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February 28, 2005
Awesome...
Seems like the flower shrimp has learned its lesson and it hasn't climbed back into the filter since its last near-death experience. =) Now it hangs out on the hornwort that I placed in front of the filter output or in the pipe decoration underneath it. It seems to have changed color too cause it's no longer blue, now it's the normal red/brown that they usually are. I enjoy watching it filter the water. Thinking of picking up some microfood for it just in case it isn't filtering enough from the existing water. Two pics following:
50mm w/250D Closeup Lens, f/8.0, 1/2s, ISO400
50mm w/250D Closeup Lens, f/6.3, 3/10s, ISO400
Just heard about vampire shrimp last week. Also filter feeders but they look real badass.
Posted by ronin at 1:55 PM | Comments (0)
February 23, 2005
Mean fish...
Noticed that the honey gourami's tale seems to have been nipped at recently and I think it may be the flag fish. Might also be an Endler's too cause I noticed one sorta poking at the gourami's underside but the gourami seemed to ignore it so I still think it's probably the flag fish. Will need to keep a close eye on him.
Posted by ronin at 11:02 AM | Comments (0)
Really sneaky shrimp...
Took some time this morning to try to find the flower shrimp that I had put in this tank last week. It's been invisible for the past few days now so I started riffling through the plants in the back of the tank to see if it was hiding there. Finding nothing, I took out the biowheel again to see if it might be hiding there like last time. Still nothing.
With nowhere else to check, I finally lifted the long charcoal filter that sits next to the biowheel and lo and behold, the damn thing had managed to work its way underneath the filter! There's a gap between the bottom of the filter and the bottom of the frame that holds the filter where water flows through and he was sitting pretty under there. Unfortunately while I was trying to scoot him out of there he jumped completely out of the tank and fell into the gap formed by the two bookshelves that this 12 gal tank sits on. Pretty much as close to a no-mans-land as you can get. Only way I could get him back up was to wrap some packing tape around the handle of a broom and try to get him to stick onto it.
Sticking his body didn't seem to work and I didn't want to push too hard in fear of crushing him but eventually the tape managed to snag his antenna and I pulled him up from there. When I dumped him back into the aquarium at first I thought he was dead cause he just floated down legs up. But after a few seconds he scrambled to right himself and now he's sprawled out on a leaf. No doubt waiting for the lights to go off again so he can make another attempt at the filter. Which kinda bites cause I replanted the long brunch of hornwort right in front of the filter output so that he could hang out on it and feel the flow but I guess he likes the darkness of the filter frame better.
Anyway, I hope the lil' dude's ok and I didn't break anything while trying to recover it. Guess we'll find out tomorrow...
Posted by ronin at 10:53 AM | Comments (0)
February 19, 2005
Shrimp, take two...
Also picked up a new flower (bamboo) shrimp from AF last night. This one's bigger and blue-ish in color as opposed to the brown of the last bamboo shrimp. This morning I found it had somehow crawled into the filter outtake. When I lifted up the biowheel to check on it it quickly backed out and scooted off. Weird. Anyway we'll see if it'll return there again.
Posted by ronin at 4:57 PM | Comments (0)
Replacements...
Spent a good chunk of last night redecorating the 5.5 gal tank. Got:
• 3 corkscrew vals
• 1 potted dwarf hairgrass
• 1 bunch of red ludwigia
Stem plants like the ludwigia always drive me crazy cause they're such a pain in the ass to keep down. Grrr... Also picked up:
Smallest one they had at AF and I think it's a male. Anyway, not sure why the heck they're called "American Flag" fish cause they're not red, white and blue. But supposed to be good algae eaters so that's what I got it for. Wasn't sure at first that I wanted to get one of these cause they'll grow bigger than most of the other fish I currently have in there but seems fine so far.
Unfortunately, my previous zebra oto seemed to have been afflicted with some sort of internal bacteria infection cause it seemed to have bit bulgier eyes in the last few days than I remembered and finally passed away last night. So picked up a new one at Shark Aquarium. Hopefully it'll fare better.
