Posted by Bart Piotrowski on July 14th, 2009
I was surfing around today and accidentally discovered this new Electronics blog that’s new on the block so I thought I would help the person running it out and link to him right away as he already has some great information and images posted. The Blog is called Volts and Bytes and I like it already with the schematics and images that are visible. The link is www.voltsandbytes.com so check it out if your into electronics or circuit building as he has some great information on there already and maybe down the road will have lots more great info.
Posted by Bart Piotrowski on June 21st, 2009
Not much new to report on the hobby side. My baby angel fish is getting bigger as are the two convicts in the 29 gallon tank. I did a water change in the 29 gallon tank yesterday so that should be good for a while. Now I just need to get some time to do the turtle filters and i’ll be good for a while.
I also sold my Team Losi Mini LST RC truck as I don’t really play with it as much anymore and might as well free up some cash that I can use for more important things right now.
Posted by Bart Piotrowski on June 11th, 2009
It’s been a while since I cleaned my K&N Filter Charger so today I decided to do it. In the process I took some pictures for a Do it Yourself article.
6 Easy steps to take your dirty K&N Filter and make it clean again!
Step 1 – Unloosen the mounting bracket so you can pull the filter element of the intake tube
Step 2 – Spray the filter element with K&N cleaning solution and let is soak for 10 minutes
Step 3 – Rinse the filter under a faucet from the inside out. This will get the dirt and gunk of the filter
Step 4 – Once the filter is clean shake it off and let it sit in the sun till it’s dry. Do not use compressed air to dry it off because it could damage the filter elements
Step 5 – Spray the filter with the K&N Filter oil and make sure the oil has penetrated all the dry spots
Step 6 – Mount the K&N Filter Charger back on your Honda Civic and your ready to go
Posted by Bart Piotrowski on May 30th, 2009
As you all may have noticed my posts about my turbo build have stopped and not much new has been posted for a while. The bad news is that the troubled economy has finally hit my wallet and right now I have to concentrate on this before any other major work is done on my engine. I will try to do my best to post some minor things I do to my car or engine but nothing major till get some things straightened out. 1993 Honda Civic Blog is here to stay just might be a bit quiet for a while.
Posted by Bart Piotrowski on May 21st, 2009
Use only genuine Honda Oil Filters !!
Use 5W-30 non-synthetic motor oil ONLY !!
Do Not operate the engine over 3,500 RPM during the first 200 miles of driving. You may increase the engine speed by
500 RPM for each successive 200 mile increment of break-in.
Replace the Honda Oil Filter after the first 200 miles of operation.
Change the oil and filter after 1000-1200 miles of operation. You may use synthetic, or a quality non-synthetic oil.
Click Here for an article on The Proper Method To Break in Your New Engine
Posted by Bart Piotrowski on May 19th, 2009
Well the 45 gallon tank is officially down and out, I cleaned the tank and all accessories including the filter on the weekend and it’s now ready for Craigslist. The Angel fish from the 45 gallon tank was put into the 29 gallon, her lips aren’t getting any better so will see how she does in the next few days and weeks as far as eating is concerned. All the remaining fish that were in the 45 gallon got also transferred into the 29 gallon tank.
I was told by my brother that the tetra’s that I gave him are already use to his feeding times and techniques and he is quit happy with them.
Posted by Bart Piotrowski on May 14th, 2009
After 2 days of medication it didn’t seem like the Fungus Cure was doing anything for my angel fish so I went on google and did some more research. I found out that it’s actually a virus that causes this problem which is called Lip Fibroma. The only way to get rid of Lip Fibroma is to actually cut off the growth from the angels lips but I will not do this as I wouldn’t wanna hurt it more. As long as the fish is still eating it is ok. This is more susceptical to happen to female angel fish that are under lots of stress, but it’s not contagious. There is no cure right now so I will leave her as is.
Posted by Bart Piotrowski on May 13th, 2009
I’ve been contemplating the downsizing of my fish stock for a while now by taking down my 45 Gallon tank. The reason for this is I need to move things around in my room and I no longer have the space for a 3rd tank. Having the turtle tank and the 29 gallon tank should be sufficient enough for me now. In the future I can always buy another tank and get more fish if I want to. The experience of keeping my fish, crayfish and turtles in the last 2 years has been awesome and will be invaluable information for any future fish tank setups. I have learned what filters are the best, how to deal with Ich disease, the water cycle, PH levels and more. For now I am still going forward with my turtle tank and my 29 gallon crayfish tank till things change.
So after making the decision to take down the 45 Gallon tank the opportunities for new homes for some of my fish appeared quit rapidly. My brother Paul picked up my tetras, guppies and one large pleco, my friend Tracey picked up my 4 barbs and my smaller convict cichlid and I also have a friend that is looking at one of my angel fish. Once this is done I can take down the 45 gallon tank and get it ready for Craigslist. All the fish that are leaving my care are going to good homes so I am not worried about their well being.
Posted by Bart Piotrowski on May 11th, 2009
I added my first half treatment of the Fungus Cure today and it turned my tank green, but this was needed to see if I can reduce the size of the Angel fish’s swollen lips. It says on the bottle that it’s suppose to make your tank green for a few days but just cause I like to be safer then sorry so I only added 50% of the treatment and will see what happens. I also cleaned my filter and pulled out the charcoal like it states on the Fungus cure and will add it back after 48 hours to make the water go back to clean color. Will keep you posted what happens
Posted by Bart Piotrowski on May 7th, 2009
I have not posted any articles here for a while as I’ve been busy with other projects and blogs but since I have some new pictures I thought I would post them up.
My large angelfish in the 45 gallon tank has had large swollen lips for a few weeks now so I did some research and found out she has some kind of fungus growth on her lips. So today at lunch I went to Big Al’s Aquarium Store and picked up some API Fungus Cure and will try it on the weekend and let you know how it works.
As you can see in the picture above, her lips are quit large and swollen.
This is the API Fungus Cure I will try this on the weekend and see if my Angelfish lips get smaller.
Today I also bought these calcium blocks for my two turtles as they add calcium into their diets to build a healthy strong shell.
This is a picture of one of my new Firemouth Cichlids that I bought about a month ago, they are pretty tough fish and always chase my other fish around. My Chinese algae eater and this Firemouth always have standoff’s.
Posted by Bart Piotrowski on May 7th, 2009
If you have got surging, bouncy or an erratic engine idle read on. If you have a really nasty idle issue and tried the usual tuneup and it doesn’t seem to work then Click Here for a writeup on Honda-Tech.com on how to fix this issue.
Posted by Bart Piotrowski on May 6th, 2009
I’ve already put my D16Z6 block together and spec’d the bearings but if you need more info on this, here is a link to D-Series forum post that explains it a little more. Click Here for the link.
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