not so great

It hasn't been the best week for my fishes. I lost another guppy- yesterday, after tank maintenance. When I dose liquid vitamins, the small fishes always dart around gobbling up the granules. I never thought this would harm them, but later in the day found one blue guppy expired on the substrate, looking bloated. I will start stirring that into a cup of tank water to dissolve first, from now on. Six guppies now. 

Last week one white cloud got caught by the siphon hose. I netted it and returned to the tank. I think it's the one that's been looking paler and thinner than the others- can't do anything but wait to see if it recovers. But they seemed fewer when they were feeding, past few days. I made an effort to count closely, and there's only ten. I don't know if one is unwell and hiding, or if it's died. There is a minnow that seems to stay apart from the rest- on one side of the tank by himself, but it's hard to tell if it's sick or just been ousted. Earlier in the week lots of displaying and chasing again. It was really amusing to see three males rising through the water column, furiously vibrating their fins at each other in parallel. Most of them look bold, and bright fins.

My angelfish has startled again. A few times mildly this week, then once very badly yesterday. I don't know what caused it as I approached the tank not holding anything or moving suddenly (which often seems to trigger her fear). She bolted away into the corner, crashed into the wall behind the heater and was there head down absolutely still for a minute or so, stunned. I really thought she'd died this time. Then she jolted out of the corner- has scraped off some scales on her head, and one pectoral fin is injured- held clamped tight to her side. When she started moving it a bit hours later (very stiffly and only partly extended) I saw it's torn and there's a bloody streak. I feel so bad for her. I don't know why she keeps getting scared. Maybe too alone now, without the tetras. I don't know how to solve this. Maybe a different fish as dithers? 

I think I did figure out why she startles so much, though. From when she was very small, and the tank used to be down in the dark hallway. My husband would go through there to his office, often holding his silver laptop and one day he wondered if light reflecting off the laptop frightened the young angelfishes- maybe it looked like a much bigger fish to them. So he stood there in the dark hallway and tipped the laptop to bounce the light off it- and the baby angels bolted into the corner. After that he tried to be more careful and hold it differently so it didn't flash at them, but I don't know how long this was going on. He told me about it much later. My best guess is that Miss Beautiful was simply traumatized by that, and I don't know if she will ever get over it.

She didn't want her picture taken (understandably)

Meanwhile, I still have nine black skirt tetras living in the 20H. Most of them they look perfectly fine and they eat eagerly, though one is usually pale. 

Probably stressed. I do a large water change every week, rinsing one or the other of the filter sponges, and have been testing the parameters to make sure nitrates don't get too high. Also dropping in every hornwort trimming from the other tank, so they have plenty of plant mass to give some natural filtration. They like it dim- I noticed when I put a row of coleus pots on the table in front of their tank, they started coming out of the corner and hanging around in the open space more. But I know it's too crowded in there. It's been a month and nobody has even asked, where I posted to re-home them. 

The only ones doing great? My little bowl of shrimps. Nothing bothers those guys! Well, and the kuhli loaches in my angelfish tank. The few glimpses I catch of them, all four look fat and content.

an end, and some shuffling

Finally gave up on my second paradise fish, Laddie. He's continually pale, listless, hanging at the surface, mostly clamped fins- now also looks like fungal infection starting on his skin. 

Is it still gill flukes? I don't know. Didn't see any flashing. And the other fishes in the tank are so active, flaring and dancing around each other in spawning mood. Yesterday I turned my worm bin and fed a few red wigglers to Miss Beautiful, also one to Laddie. He was eager, but still didn't color up and right after went back to hanging still. If my guess on his age is correct, he's probably four and a half years old, maybe close to five. I had to move my tetras, so very unhappily I dug a hole under the hydrangea today, and Laddie met a brick. With his head. This is my last photo of him.

So I moved all my young white clouds into the window tank. 

The slightly larger, orangish fish among them is the mother, and the one with brighter red on fins is one of the adult males.

It is very lively now. Lots of displaying and chasing. It's nice to see them so exuberant, but not the same as having a fish that seems to recognize you, drift over waggling fins and tail, eyeing you sideways through the glass expectantly. My smaller fishes pretty much only pay attention to each other. I feel the same about the tenner- it's nice to look at, the small blue guppies are attractive, but I don't feel engaged with it the same way as when a betta lived there. 

Now the only tank with a fish in it I really care for is the 45, and my angelfish isn't at her best. Fins slowly growing back, but I saw the black skirt tetras nipping at her yesterday. I sat in the room with the angel tank longer than usual (reading) and had time to really notice what was going on in there.

Thus today I caught all my tetras and moved them into the 20H. Again, sigh. I really do like them, but I like my angelfish better- and I don't want to run a fifth tank just to keep them. Going to have to re-home once more. Unhappy about that.

