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Maggie

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Everything posted by Maggie

  1. Frank is settling in pretty well. He made a bubble nest! He's sort of aggressive with all the fish if they get too close, but oddly, really goes after Baby Girl. Papa platy still tries to mate with him. Fish drama.
  2. Woo hoo - this is the tiniest baby shrimp I've ever seen!! End of small safety pin used for size comparison, and another shrimp (and copepods) are behind and below the baby, who was on the glass.
  3. Brought 12 juvenile platys to Petco today - I'm very happy they take donations. I was told they don't resell them, and I saw two 8"+ comet goldfish up for donation - oh to have a big pond right now. I tried the bottle method, but Frank (gourami) started guarding it bc he couldn't fit but didn't want the platys getting any, either! It was easier than I thought to catch the 12. I tried to catch Papa platy to return him too, as I'm undergoing some medical stuff and trying to keep the platy population in check. Papa is way too smart to fall for the easy catch.
  4. Ditto what @Fonskesaid. I had trouble with hatching brine shrimp until I brought the pH up with just a little pinch of baking soda. They apparently like a higher pH. I use just a hatching dish in a warm spot with a light - no air or heat, but the yield is not nearly as good as a ziss (works OK for one aquarium, though). Adding baking helped tremendously.
  5. Yesterday I introduced Frank to the platys. He has fit in very well except I think Papa is gonna get himself hurt if he keeps trying to flirt with Frank. Oh boy!
  6. Beautiful fish! I've heard that the final "yay or nay" policy on live fish rests with the TSA agent and the airline, even tho TSA's website says they're allowed.
  7. Well, I appears that I have a second batch of platy fry! I've only seen two but I think they're Baby Girl's, as Papa has been literally chasing her tail all day. The older fry are getting so big now, and my original count of 11 has gone up to 15 now (plus the newbies). Frank the gourami is doing great in quarantine, tho he is antsy to go to a bigger home and is always hungry. I fed him frozen bloodworms which sink right away, and it took him over an hour to discover them - apparently was his first time having this treat. He looks so healthy and robust - can't wait to put him in the main tank.
  8. Frank is starting to get more color. I just love gouramis. (And platys, guppies, tetras, rasboras...) He's so personable and is already more calm when I approach.
  9. Meet Frank, my new powder blue dwarf gourami. He's about 1.5" now and in quarantine, but will go in with the platys in a few weeks. I've wanted a gourami for a long time now and he'll contrast nicely with the warm colors of the platys and tetras. Can't wait till he gets settled in and colors up more. I'm also adding pic of a fry who stayed still long enough for a clear photo. They're all over the tank now and are too big to be eaten by Mama or Baby Girl, though they still sometimes give a cursory chase (Papa never really tried much).
  10. I had plants in Cosmo's tank which had a bacterial infection. I sterilized everything in the tank except the plants which I rinsed very well several times and then put in a bucket with clean water and a light nearby. I overdosed them with antibacterial meds for 2 weeks and kept them in there another 6 weeks after that. Other than some algae and drooping, they did fine. I now have them in a new tank with no problems. The filter I fear you might have to sterilize and throw out the media.
  11. I just got my first gourami! Meet powder blue Frank, assuming it's a male. I can't tell and neither could the nice salesman at petco. What say the gourami experts? Boy or girl, I think it will be a nice contrast to my orange, white, yellow, pink and black platys once he/she gets comfy and colors up. He's in my 5 gallon minibow for quarantine right now.
  12. Platy fry update: becoming more beautiful every day. Here's one that's really coloring nicely. Mama's getting round again, as is Baby Girl, my now sub-adult female...but I found out my local big box pet store will take back fry when I get overcrowded!
  13. Platy fry are a week old today. I've counted 11. They're all growing nicely and some are starting to get a little color.
  14. So sorry to hear Hugo passed away. James! ❤ I have the same feeling about getting another betta since Cosmo died, and his tank is still completely empty as I can't decide what to do with it. I too now have platy fry just a couple days old and am concentrating on that 20L for now.
  15. I'm in Massachusetts now; moved here recently from Maryland where I also grew up and moved away from to join the Air Force. I didn't see anyone else from MA on this thread, but lots of people from MD. I'm not surprised, as MD seems to have a lot more fishkeepers and better LFS's. Also lived in New York (upstate, north of Albany) and Virginia, and while in the Air Force - Michigan, Texas, California, and Guam (which is not a state but a territory like Puerto Rico). I kind of miss Guam because of the fabulous tropical weather, but living there came with some serious drawbacks, too.
  16. Mama platy had some babies but I've only seen 1 or 2. She's been hunting for them. Yesterday I moved the ember tetras into this tank (along with more water sprite to float for the platy fry) and they've brought so much life...they follow the platys around and everyone gets along great. The tetras are stunning when the late afternoon sunlight hits the aquarium for a few minutes. In the gifs you can see papa and baby girl platy having lots of fun...they've been going at it for days. She even chases him!
  17. I had duckweed in my 45 and 10 gallon tanks. The 10 was my betta Cosmo's tank, and had only low light plants, the duckweed came in on some crypts I bought at a tailgate sale. I removed most of it but there were a few stragglers. I nornally kept the light on low and many days it was never turned on at all, and I guess it wasn't enough light or nutrients (only Cos was in there) for the duckweed to survive, because it disappeared. I was amazed! The 45 was a whole different story. Duckweed took over the whole top and I scooped out regularly, at least 2-3 times a week, as well as made a feeding corral out of silicone straws and airline tubing, and just lived with it like that, after spending too much time trying to get rid of it and there being a tiny piece left. I washed and soaked those plants in different containers repeatedly before putting them in the tanks, too.
  18. Nerite snails work very hard. I can't find them right now, but the evidence is clear. I have a good size piece of wood that was covered in biofilm. And I think I got 2 males (also got a male before, for my shrimp tank) - lucky me, no eggs! Before: After:
  19. The platy fam having Christmas dinner last night. Baby girl is really growing, and Mom seems to be getting a little wider, hmmm. Dad enjoys picking on the anubias. They're settling in pretty nicely.
  20. I'm going to guess emerald dwarf rasbora aka dwarf emerald danios (danio erythromicron) because I had them, and it's hard to tell at that age but that's my guess because they breed alot and seem to miss a lot of fry if there's cover. If they are danios, you'll see the little black spot on the tail fin pretty quickly. Congrats on either one though!
  21. Have you tried micopellets or bug bite pellets? Mine eat those, but they still have to be crushed a bit smaller. They don't seem to eat off the bottom from what I've seen.
  22. I agree! My yellow shrimp all but disappeared on natural color river rock pebble substrate.
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