Minanoras adventures in fishkeeping

[Minanora]

My favorite plant in the 75. The Taiwan Lily. Filling in nicely now!

[Levi_Aquatics]

That is a really great looking plant and aquarium!

[Minanora]

Shiva finally decided to drop fry this morning. I leave her in the breeder for 36 hours afterwards because she does tend to drop twice.  But look at how cute they are! ❤️

OH and, well, the squad 1-2 females... apparently I didn't separate them soon enough, or not all of them soon enough.... I saw tiny fry in the grow-out tank today. So, if I net any of them with the shipment I'm taking to the LFS this week, they're just bonus fry for them. Unexpected. I really wasn't expecting babies from those... They're only 14 weeks old. Such is life.

[Atitagain]

I love the Taiwan Lily Very interesting looking plant. And your right the fry are cute 😊 

 

[Minanora]

Wonderful day today, I didn't take any photos because I'm a durp... BUT! Today I sold 45 beautiful mutt male guppies, 68ish female guppies, and 12 black swordtails to my LFS.

It took me several hours to net and pick the fish to take in but I'm so glad they'll find good homes now.

However this means I went to the LFS... Which means it was roulette as to if I would leave the store without fish. Well, I left with fish! I finally have Chili Rasboras! They're acclimating and are about to go into quarantine. I'm so excited! I have a thread open about whether or not I should add them to the shrimp sanctuary. I should have passed on them, but I got too excited.

[Minanora]

Ok, this post probably warrants it's own thread....

I went to the LFS to check on my fish I sold them. I look all around, I see my swordtails, I see my female guppies. However I do not see any of my male guppies.

So I ask one of the guys where they are. They got put in a tank close to the ground. A rat chewed through the air line and all of the fish in that tank died.

I thought I was going to vomit. I cried in the car on the way home. My stomach still feels like a roiling pit. I'm so upset.

I know that things like that happen, but I'm still so very, very upset.

[Atitagain]

So sorry to hear about those male guppies. That is so random, I bet the workers cringed when you brought it up. 
but congrats on selling that much to them. Will they purchase from you regularly? I’m trying to get to know the workers better at my LFS so maybe they will buy/ trade with me.

[Guppysnail]

I’m so sorry for your loss. I can relate. New manager at my LFS put a Chinese algae eater (that’s what they told me it was) in the tank with my mystery snails the previous manager kept as store pets. 3 empty shell and actively consuming a fourth. I felt sick to my stomach and cried on the way home as well. 

[Minanora]

@Guppysnailthat's so sad. I would have been heartbroken as well.

@Atitagain so long as they have room they'll take anything I have. Then once my line-bred guppies are ready they'll take them every time I offer them. We talked about the line-bred ones I'm doing before I choose them.

I sat down and had a good talk about my projects and bringing them in because I didn't want them to expect "low grade" mutt guppies every time I have fish to bring in. Most of the females are lacking in color. My boys were beautiful. I'm so upset!!! Ugh!

Luckily it looks like I will only have two more sets of mutts to bring them after this. Shiva is looking pretty slim for being two weeks postpartum. Hoping that she's finished and can retire in peace 

[Minanora]

Spent some time removing duckweed from the 75 yesterday. Spent some time staring at all of the fish in there. I dose all of my guppy fry with paracleanse at 10 weeks old. Well, just so happens that I have 10 week old fry in the 75 so I had to dose the whole 75. Can't risk anyone else getting parasites. I'm paranoid. But, I spent a ton of time after the does; Just enjoying them and listening to my son and daddy play in the background. So if you watch the video... turn the volume down or you will probably go deaf. My first High-def video of the fish... and seriously all you hear is my kid, dad, and my silly commentary.

 

I got a brine shrimp hatchery from the co-op. hatching my first batch of shrimp right now. I did the math and I'll have paid for this setup within 10 weeks. I'll be net positive plus once I set up my fry tubs outside in April. For now I have to wait. I'm not breeding any guppies on purpose until April. At that time I'll order some more breeding stock as well. I just want things to be easy and simple while we're on vacation for two weeks in May. I want my hired help to have NO issues. And hopefully they'll still want fish of their own since I can give them good fish for free, happily! I tried to convince another family member to do fish... well, they did... but they're going salt water! *facepalm* I offered up all of my knowledge and support but in the end, even though I reminded them that I have little experience with reef and saltwater aquaria, that's the route they went. That's fine though, we've got a darn good fish store for saltwater/reef fish in our area... I mean, they did kill all of my male guppies... but you know. >.> I know it wasn't their fault but I'm still heartbroken. MY BOYS! UGH!!! So sad! Heart.. heavy... I play with the remaining squat 1-2 boys every day now. Just because it makes me feel better. I pet them, let them eat out of my hand, let them chase my finger around, and train them to the glass like their brothers and sisters. I LOVE MY FISH! Even if I'm going to let them go to other homes. I even kept my one female with the bent spine because I can't stand the thought of her being a feeder fish. She's happy and well besides her curvyness. So I'm just letting her live her best life in the fry tank. She'll go to the pond once they're set up. I'm going to set up a retirement pond for the girls. I want a place that they can go, where they won't be at risk to be bred, or turned into food. I'm the only one that will give that to them, so that's what I'm going to do. I even plan to take back my females that don't sell at the LFS. I'll donate "food" credit in exchange. This way they take minimal loss and then they don't die. 🙂

 

DUCKWEED!!! I have no idea what to do with it all.... It's currently in a specimen container. Thinking about seeing if anyone in our area has koi that would want it.

