Albifrons’ Tanks And Fish

Here’s Tyrion hiding out under the crypt, super active!




And then there’s Spike hanging out behind the crypt as well, she’s so cute!

 

Amazing tank! I wish I had plants like yours.

 

Amazing tank! I wish I had plants like yours.

Aw thanks! I'm actually not too great with plants, if you haven't noticed most of the things I'm planting are the hardier variety. I end up killing anything that isn't!

 

This may have been mentioned already, but what is the tall plant with the ruffled leaves?

 

This may have been mentioned already, but what is the tall plant with the ruffled leaves?

That's an ulvaceus bulb. They grow very quickly, which you can see if you compare photos of when I first put the bulb in my tank to more recents pics of it.

 

Okay, a catastrophe has happened. I came home today and saw Grinch sitting on one of the ulvaceus leaves near the top of the tank. I thought, “aw that’s cute” However, upon closer inspection I found that he had major popeye, and the area around his eye was inflamed. I panicked, put him in a breeder net, and ran to my local petco to get supplies, since my lfs is about 30-45 mins away depending on the traffic. So now I’ve got him in a 2.5 gallon quarantine tank that I threw together like five minutes ago and seeded with media from my 20 gallon. He’s swimming, he’s active, but his eye is not doing well whatsoever. The only conclusion I can come up with is that either Spike or Tyrion attacked him, and then the wound got infected. I have had Grinch for close to a year and nothing like this has ever happened before, so I can only assume it’s because of Spike or Tyrion. I’ve got aquarium salt and Melafix, should I start dosing the aquarium?

 

Oh and here’s some photos

 

K I’ve given Grinch a salt bath to help the swelling go down, fingers crossed everything does well. Also, I’m thinking about returning Tyrion to my lfs, or moving him to a new tank I’m thinking about setting up because I’ve deduced he is most likely the problem child. I’ve noticed him chasing Spike around a lot in an aggressive way, so he’s gonna have to be removed I think. The sooner the better really.

 

Okay well, I feel like the swelling on Grinch’s eye is going down but I honestly don’t know. I’m so worried about him, it’s so upsetting!





Oh! I’ve also returned Tyrion to my lfs, as he was bullying everyone in the 45. I exchanged him for 5 platies, two 24k female Tuxedo platies and 2 female, 1 male tuxedo fire tail platies. They’re very cute and one of the fire tails is already pregnant! Skön is also completely ignoring all of them which is great!

 

Oh and here’s a really out of focus pic of the clown pleco, who should be going into the 45 this weekend! The reason why this photo is so horribly out of focus is because it’s been hanging out on the back of the tank, so I had to squeeze my phone back there with one hand to get a pic! This guy/girl is also still unnamed so any suggestions are welcome!




Here’s Spike, she’s so much more active now that Tyrion is gone! I think when he was still in there she was trying to avoid him, but now she’s all over the place which is great!

 

Dwarf Acara look almost like my three female paradise fish

 

Dwarf Acara look almost like my three female paradise fish

Even though he may look kinda like a paradise fish, he is definitely a dwarf cichlid. I’ve compared him to species of dwarf acaras and he looks exactly like Laetacara Curviceps, however he is no longer in my possession since he was continuously attacking Spike.

 

Oh I wasn’t doubting you . I could tell it wasn't a paradise fish but man it looks so similar in that pic

 

Oh I wasn’t doubting you . I could tell it wasn't a paradise fish but man it looks so similar in that pic

Oh okay, I guess I just interpreted your message wrong. They do look quite similar now that you mention it though

 

K so today was Grinch’s first day of Kanaplex treatment, he’s doing quite well, still really active and personable. He was flaring at my phone before I took this!




Here you can see the difference between the two eyes, the swelling has definitely gone down after I gave him some salt baths.



Here’s one of the platies, they’re all doing super well! This girl however is probably my favorite out of the five, she’s always swimming around at the front of the glass to greet me! I’m trying to think of a name for her but nothing has quite stuck yet, hmmm....



Skön is also doing super well, he’s got new fin growth which is awesome! Sadly he’s lost that cute little white hat he used to have but I still think he’s beautiful!



I’ve also moved the clown pleco into the 45, and it’s acclimated well. Finally I can see it!



And since she would be upset if I didn’t include her in this post, here’s Spike. She’s taken to following me across the tank if I’m looking at something or if I simply walk past, so cute!

