doing better

Fishes are all eating. Laddie acts himself again, that's good to see.

On another note, I've browsed the seed catalogs, sorted through my seed packets in the fridge, plotted out this year's garden and put in two seed orders. For just a few new things I want to try! Toying with the idea of building three more garden beds, in fuller sun. I would want to waterproof and paint another set of bricks for that though, and groan at the idea of the work. Maybe I will just set large pots in the space new plots would take, for now . . . .

tanks update

Yesterday I fed the fishes garlic-soaked betta pellets. (The Angelfish loved 'em). The guppies ate, most of them rather listlessly. The white clouds and paradise fish mouthed the food, then spat it out. I siphoned out the bottom of tanks, have done the huge water changes, and spent several hours sterilizing all the tools (sprayed bleach solution, let it sit fifteen minutes, rinsed with hot water numerous times until odor gone).

Today fed the fishes mini veggie pellets. Guppies ate eagerly, and pooped a ton. Half their waste looks normal. They're active again- one or two had been sitting on the floor yesterday but now up and about. Fry look fine, adult females look fine, although one of them still has white and colorless feces. White clouds ate but I didn't see them eliminate, so can't tell. Paradise fish isn't interested in anything.

schefflera bloom

close ups:

second day

All fishes fine. Turns out I'm not missing any- counted ten guppies and the fourth white cloud showed up! I got the diagnosis right- have siphoned tiny red worms off the floor of Laddie's QT bin and the guppy fry tank with a pipette, and I see worms extruding from the vents of five or six guppies in the tenner. That tank and the 33L will be the hardest to clean tomorrow- I'll have to find my tiny home-made vacuum siphon to gravel vac between all the plants. Laddie still isn't eating but continues to look perky; the other fishes ate peas today.

It took me over an hour to check on and spot-clean the floor of four tanks. I only have one pipette and didn't want to use a siphon hose draw out too much water and have to replace figuring out new medication dose- I just wanted to get out the shed paralyzed worms. So in between tanks I washed my hands, rinsed the wastewater receptacle with soapy water, and poured boiling hot water over and through the pipette. I don't know if it's useful at this point to try and avoid cross-contamination between the tanks as they're all infected. But I did it anyway.

I sterilized all my siphon hoses, plastic cups, gallon fish water pitcher, clean and dirty water buckets, tweezers and aquascaping scissors after the initial water changes in hot water. Tried a method I hadn't used before- boiled water on the stove in my very largest pots and poured it all into a big cooler got it to be over 165 degrees and shut it up everything soaking for three hours. It held the heat very well- after three hours still too hot to dip my fingers in the water, I had to lift out the items with tongs. My hoses are all semi-opaque now.

For the buckets I wiped those down with diluted bleach solution and then rinsed with boiling hot water as well as I could, several times until they no longer smelled like bleach.

When I do the big water changes tomorrow, won't have time to do all the sterilizing- it's a school day with a scheduled meeting as well- so I'll probably have to set everything aside and sterilize the next morning. Hope that's okay. I'm trying to be very careful not to spread it because I've heard of camallanus worms wiping out people's entire stock. It's very contagious and very hard to get rid of, from what I've heard. Some people just euthanize all their fish, tear down the tanks, throw out stuff or sterilize, and start over. Ugh.

fish treatments

Yesterday I did fifty percent water changes on three tanks and dosed with levamisole. The angelfish tank still looks okay and I don't know if my shrimp bowl has gotten cross-contaminated or not. I did a half dose for the guppies and the white clouds in the window tank. (Lost another white cloud, now only three). Moved Laddie out into a QT bin so he could get a full dose.

Covered the tanks to keep dark, checked on the fishes this morning. Laddie is already perked up more. He didn't eat but is moving around alert. Dark marks on both dorsal and anal fin, I've seen it before don't know the cause- but feel better now that he will recover.

When I did this treatment before, the floaters died. I put some salvinia minima aside in small containers just in case.

