#kahlia

[tropicalfreckles]

Drew this for fun since I'm watching the new season of P&SwG.

[hibiscusink]

Asking for advice.

(half a minute is just Fujiko knocking him out)

[bramblrose]

“How strange that instead of taking his heart, I'm hoping he takes mine.”

[weirdoismymiddlename]

“You are a little heartless today, aren’t you?”

“Never,” I say. “There are seventeen under my bed.”

~ To Kill a Kingdom, Alexandra Christo

[katalyna-rose]

(Talesfromthefade) “I won’t let anyone hurt you, you’re safe with me.” for the DWC?

@dadrunkwriting

A child was conceived by starlight, the moons hidden away behind the horizon in their own forbidden dance, while a forbidden couple met in the dark. A Keeper and a Hunter, not in itself forbidden, but from different clans, with different responsibilities, and each promised to another. Yet both could do nothing but follow their own hearts, for love is worth any price.

It was not their love, but their secrecy that was their end. Forbidden lovers were not the only ones venturing through the dark when the moons fled the sky. Many times they had done this, while trying to find some way to make it real, to come out of the shadows without losing their people. And the Hunter knew she was already pregnant, trying to find the words to tell her lover that they were out of time. The shadows would be gone soon, whether they were ready or not, when her belly started to grow with their love.

But they never had a chance. Dark things hunt on dark nights, and their precious retreat was found as they lay tangled together. His death, her agony, but they did not complete the destruction. She dragged the body of her lover home to her clan, clutching at the life that, somehow, still held on within her. Her people took her, cleaned her, forgave her, but she could not forgive herself. She attended the burial of the man she loved, and then there was nothing to do but wait. Wait for the child she was never supposed to have, wait for the death that should have already happened, wait for absolution from sins that were not hers. For she did not kill him, whatever she might have thought of herself.

A child was born with two moons hanging full in the sky to a mother who had lost her will to live. She held her wailing daughter and declared that she was beautiful, but she saw in the color of the eyes and the curls in the hair the man she felt she had betrayed. The girl was his child, his memory, and she felt she had no place in her daughter’s life. Or in any life.

When the daughter was born the mother did not wait to recover. She placed her child in the hands of her dearest friend and wandered into the woods to meet the man she loved one more time.

And the woman who now found herself with a child she hadn’t carried in her womb cradled the girl close to her chest, and the clan of her father let her keep his name to honor his love.

***

“I held you to my breast and you looked up at me with those big eyes and a fist around my finger and you started to wail once more. I rocked you and I told you what I always say when you’re afraid. I won’t let anyone hurt you, da’len. You’re safe with me.” The aravel rocked as though it was being blown about by an ocean on land, the terrified bleating of the halla breaking through the racket the old and creaky wood made as it all but flew across the forest floor, dozens of others at its side. Ashalle looked up as a sound like a bolt of lightning hitting a tree rocked them, the sound of a sturdy wooden wheel cracking under the strain. But it was not their aravel, and they could not help. The continued to fly across the land with the rest of their clan.

Ashalle looked down to the girl in her arms. A woman soon, but not yet, her face unmarked and freckles stark against her pallor. “You’re safe with me,” Ashalle said again, and big golden eyes made bigger by fear met hers, a stubborn chin trembled, and then she nodded.

“I’m safe here,” Kahlia asserted with all the confidence of the young, even as they fled for their lives from the humans who had taken issue with their people living too close to their borders. “I’m always safe with my clan.”

Ashalle tucked her daughter’s head under her chin, riotous red curls tickling her cheeks and neck, and held her adopted daughter as close as she had that first day, when her closest friend had given her birthright away in her grief. Always, she vowed silently, because she’d rather die than lose anyone else she loved that much.

[officialpittacuslore]

most overrated and underrated ships?? 👀👀

Uhhh I’ll make a list I think lmao

Overrated: Navrina from LL, Clace from TMI, and MareCal from RQ, oops I don’t feel like explaining

Underrated: Every fanon LGBT ship that isn’t pedophilia or abusive, Chaorian from TOG, Chida from TDM, and Samix from LL

[patheticnugbaby]

Kahlia (Right) and Molve (Left)

Kahlia belongs to @katalyna-rose and she’s smooching the leader of an assassin’s guild.