 

Oh my gosh, I just got home and noticed that my platy has dropped her fry! I was scouring the tank to see if any hadn’t been eaten and I managed to spot this little dude and one other hiding in the rotala leaves, hopefully there’s more though! I grabbed some java moss and stuck a clump of it right near the filter, which the little guy went into right away. So now he’s got some more cover and fingers crossed he makes it to adulthood!

 

Unfortunately I'm pretty sure that all the fry have been eaten. Although this is sad, it is also a lesson learned. Next time I see one of the platies close to dropping fry, I'll move them to my 2.5 gallon "quarantine" tank, wait for her to give birth, then move her back to the 45. Once the fry are large enough to not be eaten I'll move them back to the 45 as well. Oh! On a side note, Grinch is almost completely healed, and I'll probably move him back to the 45 on Sunday once I've done one more Kanaplex treatment. I'll post pics when I get home this afternoon.

 

Alright, today was super busy! So I went to petco and picked up a 29 gallon, along with a filter, substrate, and this pretty little girl. The photo kinda sucks but she’s this cute little dumbo ear girl, with a pastel green body, and cherry pinkish head. I’ve decided to name her Fjaril, which is Swedish for butterfly. She’s super cute, tiny though! She’s already enjoying the space out of her little cup, right now she’s in a 2.5 gallon tank, since I decided to move Grinch back into the 45, but by next week she’ll be in her new home with some female friends to keep her company! Fingers crossed there’s no fighting!




Oh and another thing, I’ve decided to name this girl Gaga, since she’s always gotta be in the limelight! Sorry about the blurry pics, she’s always on the move!




Here’s Grinch, he’s doing well and his eye is just about healed. You can’t really see it cause it’s on the other side, but it’s doing well I promise!



And here’s Spike socializing with a shrimp! She’s another attention hog, you gotta love her nonetheless! She and Grinch have been getting along so far, which is a good sign!

 

Well, I give up. I went to petco to buy the light for the 29, and I ended up getting these three girls as well! They’ll be living in their cups for about four days before I transfer them and Fjaril to the big tank, but I’ll be doing 100% water changes on their cups every day until then! This girl doesn’t have a name so suggestions are welcome!




Neither does this one, but I was thinking something like Mint cause she’s got some pale green on her.



This one already has a name though. Meet Xena! She’s a sassy little girl, and was the only one flaring at the others when I was comparing their attitudes

 

Little advice . Please stop getting those dumbo ears . Very stressful for those Bettas to live in a soriority and with really any other fish . And the need a super gentle flow for the filter . I refuse to breed dumbos and anything past a half moon on tail just for the stress of that extra finnage out on the fish . And I don’t breed twin tails but that’s because their bodies don’t grow to their organ size so they literally are being crushed from too little of a body . So please make sure that with those dumbo ear Bettas you keep the filter on its lightest flow . I will say that for the female ones though . It typically isn’t too bad . They are also gonna be at a disadvantage compared to any other female betta . So if you do put them in with others . Make sure they are the most peaceful Bettas you can find

 

Little advice . Please stop getting those dumbo ears . Very stressful for those Bettas to live in a soriority and with really any other fish . And the need a super gentle flow for the filter . I refuse to breed dumbos and anything past a half moon on tail just for the stress of that extra finnage out on the fish . And I don’t breed twin tails but that’s because their bodies don’t grow to their organ size so they literally are being crushed from too little of a body . So please make sure that with those dumbo ear Bettas you keep the filter on its lightest flow . I will say that for the female ones though . It typically isn’t too bad . They are also gonna be at a disadvantage compared to any other female betta . So if you do put them in with others . Make sure they are the most peaceful Bettas you can find

They’re the only female Bettas I could get my hands on, otherwise I would have gotten another type
Edit: They were also in my local Petco for literal months, so I felt super bad for them and decided to get them out of there, I know that they’ll just be replaced with more but I hated seeing them there for that long

 

Okay, today I went up to my lfs and got a bunch of stuff. I’ve moved the platies and harlequins out of quarantine so they’re in the big tank now. I’ll also be moving my 20 gallon into my dad’s office (I’m 15 even though the forum says I’m 25, so I obviously still live with my parents) since he’s been wanting a tank of his own. So we went up to the lfs for him to pick out his fish. He ended up choosing 6 pineapple candy platies (all female, but all of them are pregnant too) and 6 punctatus cory cats, although one of them is clearly not. It’s obviously a different species since it almost looks like a bronze cory, but I’m pretty sure it’s not since it seems too dark for that. So I’ll be moving the 20 gallon into my dad’s office once he gets home and can help me. I’ll post pics later, since I’m not home right now. Oh, I also forgot to mention that I’ll be setting up the 29 gallon hopefully by tomorrow and by Wednesday the first 4 girls I’ve got will go in (with media from my other tanks, of course).