 

 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

I'm sorry about your male guppies. That's so sad. When I give up some of my baby Otos I just have to be absent from the LFS for a while. When I worked in an animal shelter and fostered kittens I did NOT want to know what happened to them once they left- in my mind they lived happily ever after. Same with allll the surrendered animals I had to check in. It's just too much for an animal person to deal with. Sometimes it's best not to know because it can be totally crushing- so I get how you feel. 😔

[Minanora]

@xXInkedPhoenixX that's probably what I'm going to have to do moving forward. It was good for me to see that the females were all healthy and had no disease. I treated everyone before I sent them to the LFS. I do not want my fish to be the source of illness.

I'm not going back though.... The guy I was talking to about my guppies told me that 4 days before my girls went in that the tank had an outbreak of ich. "But it got heavily salted and there's only one fish left that was in there at the time" 🤦‍♀️ I can't go in there and see if those fish have ich now. I'd lose my mind.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Oh my. Yeah. I couldn't do it. 😞 

[Guppysnail]

 I’m glad you are keeping your bent spine kids. I keep all my less than perfect ones including 2 with bent spines and two stunted growth. I keep the. In separate grow out tanks boy/girl so no breeding. Sweet fish they are my most “affectionate “ fish of all. I know how you feel about not going back. Been in a similar situation. 

[Minanora]

Micro update. I went on vacation for 5 days. So far it seems like I've only lost one fish. I put vacation feeders and Indian almond leaves in every tank before I left. My only casualty, that I can tell, was in the 75g. Everything else looks great. No swings in parameters.

Mommy shrimp had her babies hatch. Shiva is about to pop again, hopefully this is her last batch of stored wares. Her most recent batches of fry have been stunning. I'll have to get some pictures up soon!

Hope everyone has been well.

I also did water changes on every tank before I left... Hours of work! It was a little crazy.

Edited February 16, 2022 by Minanora
I was gone for 5 days, not 4.

[Minanora]

Oh boy! The mutt guppy grow out! Seeing some lovely coloration in the kids. Most notably an expression of vertical bars on Shiva's fry from her stored broods.

It's so exciting to watch mutt guppy fry grow up.

Shiva's stored broods are the blue greens/yellows. Not the older orange kids.

FYI the video is recorded in 1440. So you can actually see the patterns lol

[Guppysnail]

Very beautiful. Shiva should be a proud momma. 😍

[Minanora]

I agree! She's giving birth again, seriously, as I'm typing this out. I've got the lights turned way down in there for her. I've noticed that her cycle is getting longer. This is the longest she's gone between broods. She was 24 days like clockwork, now she's adding several days on each cycle.

Feels good to be spending time with the fish after being gone for 5 days.

[Minanora]

I just listened to the audio on my last video. I never hear my own voice played back. 🙄

I should probably add some context to my toddler and I's conversation and my ramblings. Small human wanted to put untreated alder cones in the tank, these were collected from outside. I was telling him no, we have to boil them first. The fish are speed demons; thus I call them demons. I love my fish. They always want food. My son loves to help catch the fish. He uses his finger as a "fish magnet". I recorded that at just past midnight.

Anyway, though I'm sure nobody would think this, I'm just curbing anyone assuming that I'm a mean fish mom who calls fish demons and doesn't feed her fish enough. Quite the opposite. I feed them TONS of different foods, hatch them brine shrimp, check their water every day, play with them through the glass, talk to them, and give them plants to play in. ❤️

 

Moving on: The chili rasboras are doing well. Turning the 2.6 into quarantine was a great idea. I had it set up and had been feeding it for several months. There are no critters to clean the algae in there. So, dirty glass. BUT the chili's are happy. They are much more friendly than I thought they'd be. I was afraid that they would just ignore my presence or be afraid of me. They are quite friendly and like to see what I'm up to. They come up to my fingers at the glass and aren't shy about feeding time. 

[drewzero1]

I enjoyed your conversation... I'm always too nervous to talk on camera. 😳

It's so amazing to watch toddlers develop interests! Mine has been coming down to the basement with me to watch the fish since he was an infant. Now he asks to go down and feed them an algae wafer ("shish foof"). He gets very excited when they nibble on his (clean!) fingers.