They were hard to catch. No way I can net them with all the hiding spots under and around driftwood. My bottle fish trap is too small. I submerged a large plastic bag and dropped food halfway in. The guppies went in and out for hours, gorging themselves. The angelfish eyed it sideways and never approached. Tetras were wary but eventually one would go in, and then I'd net it out, wait for the rest to settle down and approach once more. Took half the day, going back and forth. I really hope my angel is okay now without them as dither fish- maybe the five female guppies can take that role. Have to find better tank companions perhaps. The last tetra of course got way more skittish and I had to lift out a lot of smaller plants on their anchors, block off part of the tank with piece of plexiglass, and deploy two nets. So stuff got rearranged a little. Miss Beautiful didn't freak out while I did all that work- I think she realized I was catching and removing the bothersome tetras.

Angelfish seems a lot more at ease now. I'm glad to see the white clouds all enjoying the 33L. And tetras will probably get re-homed (disappointingly this is a total repeat for me).

a 55

Ah, I got a new tank. Well, it's secondhand.

How this happened: months ago, someone at fish club offered me a free tank stand that fits 33L or 55, and I took it. Been sitting in my basement. Since then, I'd been on the lookout for an empty 55 gallon- I didn't want someone's complete setup because my plan is to just move all the equipment, plants etc from my 45 into a 55 . . . and then one finally came up! Even with a black backdrop already on it. Pleased. 

Did a 24-hour leak test outside. 

It held up fine. I emptied it today (watered the garden and all my shrubs). Now it's sitting inside again on the stand, waiting for the next step. Switching tanks out again is a big job I know from past experience. But I'm wanting to do it. For her sake-

I continue to feel bad for my angel. Most of her fins are healing but the anal fin is really truncated right now.

I went up to the tank with a tape measure to make sure the new one will fit in the space- and when I lifted my arms just above, Miss Beautiful freaked out, crashed into the corner. Hadn't seen that in a long time. I am starting to think she really was traumatized when young. And the tetras I got to help her feel calmer- I'm starting to think I've deluded myself. They're probably biting her fins, causing the damage. I should get rid of them and find her some other kind of companions. 

I wanted to have a 55 to give her more space- an extra foot to utilize horizontally, although not as much height- and also so that it's easier to work in. I'm tired of having to stand on a stool and use tools to reach into the back or very bottom of the tank. 

It will just be an entire day of work to tear this one all down and set the new one up. I'm both dreading it and excited about it at the same time.

45 bit of changes

It started with a removal, and a desire to do something to my angelfish tank, so I'd feel more motivated to care for it. I've gone lax with water changes- for a while they were happening about once every ten or twelve days (instread of the usual seven), then two weeks went by and BSA started to show up on glass and anubias leaves, and I felt guilty. Did a larger water change and rinsed one of the filter sponges. I hadn't tested nitrates before working on the tank but the day after they were below 20ppm, so that looks good.

Pulled out one of the fake plants. Snails have been scraping them- probably to eat the algae but also removing part of the surface and then little bits of white float around the aquarium (I think that's what they're from).

Took that one out so I could see better the crypt balansae.

Then on a whim I pegged down a bunch of hornwort stems again. Usually have to thin out the hornwort weekly, it had gotten quite thick on top and was starting to block the light. This time instead of tossing the trimmings, I tied a bunch of stems to pebbles and glass beads, and filled in the tank with vertical lines of green needles again. So they're still in there taking up nutrients.

It looks nice and jungly now, and the tetras are loving it- darting excitedly all over the place. But my angel has suddenly taken to hiding- behind the filter uplift tube and stand of vallisneria rubra.

I saw a few days prior that one of her pelvic fins had broken, and then it fell off at the break, and now it's split. She came out from the corner to eat when the tank lights were off- her right pelvic is the broken one

split visible

Doing another wc soon, to get back on the weekly schedule. Hoping with clean water she will heal and the fin grow back? Not sure how it happened, or if it's also part of the reason she's been hiding the past few days. I wonder if something scared her and she crashed into a wall again, though I haven't seen that occur in a long time now.

angel vals

Here's the new plants I put in my 45g a few weeks ago. Crypt spiralis and crypt retrospiralis (yes, trying them again).

 there's the crypt retrospiralis in the far background,

and crypt spiralis behind something else-

it looks a lot like the crypt balasae (foreground here)

I pulled the crinum out of my window tank- it was never happy in there- and moved it into one of the planter baskets in here- background.

My aponogeton capuroni seem to be doing better now, btw.

And here's a new grand thing: vallisneria 'rubra'

The strappy foliage is very broad, and it's cool to see the texture

My angelfish seems to feel comfortable with all these new 'grasslike' additions

I just don't know how well the 'rubra' will do longterm, I haven't seen any new foliage grow out yet and am pretty sure the leaf thickness and/or color will differ as it adjusts to my tank.

Also, I had ordered from the same company two new aponogetons- 'longiplumulosis' and 'Boivinianus' which I was really looking forward to growing. Unfortunately, when I opened the package, one bulb was obviously moldy and smelled bad. I had to toss it. I didn't feel it was worth mentioning back as I had gotten them as a two-for-one deal, so one was free. I put the other one in the tank, and a few days later it was covered in white mold as well. Ugh. Both goners.

half a QT

My 20H tank has been at a friend's house several months; I brought it home again yesterday and decided to move into it the three black skirt tetras with all their stuff out of the bin. Only put ten gallons water in because I don't think the furniture it's sitting on would hold 20 safely. It's a lot bigger footprint than the bin so still plenty roomy for the fishes.

