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What are you doing to your tank today?
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What did I do today tankwise? I just drove a 300 mile round trip to a huge pet shop near Milwaukee, WI with over 500 tanks after my calling ahead to check on available stock. These tanks were super clean, the fish are QTed prior to sale, and the selection was superb. I did not see a single dead or even sick fish…..unbelievable. It’s called Aquatics Unlimited. It has educated personnel, and I picked up 15 Kubotai Rasboras which my wife told me to get for my V-Day gift since my last internet arrivals were not that healthy. How cool is that? Within minutes of being put into QT,
they colored up. So happy. After a while, they eagerly ate a light feeding….all are fine. Next month is going to be awesome when the Kubotais join the Cardinals.
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Organizing stuff in the garage so I can actually work on things like the rack for the 40 that I'm way behind on (Woodstock is great, still loves digging lol) get the pond filter mocked up in place and when it warms up, be able to get the snail tank outside lol
Going through all my electronics like heaters and such to get rid of the broken stuff now.
Going through all my electronics like heaters and such to get rid of the broken stuff now.
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Topped off some tanks and fed this morning but noticed the betta really wasn’t eating the pellets - Northfin Krill Gold, 1mm.
But for the time being he is in one of the scud tanks & I learned long ago that bettas really like scuds.
Snapped a quick pic & by the look of him he is clearly eating well enough, based on the full stomach I can see.
At least I hope it’s nothing but a full stomach - have to keep an eye on this guy and make sure he isn’t starting to bloat.
He had yellow fins in the store but they became a pretty peachy colour now he’s settled in.
He has blue eyes & some dragon scales but his tail isn’t as full as most halfmoons are.
I sure hope that modest bulge is only because that belly is full of scuds.
But for the time being he is in one of the scud tanks & I learned long ago that bettas really like scuds.
Snapped a quick pic & by the look of him he is clearly eating well enough, based on the full stomach I can see.
At least I hope it’s nothing but a full stomach - have to keep an eye on this guy and make sure he isn’t starting to bloat.
He had yellow fins in the store but they became a pretty peachy colour now he’s settled in.
He has blue eyes & some dragon scales but his tail isn’t as full as most halfmoons are.
I sure hope that modest bulge is only because that belly is full of scuds.
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I did saturday water changes; for the 3 hour effort i got a nasty bite from my mesonauta egregius and accidently sent a clown killi down the drain which i will feel guilty for the next month. Was netting duck weed and well whatever.
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I feel your pain - I once lost a loach that way - I didn’t even realize it was in the water I was dumping out until it was too late to try & grab it somehow.
I still feel guilty after a couple of years.
There is something to be said for keeping fish which are far too small to bite me even if they really want to
.
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I have had several bites from various cichlids, even small Laetacaras, but my Guianacaras are more wimpy, I stole some of their fry the other day and the parents just watched.
A few months ago I also nearly lost a fish down the drain, it was a strange story and I thought about posting about it here at the time, but never got around to it, partly because it involves quite a bit of explanation, so sorry this is going to be a bit long. When I set up the 240l tank for the two pike cichlids I first had to remove all the small fish that previously inhabited that tank. This involved removing all the driftwood and draining the tank so that almost no water remained. Even so I missed a few fish - a catfish that must have buried itself in the sand, a cardinal tetra and a couple more of the tiniest fish. Anyway they just had to stay. Not long after that when the pikes were in the tank, I put a water hyacinth in there as it contained a few scuds for live food. A friend had given me several and I was keeping them in a tub outside. A couple of days later I decided to change the one in the tank for a new one. I put it in a small bucket, took it outside put it back in the container and got another. The roots were very long and dirty so I first washed them very carefully into the bucket so as to not miss any scuds, and then put it in the tank. A bit later I was cleaning the mess left in the sink and I suddenly saw something flapping in the plughole. It was a full grown darter tetra (Poecilocharax weitzmani). I had seen this fish only once before in the 240l tank quite a long time ago, and at the time of emptying that tank I was looking out for it in case it was still there, but never found it. I can only think that it was hiding in the roots of the water hyacinth that I took out of the tank, and transferred itself to the new one in the bucket without me seeing it. Then although I was washing the roots carefully I did break some off as they were too long for the tank, it must have been in them. I am sure I had run both quite hot and cold water through that plughole and it was quite a few minutes before I found the fish and I don't know if it survived the ordeal, but it swam off when I dropped it quickly into the small tank with the other small fish. I haven't seen it since, but that is not unusual as I never saw it anyway.