Did this for this thing over here.

[hella-free-space]

This one’s for you, Kahlia!

dope name btw (please let me know if you’d like your name removed from this post, tho!) note: words that are underlined are links! click them! :D

“When I first started DOZENS of people here told me the only way to cycle that didn't take months was to put already cycled filter media from a different tank into my filter. I finally have access to that so I did so, and now I have people telling me that doesn't make any difference and I'm wasting my time. I've also had people tell me conflicting info about using bottled bacteria - some say it's useless others swear by it.”

- Seeding a filter vs Instant-cycling: Using seeded media from another tank! On the bottled bacteria debate, this snippet from this post explains it pretty short and sweet:

“Bottled Products. Ok, more sorta complicated stuff ahead. Most bottled products do not contain nitrosoma and nitrobacter, but instead contain heterotrophic bacteria, which have a reasonable shelf life and much higher reproductive rate than true nitrifying bacteria which are autotrophic. Their drawback, however, is that they are not nearly as good as breaking down ammonia as true nitrifying bacteria so it takes much more of them to do the job. Many if not most of these products do not work. Either they do not contain the right kind of bacteria or it is dead.The only products that work to my knowledge are: Biospira (Now Dr. Tim’s One and Only and Tetra Safestart), SeaChem Stability, and FritzZyme TurboStart 700. Keep in mind that heterotrophs cannot truly cycle an aquarium and should only be used as an aid to deal with ammonia spikes.”

“Also water changes. Some have said take out 20% every day, others have said leave it because the tank won't cycle if I'm doing water changes.”

- What water changes are and why we do them Now that you know we perform water changes to remove excess nitrates from a *cycled* aquarium, you need to know when to do water changes during cycling and when not to do water changes during cycling. There are two types of cycling: fishless cycling and fish-in cycling. With a fishless cycle, you start out with a non-cycled tank, but then add the ammonia source manually. The ammonia source could be liquid/bottled ammonia or it can be a panty-hose stocking full of fish food! You have to keep manually adding ammonia and checking your tank’s parameters so that you can track where your tank is in it’s cycle. You don’t want to do water changes  because you’ll be removing ammonia and nitrite. if you do that, you’re removing the things that your nitrifying bacteria eat, which may result in some of the bacteria colony dying off (if done regularly/frequently) and increasing your cycling time. - Fishless Cycling from Dr. Tims (i hear a lot of people use dr. tims ammonium chloride) - Fishless Cycling from Aquariumadvice.com - What is cycling? How to cycle your tank by @scalestails - How to fuckin do the thing by @lokittyofcatsguard - Cycle your tank! by @jayce-space With a fish-in cycle, you start out with a non-cycled tank, add fish, and the fish acts as your source of ammonia that feeds nitrifying bacteria (there are 2 kinds of nitrifying bacteria that help keep your tanks cycle going: one turns ammonia into nitrite, and the other turns nitrite into nitrate) as they colonize. Because ammonia (and nitrite) are toxic above 0ppm, you have to do toooons of water changes to keep the ammonia and nitrites as low as possible (usually .25ppm or below) until you start to see lots of nitrates but no ammonia or nitrite (a cycled tank has parameters of 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrite, Xppm nitrate). - Fish-in cycling explained here!

People have told me to use Indian almond leaf for my fish's health. But then others have said the drop in pH caused by the leaves will inhibit bacteria growth.

