Aquarium update: Platys! Platys everywhere!

Not my tank, but you get the idea.

It’s been a little while since I’ve done an update, and that’s for a good reason: things are going swimmingly (ahem) with JJ&J’s Seafood Buffet. But I thought I’d post a couple of recent pictures.

The first is a full-tank shot. I’d done a major trimming of the Ludwigia Repens at the right rear: it had grown across the top almost to the front of the tank throwing shade. That was a couple of weeks ago, and I think it’s growing back quite nicely.

Here’s the left end. The Cardamine grows like a weed, always threatening to overshadow the Hygrophila Stricta:

And here’s the right. I think the amano shrimp like to molt within it, since I occasionally find castoff shells in front of it. You’ll also see one my (many) platy fry at the lower right:

I think I’m happiest over two things: the general health of the fish and plants, and the success I’ve had at developing the red in the alternanthera grove in the middle. Of the first part, I was afraid I’d make serious mistakes coming back to the hobby after several years away, but I seem to have avoided most. Even algae hasn’t been a major problem.

The success with the alternanthera I attribute to higher lighting thanks to the Finnex Planted+ and regular dosing with Seachem Iron. I think the only way I could do better would be to start injecting CO2.

Of the two mistakes I’ve made (that I know of), one is minor and the other is potentially serious.

The minor mistake was planting the Hygrophila in the back. I thought it would grow an inch or two higher. It’s fairly hidden where it is. I perhaps not have ordered it and just filled that whole back corner with Cardamine. Live and learn.

Potentially more serious is a decision that’s coming back to bite me: when I bought the five platys, I said “four females and one male.” Trust me, that one fry in the photo is not the only one in there. Intellectually I knew I’d get fry, but I didn’t realize just what a potential problem they’d become in a 20-gallon tank.

Oops.

So, since catching fry in a heavily planted tank is impossible without destroying the place, I’ve decided I have to give away the adult platys. I can raise the fry and remove any males that develop. Now I just have to find a local aquarist or store willing to take them. It’s a shame there isn’t an aquarium club in West Los Angeles (that I know of), since it would be nice to offer them to other members. Something has to be done soon, though.

That’s all for now!

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Shrimp, but not on the barbie

Haven’t updated this in a while, because, really, there’s not been much to say: all the fish have been happy and eating like little pigs, and no more neons have died. Plants are growing well, too, though I do want to get around to setting up DIY CO2, soon.

Green hair algae is threatening to become a problem. It’s appearing in clumps on the driftwood. In small amounts, it’s actually pleasing, but I can see where it will get out of hand. It’s even sprouting from the gravel. I’ve been testing Nualgi to see how it does at algae control, but, so far (3-4 weeks) I’m not seeing much effect. Others rave about it, though.

Also started running Purigen in the AC50. My goodness, what a difference that has made in the water clarity!

So, anyway, I picked up four more neons from the same store to bring my school to 11, plus five amano shrimps, all from nature Aquarium in Santa Monica. They have great fish and plants there. My new fish are currently in their bags acclimating. (After floating the bags to let the temperature equalize, I’m adding 10ml of tank water to the bags every five minutes for an hour before releasing them.) I can’t wait to try to get the shrimps out. (That was sarcasm, folks) I suspect it will be the “pour into a net” method.

Anyway, here’s a pic of my new aquatic cockroaches waiting patiently:

Bugs, Mr, Rico! Five of them!!

Also, a full tank shot from this morning. The plants are going to get a trimming this weekend or next:

Needs a trim.

The last acquisition for the tank will be a small shoal (5-6) of corydoras habrosus, if I can find any around here. Haven’t seen them yet.

Still have to figure out where the next aquarium goes. Oh yes, there’s always a next one. 😀

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New Neon Tetras, part deux

I had a day off from work today, so I decided to catch a Lyft to Nature Aquarium in Santa Monica. Best selection of fish and plants on the West Side, with some species you never see in the big-box stores.

Anyway, I wanted to get some neon tetras to replace those that died (six out of seven within the first week!) from the batch I bought at Petco a few weeks ago. The one lone survivor looked lonely, and neons are a species that likes to be in schools of at least five.