And on the subject of fish that are rarely seen, today I saw my clown pleco in the big tank for the first time in roughly 2 years! When I first put it there in early 2022 I used to see it, not frequently, but from time to time, more often than the bristlenose pleco that is also in there. But as it was such a long time since the last sighting I was was thinking the clown pleco was probably no longer alive. But it is! I like plecos, but I have 3 and see them very, very rarely!
When I had emperor tetras they always used to bite my arms any time I had them in the tank - felt like little needles pricking me!
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Years ago, I hand fed my discus fish freeze dried black worms. After that, my discus always came to my hand in the water and pecked at the hand and arm.
My koi still do the same after years and years of hand feeding. The discus and koi were merely wanting food. What follows, though, is different.
When I was snorkeling in the waters of John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, Damsel fish would nip at me with vigor to protect their nests or territories. Fish a mere 6-7” would really try to intimidate me and bite/nip until I left the area. Meanwhile, the sharks and barracudas just swam by wo paying any attention to me. Go figure…..
My koi still do the same after years and years of hand feeding. The discus and koi were merely wanting food. What follows, though, is different.
When I was snorkeling in the waters of John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, Damsel fish would nip at me with vigor to protect their nests or territories. Fish a mere 6-7” would really try to intimidate me and bite/nip until I left the area. Meanwhile, the sharks and barracudas just swam by wo paying any attention to me. Go figure…..
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I got a good look at a small fry today. I think it's a honey gourami. I saw bubble nest recently but didn't expect anything to come of it.
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Hum. That reminds me i should look for mine - i havent' seen it in about 18 months. Mine is a bit older probably around 5 now - sometime i'll see it once or twice a quarter (3 months) and other times not for a year or two.... definitely not the most seen one. I do see the honeycomb pleco (i have 4 with the clown in a 180); more often - i asked for females since they don't hide as much as males but alas one of the 4 turned out to be a male.
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I feel better about not seeing my kuhli loaches as often as I would like.
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Try Neon kuhlis if you can find some. P.doriae.
They come out and chase each other (in their inimitable undulating fashion) pretty much at warp speed, all around the tank every day in very late afternoon to early evening. It’s quite entertaining to watch.
They don’t have the fancy stripes but they make up for it by being more visible. They do show some attractive iridescence under the right lighting.
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Most of the species I’ve kept are pretty secretive. For me, the only species that weren’t were P.oblonga & P.doriae - haven’t ever had the chance to keep P.sheffordii.That reminds me i have 25 pangio sheffordi in a 5 downstairs that i need to move to the 90 next week. Only seen one of them the rest are hiding under a leaf or in the substrate
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Actually mine is probably close to that age, I had it in a smaller tank before moving it to the big one. The L129 in the angelfish tank I bought on a whim in early 2021. I see that one on average every 6 months or so, and even then its only quick glimpse, it is very shy and I think mainly nocturnal.
Probably, I think that could be why the emperor tetras would bite my arms...
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More than 30 years ago, I had my first aquarium and had a couple of Kuhli Loaches. I didn't have live plants, had no idea about anything at that time. I did have some cheesy decorations. I was cleaning a little bridge in the sink and a kuhli loach appeared from nowhere and went down the drain. I had that aquarium for maybe a year or so and didn't have any fish for around 30 years until the last few years.
I had a bristlenose that I put down the kitchen sink drain a few months ago when I was transferring it from the bag from the LFS to a net. We have a garbage disposal so I was able to "fish" it out without too much trouble. That fish made itself visible all the time. Whenever I fed the the tank, it would come right to the front to eat whatever hit the bottom. Too bad my tank got nuke with Ich.
I had a bristlenose that I put down the kitchen sink drain a few months ago when I was transferring it from the bag from the LFS to a net. We have a garbage disposal so I was able to "fish" it out without too much trouble. That fish made itself visible all the time. Whenever I fed the the tank, it would come right to the front to eat whatever hit the bottom. Too bad my tank got nuke with Ich.
