This is a page that I am writing to get the reader some background info to better understand where my blog starts. This is a summary of about 2 years leading up to the start of my blog.

In June, 2016, I got my leopard gecko, "Cinnamon". she has been a great pet, and i still have her 5 years later.

In February, 2019, my dad set up a 40 gallon aquarium, and i helped him. This inspired me to set up my own fish tank, which was a 10 gallon. It housed 2 plecos, 1 betta, 3 scissortail rasboras, 4 apple snails, two corydoras catfish, and 2 khuli loaches. (not all at once). This eventually turned into a Southeast Asia Biotope aquarium, and on Christmas of 2019, I got a 29 gallon to replace it.

My 29 gallon really had two lives. from when i set it up, to July of 2020, it housed fathead minnows from petco, a bullfrog tadpole, and a few crayfish from the sudbury river. In July, The oxygen was depleted by anaerobic bacteria feeding on the tanks surplus of organic matter. The bacteria suffocated my fish and stank up my room with methane. I cleaned out the tank and replaced the filter the next morning. Only 3 crayfish, and a tadpole survived.

The fresh tank was stocked with the tadpole and crayfish, and 2 bluegills from lake cochituate. I added a new substrate which created problems and forced me to replace the filter again. I eventually released all of it exept one of the bluegills. I found 8 eastern newts in august and September. I then released to bluegill to prevent stress to the newts. I also collected 2 tadpoles from the same vernal pool as the newts. I placed the newts in a winter cooling setup to try and encourage breeding. My blog then began in October of 2020.