So, I bought them and, after some initial confusion as the Lyft driver tried to find me (your GPS needs work, guys), I brought them home. After an hour of floating in the tank in their bag and then gradually adding tank water to the bag to acclimatize them, out they went into their new home. Amusing moment: checking on the new arrivals as they waited in their bag, I noticed the one neon in the tank was hanging around, trying to school with them. 🙂

Here’s some video of them all hanging out:

 

And, let me tell you, trying to net from a plastic bag half-inch fish who are scrambling to avoid the EVIL NET THING(tm) is not fun. I think I was as stressed by it as they.

But, they’re now in their new home exploring happily. Fingers crossed these last longer than the last bunch.

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I’m a fishy grandpa

One more!

I was just thinking I hadn’t done an aquarium update in a while, and then that there really wasn’t much new news, when I found this little guy dashing out for food this evening as I fed my fish:

Sorry the video is so weak, but he spends most of his time hiding from the “big fish” in amongst the plants. I don’t think he realizes he’s too big too eat, now. (And, since he’s the only young’un, I suspect there were others that were eaten. So, hiding can be a Good Thing(tm).

From his size, I’d say he was born a few days ago and has been surviving eating algae and other bits. I think he has a good chance of making it to full size, since the tank it way under-stocked right now, and conditions are good.

While getting livebearers to breed is no great accomplishment (there are never just two guppies…), this still makes me feel good. I must be doing something right. 😀

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Neon tetras can be delicate little creatures

Well, shoot. Since bringing my new seven new neons home on the first, three of them have died. One I never found, the other I found the remains of (ew…), and one I found floating right after I got home tonight.

Granted they’re only fish less than an inch long, but it’s still a bit distressing. First, of course, because aquarium keepers pride themselves on taking care of their pets, and I’ve had these for less than a week. Secondly, it’s annoying because I bought these at Petco for $1.49 apiece, when they were cheaper at a nearby dedicated fish store. Also, the Petco tank had several dead tetras in it when I bought them, and I never buy fish from a tank with more than one dead fish in it. But, they were larger than the ones at the Local Fish Store (LFS), and I got points for the purchase… sigh.

I broke my own rule and got punished for it. Never again.

Overall, this Petco (and the other nearby one on Westwood) have good fish sections, so I’m not really blaming them. Perhaps they got a bad batch. But the multiple deaths should have been a red flag that something was wrong in that tank.

Meanwhile, the other four seem to be fine, and the platys that I got from that same Petco are hale and hearty.

In case your curious, I tested my water and it’s fine: no ammonia, no nitrites, and minimal nitrates. I’ve heard neons can be delicate when first introduced to a tank, so I’m putting the deaths down to that. Hopefully, the other four survive. I plan to get some more (from a different store!) this weekend: I still want a school of seven to nine. With that many, they instinctively school. It’s a pretty sight.

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Aquarium update: JJ&J’s Seafood Buffet now serving Neon Tetras

Haven’t done a tank update in a while, but I just added some new fish, so I guess it’s a good time.

Picked up a small school of seven neon tetras at Petco today. Pricier than the nearby LFS, but, to be honest, these looked healthier. Anyway, here they are enjoying their new home:

One of them tried to end it all by leaping out of the net as I was putting them in the tank. I didn’t notice he was missing for about a minute. Found him on the mat in front of the tank, quickly realized my fingers were too clumsy to pick him up, so I slipped him onto an envelope. So far, he and buddies all seem to be doing fine: good color, hungry, active.

One weird note: one of the platys decided she didn’t like these new guys, and so kept chasing them. In all my years of fishkeeping, I’d never seen an aggressive platy. I finally distracted them with some crushed flake food, and now everyone seems to play well.

Here’s the latest full tank shot:

I honestly did not realize how dirty that front glass was until I took the photo.

The plants are mostly doing well. The alternanthera is developing a good red color at its top now that I’ve started dosing iron, and the ludwigia repens is putting out new plants. Both may need trimming soon. Here’s a shot of the alternanthera:

It’s actually redder than the pic indicates: I think the glare washed it out.