 

Alright, here we go, this is the 20 gallon now that it’s been set up in my dad’s office. The volcano was his idea so I just had to go with it. The stock is 6 female pineapple candy platies (all pregnant, woot woot!) 5 punctatus cory cats plus 1 mystery dude (I’m thinking bronze) a bazillion shrimp, one nerite, and Skön! The waters a bit cloudy but it should be just fine by tomorrow




Here's some of the corys, I'm so glad I got them, they're just adorable!



Here's some of the platies plus Skön, blurry pic, but they're still cute!



Here's my mystery cory, I'm thinking he's a bronze but I honestly have no idea, I'm not too versed in corys.



I kinda went on a photo binge, but it's all in good fun!



Oh, I've also found fry in the tank! I have absolutely no clue how the heck this happened because first off, I thought that they all got eaten last week, and second, when I moved the tank there was only about a centimeter on water above the gravel so I'm thinking geese fry are super tough! There's at least four, but who knows, there could be more that I just can't find!



Here's the 45, please excuse the cloudy water, it's due for a water change



Spike's saying hi, she's looking good!



The platies are in, here's Gaga.



Kind of a bad photo of Grinch, but look at his eye, it's basically normal!

 

Weeee!!! My mystery snails have laid eggs! This is so exciting! I was getting all impatient and wondering why they hadn’t been laying since I had seen them all getting friendly with each other, but I just got home today and found 3 clutches!!! Woot woot!

Edit: Also, if anyone knows what a blue mystery snail crossed with an ivory makes please let me know!

 

All right, the sorority has been set up, here's hoping it works out! It still needs some work so I'm not completely finished with it, but we're getting there.




Xena is on the left, and Callisto is on the right, they're probably the most aggressive out of the seven I've got in there so they've been duking it out to see who's gonna the most dominant.



Here's Fjaril, so cute!



Another shot of Callisto



Here's Xena displaying her dominance to Bumble, sorry about the bad pics, these girls are fast movers!



Another pic of Bumble, she's probably one of my favorites!



Xena zipping around, super active




This is Kiersi


A little unnamed veil female.

 

These are all wonderful photos, congratulations on the snail clutches!
I am glad to see Grinch is doing good, his eye looks better to me, that's great!
Wishing you good luck on the sorority

 

These are all wonderful photos, congratulations on the snail clutches!
I am glad to see Grinch is doing good, his eye looks better to me, that's great!
Wishing you good luck on the sorority

Thank you! It makes me very happy to see Grinch doing better, and getting along with Spike, which I was very worried about. Concerning the sorority, I'm a little nervous still, but we will see soon how the girls did over night, since I set them up yesterday. Fingers crossed!

 

The sorority is going good, no one has died yet which is good! Here's Kiersie and Callisto sparring, Callisto is the blur on the right while Kirsie is on the left.




Here's Bumble being a speedy girl, Fjaril is in the background too.


Another shot of Bumble



Here's Fjaril and an unarmed mustard gas looking girl. I'm not sure what to call her, hmmm....

 

On the more solemn side of things, I believe Shamwow is dead. She had been missing for at least two days, and last night I found her behind the tank, stuck to the floor. I managed to pry her off of the floor and put her in a breeder net in the 45. This morning she has not moved, so I'm convinced that she has died, although I'm going to give up just yet. I'm going to give her maybe a few more days because I've heard that Mystery Snails can come back from things like this.

 

Are you going to add more plants to the sorority? All the girls are dry pretty, but without many places to hide, I’m sure they are stressed.

 

Are you going to add more plants to the sorority? All the girls are dry pretty, but without many places to hide, I’m sure they are stressed.