[Minanora]

On Saturday I had to start treating the 75g for columnaris. I'm really hoping that this will be an easy strain to kick. I had columnaris in my son's 20g and it took back to back treatments to get rid of. This time around I'm using medicated food. I haven't lost any more fish, so things are looking up. Time will tell.

I also began the fight against the hair algae in the 75. I butchered my plants in there. Dipped every cutting in a peroxide/easy carbon solution and removed a lot of the moss.

Before

After

I discovered that my on-the-go dollar tree diaper disposal bags fit almost perfectly into the specimen container. So I use them as liners for "trash" I pull out. Then I just lift the bag out and take it to the compost.

Sadly I discovered that I no longer have otos. I fear that they may have been the source of infection, I did not quarantine them... Except one, which came from my son's tank. I did see one oto two weeks ago but I did not see him when I was cleaning on Saturday. I even prodded at all of their hiding spots. 😔

 

In other news, Shiva ate a bunch of her babies... I guess I left her in the breeder for too long. 🤦‍♀️ At least there are some left but there's maybe only a dozen. This batch was much smaller to begin with so I'm pretty bummed out. I know I said this last month, but I'm hoping this is the last drop from her. She deserves to retire.

The line bred guppies appear to be done dropping. At least, the cobra girls are, for sure. They are slim, have been all month, and usually they give birth at the same time as Shiva. Red girl may still drop fry. Blue girl.... I'm not sure that she's ever dropped fry. I've only ever seen cobra and red babies in the tank. Finally got two female red babies in the last batch. They have their fry loose in the 20 in my son's room so not all of them make it.

 

Shrimp are happy. The oldest babies are starting to show saddles or lack there of.

[Minanora]

On 2/19/2022 at 10:59 PM, drewzero1 said:

He gets very excited when they nibble on his (clean!) fingers

First off, thank you. Second, I completely agree. It's fascinating to watch my son learn and grow his interests. I ask him, probably once a week, "what is your favorite part of having fish?". His answers generally are on track with his love of snails and Shiva babies. But there are tiny changes that are interesting.

My son also loves fish kisses. 😂 And feeding his corydoras and pleco sinking wafers. He also loves to use the mag-float to knock snails off of the glass and clean "allergy" off. 🤣

 

[Minanora]

Micro update: Good news! I found the otos! The big branch on the right is mostly hollow... Last night I saw an oto on the edge! I took a crappy photo and then turned on the light to try to get a better one. She ran away, but when she did I saw three other oto tails flicking around up under the log.

The water is green because of jungle fungus fizz tabs... But there's an oto! The blurry line on the bottom of the log. 🤣 And a Cory saying, "um, can I eat in peace?"

[Minanora]

I took some videos this morning while the small human was still asleep. My poor 75G looks like a warzone with the green tint. So far everyone is still doing well. Red boy has resumed normal activity but still see a whitish patch on his tail.

There's a yellow tiger king cobra guppy youth in the 75 that has a very orange tail, and dark turquoise patches on his body. He's so interesting! Then one of the other babies has a HUGE tail, , long pelvic fins, long, almost batwing shaped pectoral fins with black on them... Also a fascinating fish. He has a chunk of tail that is regrowing. When I saw him in the female tank he was the fastest developing and his tail was almost growing out of control, very strange. He got a geopodium very early, but didn't color up as fast as the other males; just got MUCH longer fins/tail. I have a female from a more recent brood that is having the same thing happen from this strain. Very odd. Her tail is huge.

 

The guppy grow-out. Looking at all the pretty boys, and girls this morning. I just love them.... I'm happy I held onto a few from Durp squad 1-1 and 1-2. I call the orange ones with the weird pastel coloring the "old man" guppies. There are a lot more of Shiva's most recent brood that are getting the iridescent bars. I guess they're tiger? or are they snakeskin? I don't know what the correct term is for it. I've never seen stripes like these without more speckles on the body.

 

Then I took a short video of the Chili Rasboras in their quarantine tank. They're so friendly! They're getting moved to the Shrimp Sanctuary this weekend. Hopefully it goes well.

 

[Minanora]

It's 23°F outside and I'm thinking about how warm my tanks are going to get this summer. Lol.

Last night I feed my fish the first home frozen brine shrimp I've done. San Francisco Bay has me wondering how they get their cubes to freeze so evenly. Most of my bbs went to the bottom part of the bag when I froze them. I expected them to distribute through the water more. It was interesting to see. So I'm thinking I'll freeze them with less water next time to see how that goes. I laid the bag flat but I'm sure the salinity didn't help it freeze evenly.

Photo time!

Mutt grow-out males. I think Shiva's stored packets yielded beautiful fry. I'm in love with their yellow mosaic tails. The females are very colorful as well, almost as colorful as the males, just without the color on their bodies. I'm going to keep a group to breed again.

 

Chili's get moved on Saturday. I love the plants in this 2.6. I think I'm going to put a few shrimp in here and move it into the office again.