fry update

I'm not sure how my fry Lucky is doing. A few days ago I did the weekly water change, and the little fish looked distressed afterwards. In fact, they all did. A day before the dose of prazipro was done, everyone looked better especially the oto wasn't breathing hard anymore. But I saw a few of the adult cories flash once again, so just to be sure I did a second dose of prazi after the water change. I also dosed the usual ferts. Came to look in the tank half an hour later, and the fish all looked poorly. Momma was lying on her side under some buces panting,

the oto sitting propped up in the mouth of the cave

and the males in other spots- Leo so lethargic he didn't even move away when I got close with the camera-

you can see from this side view his tail was a bit pinched too.

I'd never really seen them sit so still. The fry looked worst of all, quite pinched:

And I don't know what's up with its eyes. It seems to have a white mark through the bottom of the eye- is this normal?

I was alarmed when a little later I put in a tiny bit of food to see their reaction. Nobody really moved. The only thing I could think was- did I accidentally put a drop too many of Prime? or did the ferts and medication interact and reduce oxygen content? I did a partial water change.

The fry perked up a little bit, but still acted weak and let itself drift into corners. At which point I got a closer look at it, and the tail fin looks a bit ragged. Sigh.

A day later and the adult fishes act totally normal. They're spawning again. Momma stuck a bunch of eggs under the heater this time.

Fry seems a bit better. It's definitely grown- the belly no longer looks transparent but has white solid color like the adults' now.

It seems to increase noticeably in size every day- these pics on leaf litter a few days apart:

And here in the windelov fern:

on anubias:

But I'm still a bit worried about it. This morning the tail looked pinched again, and even though it was going after the food I sprinkled in, it seemed to have trouble swimming. Wriggling around in the plants and sometimes tumbling as if it couldn't swim straight. Because the tail fin is clamped? did it somehow get neurological damage? I don't know if I'm doing right to feed the tank a bit extra, maybe the water is not kept clean enough or it isn't getting the right density of nutrition.

If another one hatches out, I think I will either: feed the tank normal and let it take the chances (of starving). Or put the fry in mesh breeder box or separately in a tote to raise it where I can feed extra just for the baby fish.... This one, I don't know how it will turn out.

overhead shots

I tried some, the other day. Instead of hanging things to block flanking windows from reflecting in the tank (a big pain) I took the photos on an overcast day. Using the same lamps on either side as before, and stood on a tall stool. It was easier, not covering the windows, but the pictures didn't come out as well, too dark.

The best result was from my tenner:

Plant growth looks a lot fuller than I'd realized, seen from a different angle on my window tank!

Frustrated with how it turned out on the main tank, 38gal. Draped half the hornwort stems out of the way. Took a photo of each side and patched it together (you can see the center brace isn't lined up and the heater shows twice). I couldn't get enough light over it, so a lot of the plants are indiscernible. Oh well.

Will make another attempt on a sunny day, later on...

paradise show-off

I held the mirror up to the tank again, to show my kids how Perry flares. He made a move I hadn't seen before- came up very close to the mirror image, and slowly tipped his body horizontal, as if lying down in the water, with a twisting threatening motion. It was very curious looking, very deliberate, and my daughter was amazed. When I pulled the mirror back he would energetically dash up and down the front of the tank looking for the 'other fish'.

So fast to move, it was hard to get a decent photo. Here's my best

Look at the color in the tail.

He jerks his ventrals open and out, so they make an A shape.

I am eager to see more growth on this guy.

aquarium moss

Still don't know what to do with this moss. I took it all out of the bait cage. For a silly reason- the gleam of the metal kept catching my eye in center of the tank, and I don't want it to be the focal point. I haven't gone out yet to find a chunk of mopani wood or stone with ledges, that's how I'd like to grow it... . . Meanwhile I sold another portion- the tangle of longer strands, keeping the tiny fragments to grow out again while I wait to find its harscape.

I notice it sure is healthy-looking, from growing in the windowsill jar, and in the cold, un-fertilized water of the window tank.

It still has this neatly branching pattern of growth, and the strands seem quite a bit thicker, tougher almost wiry compared to the java moss I had before. I'm asking on the forums- maybe it really is taiwan moss.

The tiny bits I kept, are in the tiniest jar I have.

catfish update

Looks like my little Lucky is going to be okay. No more flashing, and it's active again. So active in fact, I had a hard time getting a photo. I notice the spotting pattern looks very much like the adults' now, and I can see a faint blue/green sheen on its side behind the operculum. I can see its pelvic fins clearly, they are small and finely pointed. It's a male. Not as skittish of the adults, it will just move slightly sideways or stay in place when they come up to it now (and they don't run it over anymore but just go close by). 

It's more shy of me, though. Darts away from camera approach. Is it learning that from the adults, or just more aware?

leaf blankets

I should have done this weeks ago. My leaf mulching job went poorly this late fall, because machine to shred them broke. So a lot of the leaves I mulched plants with in the yard, have gradually scattered out again across the grass. Windy days, it doesn't stay in place. Bitter cold this week, tonight we are supposed to get snow and icy rain. I went out and used up two leaf bags sheltering the lilac, daylilies, cranesbill, hostas, salvia, dusty miller, little azalea and the sedums. In the back started raking up leaf litter that had collected in corners and against fences. This was a lot easier to heap around plants, as it was partly broken down and heavier being wet. It's a windless day so I expect all the leaves will stay in place and then snow hold them down, but I raked up the corners and shoved it around young euonymous

under rhodies,

and the hydrangeas.

