Minanoras adventures in fishkeeping

[Minanora]

Ah glorious day. I was observing everyone in the 75G and picking out snails. Then I look to the back corner near the intake sponge and see, what appears to me, to be a very sick looking guppy baby. On Tuesday I transferred all of the adult guppies, and a handful of the newest batch of babies into the 75G. Pako is way too happy about that... I think he's going to get moved away from the group... again... ANYWAY, so I'm looking at this little tiny fish thinking "oh no, that looks like a very sick fish.... what is going on here!?" Then upon further inspection I think "Hmm, that doesn't look like a guppy.... the tail is too narrow, body shape isn't right... and the color..." then it hits me! "THE SWORDTAILS! SWORDTAIL BABIES!" I unfocus my attention from the one I saw and see maybe 8 more of the same coloring/shape/size. "YES!" I'm super excited! These are my beautiful black swordtails children. However, I was hoping to catch mom before she dropped.... I'm concerned that many have been eaten. This is her first batch of fry, so hopefully I'm wrong and it's just a small batch that less have been eaten from, but I see more than 8, they're just very, very, hard to see. I'm so excited! I am bummed that she had them outside of a breeder box, I had noticed her being a bit more nippy but I was sure I had another week. If I had known she was about to pop I would have held off on adding the other guppies.

Pretty sure all but one of the Amano shrimp is gone. I don't really understand why; water parameters are perfect, food is abundant, temperature is good. For some reason they just didn't make it. I'm sad, but I'm hoping that I'll have a fruitful colony of sakura orange shrimp in the shrimp tank, and will repopulate the 75 with adults from that tank.

All 4 of the Otos are happy as can be! Full tummies, active swimmers. The Cory's have slowed down a bit, but they still play quite often, just not as much as the first week they were here. I see them hanging out in what I call the "Cory bench". It's very cute to see them pile together. I generally see 4 or 5 together at a time. All 7 are present.

Guppy derp squad 1-2 is coloring up quite nicely, while guppy derp squad 3-4 are notably darker in color than the first squad. They're also much more adventurous and do. not. care. about the Harlequins chasing them off for food rights. Totally unphased and just swim right into them.

Pako.... He needs to calm down. He's more interested in spawning than eating... it's kind of crazy. He's a bully.

Merlin and Mim the Swordtails are courting from time to time and I've seen several successful sessions. I'm sure more babies will be coming in the new year!

Photo order: Cory bench, Baby retreat, Main tank, Swordtail baby middle of last photo!

[Guppysnail]

Congratulations on your new babies 🎉🎈🎊

[Minanora]

On 11/18/2021 at 3:22 PM, Guppysnail said:

Congratulations on your new babies 🎉🎈🎊

Thank you! I've never seen babies other than guppy babies in my own tanks, so that was a surprise. I love them just the same! I can hardly wait to see them grow into beauties like their parents. I want to keep one male and name him Wort. 😛

[Guppysnail]

On 11/18/2021 at 6:33 PM, Minanora said:

Thank you! I've never seen babies other than guppy babies in my own tanks, so that was a surprise. I love them just the same! I can hardly wait to see them grow into beauties like their parents. I want to keep one male and name him Wort. 😛

I have seen lots of types of babies. Each new one I get giddy like it’s the first fry I have ever seen. There is nothing cuter on the planet than fry…in my opinion 🥰

[Minanora]

On 11/18/2021 at 3:35 PM, Guppysnail said:

I have seen lots of types of babies. Each new one I get giddy like it’s the first fry I have ever seen. There is nothing cuter on the planet than fry…in my opinion 🥰

I totally agree. I can't stop watching them... My boss called me to talk shop and I told him that I was done working, watching the fish, talk to me about anything but work. Lol He thinks I'm a crazy person. Which, he's right! *Shrug*

[Minanora]

Photos of the guppies! The Dumbo red mosaic male is named Mac, Red mosaic girl is Shiva (blue tail), red tuxedo male is Pako, Lyretail male is Goby, the mutt orange tail is Misty. Pako has made Misty a little cranky... Shiva is tolerating Goby, but only because he's such a good dancer. Mac isn't really interested in the girls. His mate passed away a few days ago unfortunately. He occasionally hits on Shiva. Pako is.... a nuisance. But he's very friendly. It's a shame that he's so aggressive in pursuing the females. Even with 5 girls he was out of control.

 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

They are all very lovely fish

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

I really like your double sword male. Great group of guppies it’ll be fun to see as the mutts emerge.

[Minanora]

On 11/18/2021 at 7:45 PM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

I really like your double sword male. Great group of guppies it’ll be fun to see as the mutts emerge.

Thank you! I love all of my kids. Derp squad 1-2 are almost there with their colors, squad 3-4 is going to be a totally different mix.

Sword squad 1 is very interesting in color. They look a lot like mom and dad, but with some white patches. I'm sure that will clear as the age.

[lindabee53]

I love seeing your tanks and all your beautiful fish.