Yes, this tank is a bit of a work in progress, but I assure you there will be more plants, some driftwood, and maybe a cave

 

Hello all! I'm back from a fairly long break, much as been happening since I've been gone. The three clutches of mystery Snail eggs I was working with kind of had a disaster and were drowned. It's a long story... but I thought that none of the eggs had hatched so I was very disappointed, but today I found a baby Mystery Snail in my 20 gallon, which made me super excited! I'm thinking it's a Blue but it's a little too early to tell. Also, Shamwow died which is disappointing, but Windex and Zep have layed three new clutches of eggs! I've decided to leave them in the 45 because I feel that I will have a higher success rate of babies hatching if I don't mess with the eggs. I found a ramshorn Snail in the 45 as well which is annoying because I was sure I had no pest Snails, but low and behold! My little rehab female betta Foska is doing so much better too! She's gotten so dark and shiny blue I can hardly believe she's the same betta. I want to have her as a desk friend just because she's so cute and personable, but we'll see. Spike, Grinch, and Skön are all doing very well too, fat and happy fish for sure! The kuhlis are also way more active now that most of them are full size. Overall things are going well, the only thing I'm not a big fan of right now is the aquascape with the 45 rn, I want more plants in there, and the sorority is not going too well. I lost 4 girls and it really hit me hard... I'm trying to press on though, and I'm probably gonna go up to my lfs this weekend. Thanks for bearing with me, and photos will hopefully be posted tomorrow!

Edit: Oh and my ulvaceous bulb is flowering which I also find really cool!

 

K here’s some pics of the baby mystery snail. So cute!

 

I'm back! Boy its been a while, but after my long break I'm finally back in the game. A lot has happened since last I posted, and during these past two months I've been in a bit of a slump when it comes to my tanks. The one away from home did not work out, I just realized that I can't properly care for the fish when I'm not able to check on them whenever I want to. The two at home are still going strong though! I'm in the process of rescaping the 45 cause after my brief stint of breeding mystery snails the MILLIONS of babies tore apart the tank and ruined the scape, so I'm trying again. More plants is what I'm into right now so we'll see how it goes. There is some new stocking as well so that's cool, I'm aiming for bolivians, but that's a ways away from where I am now. I need to move some fish around, get the scape finished, etc, etc. Unfortunately I lost Grinch to dropsy, he had been battling it for a few months, and I believe it had all started when he had developed that eye infection. So I decided to euthanize using clove oil, it was difficult, but in the end I feel that if I hadn't, he would have just suffered for longer. On the brighter side of things Spike now has a boyfriend! Wel... I don't actually know his sex, but I've been calling him a he. His name is Rio, and I saw him all alone at my lfs. I'd been gunning to get another angel for a while, so I decided to take a gamble and bring him home. At first, Spike bullied him, and chased him around the tank, consistantly nipping at him. I was seriously considering taking him back, but then one day she just stopped. Now they're pretty much inseparable, they swim with each other all day, and there's no fighting ever. Suffice to say I'm relieved. Foska the betta is also doing quite well, since Grinch passed she's been living in the 45, and she's one happy girl! I can't believe she's the same betta from when I rescued her! Skön is also doing fabulously, he's the king of shrimp city down in the 20 gallon! Next weekend I should be getting rid of some of those shrimp, there's just too many! I also got a really nice piece of driftwood that I'll be using for the 45's rescape, it was a pretty penny though. Overall, I've been in a bit of a rough patch lately, but I'm trying to look forward as opposed to behind. I've got a lot of cool plans for both tanks, so I think 2019 is gonna be a great year!

 

Here's some pics, sorry about the quality of the water, I just did a water change so it's a bit cloudy.

Rio and Spike, what a couple of soulmates!



Here's a closer look at Rio, he's a bit of a basic koi angel, but he's got TONS of personality. He and Spike are always at the front of the tank, begging for food, following you as you walk by, and just generally watching the outside world.



This is the whole tank, again I apologize for the cloudy water, and the quality of the sand, I only recently got rid of all the mystery snails so it's looking a bit shabby, but I'm getting there!

 

Spike and Rio have spawned! I'm not at home right now, but I found that they were guarding eggs that had been laid on a jungle Val leaf last night. I'm planning on transferring them to my 20 gallon high maybe today or tomorrow, even if these eggs don't hatch, I have a feeling they'll breed again. Maybe I'll be lucky and these will hatch, but I'm keeping my expectations low since they are first time parents. I'll try to get some photos when I'm home!