Chick-in-of-TheSea journal

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

I highly recommend the new Godzilla movie (Godzilla minus one). 👍👍

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Rotating the diet for the little one who is doing very well.

[GoofyGarra]

On 12/6/2023 at 6:36 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Rotating the diet for the little one who is doing very well.

how's the new pleco going? Im loving my new bristlenose. How big is yours? the picture makes it look pretty big.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 12/6/2023 at 7:10 PM, GoofyGarra said:

how's the new pleco going? Im loving my new bristlenose. How big is yours? the picture makes it look pretty big.

Doing just fine. It is 2.5 inches.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

I was given a feeding ring. Given the success of my plants, I think I needed it!

 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

The worm colonies are doing well. This weekend I will upgrade the container for the grindal worms.

Friend asked why it seems like she never sees the white worms on the bread. I have no idea, but regardless the white worms are doing well and are nice and active.  @Guppysnail?
 

Friend was very excited today when she found a clutch in her grindal worm culture. She sent a pic:

[Guppysnail]

On 12/7/2023 at 8:50 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Friend asked why it seems like she never sees the white worms on the bread

The second I open the drawer and light hits the container mine retract into substrate. Same goes for other cultures in the stackable drawers with vibration  as I work my way up the drawers the top cultures I rarely see worm above surface other than on lids and sides  

I worried at first about never seeing them on bread. I opened a drawer in the dark very gently popped the lid and hit it with a flashlight. The worms were congregated around the bread. As soon as the flashlight show they evacuated below the surface. 
Im glad all the worms are doing well for you both. 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 12/7/2023 at 9:06 AM, Guppysnail said:

The second I open the drawer and light hits the container mine retract into substrate. Same goes for other cultures in the stackable drawers with vibration  as I work my way up the drawers the top cultures I rarely see worm above surface other than on lids and sides  

I worried at first about never seeing them on bread. I opened a drawer in the dark very gently popped the lid and hit it with a flashlight. The worms were congregated around the bread. As soon as the flashlight show they evacuated below the surface. 
Im glad all the worms are doing well for you both. 

Friend is experienced with worm cultures: larger worms. Right now she has another culture going for the axolotl. They are just a bit smaller than earthworms; I forget what they are called. Axolotl has been eating those and guppy fry. Occasionally the meat Repashy.

I ate a banana on the drive to her house and told her to throw out the peel but she cut it into bits and gave it to those worms.

Edited December 7, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Guppysnail]

On 12/7/2023 at 9:56 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Friend is experienced with worm cultures: larger worms. Right now she has another culture going for the axolotl. They are just a bit smaller than earthworms; I forget what they are called. Axolotl has been eating those and guppy fry. Occasionally the meat Repashy.

I ate a banana on the drive to her house and told her to throw out the peel but she cut it into bits and gave it to those worms.

Sounds like red wigglers.  I fed mine banana peels. 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Found yummy stuff!  This is a snail cookie. Lots of kelp, spirulina, and black soldier fly larvae, etc. Mmmm!

The pleco wasn’t the only one who got a cookie.

 

Edited December 10, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

This fellow has been busy!

 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

So I have the bristlenose pleco in quarantine, and it seems to be having a nice time: active, out in the open, looks good. Anyone else think so? Also @Guppysnail I need help sexing the pleco. Not sure if it is too early yet, have to wait for more bristles, etc. I think the mouth parts play a factor? Here are a few photos.

The sexing is just for my own curiosity. Just want to learn more about my new kid. 

Poops look good to me. No white stringy characteristics, etc. The pleco eats daily and makes 100 poops.

@Guppysnail While in qt, what signs/symptoms should I look for in the pleco?  (I’m used to observing swimmy swimmy fishes, not plecos. LOL) Given this pleco came from another hobbyist, I feel more comfortable about its health, but it did have a long journey + an overnight in a bag to get to me, plus a transfer to a friend’s tank for a few days. It had Prime in its water for the duration of the trip. Seems like a hardy fish; the only thing I noticed was the fin splits. (I’m just using catappa for those.) Not sure how the temperature fluctuations were during the trip either, but I know it was kept in an insulated bag.