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Worked on moving the a. sp winkelfleck into the new aquarium. Started at 6:30 am and 'finished' at 5pm. There will be more cleanup tomorrow or wednesday. For some reason the 2nd bag of pool filter sand had a 'gasoline' smell so i threw most of it away - hope the bit that got into the tank doesn't harm the fishes.
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I finished a project that took 2 years and 2 hours to complete, I put together a set of shelves so I can get my fish stuff out of the dining room.
Half an hour to go to the hardware store and get the shelves, two years of them sitting in the basement, 1 1/2 hours to put them together.
Forward hey.
Half an hour to go to the hardware store and get the shelves, two years of them sitting in the basement, 1 1/2 hours to put them together.
Forward hey.
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I came home with a brand new Serene ColorPlus LED light for my 65 gal. tank. The 26 year old Marineland light finally wore out.
The Serene light is much better.
On a sour note, I looked in the 120 gal. and discovered a dead female Rosy Barb floating at the surface.
I also saw my six year old male Filamentosa Barb erratically darting speedily from end to end of the tank.
Six years is ancient for a Filamentosa Barb. I think the poor guy was trying to fight off death.
All other fish were quite fine. I easily netted the big Barb, which is normally almost impossible, and euthanized him.
My guess is the 5 inch Filamentosa plowed into the Rosy and killed her.
I started out with twelve Filamentosas and the population is down to three. Most lived to three - four years. That's how things go. So sad.
The Serene light is much better.
On a sour note, I looked in the 120 gal. and discovered a dead female Rosy Barb floating at the surface.
I also saw my six year old male Filamentosa Barb erratically darting speedily from end to end of the tank.
Six years is ancient for a Filamentosa Barb. I think the poor guy was trying to fight off death.
All other fish were quite fine. I easily netted the big Barb, which is normally almost impossible, and euthanized him.
My guess is the 5 inch Filamentosa plowed into the Rosy and killed her.
I started out with twelve Filamentosas and the population is down to three. Most lived to three - four years. That's how things go. So sad.
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Kind of ugly but here is what it looks like - remember all the current plants came from the 29 which is approx 1/4 the area of the new aquarium:
Still cloudy. I added some purigen and will add some charcoal saturday - will leave it like that for 2 weeks then remove them and add a punch of leaves and peat. Hopefully by then the water will clear.
In march i'll pick up two or three echinodorus - one big bear for the back left corner. maybe a hadi red pearl or echinodorus reni and couple of parviflorus.
Still cloudy. I added some purigen and will add some charcoal saturday - will leave it like that for 2 weeks then remove them and add a punch of leaves and peat. Hopefully by then the water will clear.
In march i'll pick up two or three echinodorus - one big bear for the back left corner. maybe a hadi red pearl or echinodorus reni and couple of parviflorus.
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i have a lot of floss but the area behind the matten filter is clear so it is just some loose particles from the substrate I think - it should just settle on its own.I don't mind waiting as there are a few other tasks to be done while i'm waiting for it to clear - if it doesn't clear when those things are done then i'll try putting in some floss.
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A couple of days but i've begun setting up my 29 (which was used for the winkelfleck) for a. sp D39:
I'll add a bit more structure and eventually some more plants. The vals were handy because they were left over from the ones i moved into the winkelfleck 90.
In addition when i was feeding the other fishes i noticed this sad thing:
male
+
female
=
fry
Oh well like the rams they are about 1/2 full grown so really quite young. They are not really in a good aquarium for breeding as there are a bunch of cory eques (which drives the female nuts) and keri tetra which are not as bad as cardinals (as predators) but still not really fry friendly. The keri tend to stay a bit higher.
Anyway hopefully she will learn the eques are harmless and let them be. Hum. I'd like to move the eques but the best aquarium for them is a bit warm at 79; the 2nd best option is the 180 with keyholes but it has a large group of orange laser which are a bit close genetically (i.e, they can cross breed). So.... i need an option 3 somewhere - Hum... All these aquariums and nothing really compatiable for them. Oh well gotta think on that one.
