Chandelle Endlers, and a log of the mini menagerie

[Elodie Rose]

They’re so orange-red lately! 

[Guppysnail]

They have grown so well for you 🥰 mine change color shading throughout the day and throughout the week. 

[Elodie Rose]

They’re so beautiful! I would *love* it if they got into a spawning mood. I retrieved some shelves from my shed and am working on my grow-out tanks. I enjoy spending time with these two every day. ❤️ 

[Elodie Rose]

[Elodie Rose]

Temps today:

Dragon 10 - 70

GBR 5 - 85

Endlers 5 - 77

Blue-gold 5 - 76

Blue-gold 10 - 75

Blackworm 6 - 68

White Cloud 20 - 72

Jacaranda 10 - 71

Washburne 2.5 - 77

[Elodie Rose]

The male Endlers are coming out of the Endler 5 and going to the White Cloud 20. 

None have colored up yet in the BG 5. 

The only male currently in the BG 10 is from Dansfish. 

The BG males in Washburne’s tank are coloring up, and are lovely. They’re not blue-gold yet, if they ever will be? No clue. They too need to go to the WC 20. They are the future examples of what is in the BG 5. That’s where Wash’s companions were taken from.

I’m going to give either the Vienna guppies from Aquarium Co-op a try, or the Leopard guppies from Dansfish. Those are the ones I keep coming back to over and over, loving them and pining for them, lol. So it wasn’t that tough of a decision, but now I’m sourcing. This part is important, and too much fun to rush. 

The hornwort and java moss have been removed from the Jacaranda 10, and distributed between tanks, along with a stalk of anacharis, to see where else it might grow. The main clump of it is in the BG 5, which is where the java moss is too - oh but some of it is in the cup of Paleatus corydoras eggs in the Jacarando 10. A lot of it is brown in that cup. But the female Cory seemed to really, really prefer wriggling around in it and depositing her eggs on the glass beside it. 

Jacaranda is going to get broken down, so that the endlers and Cories can be rehoused. Endlers males to a 5 that is currently incoming, Cories to the WC 20 where they belong. Many of them to go to the July fish swap with GuppySnail, I hope.  

The Endlers also need to come out of the GBR 5, and replaced with a very tiny tetra or a type of fancy guppy that like the high temperatures. I keep worrying about the Endlers in there, especially after I bumped it up a couple degrees. Although figuring out how to bring them down, even to 80, then to 78, might be tricky. I don’t want to shock them, but I also don’t have any other heaters quite *that* strong (thank you GuppySnail for that one!). 

Might be getting a new 10 tomorrow, we’ll see. This house has the *weirdest* outlets, there are so many walls that don’t have any. It makes placing aquariums very difficult, when they need at least 3 outlets. Filter/air, heater, light. As it gets warmer in the house I’ll pull some of the heaters… possibly. The blackworms are at 68?? How on earth. Must change out that substrate so I can get even the vaguest idea of how many there are… which is easier said than done.

 

Edited June 4, 2023 by Elodie Rose

[Elodie Rose]

The 4 largest vinegar eel cultures were fed plums today and replaced beneath the utility sink.

The Pondette is getting an upgrade to a 55 gallon tub, which will be great. Now all the Endlers can be in one place! Unless I put the white clouds in it instead… hmm. 

Look at that big ol’ belly on that Paleatus Cory! Goodness. Fat and sassy indeed.

Edited June 5, 2023 by Elodie Rose

[Guppysnail]

On 6/4/2023 at 11:18 AM, Elodie Rose said:

This house has the *weirdest* outlets, there are so many walls that don’t have any.

Mine is the same. I like these because of the very long cord that ticks nicely along a baseboard and the placement gives max use of all outlets. And 3 m clear double sided 38lb tape holds them on the wall nicely 

[Elodie Rose]

Finally, I broke down the Jacaranda 10, and removed *almost* all of the Endlers to a holding tank, until the pond is filled up. Which would be *now*, if I could figure out how to get the generic python to work. Some of the males went into the White Cloud 20, a few others out into the proto-pond. 