Posted by ronin at 4:40 PM | Comments (0)
February 18, 2005
Clams!
Received my order of gold Asian freshwater clams yesterday and dropped two into each tank. As of this morning, the 2 in the 5.5 gal are still sitting around while the 2 in the 3 gal have completely burrowed themselves into the substrate. Of the 2 in the 12 gal, the smaller one has disappeared into the gravel while the biggest one is still hanging out on top. Wonder if I'll ever see them again. =p
On a more depressing note, my bamboo shrimp died last night and I think it was because of our giant female gold barb. When I was feeding them earlier I noticed that the bamboo shrimp seemed to be ok. An hour or so later I noticed it was upside down front and center in the bottom of the tank so I went to take a closer look. While I was watching, the gold barb came by and started to nibble at it. The shrimp wasn't quite dead yet so did try to get away but it's not as nimble as the smaller ones so couldn't seem to get away as quickly. Eventually it found its way into the right front corner and seemed safe for awhile but I guess the damage was done cause it died soon after. Damnit, I really wanted this one to survive. Guess I'll have to go pick up a larger one from AF. =p
Posted by ronin at 12:27 PM | Comments (0)
February 16, 2005
An exchange...
Brought 4 of our home-bred male guppies to AF along with the extra salvinia, Java moss, and hornwort that I clipped last week. Got about 40% off of my purchase of:
• 1 sparkling gourami
• 4 cherry shrimp
And a pack of antibiotics cause I thought my tank had an outbreak of blue-green algae which turned out not to be the case when I did a water change and cleaned out the filter. Seems to be some sort of hair algae instead I think. Anyway, that's the reason I'm buying so much shrimp. I can't get any other fish (like the American flag fish) that eat algae (besides the oto and peckolita) cause they're so much bigger than the fish that're already in the tank and I don't want to risk them getting eaten or dying from stress by being chased around.
Anyway, the sparkling gourami Tom picked out we thought would be female cause it had noticeably less markings and was looking rather pale. After acclimating it to the 5.5 gal tank, I'm not so sure anymore cause it looks more or less like the other 2 that I already have except the band in the middle is more solid and not spotty. The existing 2 gouramis don't seem to like the intrusion of this new one though cause they seem to chase it off everytime they run into him/her. Good thing it's a pretty heavily-planted tank so there's lots of cover. Will keep an eye on the situation for the next day or so, may have to move the new one to the 3 gal if things get out of hand.
Also removed most of the big pile of Java moss that I had initially put in cause I think it was preventing light from reaching the tropica and narrow leaf chain swords underneath. Just tucked a small strip between the heater and the tank wall. We'll see how long it'll take for that to grow out.
Anyway, there seems to be 6 cherry shrimp in the tank now and I don't know where the zebra shrimp ran off to. Probably already dead and decomposed. =p Ah well.
Posted by ronin at 11:26 PM | Comments (0)
February 14, 2005
Big tank pics...
Here's a bunch of pictures from our longest-standing tank, the 12 gallon Eclipse. Probably still overstocked but we haven't had any fish losses because of that yet.
50mm, f/4.0, 1.6s, ISO100
Individual fish pics after the break... lots of 'em. =)
This is our current alpha koi swordtail. He didn't use to be but for some reason seems to have usurped the position from the previous alpha. Definitely the largest of the koi swords in the tank although he has a bum left fin (it points upwards instead of down) but that doesn't seem to affect his swimming.
50mm w/250D Closeup Lens, f/1.7, 1/30s, ISO100
This one below is a pic of our third male koi sword. He's not much of a fighter, usually fleeing from the more aggressive alpha and beta males. But it was funny to watch him try to woo the ladies while the other 2 males were busy duking it out.
50mm w/250D Closeup Lens, f/2.8, 1/50s, ISO100
This is one of our two remaining female koi swords. Shorter and stockier than the males, they usually ignore the males' advances. Maybe too many other fish around. =)
50mm w/250D Closeup Lens, f/2.8, 1/30s, ISO100
The two guppies in the following picture are actually from the same batch that one of my mom's original guppies had. Kinda bizarre cause practically all of the guppies in that batch look like the one on the left. The more colorful one on the right is the only one that grew up to look like that. Now they spend most of their time in the big tank chasing each other around.