I’m a little concerned about the E. Tenellus. Both original plants have put out runners with several daughter plants, but the mother plants are looking kind of pale, even yellowing a bit:

Some sort of deficiency? Also, I trimmed the algae-laden leaves after this shot.

The plants doing best are the cardamine lyrata. Lots of new growth, good color. In fact, their trying to take over the area held by the hygrophila stricta:

I regularly have to trim it back so the hygrophila gets some light. (You see some of it floating in the full tank shot. I hope to use the clippings in a new tank.)

And speaking of the h. stricta, while it has good color and lots of new leaves, I’m surprised it hasn’t grown. I had expected it to reach to 4-6 inches. Instead, it’s staying low and getting bushy. But it’s also putting out new plants.

That’s it for now. Fingers crossed the neons adapt well to their new home.

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AquariYUMM!!: aquarium water as a taste treat!

With California still caught in a harsh drought, aquarists must do their part to recycle water. PeckTec shows the way:

I may have to order a case. I wonder if they have “Sunset Platy Surprise?” 

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Aquarium update: fish at last

Finally. At long last, after several years without an aquarium, after weeks of cycling and letting plants take root, after going fish shopping last weekend and being disappointed, we have fish.

Meet the first new inhabitants of JJ&J’s Seafood Buffet:

(Letting the temperature adjust for 30 minutes, then in they go.)

These are from one of my local Petcos where, frankly, the fish looked better and the staff were friendlier than my local tropical fish store. These were labeled “Sunset Fire Platies,” and I bought one male and four females.

They’re out of the bag, now, exploring their new home, and pooping. If fish are eating and pooping, they’re happy. After some initial signs of stress, they’re swimming around and snacking on algae. The male seemed to take the longest to adjust, hiding in the Cardamine, but he seems to be doing fine now. I’ll give them and the tank a week to adjust, then go shopping for another species next week.

On the plant front, there’s good news and bad news.

The good news is that I’m still getting good new growth. Here’s a snap of the Cardamine and the Hygrophila Stricta:

Cardamine in the front, Hygrophila in the back

And the Echinodorus Tenellus is sending runners. Both plants have several “daughters.” In fact, I may have to “harvest” some, soon. They’re invading other plants’ spaces.

That bad news is that my lovely Marsilea Hirsuta, which had been growing like wildfire, has had a major die-off in the central portion. Here’s a recent “before” picture:

It was a great start

Here’s how it is today:

What happened?

This makes me sad. 😦

At first I thought it was just old leaves dying during the transition, but even new leaves are rotting. I’m really not sure what’s happened here. I started dosing the full Seachem liquid fertilizer regime last weekend, including Excel. I’ve heard of other plants that have a problem with Excel, but I’ve not read of Marsilea being one of them. Maybe they’re unrelated. Regardless, I think this weekend I’m going to rip out the dead plant portions, snip off the runners that still seem good and replant them

Speaking of Seachem products, as I mentioned, I started the full regime last weekend, including Iron. I think most of the plants like it, especially the Cardamine. Even the Alternanthera is getting redder and showing new leaves. I’ve also noticed the algae that had been bugging me (hair and the beginnings of brush algae) looks like it has vanished. Frankly, I’m surprised.

I’ll be starting CO2, soon (“Do It Yourself” with citric acid), and I’ve decided to add a 2nd AC20 filter to the tank at the other end, to increase flow there. And the extra biological filtration couldn’t hurt.

That’s it for now, more when developments warrant.

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Back into the hobby: my new 20-gallon aquarium

So, a year after moving into my new place, I’m finally able to get back into one of my favorite hobbies, keeping tropical fish. Presenting “JJ&J’s Seafood Buffet:”

Not much to look at right now, I admit, but it’s a start. The water in the tank has to cycle until there are enough bacteria to turn ammonia into nitrite and nitrite into nitrate before the first two can poison fish. That takes a couple of weeks, at best. (I’m using pure ammonia and a bacterial additive to get things started, my first time doing the so-called “fishless” cycle.) I hope to add some plants this weekend or next, and then I’ll give them about three weeks to get acclimated before adding fish, some of which could otherwise uproot the plants.