[Minanora]

Pictures of the 20G tomorrow. There's so many babies in that tank. It's a little crazy.

Shrimp tank is coming along. Starting to make adjustments to the water profile. I didn't want to put tiny castle ruins in it, but husband did. It's growing on me. Thinking about attaching some of the ferns to it. I also want to put some wood in there. Trying to decide what kind. Leaning towards cholla for ease of adding plants.

 

 

[Minanora]

Got a few photos of the 20G. Moved Pako into the 20G... He can't be with female guppies... he made misty crash into something so hard that she's bruised on one side of her face to her gill. It's purple, her eye is black, and she has a bump on her head. Pako is banned from the ladies. Changed some water, watched some fish. Lost a Corydora. The first loss of the 7 I got back on the 5th.

The 20G has about 60 baby guppies not including the 12-15 Derp Squad Gen 1. I have to change water weekly to keep it under 10ppm Nitrates. So far no issues with ammonia or nitrite. I see tiny nudges below .25ppm nitrate now and again, but Prime does its thing and it's totally fine after it wears off. I'm moving the 10G into my office, (onto my new desk!), to grow Derp Squad 3-4 out. After they're done, that will be the home of Chili Rasboras. Future fry batches will be at the mercy of the 75G ecosystem until late spring, when I can do outdoor tubs to grow fry out. I'm already starting a plant bank for that project.

The 20G population: Red wag swordtail male is Mushroom, Red mutt swordtail female is Pepper, Red Tuxedo male guppy is Pako... He had to get moved as I said, The 3 glowlight tetras are "The Police", The 4 neon tetras are Arnold, T1, T2 and T3.

I've been playing with my "chill time" lighting profiles on my 75G. Been a lot of fun. I love teal/greens.

 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Pobre Paco 😔

[Minanora]

On 11/20/2021 at 8:56 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

Pobre Paco 😔

I know... I feel terrible, but seriously he's loco. I'm hoping Misty is okay. She's been hiding a lot since that happened to her. She's still eating at least, and comes to see me. Just hides any other time.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Well I DO hope Misty is ok too and recovers nicely. Paco is just to amorous for his own good. 

[Odd Duck]

Congrats on all the babies!

Dont give up yet on Amanos.  They are absolute masters at hiding and blending in to the woodwork (and I mean woodwork in the literal sense!).

[Minanora]

@Odd Duck thank you. I didn't want so many babies, I let Misty and Shiva have their last babies in the 20G without putting them in a breeder, hoping that the other guppies, swordtails, tetras would eat most of them. Nope. Misty's babies were fearless and always up at the top of the tank... Nobody was interested in eating them. Shiva's babies were at the bottom, nobody ate them. So here I am, 70+ babies in a 20G high. I have to check nitrates every day. They grow, and so does the bio-load!

 

The Amanos, if there are any left, there's only one or two. Sadly I've pulled out the corpses of two. They are very good at hiding, but I'm pretty sure the hardness won. I still feel awful for not thinking about the hardness. My LFS recommended then based on the stocking and pH of my tank, so I hadn't done much research before I got them. I assume it's the hardness. Regardless, no more shrimp until I get the hardness down further. Also plan to get a more comprehensive test for metals.

[Minanora]

Happy Thanksgiving!

My otos! Three of them are gravid and I am trying to figure out what to do about it. I didn't expect to have three of four be female. I've ruled out dropsy. There's no pinecone effect, they're just round. They're happy as can be! Not as round as some I've seen that are gravid, but I'm most certain that mine are carrying eggs. I do not think that my male is mature enough to do anything about it... I would put in the oto from the 20G but he's just now coming back out from having been bullied by the sheer volume of guppy fry in that tank. There's now only 2! The rest are in the 10G. 108 in the 10G.... probably 30 in the 75G. Then Misty and Shiva are about to pop any day now. Needless to say, the guppies are getting separated by gender as of tomorrow.

[Minanora]

Preparing for big changes in guppy management until I can get my house in order: Moved the 2 girls into the 20G tall. They're super, super pregnant... I am honestly surprised they didn't pop yesterday. So, because of how hard it is to catch fry in the 20... when I moved them into there, I put them in a mesh breeder, because I'm no fool... dang fish fam in there won't eat babies, as I found out the hard way....  I don't have the capacity to raise any more right now. I have 3 more weeks until I can offload squad 1-2. and another 6 weeks for squad 3-4. I can't make an outdoor pond to home them right now. My pool is at 54 degrees at the top of the day even with a solar cover. I'm not saying I'll put them in the pool: it is a salt pool and green... but I'm just trending temperatures.

My garage can't home a tank in its current condition and I have been banned from doing any more tanks in the house. Shrimp cube was the limit for additions this year. I knew I'd have baby guppies... but I didn't anticipate that NONE of my fish would want to eat them... I was fine with small broods.... I can deal with what feels like 10 billion guppies every 3 weeks. Though I would like to.... I love the babies. 😞 I'm giving them away as fast as I can at this point. Swordtail babies are sold. Derp Squad 1-2, sold, Squad 3-4, sold. But I just can't change enough water to deal with the upcoming squads. I do have a real job, other hobbies, 80+acres to steward, general chores, a kid... etc. One day I hope to be able to just focus on my joys, but I'm not there yet!