50mm w/250D Closeup Lens, f/2.8, 1/30s, ISO100
This is one of my favorite tetras, a pristella (x-ray) tetra. Pretty much translucent body with a red tail and yellow/black fins. I've had them for quite awhiles now and they're still going strong. I think it would be fun to watch a whole group of them together cause the two that we do have often engage in mock fights that are quite interesting to watch.
50mm w/250D Closeup Lens, f/2.8, 1/20s, ISO100
Another old fish, meaning one that we've had since pretty much the very beginning. A male gold barb. Love their coloration and patterning but not sure if I would own them again. They grow relatively large (~2" or so) very quickly and for some reason the young ones that I see at LFSes these days are just really ugly.
50mm w/250D Closeup Lens, f/2.8, 1/15s, ISO100
Here's the biggest fish that we have, also with us from the very beginning. A female gold barb. Voracious eater and it shows. Damn thing's gigantic. Our alpha koi may be a little longer if you take the "sword" into account but this lady just dwarfs the koi in every other aspect. Any time we introduce new fish to the tank she'll come around to take a nibble to see if its edible.
50mm w/250D Closeup Lens, f/2.8, 1/20s, ISO100
The fish below is the only male cherry barb we ever had. Used to have 5 female cherry barbs for him but nothing ever came out of it and we gave 3 of the females back to the LFS. He turns a nice glowing red when it's that time of the month.
50mm w/250D Closeup Lens, f/2.8, 1/30s, ISO100
And finally, one of our four espei rasboras. We've also had these for quite awhile now. They were Erin's choices. Tend to school together in whatever part of the tank that currently doesn't have other fish in it. Back half of the body can turn a nice shimmery red color.
50mm w/250D Closeup Lens, f/2.8, 1/30s, ISO100
Posted by ronin at 2:22 PM | Comments (0)
Medium tank pics...
Just a few pics of our 5.5 gal planted tank and its denizens. I think I'm pretty much done with planting it, maybe add in a few dwarf hairgrass if I ever find them.
50mm, f/4.0, 1/15s, ISO100
50mm, f/2.8, 1/25s, ISO100
More pics after the break...
Quick shot of 3 of my 4 male endlers. They're pretty much the most active critters in this tank. Too active I feel for the gouramis that are also in here cause they eat most of the food that I put in the tank. The endlers will eat anything that looks edible while the gouramis seem to be more methodical and pickier eaters.
50mm w/250D Closeup Lens, f/4.0, 1/45s, ISO100
Another pic of a sparkling gourami. Shy guys, they spend most of their time winding their way in and out of the plants instead of swimming out in the open like the endlers. Rare pic of it venturing out to the top of the tank.
50mm w/250D Closeup Lens, f/4.0, 1/30s, ISO100
Posted by ronin at 1:01 PM | Comments (0)
Small tank pic...
Just a quick shot of our small 3 gal Eclipse tank. Its main function is a grow-up tank for the guppies that we eventually transfer over from my mom's tank. And also as the main home for the deformed guppies that we can't take to the LFS. Hence I don't spend as much time on this tank with decorations and all that. Unfortunately it seems like I just lost a pygmy cory from this tank today. =(
50mm, f/4.0, 1/8s, ISO100
Posted by ronin at 12:44 PM | Comments (0)
February 12, 2005
Picture time...
Just a quick pic of the zebra oto.
50mm, f/4, 1/15s, ISO100
Posted by ronin at 12:30 AM | Comments (0)
February 11, 2005
Housekeeping...
Found another dead shrimp last night but not sure which breed. Probably a tiger though. Can't fish it out though cause it's all the way in the back of the tank covered by hornwort and the like. Speaking of which, I fished out a ton of salvinia from this tank, tossed a few each into the 3 gal and 12 gal tanks and will probably take the rest back to AF along with a bunch of java moss and hornwort stems that I cut off cause they were growing really long as well. Now the tank doesn't look as haphazard up top.