Of course, one wants fish right now, but patience is best.

It might be hard to tell from the above photo, but the left side of the tank was quite dark. It was both unappealing, and the light was too low to grow more than a few species of plants, and I’ve wanted to try some new ones. So, I figured “in for a penny, in for a pound,” and splurged (for me) on a Finnex Planted + LED fixture. The advantages are several, first and foremost being stronger light and better coverage. (The bulb in the old fixture was just 21″, two-thirds the length of the tank. The Finnex covers the whole length.) It also uses less electricity and runs cooler. Win-win, as they say.

Here’s a pic with the Planted+ running. I think you can see the difference:

And, yeah, I expect to have to go to war with algae, eventually.

I like the pieces of wood I’ve chosen: they make for interesting spaces. Here’s a front shot of the two on the left:

I plan to fill in that divot in the foreground, but it does make for an interesting cave for timid fish or those wanting shade, or cave breeders.

Here’s a view from the left:

Sorry for the glare, but  think you can see this gives the critters more places to explore.

And get stuck in when they die, making them impossible to get out, which always happens…

And, speaking of caves…

I really like this piece of wood for the cave it forms, and it just seemed to go with this plastic wall (1) I found at Petco (2).

That’s it for now. I’ll post updates when something interesting occurs.

Footnotes:
(1) Don’t judge me.
(2) Please.

PS: Why “JJ&J’s Seafood Buffet?” That’s Jasper, Jersey, and Juno, the three cats who own my writing partner and his wife. They already want a menu.

PPS: Tech specs for those interested — Lights are the Finnex Planted+ LED, heater is a Visi-therm 100w, to be swapped out for a Fluval E-series 100w. The Filter is an Aquaclear 50. Aquaclear is a great brand of hang-on-the-back filter. Forty lbs. of Eco-Complete substrate. Water parameters as of last night are temp: 78. PH 7.2, GH 143 PPM, and KH 3 degrees. Ammonia is ~1 PPM, nitrite 5PPM (and that spiked suddenly overnight), nitrate 5PPM. The nitrite spike surprised me, but that might be the bacteria going to town. However, too high a nitrite can shut down the cycle, so, if it doesn’t go down soon and nitrates don’t go up (showing an active cycle), I’ll do a large water change.

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Your 50-gallon aquarium is his last territorial demand!

At least until he decides to invade the neighbor’s fish pond:

Meet Fishler, a cute little fish that looks like Hitler http://t.co/uLk3jrTIT6 pic.twitter.com/UAUFJF1NSi

— hypervocal (@hypervocal) March 24, 2014

And his bunker is under the ugly pink fake-coral castle his owner bought at Petco…

Edit: Sometimes the tweet and picture show up, sometimes not. Usually embedding works better than this.

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Le sigh

Because I had the misfortune of dealing with a company that shipped the items I bought promptly via a carrier that delivered them precisely on schedule to my place of business, I won’t be able to get them until Monday. Curse them!

I mean, it’s not my fault that I forgot today is a state holiday, we’d be closed, and Fedex would be forced to reschedule… 😦

All whining and kidding aside, I do recommend Foster & Smith Aquatics and FedEx Ground highly. I’ve never received less than great service from either.

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And then there were two

Sigh. I just pulled another dead panda cory out of my aquarium. Over the last two-three months, seven out of the nine I’ve bought* have died. That’s it. For whatever reason, poor care on my part or weak stock or something else, I just can’t keep these pretty little critters alive. Not only is it a waste of money, but it makes me feel bad as a fish-keeper — I feel sometimes as if they’d have been better off if I left them in the store.

So, no more Pandas. Not for now. The whole point of that tank was to house a pet betta, and it’s been almost three months since Rocky T. Betta died. Tomorrow I’ll get another, and hopefully he’ll last longer than three months.

Some aquarist I am. 

*(Over three batches as replacements for ones that have died.)