The Paleatus Cories are in the White Cloud 20 at last. Now I can add several more to their little group. That was just really hard to do in the 10.

Finally broke down and bought some rice fish for Dragon, and some long-fin neon tetras for Jacaranda. Very exciting!

I’ve also chosen a few pairs of fancy guppies that I’m planning for, and making arrangements for. The Leopards from Dansfish are the ones I chose, and because he has some really gorgeous fancies right now, I couldn’t resist. The shipping is so so SO expensive, it’s tough not to make the most of it. The last pair of guppies that I bought from him, the blue-gold double sword-tail, are fantastic. I should probably go update my review on his site. And see if I’ve left one on google yet.

The current plan:

Medaka rice fish - Dragon (hopefully they, unlike the Endlers, will show up)

Longfin neon tetras - Jacaranda

Leopard guppies - currently BG 5 (the BG’s to finish growing out in the new 10 in living room)

Blue ivory guppies and LF Corydoras aeneus (don’t they have a nickname?) - currently Endler 5 (Endlers to go into the 55 gal pondette-upgrade for fun in the sun all summer)

Platinum red-tail pair and blue dream shrimp - Washburne’s tank - Washburne to go into the new 10 in the living room ***the Amano shrimp are doing really well in that tank, both of them, I’m not sure if that means the Neocardina shrimp won’t do as well, need to test and research.***

The decor in the three newer 5s (the GBR kiddos are in a palace, lol, as befitting their royal status) leaves a LOT to be desired, they are uuugly. Especially the one with the pink grow light. Can’t even get pics of them. They need plants, at least one needs a better light, possibly more gravel, all kinds of things. Since those are now going to be home tanks instead of holding tanks, I am gonna give them a little extra TLC. I have so much TLC to give, I’m enjoying each of these unique little worlds in glass boxes.

BUT I have to figure out what to do with the blackworms. ASAP. I guess I need bigger substrate, and not being able to figure that out has gotten me paralyzed. I should grab some pebbles at the… wait a minute, don’t I have pebbles from the dollar store? Where ARE those? I know I got a couple bags. Maybe I used them in the BG 10, but… maybe I’ll go check.

 

[Elodie Rose]

The Longfin Neon Tetras from Aqua Huna arrived yesterday, and were put into Jacaranda. Most of the endlers from Jacaranda are in the Endler 5 and in the Pondette. 

Jacaranda has been treated today with: Maracyn, ParaCleanse, and Ich-X. They are all eating, but some of them are swimming rather oddly, and I think they’re imported from the Czech Republic (might have to double check the Aqua Huna site). So they might have had a long, tough trip from there to here, and a little proactive/preventative care seems a good idea.

The pearl galaxy Medaka rice fish also arrived yesterday, from Aqua Huna, and were put into Dragon. I didn’t see them all eat this morning, a few of them were hanging out in the corner. I wasn’t able to watch them as closely, that tank was so dark last night. 

Today I am getting some guppies!!!

Edited June 8, 2023 by Elodie Rose

[Elodie Rose]

Guppies galore!!!

The Blue-Ivory fancies are with Washburne, the BG younglings that’d been keeping him company went back into the BG 10. I meant to put them in the BG 5 but here we are. And that’s fine too.

The Leopard guppy group is in a breeder box in the BG 5, and the Platinum red-tails are in a breeder box in the BG 10. 

And last but not least, the blue dream Neocardinas are also in with Washburne. 

Oh and the Longfin Bronze Cories are in the WC 20. So are the Paleatus. It’s the biggest tank. (I’m seeing a lot more shrimp in Jacaranda now that the Cories aren’t out-competing them for food.)

There’s a new 10 and a new 5 both getting started, which will free up some space, and the 55 gal pondette is also getting started. But for a couple days, everybody gets stable temps and stable perimeters in established tanks. 

[Elodie Rose]

So much action happening! I suddenly have ten things to do in every moment, and I love it. 

Washburne is in the BG5 at the moment, I was afraid the long, flowy fins on the guppies might aggravate him… but also he really does not seem to like that tank, he is always in the corner when I come into the kitchen, and emerges when I talk to him. We’ll see if he Ike’s this 5 better, I’ll soon be making it a better home for him. It’s the 2nd warmest tank, at 77.