Posted by ronin at 11:31 AM | Comments (0)
February 10, 2005
Argh...
Another dead cherry shrimp. These fellas are wishy washy. Some do great while others croak at a drop of a hat.
Posted by ronin at 1:58 PM | Comments (0)
February 9, 2005
New plants...
Turned out I bought just a few too many plants tonight so the majority of the crypt wendii went into the 3 gal. These crypts grow some seriously huge roots. Had a tough time cramming these things into the substrate. Anyway, guess they should do fine in here for the time being...
Posted by ronin at 1:03 AM | Comments (0)
Renovations...
So I made my weekly trip out to Absolutely Fish tonight and returned home with:
• 3 cherry shrimp
• 3 bunches of baby's tears
• 1 small anubis
• 1 potted crypt wendii
• 1 green/white sandy
Prior to adding them to the 5.5 gal I decided to take a water reading to check on ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels. Last time I took one was about half a week ago maybe? Anyway, surprised to see that levels of all 3 were still zero across the board. Usually there should be at least some nitrate but I still wasn't seeing anything. I guess this Fritz-Zyme Turbo Start 700 that I picked up at The Pet Shanty really works cause I didn't see much of an ammonium spike at all since I first started this tank.
Anyhoo, I took out the patch of glosso that I previously put in cause it was starting to look a bit raggedy and I figured I would start anew with a non-potted version the next time around. The salvinia is really growing like crazy; I started out with 4 floaters and now I think there's a bit over double that amount. Combined with the hornworts that were deceptively tall, this tank's getting a lot of floating plant cover. The shrimp are loving it though. It's pretty amusing to see one of the cherries hanging upside down from a salvinia root and getting whirled round and round when the salvinia floats into my filters outtake.
I also cleaned up the big patch of algae that was still mucking up the bottom left half of the tank. Oddly enough, AFTER I finished cleaning it up and getting the tank all topped off again, the oto and pleco come mosying along into the area. They should've gotten to it before I cleaned the darn thing. =p
Anyway, gotta take new pictures of this tank soon.
Posted by ronin at 12:49 AM | Comments (0)
February 6, 2005
New store...
Took a few hours in the early afternoon to jet on down to Shark Aquarium in Hillside to snoop around. It's also on Route 22 and turned out to be a pretty nice place with a large selection of fish and a pretty impressive array of tanks of varying sizes. The fish area was divided into three rows, one for marine, one for freshwater, and the last seemed to be for more aggressive/uncommon freshwater species. Plants were delegated to just two tanks in the marine row towards the back and there was an ok selection.
The freshwater selection was pretty decent and it seems like they get a lot of new species in from Germany. There was a rather pretty male black sword that was the only one left in its tank but I couldn't justify getting it cause there's really no place to put him. But I didn't leave empty-handed. Picked up:
• 3 dwarf plecos ("dwarf peckolita" they had them listed as which I've never heard of before)
• 1 zebra oto
The zebra oto was for my mother's tank to replace the one that mysteriously disappeared a few months ago.
The dwarf plecos were for our tanks, 1 in each. These guys currently are really tiny but really colorful and shouldn't grow too large. Hopefully they'll do well.
We also transported 2 male orange-yellow tailed guppies from my mother's tank to our 12 gal and then 5 female and 1 male black-tailed guppies into our 3 gal tank. Eventually we'll take them in to AF for trade or something.
Posted by ronin at 8:55 PM | Comments (0)
February 5, 2005
Well that was quick...
The front wall of the tank seems to be undergoing a full algae bloom at the moment so mosied on over to AF yesterday and picked up:
• 1 "panda" aka zebra otocinclus
• 2 zebra shrimp
to see if they can help the existing 2 cherry shrimp keep the algae in check. Unfortunately one of the cherry shrimps just croaked today so I'll need to get some more probably soon.
