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Just a current update of my babies.
By lomelindi from the busy department, Section Diaries Posted on Wed Aug 29, 2007 at 01:40:10 PM PST Tags: (all tags)

Wee-eell.. I am alive, contrary to current evidence. I thought I'd update everyone on the trials and tribulations of my meagre three tanks, on the offchance that anyone is interested.

Alright.. from smallest to largest. My two-gallon tank now houses two baby fry, who aren't too terribly little anymore. My favorite is turning out to be male, and watching the colors come in on a fish of mine for the first time every is exceedingly exciting. He's got charming little jellybeans on his sides, meaning he's probably offspring of the "wrong" (read: Not the one I wanted offspring of) male, but I adore him all the same. The other is a bit smaller, and I'm not sure of the gender yet. I think I'm only imagining the lengthening of the anal fin. The only color I see in him is still black.

The other two in that tank died.. in both cases because of a propensity for gravel-diving. One got caughed against the airstone in the UG filter's tube, and the other.. well, the other I rescued four times from the gravel, and nicknamed "Squishy," but I'm pretty sure she's dead in there. I'm planning another thorough tank-purge on account of the two deaths, but catching the babies is harder and harder anymore. They're too smart to be scooped up by the ladle.

Alright.. five-gallon currently only houses one very spoiled ADF named Kierkegaard. Neitzsche, the other ADF tankmate, died from what I'm pretty sure was an insufficiently cycled tank. Doestevsky, a fry originally from the two-gallon tank, I have a sneaking suspicion was eaten. Ah well, lesson learned. There's an awful case of brown algae in that tank, which I think was brought over by plant from my 10-gallon, where it was better in check with the pleco. It's not too troublesome... and I rub it off the sides with the same forced calm as I do reaching in to pick out those slimy little shed frog-skins. Will have to do something about it eventually though. I don't trust most traditional algae eaters in that tempermental water.

Ten gallon... all the adults died. All the tiny freshly dropped fry.. they may have died, been eaten, or are well-hidden, I don't know. I'm kinda too depressed about that tank to know. There are two babies in there, who were covered in something and looked terribly ill... but they're getting better every day. The big female seems to have made a full recovery, and the smaller looks okay, minus her little pin tail. I care too much about the pleco to jeopardize the water with more medicines, so I'm just seeing how things go with the Typhoid Twins. They eat well, and are interested in life, so I've got some hope.

The 26-gallon still sits empty. I'm waiting until I've got the chance to move into the bigger room before I set it up, and even then, I'm not sure if I'll put fish in at all. Maybe some sort of reptile. I'm a little disenchanted with my fish-keeping abilities. Besides which, I've no idea what I'd put in that tank. Minus present fish, I'm done with guppies. ALSO.. it's a curved-front aquarium, missing a lid, and I can't find a replacement anywhere. Any suggestions?

In unrelated pet news, I'm currently petitioning for a pair of sugargliders, if anyone happens to know anything about them. Exciting stuff. :)

< My best tank has gone bad | Grrrr >

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Just a current update of my babies. | 2 comments (2 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

I'm sorry you have had to go through so (none / 0) (#1)
by unclescott on Wed Sep 21, 2005 at 09:09:59 PM PST

many trials and tribulations with the guppies. From your comments elsewhere in Guppylog, you seem to be picking up on the aquarist's craft. You may find that after completely sanitizing a tank (boiling the gravel, bleaching the tank, if need be) and getting a quarantined pair, things might be different.

Take a careful look at the Typhoid twins and then look at Ich and Velvet, Either check out the Immediate Help section or Google image searches. The organisms which cause those diseases are common in tanks and on fish. They may still surprise you and come through this with water changes.

I have lost a bristlenose "pleco" female to velvet. They can get it in their gills. Curiously if a fish produces mucus or body slime to combat a parasite there, the mucus can help them suffocate!

I was surprised by the logical question raised as to whether the new fish in a tank which got Ich was the carrier. While the answer could be yes, it also could be that another fish was the carrier. The new one was stressed and whammo! I never thought of that possibility. Another reason for a !@#$%^&!! quarantine tank. ;)

Thank you Terry Fairfield. ;)

As to that topless bowfront tank, do you know the name of the manufacturer? It may be on a tag attached to the underside of the tank. Maybe it is one the stand if that is a set.

Your LFS might have the manucaturer's address. You may also be able to Google that company's site. A lot of companies will list shops which sell their products.

If that doesn't work, sometimes the company will sell an odd part.

Google also has Froogle - a listing of on-line sellers. If you list the product and manufacturer, you may well find a source which has a top for that aquarium. In desparation (ie you have no manufacturer, Froogle 26-gal bowfront aquarium hood or top.

A cautionary thought on reptiles, especially if you lick your fingers or have kids around. According to the UAB Health System http://www.health.uab.edu/show.asp?durki=65633&site=734&return=18687
"More than 90% of reptiles can be fecal carriers of Salmonella, usually with no symptoms of infection." Except for a few rare allergic reactions to fish foods, there is not too much we will catch from the fish.

Good luck with the twins, pleco and the neat sounding tank.

unc

Re: I'm sorry you have had to go through so (none / 0) (#2)
by lomelindi on Thu Sep 22, 2005 at 01:07:45 PM PST

The twins seem to be okay now. When they were smaller, they most certainly had ich, velvet, or (OR!) columnaris.. in any case, something that put white on their upper bodies. Because they were so small, I absolutely could not diagnose it.

Right now, they're bigger, but nothing seems to ail them but the smaller girl with her "pintail," and even that is spreading out. I think they're okay.

The pleco... sometimes, it looks like he might have velvet.. but it's only from certain angles. I've seen it since I got him, so I'm inclined to believe that maybe it's just his spiney-ness, and tiny bubbles catching on them because he tends to lie in a hidey-place under the waterfall part of the filter. When I look straight at him from the side, I see none of it. His gills look fine.

Incidentally, how hard is it to sex a pleco without another of a different gender right there to compare it to? I'd kinda like to know if this is really a he.

The brand is Top Fin.. which is a Petsmart brand. I've tried stores in the area, but the wretched, unhelpful workers never try overly hard to help me with my plight. I'll try Froogle and maybe even ebay, and see what I can find. I even have the light fixture, just not the lid.

<3

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Just a current update of my babies. | 2 comments (2 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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