Tag: fish

Darted Camouflaged

I cleaned the fish tank out again today. There was a lot of green algae growing due to the increased sunlight, and with the new Cory’s there is a lot of extra food in the rock. It was getting bad.

I cleaned the sides, removed all the decorations, and started cleaning the rocks with the gravel vacuum. I was half way done when I saw a tiny blob that I thought was a bit of rooty material from one of the plants. When I moved the vacuum to suck it up, it darted away.

Awestruck, I quickly realized that it was actually a very tiny fish. It was less than a centimetre long, orange with black fins. I think it might be a Platy. Strange thing is, I only have 1 Platy in my tank.

Of course now I can’t find the mini fish. When I could see it, I noticed it was hugging the bottom, and hiding in amongst the rock. I worry that I somehow killed it during the cleaning, but maybe it is just camouflaged really well right now.

Cory Dwellers

I was doing some running around today, and needed to get Yoshi some food. Since I would be at Petsmart anyway, I decided on getting a couple new fish for the tank.

I perused the tanks looking for something to be compatible with my guppy, my platy, and my danio’s. I came across a tank full of Platy’s and some Albino Cory’s . I thought they looked pretty cool so I got a couple of them for the tank.

The Cory’s look similar to tiny catfish, and are definitely bottom dwellers, which is an excellent fit for my tank. Turns out they need a different type of food so I had to get some of that. I rounded out my purchase with a couple more live plants, and a new snail.

I’m very proud of my tank now. I think I have an excellent blend of fish and plants and I can spend a long time watching my tank.

Buoyancy Systems

It occurred to me that I hadn’t posted about my snail. Well, it was a good run for that snail, but he died not too long ago. It was quite odd since one day it was zipping around the tank eating algae, and the next it was floating.

Ever seen a floating snail? It is a sight to behold. I glanced at the tank, and I saw something weird, and when I got close I realized it was my snail. A gas bubble had formed in its body causing buoyancy. It then got caught in an eddy and followed a circular track through part of the tank.

The up side is that just the other day I discovered a new snail in the tank. A tiny, tiny little black snail was cruising up the glass. I have no idea where it came from, but Sox’s theory is that it arrived with some of the plants I bought recently. That is certainly plausible.

I also got a PetSmart gift card as a prize for a work contest. I think I will use it to get a new fish, and another snail. I am also going to look into a better filtration system, though I think that aquariums the size of mine don’t have real filtration systems, just something to keep big chunks out of the water.

Leopard Collapse

The aquarium is complete. On the weekend I got 2 new fish, a couple of Leopard Danios. They are very neat fish to watch. A basic silver fish, with very large fins. What is cool about the way they swim is that while they coast through the water the fins collapse so the fish look very sleek. When they flick their fins to get moving the fins seem to grow. These fish are very interesting to watch.

My tank now consists of 1 Tequila Sunrise Guppy, 1 Neon Tetra, 3 Leopard Danios, 2 Orange Platys, and 1 Yellow Apple Snail. I also have a couple live plants in the water, and occasionally I give the animals some fresh food, usually Zucchini.

Tequila Fish

The fish tank was looking a little empty since vacation. Before I went away, I got some new Neon Tetras and within a few days my Swordtails died, and so did all but one of the Tetras. I was very unhappy about this, and when I talked to someone at Petsmart about that, she casually said that maybe the Tetras were carrying something that killed the Swordtails. Grr.

Fastforward a few weeks and it was time to restock. A bit more investigation, and I was told that Platys are pretty hardy, and so are Guppies. I got two Platys, and 2 Tequila Sunrise Guppies.

The Platys require a lightly salted tank, which is something I haven’t done before. I think I mixed it correctly, but I am not totally sure. So far the fish seem fine.

One Guppy has died already. It started looking a little shady in a little under 24 hours after arriving home. I like the fish tank, but it sure isn’t as stable as I would like.

Kicking Fish

In my last fish related post I mentioned that Stumpy had disappeared. He turned up a couple days later, but he didn’t make it. The big mean Barb is still kicking fin and is knocking off the other fish.

I don’t know what to do with this fish. I don’t want him any more since he is so aggressive. Any time I get more Tiger Barbs this guy chases them relentlessly until they die from exhaustion. Grr.

Before I went away on vacation the snail died too. I noticed it hadn’t moved in quite a few days, and when I bumped him with the net, the snails covering fell off and the shell was empty. Very weird. The snail had completely dissolved.

So, what to do with the tank? I want to restock the fish, but I’m afraid the barb will just end up killing them. Yesterday I headed out to Petsmart to get a few things and to get some advice. The lady there suggested that I give the barb away using UsedVictoria. Then get more fish once it is gone. I think I will give that a shot.

Once that fish is out of the way I can go on with stocking the tank with new and different fish.

Reward Tank

Lost: 1 Tiger Barb fish
Doesn’t answer to the name Stumpy, but that is his name
Reward if found.

As mentioned in a previous entry my Tiger Barbs haven’t been playing well with one another. Shortly after that post I was down to 2 barbs, but Stumpy slowly recovered. His fin grew back and he seemed happy in the tank.

Then, last night I was feeding the fish and didn’t see Stumpy. He has completely disappeared.There is no trace of him, not one little piece of carcass. It is very odd

Eating Fin

Fish are weird creatures. I have 3 Tiger Barbs (one considerably larger than the other two), and they are great fish since they are so active. They are considered semi aggressive though, and I have had a few die on me. Wikipedia notes that they can be nippers if there are not enough of them. One of the ones I have now looked close to death a couple times. I thought that since it was hanging in one of the tank corners and not eating.

This morning I went to feed the fish, and noticed that the two smaller Barbs were not in good shape. One had a missing caudal fin, and the other was missing most of the same fin. When I fed the fish after work, these two were just hanging out in the corner together, and did not eat any of the food I dropped in the tank.

Tonight these two are trying to swim around the tank without much success. I’m thinking that they are expending a lot of energy going nowhere, and are not eating. Not long now.

Gross Motoring

In the last week I have lost two of my Tiger Barbs. For a few days, three of the four of them were acting strange. Those three were swimming slowly or just floating, while the fourth seemed normal and actually seemed a little overactive. It was getting close to the water changing time, so I think the water got a little too gross for them.

I changed the water last night, and the tank looks a whole lot better. All the fish seem to be more active, and the snail was motoring around tonight eating algae off the glass. It was very cool to see the snails mouth extend and munch on the glass.

I guess this means that I get to buy more fish this weekend since the barbs like to school, and when there isn’t enough of a school, then can get nippy.