The oto immediately went to work after an orientation period of about 5 minutes when I first introduced him to the tank and when I checked on the tank earlier this afternoon, he had done a pretty good job clearing out the top half of the front wall. But the bottom half seemed thicker than ever so I wound up shutting off the tank lights for the day until I can take another look tomorrow night. I think the algae's due to adding too much daily carbon supplements to the tank for the last week and the really strong lights. If it doesn't get better soon via the shrimp and oto I'll have to start wiping.
The oto I got for this tank was a relatively expensive fella (about 4-5x more than the more commonly seen otos) cause I think it's rather new and rare to the hobby. Very nice body patterning and the tail pattern is usually where it stands out. Will try to get a picture up of the one in this tank soon.
Oh yeah, had to rescue a freakin' endler from the back of the Stingray earlier yesterday too. No idea what these guys are thinking.
Posted by ronin at 8:01 PM | Comments (0)
February 3, 2005
Stupid fish...
Sometimes, no matter what you do and the care you do it with, your fish will find a way to kill themselves. Came home and as I'm want to do, took a quick count of the inhabitants in the 5.5 gal. Hmmm... missing a sparkling gourami, where the heck is it? Poking amongst the plants didn't reveal anything. Tried to entice him out with some food, still nothing. Where the heck did it go???
Remembered something that the short-lived chocolate gourami used to do and bingo! The idiot gourami had managed to trap itself inbetween the Stingray filter and the tank wall. Since the Stingray is stuck to the wall via suction cups, there's a small gap available that thin-bodied fish like these tiny gouramis can trap themselves into. It's not like it's an easy thing for them to do either. They'd really want to do it to get themselves in that position. Anyway, thankfully this one was still alive and zipped out after I pulled the Stingray away from the wall a little. Whew...
Posted by ronin at 7:46 PM | Comments (0)
February 2, 2005
Eesh...
Guess this tank isn't quite as stable yet cause I came home to a deceased sparkling gourami. =( Was the bigger one of the 3. No idea what happened to it. Checked the water chemistry and everything seemed ok. Hopefully AF still has more.
Posted by ronin at 8:53 PM | Comments (0)
A big but hidden newcomer...
Also arrived home with a interesting new critter for our 12 gal tank:
• 1 bamboo shrimp
When I placed him in the tank, he immediately took off towards the back. Of course since the guy's brown and the back of the tank is rather murky, I can't seem to find him anywhere in the tank yet. Gotta get a flashlight one of these days... =)
As far as shrimp go, this one's a biggie. He was already over an inch and they can get to be as big as 5 or 6. We'll see how it goes.
Posted by ronin at 11:15 AM | Comments (0)
Another new addition...
Added another pygmy cat to the 3 gal as well so there's 6 in here now too. Along with the 2 female guppies. May need to find another fish type that will do alright in such a small tank as the guppies are rather bland...
Posted by ronin at 11:05 AM | Comments (0)
Filling in...
Since Erin had late classes last night, I took the opportunity to hit The Pet Shanty again. ^o^ Picked up:
• 1 pygmy cory
These little fellas are notoriously hard to catch and photo. The poor old guy at the fish store had a heck of a time corralling these guys. They're so small but quick as hell.
• 2 red cherry shrimp
So now I have exactly 6 pygmy cats in the tank. =) The 2 shrimp seemed to be rather active, zipping around the tank. They also seemed to have molted once already.
Just another pic of my honey gourami. Gourami's are pretty interesting fish. They like to hide amongst the leaves but aren't entirely skittish when I come close to the glass to look at them. And they move around methodically, displaying a modicum more amount of intelligence than the other fish we have.
Posted by ronin at 9:20 AM | Comments (0)
February 1, 2005
Yikes!
The older dark-blue/black female guppy that was originally from my Mom's tank seems to be in pretty bad shape after the move from the 2 gal to the 3 gal tank. Do fish get strokes? Cause it appears she no longer has control of the back half of her body. Poor thing...
UPDATE [2/2/05]: Poor girl passed away yesterday. Probably for the better.
Posted by ronin at 9:26 AM | Comments (0)