Technorati tags: tropical fish, corydoras panda, pets, aquariums, betta

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Safe and snug

That’s a relief. After today’s earthquake, I was scared to death I’d have a destroyed or at least severely damaged aquarium on my hands. Instead, I get home to find not even a drop has spilled, and the fish are doing their usual thing, wondering where the food is.

Whew! 

Technorati tags: earthquakes, Chino Hills

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Bits and bobs

My writing partner and I had a good morning working together today. Our spec script for Without a Trace I think is in pretty good shape, but now we’re at a point where we need outside eyes to tell us what’s working and what doesn’t. Sadly, our current writer’s group is pretty useless. I wish we could find a stronger one.

The Without a Trace web site has a neat section: a link to this week’s featured missing person. Click here to have a look.

We’re down to five panda cories: another one bit the dust a few days ago. This is frustrating: I can only assume these two were weakened in some way, since I’m 99% sure I’m giving them good care. But still, I didn’t get back into this hobby to bring home fish to die. I’ve just fed them and, watching, three are swimming around searching for food, but two are hanging back, under the driftwood. I hope that’s not a bad sign.

I recently let my membership to the US Chess Federation expire. (Chess has been one of my main hobbies since I was a kid, but I’m an awful player. Anand has nothing to fear.) I just grew tired of the toxic politics and, since I play only by correspondence or Internet, and since the magazine is being gutted by the chuckleheads who dominate the Executive Board (Revenues are declining … I know, let’s cut services! That will bring people back!), I just felt it was no longer worth my dollars. So, I’ve joined CCLA instead. (It’s been around in one form or another since 1897.) Mostly to avoid being dropped from an ICCF event I’m playing in, but I think, with its lower dues, CCLA will be a better value for me.

As long as people don’t cheat by using computers.

So, I’m taking this Monday and next off. How am I enjoying my two three-day weekends? By burying my nose in books and writing like a madman to meet a deadline for a book project. Whee. Sure, it pays money, but I’d really hadn’t planned to be cooped up at home. Of course, if Your Host hadn’t been a dope and left most of the work for the last minute….

Oh well. At least in this modern age it’s okay for me to take no personal responsibility for myself and instead blame others.

So I blame George Bush. Doesn’t everyone?

Time to get dinner on the table. Steak night — yum!

Technorati tags: US Chess Federation, USCF, CCLA, Correspondence Chess League of America, Chess, panda cories, writing, procrastination, hobbies

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Panda-mania

I bought two more panda cories today, one to replace the one that died, and another to bring the population to six. Assuming they survive, that should do it — other than for adding a new male betta, which was the whole point of setting up this small tank.

Right now, the new guys are enjoying their first meal of bottom-feeder tablet — yum! At least, I hope they’ll start eating. Usually, I wait a day to feed new fish, but I figure these guys will learn what food is from the current residents — veterans of all of one week. These came from the same tank as the last group: the store’s last two, in fact. I’m writing the death of the last one off as “stuff happens,” since overall the store seems to take good care of its fish.

Now, to fix dinner.

No, not catfish.

Technorati tags: panda cories, catfish, feeding

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Aquarium update

I haven’t written an update about my aquarium in quite a while, so here’s one I recently posted at Aquaria Central, a great site for tropical fish hobbyists.

Sad to say, the famed Rocky T. Betta went to the bubblenest in the sky on June 13th (yes, Friday the 13th). He developed a case of fin rot, and I think I caught it too late. The antibiotics cured it on his fins, but he never recovered: I think the infection had gone internal. I was very sad when he died, as he had a good personality and I had only had him for about three months. In essence, I feel like I was at fault here.

Oh, well. Live and learn, and other cliches. I’ll just have to give the next one better care. (And, no, he won’t be named Rocky II! )

For a few days, the japonica shrimp that shared the tank had it all to themselves. One of the four died and, in what must be a hidden ritual of the Shrimp Faith, the other three ate their fallen brother. (And, boy, did one fight me when I tried to remove the body!)

This last week I added a school of five panda cories: very cute! Sadly one died (I’m saying that a lot lately, it seems), but I think he was in bad shape from the time we came back from the store. The other four are OK so far, so I’ll keep my fingers crossed. Tomorrow, I plan to get two more. I think the tank can support 6 pandas and a (to be acquired later) betta.