 

Paco.... is in the 75 now. He's chasing Goby around relentlessly like he did Misty. He's a lot of guppy for a single fish.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Though you say you are banned, sounds like your partner is good at helping you to know where the limits might be. You have a lot on your plate!! I think guppies are so awesome but I can barely imagine having so many!! It's all I can do to take care of small batches of Otos!

[Minanora]

On 11/28/2021 at 8:24 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

Though you say you are banned, sounds like your partner is good at helping you to know where the limits might be. You have a lot on your plate!! I think guppies are so awesome but I can barely imagine having so many!! It's all I can do to take care of small batches of Otos!

Totally agree. I just hate to have babies that have no home.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Totally get it. Which is WHY I picked "impossible to breed" fish for my tanks.....then nature played a joke on me....

[Minanora]

I'm an insane person and have 5 new pairs of guppies coming today.... They will be separated by gender between the 20g and the 75g. This finishes out the stocking for my Sons 20G until further notice at least. So I won't be buying any more guppies for a good while... Unless we move, and I get to have more fish tanks in the house. 😛

I will raise whatever fry come from the girls that come pregnant, but I'm hoping that they're still juvies and aren't pregnant. Though I know this is unlikely... I can dream!

I'm retiring the two females I have from breeding duties. They'll only ever have the babies they have stored now, and no more beyond that. Everyone deserves to retire at some point, even fish.

The 10G catch all is full of babies that are coloring up a bit. They're going to all be very interesting. I look forward to sending squad 1-2 off next month. They've been a joy to watch grow. The dragon dumbo red mosaic babies are really coloring up in the 75G, I look forward to sending them off. It's hard to not keep one or two.

The otos are still chunky as can be but playing like normal and eating like normal. They're super cute chunkos.

The swordtail babies are growing up quickly and are stunning. Most of the lot is solid black with the yellow fins which bodes well for how they're going to color up as teens. There are still some with patches but I'm sure they'll color up nicely as well. If not that's fine, they'll still be beautiful and people will love them!

I saw a shrimp today and have seen two molts in the last two days... I didn't think they molted so much. But I'm happy to know that there are some alive in there! I didn't murder them all with ignorance!

[Minanora]

The new guppy crew has arrived and they deserve some attention. They're young, but lovely in so many ways. There's 4 new males, and 6 new females. The red female dropped fry this morning, which I wasn't expecting. I called my husband and he was happy and surprised. Toddler was extremely excited. I was a bit less enthused since I'm trying to contain the babies and not have babies loose in the 20G... But, I'm excited about them. there's not so many, and I watched the other new guppy females eat three or four that were brave enough to go into the open. We'll see how many make it over the weeks to come.

[Minanora]

Well, my co-worker gave me three tanks that his old roommate left behind when he finished his college term and moved back home. So now I have another 20T, 10G and a 5.5G nested together outside my kitchen door. He asked me if I wanted them and I made a joke about how I could fill them with baby fish.... Then they appeared on my desk. Apparently he has one more too, a 40G breeder that I can have... I want it, but, where the heck would I put it? However, it would be great for growing out the guppy fry. Currently I'm changing 70% of the fry water every day and dosing it with Prime to try to keep up with the poos. 108 children in a 10 gallon isn't the best situation. They're all healthy and happy but man, the nitrates. The lawn is happy about it though! I've also mastered my RO to Tap water ratio since I've been able to make so many water changes. Totally dialed in for the future state of the 75G water changes now. And the shrimp cube too. Perfection!

I have more babies... The Red Lady had fry the day after I got her, then the super pregnant two of the blue dragon girls had babies, then the next day after that, the pregnant king cobra girl had babies. Small batches, but still, there's fry in the 20G again. *shrug*

Misty and Shiva had their babies, as planned, in a mesh breeder inside the 20G yesterday. I'm leaving them in there for two more days to make sure they aren't holding any fry.... I thought they were done last time, put Misty back into the main 20G and then she proceeded to drop like 30 more fry... Don't want to do that with the pure-strain fry that are loose in there. I DO NOT want to mix them up since I'll be raising those out to the full three month mark, at the least, and selecting ones to keep for future breeding.

I think I'll set up the other 20G high tank in my master bathroom. We don't shower in there right now, the counter isn't used for much. I don't use any chemicals in my hair, or even a hair dryer. No perfume or anything like that so it's totally safe to put fish in there. I'll use that 20G high for fry grow out... I actually may be able to set up a 40G breeder in there....... hmmm....

Oh yeah, and I've been picking out snails in my 75G. My son is actually really good at picking them up with the plant tweezers. It's amazing to watch a 3 year old catch snails and be so careful with my plants and hardscape. he's pretty cool. 🙂