself to follow trends.

I added around 2ppm of Fritz fuel ammonia 4 days ago, and 3-ish days after that it's almost all gone, 0-0.5ppm according to my test strips. I added more to get 2ppm and tested again, and the tests worked fine that time.

I know at some point the ammonia will slowly decline, but being almost gone at 3 days is strange. There were no nitrites present. The strips seem to work because whenever I dose the ammonia and it's shows the correct amount, and when I tried putting a drop of ammonia on the strip the color changed as it should.

Still I know it might be that the test strips are faulty. I'll be bashed for using them but the API test is expensive. Any ideas what's going on?
I have tons of white fluff and bacteria in the tank so maybe they're eating the ammonia?

I have to remineralize my water whenever I do a change, how do I know how much water I take out so I can dose the correct amount of mineral for my new water?

I was looking at shrimp content, getting ready to cycle my tank, where I saw a post about copper. I thought I was fine, but I idly searched up my town’s water. We have way too much. It really sucks, I bought over 170$ worth of things, which is a lot of money for a kid without a job, I was so excited. It really sucks. We have a special drinking spout at the house, I might ask if it’s RO. But remineralizing seems really complicated and I’m just so disappointed now.
EDIT: You guys really gave me hope. Thanks so much, I think I'm going to use one of those 5 gal jugs you can refill at stores and remineralize it.

Can someone double check my cherry tank list? I'm planning my first aquarium ever.

Aqueon Minibow 5gal with Filter
Sponge for intake cover
Java moss
Pearlweed
Java fern
Driftwood
Aqueon water conditioner
Tetra test strips
AquaNatural black galaxy inert sand

My total comes to 162$ without shrimp. Wondering how much you guys usually pay for a tank setup.

So I already want shrimp but I want to convince my mother to let me care for some! I’ve done a lot of research but please give me all your beginner shrimp keeper tips. I’d like to hear some cons too!
Edit: I’d also like to hear about how often parasites and worms get into your tank. They gross me out and I wanna be prepared 🫡

I’m a 13 year old female and I don’t know if I’m lesbian, bi, or even queer at all. My family is a Christian Asian household, and the topic of LGBTQ has always been taboo in the house. I remember seeing a kid’s book about a non-binary kid at the library when I was in elementary, and I was so curious but my mom shut it down quick after I tried to hide it out of her sight. Anyways, I always thought I was straight. I used to be afraid of having my first crush because what if it was a girl? So I always thought I was straight. But after seeing lesbian couples online, I’m… jealous. I want to be in a lesbian relationship. I don’t want to like men. I‘ve only had one crush, a boy in 5th grade, but I can’t tell if I truly liked him or I just picked him out because he was the funny class clown. The thing is, I can’t tell if I’m forcing myself to like girls. I’ve never had another crush since 5th. I can never ever imagine liking one of the boys in my school. Haven’t had a female crush either. But I still see women online and they are unbelievably hot. Am I forcing that because I want to be “special”? Because I want to be “different”? Am I denying my attraction to men because I think I want to like girls? In my future, I want to be with a woman. I can imagine a man, but I always smile harder when I think of a female. But I can‘t seem to crush on anybody real at school. Is it because I haven’t met anyone I like yet? What am I? I know only I can truly know for myself, but hearing similar experiences would be helpful.

I've been playing for 4 years and I'm 13. I played two years in my school program, and I started taking violin seriously at the beginner of school year last year. I practice around 50 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes-ish almost daily, but I feel like I'm not improving. I didn't start super young, so I have no future in music past high school. I have until beginning of college to be good. Honestly, I kind of suck compared to musicians outside of school at my age. I'm worried that at the end of highschool, I'll still suck and sound bad. Is it about the amount I practice? Although I trust my teacher, what if I never get proper form and technique? I probably don't have those right now. I know it takes years to actually sound moderately good, and I know I haven't been playing *that* long, but it feels like a lot. My vibrato feels worse and worse daily. I'm out of tune. I should practice more but I can't get myself to. I want to get good at this instrument but I feel like I can't and I don't have enough time to.