I completely covered my tiny rosemary plant, it looks very sad and cold-shocked. There is still a fragment of green in the garden- perpetual green onions and sage (which has been cut back). My camera wouldn't focus on it, though- the backdrop of leaf litter too busy.

They probably don't all need the extra cover, but I also heaped leaves over and around the echinacea, rudbeckia, monarda, liriope, hellebores, turtlehead, brunnera, nandina, joe pye weed, heucherella, astilbe, bleeding hearts and arum (still green and bright!). Also the spots where I know ferns, sweet peas, gladiolas and rhubarb are dormant under the soil. The ones that have greenery, I will uncover after snow melts, so they can get light. The rest, it will be fun to untuck in early spring and look for the new shoots.

I noticed while I was out in the yard, that the evergreen shrubs against our lower deck look particularly vivid and healthy.

The little ones flanking the large- I think they're both types of holly- always had looked scraggly and kind of unwell, since I lived here. But now they are lush green, and some of them even berried this past summer. I don't think I got any pictures of that.

I don't do much for these. Give them mulch in spring and fall, throw water on 'em when I have extra from the fish tanks, or even the dehumidifier. But I bet it's more attention than they ever got before. Even in winter, even when it's raining, I dump old tank water on the shrubs outside- the euonymous, boxwood in the front yard. The rhodies, hydrangea, hollies and forsythia in the back. Because I learned from some reading this year that trees and shrubs store water in the winter- if it's not a wet winter, a lot of them suffer the following spring and summer. When it rains I give them all just a tiny dose of fish water- including smaller plants like the hellebores, monarda and little euonymous, just to distribute extra nutrients to the yard plants instead of down the drain.

The only yard plants I ignored, not tucking into leaf litter, were the mums. Going to replace them with something else this year.

something else of the tank-

which I forgot to mention in my last post. I cut off a piece of windelov fern rhizome that was growing off the driftwood chunk and headed down to substrate level. It only had three leaves, but removing that one piece makes the front pathway feel more open, and I can see into the heart of the windelov patch. I also snipped the rhizome in there, so the older bare parts will hopefully grow new foliage.

I like how the cories will nose around there under the windelov on the wood, and I can't see them at all, just bits of movement. Until they drop down out of the foliage onto the path in front. It's cool to see them emerging from cover one after another.

I moved the clipped rhizome piece and two young ferns that had grown out on the ends of mature leaves, into the window tank.

main tank pics

Just a few. Closeup of a zebra nerite snail on bolbitis. The new ones seem to be feeling at home.

Full tank shot. Look closely in the center, just right of the hygro (ludwigia?) thicket. The newer apono capuronii is just reaching half tank height now.

I'm going to have purple flowers!

Here are the two leaves I took off my daughter's african violet plant.

There's a tiny green nubbin on the base of the right leaf stem. It's growing!

plants in the window tank

The other day, doing cleanup on Perry's tank, I started cutting rubber bands off the sticks that held dead rhizome pieces. Mostly the remnants of java ferns that didn't make it in here. I wondered if I should give up on bolbitis fern, too. Cut out some blackening leaves. But then realized that was all the original stems. Looking close, there is new bolbitis foliage growing in there. Small, but it's there.

Also realized I don't see it well, because it turned itself to face the window light. I took this shot at an awkward angle. Bolbitis is center, crossing the wood piece- subtle olive green color.

Still have the wire basket of moss in here. I trimmed it, and little bits are poking out again. A bit surprised it isn't growing algae, guess that shows how low the nutrient levels are in here.

Windelov ferns look somewhat peaky, but they are growing new fiddleheads. There's one lower left.

I removed all the buces, except the few bits of creeping variety. Those seem to be doing better in here for some reason.

Two pieces of fern that had baby plants on them in the last batch I acquired? I am pretty sure now it's this 'asian water fern' (or african?) which is often sold at the pet shops but really a terrarium plant. I've heard lots of people fail with it- survives for a while, then dies off (but not as quickly as the mondo grass). Well, lets see how long it lasts. Unfortunately, I broke one of the new leaves off while handling it. But it's growing another.

My little crypts in here are still ok, and next to them one of the elodea bits has settled down. The other is still floating topside.

The stem plant I thought was bacopa? Completely melted. Just noticed one day it was absolutely gone. Oh well. These two smaller grassy plants are still alive though, which I expected to die. I wonder if they are dwarf sagittaria. I should snip a leaf and take a close look at it.

The little crypt retrospiralis plants in here are also taking hold, but don't get noticed as much now that the tank is full of vallisneria! This week I quit re-rooting the vals that have come up loose, and just moved them on craigslist.

Hornwort on top of the tank is doing really well. It's pearling almost every morning. Getting crowded enough I may have to actually thin it out soon.

Hi there, Perry.