[Elodie Rose]

Nothing at all has gone to plan lately. But it’s a happy chaos, for the most part. Turns out its pretty much impossible to get *all* of the endlers out of a tank unless emptying it to bare bottom. So my plans were highly impractical. 

There’s a new 10 in the red room, which at the moment has Washburne, 2 dumbo guppies, and 3 habrosus cities. So far it’s going well. Tomorrow will require some filter medium and a water change. 

The group of leopard guppies are doing well, there are only 4 of them, 1 male and 3 females, but that’s a pretty great group. They’re lovely. 

A trio of koi guppies, one male and two female, have taken up residence in the Toadstool tank. 

There are several in the Blue-gold 5 that have started to color up, and some of them are blue. Yay!

But on a more sorrowful note, I lost a Golden Queen from the Blue-gold 10 today, to bent-spine, very sad. 

Three of the blue-ivory guppies are still in the 2.5, with the blue shrimp and 2 Amano shrimp. One of the males was behaving a little oddly, so he went into the medicated tank, where he promptly perked up and has been the prettiest thing that tank has ever seen. But there are still a few endlers in there, so he’ll have to come out when the medication has run its course. The tones of lavender and purple and their markings are just amazing. 

The long-finned neon tetras, though, are not appealing to me. They’re in the medicated tank. I thought I would enjoy them, but instead I’m wondering if I can give them away or sell them. But I should give them time. There’s a reason they are in a medicated tank. I thought they’d be safe from Aqua Huna, and am wondering if I miscalculated. One of them is definitely missing a dorsal fin and has a tiny stump on one side instead of a fin… I need to go back at the pictures I took when they arrived to see if it has gotten worse, or better. 

More Cory eggs appeared! On the wide of the White-cloud 20! Which is now housing 3 paleatus and 4 Longfin bronze. Those are some glorious long fins, wow. But I meant to buy 4 high-fin Paleatus Cories, and yet I ordered Longfin bronze. 

The pond-tub was too weak to put water in, I realize now. That is a sad realization and it will have to be corrected very soon. 

Heaters were switched around today, because the heater that went into the pond in march or whenever was super long, and didn’t fit in the 10 at all, so it’s in the 20 now. The one that had kept the Endler 5 so warm went down into the Red room 10, and that one is somewhere. In a tank. Toadstool maybe. It made sense at the time. 

I’m setting up the bedside 5, which I’d love to have for the blue-ivory guppies, so the 2.5 is shrimp only. That’s really the only thing that size is suited to, other than temporary housing, like now. It lost its shrimp cave today though, which one of the Amano shrimp was *very* indignant about. It needs to be replaced with something else. I wanted to make sure the habrosus Cories in the red room 10 had a way to evade Wash if he happened to take a dislike to them. The shrimp in the 2.5 still have the Tardis to hide in, if they want to hide, and there are a ton of plants in that tank (hornwort, java moss, anacharis and the inevitable duckweed), and a new catappa leaf. 

The platinum Medaka rice fish are doing great in the darkwater tank. They are luminous, while the endlers fade into the darkness a little more easily. On the other hand, that’s what the 2nd light is for in that tank. It’s gotten a bit too dark lately, I haven’t done a big enough water change to lighten it. The water lettuce also needs to be thinned. I didn’t even know the roots *got* that big. They’re not done, either. 

Water lettuce has successfully been transferred to the Blue-gold 10, the pondette, the Jacaranda 10, and possibly the Blue-gold 5. It wasn’t long ago that I despaired of having water lettuce survive in any tank.

I wonder if some of it would help soften the light in the 2.5. That is one exceedingly bright tank-lid light, and it is placed so that I look up at it, which is super annoying. It’s also growing some algae, which the Amano shrimp are far too well-fed to bother with. 

Jacaranda did get the two envelopes of para cleanse on the first and third day, and one envelope of maracyn for at LEAST four days. I should have put it on a sticky note. I’m taking it very seriously, surely it got 5 days, but it’s been longer than that, so now I can’t remember. 