Guppies and white clouds were all hiding timid under plants at substrate level when I checked on them. Guppies in the tenner ate, and I was pleasantly surprised to see I haven't lost any fry in the 20H- at least their numbers don't look diminished- I never did an exact count. Maybe one guppy in the tenner is gone, I only counted nine but the other could be hiding. However the tank has a slight bad smell- I found one horned nerite closed up unresponsive, wonder if it's dying. Or if the other nerite or missing guppy died and I haven't been able to find it. When I do the big wc at end of treatment (tuesday) will lift some things out to look more thoroughly.

One small thing of cheer- in the dim light (tanks are covered while on medication) I saw that one of my buce is flowering:

Found out why the sweet potato vine was faltering on top of the window tank. There's tiny aphids and mealy bugs again. Not very many- I dipped a toothpick and swiped them off the parrot's feather.

Yesterday put hands in my 45 to lift out  small sponge filter sitting in background- to use in the QT for Laddie. Also pulled out four empty ramshorn shells. I think nearly all my blue ones are gone now. Either they got old, or they got eaten.

pictures

Had time for a few photos today. Angelwing begonia- third leaf is nearly fullsize now. Two small cuttings in there died.

My oldest african violet, full green.

Cuban oregano after a trim.

Remnants of the first creeping charlie. What's left does look healthier, and I took a new round of cuttings from the younger plants to add back in.

Crazy 'rodeo drive' coleus is greener and greener, with just a thin edge of dark purple. I'm curious to see how it resumes the variegated pattern when out in the sun late spring.

My favorite right now is the bright 'pinched' coleus. Fills the kitchen windowsill and I've taken second and third sets of cuttings, want a ton for my front yard bed in spring. Running out of space for them all!

against the cold

We're supposed to get winter weather today- a several inches of snow then hours of freezing rain. I tried to shelter some plants in the garden and yard, ones that are more tender or new. It was late, already freezing temps by the time I got outside, so don't know if it made any difference but in case buffering them from the layer of ice would help, I did it anyway. Put a wire circle around the camellia, filled the bottom half of it with dry leaves, threw an old sheet over and heaped more leaves around the base. The garden already has a thick layer of leaf mulch but I piled more on top of the rue, chard bed and the perennial herbs. Heaped leaves on the black-and-blue salvia, scattered some over the stinking hellebores and lady's mantle, tucked an extra inch around the mountain laurel. That's all I did. Everything else will have to survive as it can. Snow is falling before the ice rain which will blanket and insulate so I suppose they will all be okay anyway.

plants-

I haven't time to take pictures- but some notes for myself. My big schefflera is in full bloom now, dropping tiny sticky bits all over the worm bin that sits below it. None of the african violet leaf cuttings have growth yet.

Some of my houseplants looked sickly- I think the same thing that plagues them every winter, tiny mites or aphids that come in with plants off the deck. Realized I should have cleaned out all the old bamboo mulch from summer, it was still in some pots. I cleaned it out, topped off some pots with new potting soil. Cleaned out pale leaves on the cuban oregano and cut it back. Cleaned off anemic leaves on the ice plant and dunked it (sideways to avoid soaking the dirt) in soapy water, then rinsed. Lost my salad burnet plant, also the variegated basil and sculpit (no surprise there) and the stevia is almost dead.

Pruned back the lemon-scented geranium and some other plants, they look like will be okay. Repotted the big jade into the ceramic pot my avocado was in, and moved that one into a bigger pot and a sunnier spot in the basement sliding-glass-door spot. It keeps shooting up new leaves on tall stems- very leggy. Not enough light? Looks pretty unhappy for a while now, so trying a new location and fresh soil. The sweet potato vines in the basement spot were looking poorly, I pulled them out and replaced with all the ones that have been on the window tank, which were also starting to look unwell. Give them another chance in a pot.

A long list of ills, but really most plants are doing well. Blooms on the goldfish plant, growth on the heartleaf philodendron, zebrina looks great since I pinched off all the pale leaves. Took cuttings of jade and started new plants. Remnants of the oldest creeping charlie are starting to look healthier, so soon I will replenish that pot with new starts from cuttings off the other plants.

In my angelfish tank, val rubin continues to thrive. Tetras look great, spunky and shine with health. Angelfish looks unhappy sometimes, sits and stares at the back wall or goes pale and hides behind plants. Twice again has fled in a panic when I approached with hand raised to feed them, and crashed into things again. I don't know why.

And I was wrong, wrong about my paradise fish. I think he's got camallanus worms. I see red narrow things sticking out of his anus, until he moves then they disappear. Maybe he didn't eat the missing white cloud after all, it could have died from the parasites and I never saw the body. He's probably swollen around the vent from the worms, ugh. The other fishes in there look fine, but I've read it's an infestation that often doesn't show signs until too late. Must have come in with the guppies, or the newer white clouds, or the plants I got from a goldfish pond at the nursery. Should have quarantined longer, or done a stronger dip on the plants. I looked closer and there's white pale debris on the floor of the guppy fry tank and some fish in the tenner have white stringy poo. I'm going to have to do huge water change and dose with levamisole- tomorrow- no time today and it will be a lot of work to nearly empty all those tanks while keeping careful to not cross-contaminate and sterilize my equipment and wash my hands between. I'm feeling glum about it, haven't paid enough attention to the tanks of late, that's for sure.

more baby guppies!

Fourth batch of fry yesterday. This time my youngest is cheerful about it, because I discovered an acquaintance (parent of my teenager's friend) has a tank and she'd be happy to adopt some guppies. I used the mesh box to separate them again, so I can give them extra feedings (three or four times a day to start) and grow them up well (without the adults pigging out).

Laddie is still a bit swollen under the belly, and still not eating. However he does move around the tank some and look at me sideways, instead of just hovering motionless in one spot. Maybe he will recover after all.

notes

We did get a bit of snow- and it promptly melted. Today I cut swiss chard for a frittata, and planted milkweed seed. Should have done that in fall, but I forgot I had the seed until now. Found it in the fridge. Scraped up some grass and mock strawberry with metal rake on the sunny slope where the swamp milkweed already are. I stuck some of the taller, common milkweed seeds in front of the swamp milkweed area, and put the shorter, organge milkweed seed in on the other side, fronting the gladiola patch. Just shoved them into the top surface of the damp cold soil, and sprinkled a bit of the raked-up grass and stuff on top. Have to wait months now to see if they germinate.

Laddie strikes again

I first notice two days ago: Laddie tries to eat but then spits out the flake. He looks normal, plump even, but just sits in a corner or in one spot at the surface, not moving. Then I saw there's only five minnows. I checked every time I was near the tank yesterday and today- I'm pretty sure Laddie ate one and is now uncomfortable from being overfull. In fact, might have caused himself a blockage, he seems to have a bulge at the vent. I fed peas to all the fishes yesterday but Laddie hasn't moved anything. I didn't think he would try to eat an adult minnow; I guess you should never underestimate the greed of a predatory fish. So this isn't going to work long term, unless I had such a large group of minnows in there that Laddie could pick off a few now and then and their numbers would stay up from spawning, but I don't feel like getting more just for that. There's three guppies in there now- one smaller that I had thought would be a paradise-fish snack, but it hid and survived. Now that the two larger guppies are in there, the third one feels braver and comes out in the open sometimes. My youngest says forcefully that "Laddie is a meanie!" and I should get rid of him.

green in the cold

No snow yet this winter. Chard, collards, green onions, winter savory, lavender, sage, parsley and borage are still green in the garden. I cut some of the chard today for dinner. Unfortunately with the mild temperatures the pests are still around, too. Whitefly all over the collard greens. Rinsed off, the younger leaves are okay.

houseplant note

New cuttings stuck into the zebrina plant are doing fine. Arrowhead to the right, looking much happier since I took it out of the srhimp bowl.

my youngest pot of creeping charlie is still the best-looking one

the second one upstairs, just got a trim so I could start cuttings for my teenager to grow

Goldfish plant is blooming again

Schefflera buds close to opening as well-

Strawberry begonia isn't doing well. I think it started to dry out, and then got overwatered when I returned. But one little leaf in center looks okay, so maybe it will recover?

salvinia-

Doing maintenance on the guppy tank today. It was late afternoon, the light strip was already on, I set it upside down on the edge of tank stand. Thought the salvinia minima looked rather pretty with the light shining up from below:

window tank light

One day the winter sun exposure was just right for taking photographs- so I did. (That's Laddie top just off center, he likes to hang in the middle of the tank and look out).