Some of you might recall from earlier entries that I was battling water chemistry, since I had stupidly made the water way too soft and thus PH-unstable. After Rocky’s death, I decided to really work on it. As of last weekend, using small doses of baking soda I had raised the KH to 7 and the PH to 7.4. The latter was higher than I wanted, but the KH was just right. That was just before adding the cories, and I haven’t tested it since. I’ll be curious to see what the readings are tomorrow morning.

Also, I seem at last to be winning my battle with algae. Both green thread and staghorn algae had become a real problem. My pretty planted tank looked like crap. (Maybe Rocky died of embarrassment?) So, I changed my fertilizer treatment to all Seachem, all the time: Flourish, Potassium, Nitrogen, and Trace. Also, on the advice of someone at The Planted Tank, I doubled the daily dosage of Excel and the dosage of Nitrogen. After two weeks, there’s been real progress. While there’s still a bit of thread algae, the staghorn has receded by at least 80%. A centerpiece Java Fern that had been badly infested is almost clear. Thankfully, none of the tank inhabitants have shown any distress from the overdosing. But, after a CO2 unit I ordered from Big Al’s arrives next week, I’ll cut back on the Excel.

This adventure with algae has been a good learning experience. When I set up my planned 40g tank later this summer, I definitely will use dry fertilizers. Seachem’s good, but I can see the expenses adding up.

That’s all for now!

 

Technorati tags: panda cories, seachem, Excel, aquariums, algae, japonica shrimp

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Poor little fellah

I came home tonight planning to do a water change on the 10-gallon aquarium and saw that one of the panda cories, which I bought last weekend, was on his side barely moving. Not a good sign. I think this is the one I noticed last night with a pinched stomach, indicative of not eating and a sign of starvation. Perhaps he was in bad shape when I bought him; perhaps it’s poor care on my part. I don’t know. But it’s frustrating losing so quickly even a tiny life we take responsibility for.

On the positive side, the other four are foraging for food and seem to be eating. Tonight I fed them shrimp pellets, broken up so they could get some before the shrimp could steal them all. (Yes, shrimp eat their own! Soylent Shrimp! )

UPDATE: Found him dead this morning, but the others seem fine. Fingers crossed….

Technorati tags: panda cories, amano shrimp, death, aquarium

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I feel like I’m dealing with children

Got some different food for the panda cories today: flake food that I crumbled and then let the filter current distribute around the tank. I think one, maybe two were already eating. Fingers crossed that the rest do. I’d hate to think I brought them home only to have them starve to death.

The shrimp, of course, are right on it.

If they turn their noses up to the new food, does this make them racist?

 

Technorati tags: Panda cories, japonica shrimp, tropical fish, fish food, feeding

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Sleepy

And so, another holiday weekend comes to a close, and I face the prospect of going to work in a few hours. Weeee! I wonder what it’s like for people who actually enjoy their day jobs?

Not much happened this weekend, other than picking up some panda cories for my 10g aquarium. They’re cute little guys, less than an inch big, though they’ll eventually grow to just under two inches. I hope they thrive: so far, the japonica shrimp in the tank have been grabbing all the food, for all the world acting like bandit raiders. Hey, guys! Learn to share! Group hug!

Assuming all goes well, next weekend (or the next after that), I’ll get another betta to replace the late, lamented Rocky T. Betta. Bettas are neat: just take my word for it. Meanwhile, I’ve got an algae problem that needs tending.

I’m also coming to the conclusion I’ve become a “holiday depressive.” You know, the kind of person who, as the holiday cheer grows, becomes more and more of a wet blanket? Nice to meet you. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Fourth of July … all the holidays I love lately leave me nearly paralyzed in my apartment in a deep funk. I wonder if this is common to middle-aged bachelors? Either way, it’s not fun.

Anyway, that’s it for now. Time for a bit of reading and then bed. G’night!

 

Technorati tags: holidays, depression, aquariums, panda cories, bettas

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