I think that covers all the recent additions to the mini menagerie. It’s the 2nd meaningful expansion of the Chandelle fishkeeping enterprise, and while it is an overall success, I think, it’s been a bit rocky as I’ve learned. And learned, and then started to learn how much I really *don’t* know. Why is that bucket so so so much larger than the knowledge bucket. I used to think my knowledge bucket was bigger, lol.

But then I started breeding fish, and keeping planted tanks, and invertebrates, and worlds just opened up. It’s such a beautiful hobby. I let it ride for a while before this 2nd wave of expansion, and I’m very pleased with how it’s shaping up. Every tank is its own little world. 

The new tanks need filter media from the established tanks. Gotta look at that, I think it’s been about the amount of time they need more bacteria. I tested today. Also added some easy green to the tanks without measurable nitrates, if they’re heavily planted. Dragon seems to be an endless well for easy green, even after the addition of the rice fish. 

 

 

[Guppysnail]

On 6/13/2023 at 8:34 PM, Elodie Rose said:

And learned, and then started to learn how much I really *don’t* know. Why is that bucket so so so much larger than the knowledge bucket

I’m quite confident this will be me until the day I die about everything. 🤗

Everything is looking fabulous. ❤️

[Elodie Rose]

One of the blue ivory queens gave birth today in the 2.5!!! They are so so adorable. and now the babies are in the 2.5 with Amano shrimp and blue dream shrimp, and the 4 adults are in the … witchy cottage 5 gallon.

A few new Cory eggs appeared in the White cloud 20. I managed to get 2-3 of them into the little cup with the others.

 

[Elodie Rose]

There are two tiny Cory fry!!! So so teeny. The only breeding box I have was in the 10 gallon in the red room, so at the moment those two little babies are in there, with a bunch of cover, and some vinegar eels. The platinum red tail dumbo mama I thought it was close to delivering babies went back into the regular tank, I guess she decided she wasn’t ready. Since I was harvesting vinegar eels, I put some in the blue gold 10, and some in the German blue ram tank.

Everybody got water changes this weekend, except maybe Jacaranda. 

I put separators between the blue ivory males and females, two pairs, and between the koi guppy male and two females. 

Why do I only see 3 leopard guppies. I hope one is in a corner giving birth. 🥺 

 

 

 

Edited June 20, 2023 by Elodie Rose

[Elodie Rose]

And today I had to learn a new and more humane way of euthanizing fish. Man, life is full of ups and downs. This is a necessary thing to learn and get right though.

One of the tetras has been ‘off’ for a while, the trio of meds didn’t clear it up, and this morning it was suffering. My heart broke a little. 

The recommended method seems to be 10 drops clove oil in a liter (34 oz) warm water, shaken well to emulsify, add fish, when motionless put in freezer. I read a lot of sites and articles and listened to videos and god I just hope I did right by the little guy. Until now I used the freezer method, which I’ve learned isn’t humane. Also heartbreaking. 💔 

The other one that has missing or ragged fins isn’t suffering, so I’m still trying to cure that one.

Aqua Huna, to their credit, did refund me for the two. They were pretty expensive after all. My heart couldn’t give a shit less though, I don’t want to receive sick fish. Cheese and crackers!!! 😖

I need to go leave some really good reviews for my LFS and Dansfish. And a good one about Aqua Huna’s customer service I guess. 

Edited June 20, 2023 by Elodie Rose

[Elodie Rose]

Testing.

[Elodie Rose]

One of the Leopard Guppy Females gave birth (pretty sure it was her) and went bent-spine, and had to be sent to the dreamlands. 

Club Auction July 1. Have a lot to do. Probably I should make a list. I’m having trouble moving forward.

I am Artax.

[Elodie Rose]

But the swamp doesn’t have me quite yet.

I’m downsizing a bit, definitely going to part with the LF neon tetras and the Platinum Medaka rice fish, and a lot of the Endlers (not all, I still think they’re one of the prettier nano fish!).

So far I’ve caught those and they’re in a 5 gal (which until just now was occupied by the male fancies, who are now in the red room 20… so ALL the male fancies are in the red room 20, and ALL the female fancies are in the bedside 5).