Indian almond leaves produce tannins, which are great for bettas! The tannins do help to decrease the pH (great for someone who might live in an area where the tap is 7.8+) and they do have antibacterial properties. Alder cones and driftwood (especially malaysian driftwood holy frick) also produce tannins. There are different types of bacteria, and many people have “teawater” (i believe they’re also called blackwater? someone let me know if thats wrong) tanks where the water is so brown from all the tannins that it looks like tea! These tanks can still hold a stable cycle, tho, so I’d assume that the antibacterial properties of the tannins won’t harm the nitrifying bacteria that perform the nitrogen cycle in your tank! :D (if anyone has anything to add to this section, please do! i dont have time rn to look into which types of bacteria are affected by tannins or how much tannins have to be in the water for there to be any major antibacterial effect, etc.)

Some people have urged that I use Prime. Others are saying not to cause my tank won't cycle with all the "extra chemicals"

Why we all love prime: it lasts forever and its more than just a conditioner! it removes chlorine and chloramines (most dechlorinators remove chlorines and some heavy metals, but I’m not sure if all dechlorinators also remove chloramines) and neutralizes ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates for up to 48 hours! To those saying that prime will stall a tank’s cycle because of all the “extra chemicals”: they may believe that because prime neutralizes ammonia and nitrites, the nitrifying bacteria that are growing in your filter may not be able to “eat” any of that ammonia or nitrite...since its been neutralized (kind of like equating using prime during a fishless cycle to doing a water change during a fishless cycle). however, prime doesn’t break down these substances entirely, it just binds to them until the bacteria in your filter can “eat” them! Also, you have to use more than the recommended dose (prime is safe to dose up to 5x the recommended amount) to ensure that it binds to excess ammonia and nitrites in the tank. (this forum post and this forum post discuss this further)

I feel like everything I do, I'm being told I'm doing wrong despite it only being under the advice from the same groups telling me that in the first place.

Yeah, i feel that. big mood. it’s really hard being a beginner especially, or researching a new species because there will always be conflicting information out there from hobbyists and even between well-known websites. there are just sooo many fishkeepers out there with sooo many different experiences that don’t explain the advice they give out. what works for one person may not work for another because one person may be keeping cichlids and large tanks and another person may be keeping nano species in very small heavily planted tanks -- and even just between those two situations, their tanks will cycle differently (partially because extremely heavily planted jungle tanks may go through a “silent cycle” but that’s a whole other thing). they just give out advice on this or that without stepping back to consider what their personal fishkeeping background is, to consider what your fishkeeping background is, to ask for more details about your setup or your situation, etc. i think that a good rule of thumb is to ask questions to anyone who’s giving you advice. if they can’t tell you why they’re giving you a certain piece of advice, then they might not know exactly what they’re talking about. ask them for more information if they give a one word answer. bonus points to anyone who provides scientific evidence, articles, etc. to back up their claims!

SO WHAT IS THE TRUTH? because I've tried almost EVERYTHING people here and on other fish forums have told me and NOTHING has worked. I have spent hundreds of dollars buying countless products and 5 months of my time following confusing and conflicting info. And my tank is still not cycled and my fish is still dying. My next step is to just buy a whole new set up or give my fish away and forget about it

hopefully the links i gave and the things i explained above helped to clarify THE TRUTH for you somewhat~ if you EVER need ANYTHING, please don’t hesitate to message me, either through this tumblr blog (hella-free-space.tumblr.com) or through facebook! 

Also, i definitely encourage you to make a tumblr and join #fishblr and/or #bettablr (tumblr communities involved in fishkeeping and betta-keeping!). Everyone here is pretty much on the same page about information and advice we give out to less knowledgeable keepers and share amongst ourselves. We’re big fans of providing “whys” to the advice we give and quite a few blogs here regularly cite scientific studies or research during discussions! We’re a community who cares deeply about animals (especially our fish!) and we do our best to put their needs first! Lots of people post regularly about their own fish / aquariums and get help from the community. Our community includes both hobbyists and professional aquarists (those who have experience with conducting research and/or working at an aquatic facility) and we all love to learn! 

-- If anyone has any comments or suggestions, feel free to leave a comment or reblog below! If I’ve made any mistakes or you feel that corrections should be made to any of the information give in this post, don’t hesitate to leave a comment/reblog or send me a message to discuss it! --