the sound of one goldfish clapping

Bad News?

2012-01-03T00:04:00.002-07:00

I just found out that Oscarina, the cichlid who lives with my Ma and Jamie since we moved may be sick. I'm sad to hear this, I'd hoped they both could continue carrying on for another 5 years as they seemed so stable. Each tank in each city seemingly running on its own. We'll see, hoping for the best.

Ciclid Envy

2009-12-12T11:51:00.000-07:00

My Mom's fish is bigger then my fish..... :(

New Digs!

2009-07-25T13:22:00.003-06:00

The tank is all set up finally and populated with two of the cichlids. I've left one at Mom's to recover, they were all looking stressed and the one was very picked on, so I took only the two healthiest with me to the new house and the big tank and left the other. Hopefully he'll make a full recovery. He looked much better the lat weekend I checked on him.(it?)

I also purchased a new filter, as I chucked the old one during the move. Totally new brand and filter types, media etc... I can hardly hear it at all and it seems to be working very well.

Moving Day...

2009-05-05T09:00:00.003-06:00

... for the fishies!... soon. But where to put them, front room, more space and more light :(, or dining room, more cramped :( or upstairs? I can't decide. The tank will have to sit for a week and then I can bring them up from my Ma's, where they seem to e doing just fine.

Yule Tide Tank

2009-01-11T08:57:00.002-07:00

The tank is a clear, the fish they are rested and all the inhabitants dinners are are fully digested. Surely never before seen has a tank been as thoroughly contented.

Ciclid Cycles

2008-03-04T19:16:00.002-07:00

The fish are well, even Nancy is still alive, though she doesn't seem to move or eat or... wait... yeah, just checked and she's still alive. Spring is coming and I hope my bio filter heals up in time to deal with the algae growth resulting from all the extra light. I got to learn how to stop killing that thing every time I clean the tank.

Tank of shame..

2007-11-11T09:45:00.000-07:00

I think Nancy will have to be removed from the tank permanently, perhaps she will be able to find a new home somewhere as Lucy keeps drinking out of her bowl on the shelf. Ewwww... But she keeps getting bit up and sick in there.

I just cleaned but the water looks even worse than before. I added some algaecide for the first time yesterday too. Hopefully to does it's job without killing all my plants. I post some photos as soon as the water clears up.

PS. The snails have got to go. Nazi culling time I guess.....

Gah!

2007-10-29T22:47:00.001-06:00

Yet another Beta missing, so Nancy's back out of the main tank again.

The water seems to be clearing finally. Which is good.

Cichlids

2007-08-12T20:49:00.000-06:00

I've repopulated my tank with three playful and inquisitive Electric Yellow Cichlids. They are interesting to watch and, unfortunately, a bit aggressive toward Nancy, my only remaining Beta now that Sid has mysteriously disappeared. :(

Bleh...

2007-05-13T21:28:00.000-06:00

Algae, long filamentous algae have infested my tank. Bleh...

2007-02-07T16:41:00.000-07:00

I really, really need to clean that tank.

2007-01-14T09:57:00.000-07:00

I've not mentioned that there are 2 Betas in my tank now. Sid and Nancy. Photos to follow.

2007-01-14T09:56:00.000-07:00

There's a flood of wee snails in my tank. Sombody survived, and sombody got busy. I'm not sure what they are eating as there is no algae in the tank right now. Except for that wispy stuff no-one ever seems to eat.

2006-10-25T10:39:00.000-06:00

Spot and Goldie died yesterday. I'm really sad...

Oh Nooos!

2006-07-30T15:49:00.000-06:00

My we little interloper snails are beginning to accrue the same, buckwheat-esque algae growth as the Japanese snails. I gotta find a cure. The problem is, most everything toxic to their bad 'dos will also kill their food, and them too most likely. I'm caught between a snail and a hard place.

Death and Dismemberment!

2006-05-30T05:08:00.000-06:00

I initiated a cull of my algae infested plantlife this weekend, and discovered, to my horror, hundreds of sand grain sized Japanese snails all over the tank. I hope this dosn't get out of hand. I fear I've killed hundreds of the little buggers with every tank cleaning. Oh the sorrow... But, the tank looks much better! :)

Baby, you gettin all my money now!

2006-03-01T09:06:00.000-07:00

I was going about the ordering of new plants and snails from my usual source yesterday when the order was stoped by a message telling me that I needed to order $35.00 worth of product for them to complete the shipment. I had allready ordered 6 Japanese snails for $12.00 and I didn't want 24 of them. I was also ordering plants for over $35.00 but they didn't count towards my final shipping balance for some silly reason.

I googled the species of snail I was loking for and found them on a commerce site called Aqua-Mart, aparently based in Orlando. I ordered plants and snails and finished my order, under $30.00 total. 5 min later my phone rings, it's Aqua-Mart! They wanted to let me know that my climate "zone" didn't ship untill May 1st, I replied that my order was for an indoor tank and he said he'd move the order up too March 6th! Dude, that's some awesum service, I'm buying all my stuff from them from here on out, if their shipment arrives alive I guess....

Death to Greenery

2006-02-24T10:23:00.000-07:00

I had to rip out all but one of my aquatic plants, it was getting neigh on toxic in there. I'm going to clean the tank again and make sure the filimentious algae is all gone before I order new plants online. No more crappy PetCo plants! I'm gonna get some more snails to, though I'm also considering a Pleco, I need an algae eater in there.... Oh, the plants were'nt really green upon removal. :(

Squeeky...

2006-01-27T16:54:00.000-07:00

The tank is oh-so sparkling clean today. It was too much for me, tree or no tree, it had to be done. I threw away about half of the plants though, all black and foul they were.

Giving me the Big Eye!