 

P.S. the string stuff by the pleco belly/chest in photo 2 is not in the tank; I think it’s cat fur.  This is a low shelf tank.

Edited December 12, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Guppysnail]

I notice zero difference in boys and girls based on mouth parts. The nose part is narrower in girls looking top down. In mine you can see a light pink spot on the top Of the head for boys. You will not see it in yours. 
 

Im saying he is a stunning handsome healthy boy.  This based on body shape. my girls all are wider where the breast’s on a person would be. The stay wider through belly and hips. He looks like a mini version of my dads belly. 
 

Also the eyes look different from boys to girls. People say I’m nuts but @TeeJayanf his daughter saw what I saw. Girls seem to have sultry eyes to me 🤷‍♀️🤣🤣🤣

Signs -weight loss not eating unusual poo. They should never have an empty belly  

Here is a young girl. Leftover from a few batches ago a little over 2 inches. All I have of mom she is preggo 🤣

 

Here is dad for body comparison.

This is Angel just coming to maturity you can see the pink on his head  

 

[Guppysnail]

I want to add I’m only right 75% of the time so don’t freak out if it never gets whiskers 🤣

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Thanks @Guppysnail. Doesn’t my dude look like he has a hillstream loach face? Here is @Katherine’s hillstream loach for comparison. But that will change when a bunch of bristles come in. I wonder when the bristles will develop.

 

 

On 12/11/2023 at 7:57 PM, Guppysnail said:

I want to add I’m only right 75% of the time so don’t freak out if it never gets whiskers 🤣

So the females don’t have whiskers?

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 12/11/2023 at 7:52 PM, Guppysnail said:

Here is a young girl. Leftover from a few batches ago

Is this the UGF pleco?

[Guppysnail]

On 12/11/2023 at 8:00 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Thanks @Guppysnail. Doesn’t my dude look like he has a hillstream loach face? Here is @Katherine’s hillstream loach for comparison. But that will change when a bunch of bristles come in. I wonder when the bristles will develop.

 

 

So the females don’t have whiskers?

Some get a tiny mustache or one or two bristles but not like the boys. 
 

Angel started his at 8/9 months old. I don’t have an exact age in dad because he was young. Being young his size was good and water quality dependent before I got him. He and mom tried once but laid in a decor that got no flow so the eggs went rancid (decor promptly removed)

His second batch he went in the cave with a mustache and cam out with babies and tiny bristles. 

On 12/11/2023 at 8:06 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Is this the UGF pleco?

No. That little boy grew bigger than everyone else. Must be good eating under there. I have 6 or so that hid beyond my finding on bagging day. 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 12/11/2023 at 8:08 PM, Guppysnail said:

Some get a tiny mustache or one or two bristles but not like the boys. 
 

Angel started his at 8/9 months old. I don’t have an exact age in dad because he was young. Being young his size was good and water quality dependent before I got him. He and mom tried once but laid in a decor that got no flow so the eggs went rancid (decor promptly removed)

His second batch he went in the cave with a mustache and cam out with babies and tiny bristles. 

Aw 😍

My dude has a tiny mustache now, you can see it in the photos above when he is on the glass.

[Guppysnail]

On 12/11/2023 at 8:10 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Aw 😍

My dude has a tiny mustache now, you can see it in the photos above when he is on the glass.

Ok I blew the photo up. I see. Also mom does not have this dad does I call those crazy eyebrows even though they are not in the right place  

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 12/11/2023 at 8:13 PM, Guppysnail said:

Ok I blew the photo up. I see. Also mom does not have this dad does 

Awesome! Also this photo shows some pointy uppy things.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

@Guppysnail I can’t imagine the bioload you had goin on when you were breeding these guys.

[Guppysnail]

On 12/11/2023 at 8:20 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

@Guppysnail I can’t imagine the bioload you had goin on when you were breeding these guys.

We will not be speaking of poopapalooza 🤣

[nabokovfan87]

Such a beauty of a pleco!  I miss my plecos so much..... I really, really do.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Aw ❤️ Cute little dude having a nap in his hide.

 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Enjoyed Mrs. Claus’s magical kitchen and Winter Wonderland on Ice at Sea World this evening.
 

Edited December 16, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea