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KARMA! posted:How do you know your tank is ready? Test the water and make sure Ammonia is 0, Nitrites are 0 and Nitrates are very close to 0 too. The best thing to do is take a sample of your water to your local fish shop and get them to test it.
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Dec 28, 2014 14:22
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Monitor the ammonia levels for starters. I have started six aquariums with a regimen of Brightwell Aquatics Florinbacter and that's it.
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Dec 28, 2014 16:02
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If the fish are dead, the tank's not ready.
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Dec 29, 2014 13:16
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Well, I finally decided my original foray into planted dirt aquariums has run it's course. It was nice while it lasted but eventually the substrate lost its nutrient rich goodness and the plants began to die off. That coupled with a plague of scuds that decimated the shrimp population sealed the deal. I cut off the external light source a few weeks ago letting it die off completely. I managed to save the lone Oto and remaining shrimp a while back and re-homed them in the 55 which is where the new and improved out of control shrimp colony lives. RIP 20L it was a good ride.
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Dec 29, 2014 16:06
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After my betta died, I got lazy about water changes because why bother? Today I saw some flatworms in the tank. What should I do about them? Do I want to get rid of them? It might be nice for future fish to have something to hunt, but if they're going to cause a problem I should get rid of them now.
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Dec 29, 2014 17:46
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Awhile back I setup a 6 gallon bookshelf tank for my mom so she could get a betta. Eventually my dad threw a couple tetras in there, they triggered an ich explosion and everything died. The tank has been running with just an oto and a couple snails for a couple months now. This weekend my dad apparently went to Pet Supplies Plus and after telling the employee the size of his tank, walked out with two more tetras. And a bala shark. Now *that's* customer service.
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Dec 29, 2014 17:48
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Slugworth posted:Awhile back I setup a 6 gallon bookshelf tank for my mom so she could get a betta. Eventually my dad threw a couple tetras in there, they triggered an ich explosion and everything died. On the flip side, I can't even count the number of times someone has purchased a tank from 1-5 gallons and then steadfastly refuses to listen to any sort of recommendations. "Why can't I just put a goldfish in there?!  Bettas are boring!"
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Dec 29, 2014 19:14
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Walked into PetSmart and they are having a sale on that horrible teddy bear with the fish tank in the tummy. I so wanted to take it to the managers office and burn it.
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Dec 29, 2014 19:33
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demonR6 posted:Walked into PetSmart and they are having a sale on that horrible teddy bear with the fish tank in the tummy. I so wanted to take it to the managers office and burn it. This? It's like the teddy bear is pleading for death.
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Dec 29, 2014 19:37
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Yes, those are on sale 50% off. The assholes decided to not only put them front and center when you walk in the store but they thought it was a wonderful idea to create a display with them involving bettas. Any fish in that death trap is a bad idea period but they are encouraging irresponsible behavior.
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Dec 29, 2014 19:48
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demonR6 posted:Walked into PetSmart and they are having a sale on that horrible teddy bear with the fish tank in the tummy. I so wanted to take it to the managers office and burn it. My girlfriend received one for Christmas. We are thinking sea monkeys maybe? Triops?
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Dec 29, 2014 20:28
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Slugworth posted:My girlfriend received one for Christmas. We are thinking sea monkeys maybe? Triops? One of the reviews said since you have to shove your hand down the bears mouth to open and feed the poor hapless creature in the bowl it tends to get moldy and what not. Ooh and it does not seal well in some instances so be careful it does not spill.
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Dec 29, 2014 20:49
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Dogwood Fleet posted:After my betta died, I got lazy about water changes because why bother? Today I saw some flatworms in the tank. What should I do about them? Do I want to get rid of them? It might be nice for future fish to have something to hunt, but if they're going to cause a problem I should get rid of them now. I had a short bout of them, cleaned the gravel, changed water, fed less and it cleared up. Supposedly some fish like to eat them but they mostly come out at night while fish are sleeping and move too slow to really be noticed
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Dec 29, 2014 21:22
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demonR6 posted:Yes, those are on sale 50% off. The assholes decided to not only put them front and center when you walk in the store but they thought it was a wonderful idea to create a display with them involving bettas. Any fish in that death trap is a bad idea period but they are encouraging irresponsible behavior. Everything those stores do surrounding bettas is particularly infuriating. For whatever reason, the little 1 liter bottles of "betta water" really anger me. Nothing like taking advantage of people while also encouraging animal abuse.
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Dec 29, 2014 21:33
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Don't forget the 2" x 2" betta condos! Now stackable!
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Dec 29, 2014 22:04
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demonR6 posted:One of the reviews said since you have to shove your hand down the bears mouth to open and feed the poor hapless creature in the bowl it tends to get moldy and what not. Ooh and it does not seal well in some instances so be careful it does not spill. Slugworth, if she didn't get a gift receipt it might be best to just put the poor teddy bear out of its misery. I wouldn't even give that away.
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Dec 29, 2014 23:38
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Bala sharks, common plecos and pacu are the biggest offenders. I haven't seen anywhere near as many pacu the last few years though. But every kid wants a "shark" and everyone thinks they need a drat pleco. Now that I think about it, I've been doing this 25 years and I've never had a pleco that I can recall. I grew up and started by having my dad teach me in the mid late 80s. You guys should read up stories or talk to people who kept fish back in the 80s and before. No such thing as cycling a tank, water changes consisted of dumping everything out of the drat tank, rinsing it, and refilling it with water. List goes on and on. Whale Cancer fucked around with this message at 01:11 on Dec 30, 2014 |
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Dec 30, 2014 01:09
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I fed a mashed up pea to my barbs yesterday as a change from all the flake they've been having and one of them got a bit that was a little too big. He worked at it a bit, dropped it, picked it up again, then lined up and rammed into the side of the tank face first to mash the pea down his mouth hole  is this normal? I watched him working at it since he'd got it fully in his mouth but still not going down and he eventually swallowed the pea, at first I thought he'd choke on it but then remembered that's not how fish work. I am guessing he's got some way of chewing or grinding his food since barbs are omnivores.Got sick of waiting for my soaking wood to waterlog properly and stuck it in the pressure cooker. It definitely helped but I didn't leave it in there long enough, and as well as that the inside of my pressure cooker is now evenly coated with sticky resin. It got the wood to the point where very little weight was required to counteract the buoyancy so I've put it into the tank with a couple of rocks weighing it down and hopefully it will waterlog the rest of the way from there. The fish do seem to like having more solid cover and explore more around the tank now but they still hide a lot. I wonder if they would be less skittish with other fish in the tank? Maybe some white clouds? I did want corys but I don't think they'd help give the barbs much confidence. Or maybe I'll just have to wait until the fry grow up to give them a bigger school, I definitely don't want to make the mistake of adding more and more fish without leaving room for them to grow. On last count I still have 9 or 10 fry, in various stages of growth even though in theory they are all around the same age. The biggest one is like a tiny adult, he has all his scales and fins and even shows a spot near his tail, whereas the smallest one has only just got the second part of his swim bladder forming. I got myself an Aquael brand 20 litre / 5 gallon shrimp set (tank, heater, filter, light) for Christmas which I'd like to set up to raise the fry in, their current tank is a filthy chipped shambles with way too much gravel and snails. I think it'd be cool to have a few shrimp as well, are baby fish and shrimp compatible or do they compete for the same kinds of foods? I think if the fish grew big enough to become a menace to the shrimp it would be a good time to move them to the big tank.
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Dec 30, 2014 04:12
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVqZ17yVuU4 Dear god. Someone save all those poor fish.
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Dec 30, 2014 07:56
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Bait and Swatch posted:Everything those stores do surrounding bettas is particularly infuriating. For whatever reason, the little 1 liter bottles of "betta water" really anger me. Nothing like taking advantage of people while also encouraging animal abuse. It all depends on management and individual knowledge of the associates, having worked in one. We hate those loving teddy bear tanks too. And the greater majority of the small gimmicky ones.
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Dec 30, 2014 08:53
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It looks like Petsmart is starting to copy Petco on the dollar per gallon sale. It's only on the 10 and 20 gallon tanks, but that's still a neat deal on the 20 gallons.
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Dec 30, 2014 14:20
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Whale Cancer posted:Bala sharks, common plecos and pacu are the biggest offenders. I haven't seen anywhere near as many pacu the last few years though. But every kid wants a "shark" and everyone thinks they need a drat pleco. Now that I think about it, I've been doing this 25 years and I've never had a pleco that I can recall. Oh yes, I remember having to help my mom when it came for the yearly cleaning. all the fish go in a bucket, tank gets emtied, everything gets scrubbed in a bleach solution including the gravel, then filled back up. Only thing that didn't get bleached was the filter. Luckily it was like a 100 gallon tank so it didn't get saturated with ammonia before the bacteria colony got going again in the gravel.
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Dec 30, 2014 15:22
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Stoca Zola posted:I think it'd be cool to have a few shrimp as well, are baby fish and shrimp compatible or do they compete for the same kinds of foods? I think if the fish grew big enough to become a menace to the shrimp it would be a good time to move them to the big tank. Nah, shrimp will munch on anything from algae to flake food and can't really do anything to fry without the fry getting away even if they decided to try one for a snack, which they likely won't. Shrimp are one of those things you don't have to worry about being a menace, just other things being a menace to the shrimp. SkaAndScreenplays posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVqZ17yVuU4 Abuse aside, i did get a chuckle when he turned the lights back on and the crayfish was all "Sup bro, you wanna go?! C'mon, bring it!" SocketWrench fucked around with this message at 15:32 on Dec 30, 2014 |
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Dec 30, 2014 15:27
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aerialsilks posted:It all depends on management and individual knowledge of the associates, having worked in one. I don't blame the employees on the tanks, since I figured it's largely corporate pushing down products for the most part. Granted, I've met a few associates who definitely shouldn't be giving fish advice, but I've also met some who know their poo poo. I talk with one of the guys at my local Petsmart about dwarf and African cichlids all the time since he raises them, and he has a good bit of knowedge. He hates the betta stuff, but says it's largely out of his hands beyond explaining to people all the reasons bettas shouldn't be kept in a cup.
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Dec 30, 2014 17:41
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Bait and Swatch posted:I don't blame the employees on the tanks, since I figured it's largely corporate pushing down products for the most part. Granted, I've met a few associates who definitely shouldn't be giving fish advice, but I've also met some who know their poo poo. I talk with one of the guys at my local Petsmart about dwarf and African cichlids all the time since he raises them, and he has a good bit of knowedge. He hates the betta stuff, but says it's largely out of his hands beyond explaining to people all the reasons bettas shouldn't be kept in a cup. Sometimes some of the smaller ones are actually pretty decent-- the Nat Geo betta tanks(filtered, not the unfiltered ones) are pretty cool once you baffle the flow. But yeah, I know that feeling. Even in my store we have That One Associate who shouldn't be in the department. And for the most part, yeah, we try to at least tell people to keep their bettas in a gallon or larger since I'd say 80% of betta complaints are "but it never moves around!" Probably because you have it in a cup, buddy. Trying to get most people into tanks larger than that is a pain in the rear end, but thankfully many people seem pretty receptive to the standard glass 2.5 because it also comes with a lid. Speaking of fish we shouldn't carry, I'm eagerly awaiting the day we finally get rid of iridescent sharks/pangasius catfish. We stopped carrying Pacu about two years ago, or so, and I'm hoping the pangs are on their way out too. No sense in hoping for bala sharks and silver tips to go, unfortunately-- between them and oscars every fish newbie thinks they're ~so cool~ for some reason I can't fathom.
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Dec 30, 2014 18:18
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aerialsilks posted:Sometimes some of the smaller ones are actually pretty decent-- the Nat Geo betta tanks(filtered, not the unfiltered ones) are pretty cool once you baffle the flow. But yeah, I know that feeling. Even in my store we have That One Associate who shouldn't be in the department. And for the most part, yeah, we try to at least tell people to keep their bettas in a gallon or larger since I'd say 80% of betta complaints are "but it never moves around!" Probably because you have it in a cup, buddy. Trying to get most people into tanks larger than that is a pain in the rear end, but thankfully many people seem pretty receptive to the standard glass 2.5 because it also comes with a lid. Oscars are cool... if you have a bare minimum 55 gallon and canister filter for it. I knew they got big, but when I got my oscar and it grew out, holy poo poo.  That fish was awesome, he'd follow me around the room in his tank from one side to the other. I seriously contemplated setting up a laptop with a movie on it so he could watch...And every fish noob coming over asks if it's a piranha 
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Dec 30, 2014 19:13
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daggerdragon posted:And every fish noob coming over asks if it's a piranha "Don't get too close, he's been known to leap out of the tank to attack someone. My ex has a pretty bad scar on her nose from an attack. Want to feed him?"
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Dec 30, 2014 19:16
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I still think Oscars are cool as hell. I'm secretly kind of looking forward to the day all of my Africans die off, so I can put a pair of Oscars in their 90g tank.
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Dec 30, 2014 19:18
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When I worked at Petsmart the employees in the specialty section (birds, fish, rodents, reptiles) weren't taught anything about actually taking care of the animals. They tried to put people in that section that had some experience owning fish or birds, but you were on your own beyond that. All the training I had on fish compatibility and care was from my own experience. We never did our own displays either until my manager put together a display tank with some of her fish from home. So glad teddy bear betta torture devices didn't exist back then.
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Dec 30, 2014 19:56
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SocketWrench posted:Nah, shrimp will munch on anything from algae to flake food and can't really do anything to fry without the fry getting away even if they decided to try one for a snack, which they likely won't. Shrimp are one of those things you don't have to worry about being a menace, just other things being a menace to the shrimp. I would play with my crayfish when I had them. Basically boxing with the handle of the net. Not hard enough to do any damage just enough to provoke a reaction. Then he caught and ate a couple of mollies, and got taken back to the fish store. EDIT: I can't help but think I helped develop his claw-eye coordination. SkaAndScreenplays fucked around with this message at 03:54 on Dec 31, 2014 |
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Dec 31, 2014 03:50
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So my 75 is almost done cycling. I was thinking about ordering some sunfish but the ones I want won't be available until august. I suck at planted tanks and I don't want Africans. I've been looking at jeff rapps fish and whatnot but I think I might just go basic and go with a Jack/convict and something else. I absolutely love cons and it's been forever since I had one. Might also throw a school of emporer or buenos Aires tetras in the mix. I definitely want to go ca/sa. If love to hear what you guys have to suggest.
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Dec 31, 2014 05:13
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75 gallons, wanting a large centerpiece fish thaat is reasonably compatible with other tankmates? Start researching severums. 
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Dec 31, 2014 23:13
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Whale Cancer posted:So my 75 is almost done cycling. I was thinking about ordering some sunfish but the ones I want won't be available until august.
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Jan 1, 2015 00:51
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SkaAndScreenplays posted:I would play with my crayfish when I had them. Basically boxing with the handle of the net. Not hard enough to do any damage just enough to provoke a reaction. Wanted to get a cray myself, but had the mollies first, and being they liked to sleep on the bottom, that was my fear. Always wanted to have a lobster too. like not some fancy one, just get one of those Maine lobsters and put him in a tank
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Jan 1, 2015 01:26
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My Aqueon double T5 fixture burnt out, was smelling of ozone, the whole panic-inducing works. Went online to see if new ones were any cheaper there than in my store, and found multiple negative reviews about overheating, shattering glass canopies, etc. So, obviously avoided that and ordered a Deep Blue Professional SolarmaxHE since it had pretty good reviews. All I need to do is replace the actinic blue bulb with another daylight and we'll be good to go. Looks pretty great, though the fixture itself is nearly twice the width of the Aqueon fixtures. I'm still gonna get a 30" one for my 30gal anyway because I really like it. That said, pictures:  30 gal is perfect and I love it. Thinking of getting some marble hatchetfish to hang out on the top and waiting for some panda corys from my manager.
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Jan 1, 2015 02:25
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Slugworth posted:What species were you thinking? Longear, in particular the missouri variety from zimmerman fish. He breeds and I've talked to him on the phone and he's a hell of of a guy. He offered me a couple he has set aside for his show tank.
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Jan 1, 2015 11:48
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Whale Cancer posted:Longear, in particular the missouri variety from zimmerman fish. He breeds and I've talked to him on the phone and he's a hell of of a guy. He offered me a couple he has set aside for his show tank. Yeah, I have been considering ordering that exact fish from him. He's had pumpkinseed in the past too, so I have been keeping an eye out for them. I've got a 125 that needs some inhabitants.
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Jan 1, 2015 14:56
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Whale Cancer posted:Longear, in particular the missouri variety from zimmerman fish. He breeds and I've talked to him on the phone and he's a hell of of a guy. He offered me a couple he has set aside for his show tank. Unless you're a black teen in a hoodie
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Jan 1, 2015 21:14
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Slugworth posted:Yeah, I have been considering ordering that exact fish from him. He's had pumpkinseed in the past too, so I have been keeping an eye out for them. I've got a 125 that needs some inhabitants. I went ahead and placed an order today. Ordered: 3 Missouri's 3 Alabama 1 Green 2 Bantam 3 F1 strain longears that look like giant dollars
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Jan 2, 2015 01:08
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Whale Cancer posted:I went ahead and placed an order today. Ordered: Awesome, keep us updated, would love to know how it goes. My only 'complaint' would be that he only sells unsexable juvies. Especially given how different males and females look in most of those species.
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Jan 2, 2015 03:34
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