2006-01-13T15:31:00.000-07:00

All's Snails that ends Snails

2006-01-12T17:37:00.000-07:00

My final Golden Apple snail has passed away. He'd been alone in his species in my tank since this last summer and has now succumbed to old age. He was at least 3 years old when he died.

The fish had been acting oddly for a week and the snail itself had not moved for quite a while. When I removed him from the tank today I could tell he was gone. It's the smell. Dead snails smell awful. Live snails have no oder.

I'll miss him and his incessant bubble surfing.

Interlopers

2006-01-03T01:06:00.000-07:00

Today I purchased more aquatic plants. Upon arriving home I discovered three or more small brown snails living in the plants. I'll likely give them to the Children's Center as Spot would certainly eat them all.

It's Spot!

2005-10-07T11:43:00.000-06:00

Holy Lack of Posts Batman!

2005-10-07T11:13:00.000-06:00

The fish tank is the same now only moreso. Fewer plants as they are being eaten. I still need to get to PetCo to buy more but I'm all tied down in town with class work. And now I'm sick.

On the plus side, with the season change and less sunlight, I'm having less algae growth in the tank. The reverse of that is my plants grow less, and it's cold outside.

The incredible shrinking plants.

2005-09-11T12:04:00.000-06:00

I'm amazed at the rate at which my tank has become defoliated. It appears to be primarily the work of Spot, who continuously nibbles on all the aquatic plants in a savage and vicious manner. If one can nibble on anything is such a way.

I seriously have to wonder if I need to feed them all even once a day. If their eating that many plants do they still need a daily feeding? Of course It's not redially apparent that Goldie or the snail eat much of the plants, I assume they do, but certinly not at the rate of Spot.

I'll need to be buying more anarachis soon. At least they carry it in the LaCrosse PetCo now.

It's cleaning time people...

2005-08-25T14:05:00.000-06:00

And when I say clean, I mean, "not dirty!" I'm allways supprised by how mangy the tank looks right before I clean it and how well it seems afterwards. I hope the same phenomena prevails this afternoon.

I bought a new plant at Petco last weekend, well two of the same leafy light green plant actually. One of which I clobbered with my plyers getting the wire-weight on it's root system. I hope these don't get all gummed up or devoured like the other leafy plants I bought previously. The is hope!

Another death under glass

2005-08-17T23:45:00.000-06:00

One of my remaining pair of Apple Snails has died, down to only one now. I'll miss the weird creature and its incessant bubble surfing.

Things fall apart...

2005-07-28T07:47:00.000-06:00

The filter is not working involved goo, lots of goo. All is well now. One of my anacharis has fallen out of it's wire harness now though. I need a longer pole to fish out the thing. Can one really say that it falls out if, when it comes apart, it actually floats up? Whatever...

Scrub a dub...

2005-07-26T09:34:00.000-06:00

OK, that tank really needs to be cleaned. That little frilly leaves plant I bought has almost completly broken apart. Little bits of it are all over the place. The anachris is doing great however. The little leafy thing the snail ate may grow back, which is exciting. And for some reason the filter is not working as it should.

goldie

2005-07-20T15:42:00.000-06:00

Testing out my goldfish widget.

2005-07-20T09:30:00.000-06:00

I wonder if livejournal has one of these? Spot's in good form today, not too psycho. I seem to be loosing plants though. One of the broadleaved ones has been completly devoured, buy the snails I believe. Another has been uprooted and is floating about somewhere. I'll re-plant it when I clean the tank.

Oh it's my birthday! Yeah me.

Goldfish, you ought to care.

2005-07-19T23:40:00.000-06:00

Goldfish hold the title of being number one in several aquarium categories. They are the first domesticated fish to be kept in
aquariums. They are number one in popularity of domesticated fish, and they are the first fish most aquarists own.
Unfortunately, they are often not number one in the care they receive. While the tropical fish hobby has made great strides in
understanding the needs and improving the quality of care for almost all species, myths regarding goldfish still abound.

Common myths about goldfish

Myth 1. Goldfish will thrive in a goldfish bowl.

One of the most common myths is that goldfish can thrive in goldfish bowls. The reason people think goldfish can live well in bowls goes back to the very earliest days of fish keeping. Goldfish were originally domesticated in China. These fish were kept by nobility in ponds and viewed from the top much as their relatives the koi are today. Over time, people began to move these fish indoors to be viewed in glass containers. The bowl-shaped container with two flat sides was one of the best containers for viewing fish. While the bowl provided great viewing, it was never designed with the health or welfare of the fish in mind, and is actually one of the worst possible designs in which to house fish. Because of the round, tapered sides, there is very little surface area for oxygen exchange. In addition, the bowls are much too small, difficult to clean, and provide no place for needed equipment, such as a filter.

Myth 2. Goldfish are short-lived.

In one sense, this statement is partially true: if goldfish are improperly housed and cared for, they will be short-lived. However, if goldfish are cared for properly, they will often live twenty years or longer. The oldest known goldfish lived 43 years.

Myth 3. Goldfish are small and do not require much space.

Goldfish grow fast and become large, and they grow in relation to their environment. As healthy adults, goldfish are not small fish, and in fact, many can grow to be a foot or longer when fully mature. Even the smallest of species reach a size of six inches at maturity. Juvenile goldfish are 1-2 inches in length; if they remain that size as adults, they have not had proper housing or nutrition.

Myth 4. Goldfish are inexpensive and replaceable.

Goldfish are one of the most common aquarium fish, and the common types are relatively inexpensive and readily available. Some owners may have the attitude that 'if it dies just get another one.' However, if provided the proper environment and care, goldfish can be magnificent aquarium fish of which the owner can be proud. Fancy goldfish can actually be more expensive than many tropical fish.