And let that be a lesson to all you folks - never buy a male and a female and put them together unless you have a lot of diapers laying around.
I'll add a bit more structure and eventually some more plants. The vals were handy because they were left over from the ones i moved into the winkelfleck 90.
In addition when i was feeding the other fishes i noticed this sad thing:
male
+
female
=
fry
Oh well like the rams they are about 1/2 full grown so really quite young. They are not really in a good aquarium for breeding as there are a bunch of cory eques (which drives the female nuts) and keri tetra which are not as bad as cardinals (as predators) but still not really fry friendly. The keri tend to stay a bit higher.
Anyway hopefully she will learn the eques are harmless and let them be. Hum. I'd like to move the eques but the best aquarium for them is a bit warm at 79; the 2nd best option is the 180 with keyholes but it has a large group of orange laser which are a bit close genetically (i.e, they can cross breed). So.... i need an option 3 somewhere - Hum... All these aquariums and nothing really compatiable for them. Oh well gotta think on that one.
And let that be a lesson to all you folks - never buy a male and a female and put them together unless you have a lot of diapers laying around.
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Did water change on the office aquariums which include the winkie 90 i setup last week and noticed this:
For context this is the full picture from earlier in the week before they started growing:
So it only took a few days for them to start growing - note none of these were new plants - they had been sitting in the 29 for years but i guess they wanted to take a peak at the new environment
For context this is the full picture from earlier in the week before they started growing:
So it only took a few days for them to start growing - note none of these were new plants - they had been sitting in the 29 for years but i guess they wanted to take a peak at the new environment
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Two new developments:
First i discovered this lovely mess in my geo aquarium (500 - 8x4):
Must be about 30 1/4 inch geo floating around there - no clue if they are 1 day or 1 year old but there is a female with them keeping watch.... no clue how large geo are when first hatched....
no clue if she even layed eggs or they just sort of spontenously jumped in the aquarium...
and i found this mess when doing a water chnange on my keyhole aquarium:
First i discovered this lovely mess in my geo aquarium (500 - 8x4):
Must be about 30 1/4 inch geo floating around there - no clue if they are 1 day or 1 year old
but there is a female with them keeping watch.... no clue how large geo are when first hatched....no clue if she even layed eggs or they just sort of spontenously jumped in the aquarium...
and i found this mess when doing a water chnange on my keyhole aquarium:
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Water changes and had to swap one of the air pumps. Taking some time to plan out the layout for the new place since it looks like it's time to replace most of the equipment down 2 heaters and a pump since we moved.
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Everything is melted, the sun is shining. I am getting daphnia from that pond today lol
:drives over, forgets bag with collection gear:
:drives over, forgets bag with collection gear:
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What crypt is that? It’s lovely.Two new developments:
First i discovered this lovely mess in my geo aquarium (500 - 8x4):
View attachment 915793
Must be about 30 1/4 inch geo floating around there - no clue if they are 1 day or 1 year old
no clue if she even layed eggs or they just sort of spontenously jumped in the aquarium...
and i found this mess when doing a water chnange on my keyhole aquarium:
View attachment 915794
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one of the nurri variations - i think it is nurri rosen maiden - here is a better picture of a different plant (they ahve more pattern in high-tech aquarium but i've gone low tech); they spread like wild flowers once established - so they are pretty much filling up my 180. I sent 10 or so to someone as a trade a couple of months ago but they just keep spreading.
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There is always more to learn isn’t there?
I didn’t know there were variations of C.nurii - which is itself a variant of C.wendti but then, C.wendtii is extremely variable of itself.
It’s a shame about all the border rules that make importing/exporting plants such a pain - I’d love to get some of those!
I didn’t know there were variations of C.nurii - which is itself a variant of C.wendti but then, C.wendtii is extremely variable of itself.
It’s a shame about all the border rules that make importing/exporting plants such a pain - I’d love to get some of those!
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You need a friend just on the other side of the border who can meet you at the border crossingThere is always more to learn isn’t there?
I didn’t know there were variations of C.nurii - which is itself a variant of C.wendti but then, C.wendtii is extremely variable of itself.
It’s a shame about all the border rules that make importing/exporting plants such a pain - I’d love to get some of those!
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Random Great Topic!
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