 Tetras were in here a few days-

then after I was sure the QT remained cycled, I moved them into their final home the 45, and put a new group of fish in QT (see next post!).

Meanwhile, I kinda cheated with my angelfish tank. I bought several large fake plants. Happened to be at a different pet store and found some the height I need. Angelfish actually looks smaller in the tank now, to scale with the plants! The tall darker strappy leaves behind her are fake silk, the brighter shorter green in front is the crypt balansae- I'm still hoping that will grow out enough but it's so slow. The fakes are placeholders.

(Mostly because the parrot's feather is dying- I pulled it all out yesterday). I also got a plastic 'willow' type fake plant with tons of small leaves- it's in the back left there- it fills the whole center rear of the tank now- my kid thinks it looks very pretty but as soon as I put it in there I didn't like it. Too unruly and busy- I want more grasslike stuff. I thinned it a bit- the foliage is in little bunches that snap onto each other- and put some in the QT (weighted down with glass beads):

At least it will come in handy to make lots of QT cover, if needed.

rescue and reproduction

Yesterday I looked in the angelfish tank and saw something dark fluttering in the bottom of a filter uplift tube, right above the spot where airflow comes up from the sponge. I first thought it was a piece of leaf- how would it have got in there? Then looking closer I saw it was a fish- one of my tetras! Wriggling desperately, but all efforts must have pushed it further down the tube. "Ohhh- fish! what did you do?!" I put my hands in to swing the uplift moving the sponge base horizontal near surface so I could take it apart. Gave it a jiggle and the tetra swam out. Seems unharmed. I'm guessing they were spawning again, and during one of the excited spirals at the surface, this fish turned sharply downwards mistakenly into the uplift. In fact after I released it, several other tetras kept swimming up very close alongside the one that had been stuck. The human assumption: Oh, they're comforting it! or welcoming it back! but I think they were just continuing the spawning activity.

I think my white clouds in the window tank (all alive this morning!) are going to spawn too. The largest one looks particularly fat and square in the stomach- it must be a gravid female- and I saw several of them creeping low through dense areas of plants, a smaller minnow swimming in front of the female quivering its fins. I recognize the gesture from when my cherry barbs used to spawn.

a few new fishes

This weekend we were in Rockville on the way home from an event, and stopped at the nice aquarium shop because it was on the way home. I'd wanted to get some fishes there for a while, but wasn't actually ready to do it that day. However we stopped, and then came straight home, and then I spent a half hour putting up the quarantine tanks (bins) quick as I could. The usual setup- half destination tank water, half new, sponges pulled out of the 45, fake decor and hides, etc:

This one has a half dozen white cloud mountain minnows, which I hope can live with Laddie.

They are small, and shy (first time I've ever seen my quarantined fish actually take shelter in the pvc pipe). Four of them are doing great- even eating a little. One is hiding a lot- either up at surface in the hornwort, in the pvc pipe, or in the hollow of an empty floating sponge. Sixth fish has crashed- shame because it was the largest, most mature one too. Been doing water changes daily. Don't know if the crashed one will make it.

Other QT has three more black skirt tetras- wanted to increase my school.

They're a bit pale, and hiding some-

but the smallest bold enough came out to nip end of the airline hose first time I cleaned their bin! and they've been eating well and starting to spar and chase each other around already.

new in the 45

First what's already there- I rearanged some- these younger java ferns finally growing nicely-

Swapped places with crypt balansae and crypt wendtii

Aponogeton capuronii more in view now- still don't know if this one will ever grow big and beautiful again-

Felt like I had lost height with plants, again. Hornwort stems all do better as floaters- so. Angelfish has been hanging around staring at the back wall a lot lately, or driving viciously planed horizontal strikes at the tetras. Doesn't bash into walls anymore, but is often pale and hides. I think has been unhappy. Until the other day I added some of the parrot's feather. At first the angelfish stayed on the far side of the tank from it-

while the tetras darted in and out of its fronds, immediately interested-

I had it on the side but then moved to the back center- in the narrower planter basket that used to have (failed) vallisneria-

I don't know if it will melt and languish like the mermaid weed- that's the last piece of it center right- which I just pulled out and moved to the window tank where it does marginally better.

The planter of parrot's feather is forward off the wall, there's an inch or so gap-

so the fishes can cruise behind it feeling sheltered.

and it really seems to have made a difference. My angel suddenly seems- content. Even- happy?

I took these photos from across the room in evening. M Beautiful was moving slowly behind the bunch of parrot's feather, then she slid between the stems to front, and I saw her tail waggle, I swear she looked pleased. She kept going back and forth, behind and through the plants.

But ooh, it grows fast: this photo taken one day later:

And here's two pieces of it I stuck in the back of the lid- a day apart:

Well, if it makes my angel happy

maybe I can put up with constantly thwarting its rapid growth- cut back the tallest stems each week and let them regrow- we'll see  . . .