Overall the tank needs more plants with height- my vals have just never grown up. Some of the elodea are starting to get there- behind the 'hill' of bolbitis fern.

The younger crypt moehlmanii is just as big as its parent now. In front of that, is the group of little crypts I moved out of the front left corner a while back

They'd been looking peaky for a long time, always having a leaf here or there turning pale and dropping off. I finally decided to shift them all to a spot that gets more light- and now they're doing great!

The dimmer corner is now with buces.

Two buce in the tenner were getting tall enough to need a trim- one 'selena' and one 'isabella' so I clipped their tops and planted in here. Near the dwarf sword, which continues to do fine even when the temp drops to 64° nights.

Other side of the tank everything is nearly the same height- because I trimmed the stems and replanted a few weeks ago, and they grow slow or not at all in winter. Oh well.

funny jade

My kid has a jade plant, from a cutting I once took. I've been gradually shaping it as a tree- pinching off tips when she won't notice- because otherwise the stems get way too long and start to droop from their own weight.

Once I had neglected it for quite a while, and probably forgot to water often enough as well. A stem must have collapsed so far it hit the soil, because now there's a part of it that goes from a main stem back to the ground, and has rooted firmly there. It's to the left of the main trunk, here.

shrimp on buce

Almost got this photo in focus-

and then the shrimp started to crawl away

My nicest buce 'selena' on a rock in the shrimp bowl

more and more guppies

My female guppies had their third batch of fry a few days ago. There were about two dozen. My youngest peered into the tank at them and said "well I think you should get rid of the moms now." She was kind of upset with me for excitedly pointing out the new fry- so tiny and cute with their wiggly tails- when she knows I'm just going to feed them to my bigger fishes. Half of the older guppy offspring in the tenner have their blue colors now. They're still half the size of the adult, but pretty and bright. The tank was looking a bit murky I wondered if I had too many in there (in spite of the fifty percent weekly water changes, and yep now the water is clearer). I netted two of the smaller (still uncolored) ones out and put them in the window tank (unceremoniously, no acclimation). I thought Laddie would dispatch them- he tried, but already at halfgrown they're too quick for him. I let them be. They stick together and sometimes hang out with the white clouds as well.

Laddie-

Seems back to normal now. I think he's just a lazier fish than Perry was, and a bit leery of me too- because once when he grabbed a white cloud minnow I regret to say I chased him with a stick hoping he'd drop the smaller fish. He didn't. But now is skittish when I lift the lid or use a tool. Approaches cautiously for food- I don't think he'll ever really be eager to see me at the front glass. Which is sad because I used to love how Perry would zip up and down the length of the tank in excitement. Laddie just doesn't. Anyway, he tends to rest on the tank floor until something interesting happens- always on a leaf never actually on the gravel funny enough- and just as often now that there's more floaters giving cover, he sits near the surface or rests on a plant midway and looks out. I wonder if he finds the motion of passing cars and people walking their dogs interesting?

Here he's resting on a frond of bolbitis, looking out the window

and here looking out between the one stem of mermaid weed, and a crypt. Or maybe he's just sleeping when he sits there, I don't know.

I noticed his dorsal and anal fins have grown some nice long points lately. Tail has filled out some in width but not gotten any longer. I wonder if he's finally starting to reach maturity.

houseplants

My arrowhead was looking more and more sad, on top of the shrimp bowl. So I pulled the stems out and stuck into a pot with proper soil. Already since this photo it's perked up quite a bit.

The solid-green spider plant babies I got at swap. One died, two are left. I removed the runners and they are starting to root now.

This is what's left of my original creeping charlie pot. I recently cut out all the unhealthy-looking stems and refreshed the soil. Very pathetic compared to what it once was.

But there is a new start- here is its youngest scion in a small 3" pot, looking the best. Maybe I will plant this one with its parent to fill the larger contianer, not sure yet. Have to see I've corrected what ailed the older one, first.

That's just a few of many green around the house on cold winter days.