I’ve separated out some of the male gold-blue guppies, but I’m stumped by the orange. Why are so many of them orange? Is that from the Thai trio of males? 

Caught the fancies’ fry that I could find and put them in the 2.5.  No predators, just shrimp. The 6 blue-ivory fry in it aren’t big enough yet to be a problem.

Terrible infestations of algae, black beard I think, in WC 20. Where the sun hits. But the pothos is looking incredible. No bandwidth for that yet, but that tank is also cloudy, so it’s becoming urgent to get it figured out. 

[Elodie Rose]

Dragon was dismantled, the wood removed, replaced with a smaller piece. The water lettuce was removed, and now it has hornwort. It has a pair of blue ivory mosaic, and a pair of purple mosaic, and a bunch of fry, some of which are just starting to show dark spots on their tails. There are 3 Amano shrimp in it, and a few snails. 

Simon and River are doing great, they are often orange and deep red, and fiesty as ever. Everything has been fed with grindal worms this past month, thanks to GuppySnail, which is a ton of fun. The white worm cultures aren’t going so well, but I’m still trying. 

The blackworms, scuds, and snails have been moved to tubs, and the 6 gallon cube set up as a black water breeding tank. I left a pair of double Longfin neon tetras in it, but the basket didn’t work, I kept finding one of them outside of it. After four days, I returned them to their main tank, and constructed a false bottom with egg create and black plastic craft screen. I put a couple of white cloud mountain minnows in there, with some java moss, and we’ll see how that goes.

A pair of Green Dragon guppies and a trio of Panda guppies are in quarantine. I’m delighted with them. 

The leopard guppy pair are on their own in a 5, and so are the platinum dumbo red tails (I trust Dansfish when he says their ears don’t impair their lives in this strain). The koi blonde trio from Go Fish are in a 5. No fry that I *know* are theirs.

But there are a dozen or so mixed fancy fry in the 2.5, which now just has those fry and blue dream shrimp in it (and snails). I’m taking the fry out as soon as I can see which type they are. A bunch of them are just yellow/gold with no discernible markings. I put the small submersible light in the 2.5, which has a bunch of hornwort in it, because the blue dream shrimp have reacted *violently* each time I turn on the light. The submersible is one of the sunrise/noon/sunset lights, which are what I run on all my tanks when I can afford them. Hopefully that will help them stay a bit calmer, and maybe be easier on my eyes when I’m in that room. 

I chose a *terrible* 55 gallon tub for the new pond, and it is bulging, breaking, sagging, ugh. I need to empty it into two smaller tubs. The blue-golds are growing out in a tub outside. 

GuppySnail gave me a few snails from the swap! They are in with the white clouds and in jacaranda. ❤️

My sweet girl crossed the rainbow bridge a few weeks ago. I kept taking care of all of the fish, I’ve been re-organizing them and trying to find better ways. The blue ivories had an entire course of para guard and maracyn, and are on para guard part 2, because of that one female that swims vertically a lot of the time. Dansfish has great customer service. 

But the leopard guppy strain is probably not one that is going to be successful, sadly. But we’ll see. 

I’m not a terribly good guppy line breeder, I’ve definitely messed up with the blue-gold double swordtails. *But* there are some gorgeous males growing out in the WC 20. Gorgeous. Exactly what I was hoping for. Their tails are still very short, but their colors are getting better and better, and their tails are growing.

But a whole bunch of the “blue golds” are orange, or orange multicolor. They’re quite pretty, but not what I was expecting. 

Thank you to GuppySnail for letting me help her at the swap, and for generously gifting me with snails and food for them, and many other things. I learned quite a bit from the swap, 

As I can, I’m upgrading things, bit by bit. Most of what I’m doing is for me, not for future sales, though I really do hope to be able to trade some of the extras to the LFS, or give them away, or sell them. I’ve been saving shipping boxes/material, and bought some bags, and might be giving it a try soon. But I chose these strains of guppies because they “spark joy,” and I’m cultivating *that* more than anything else. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 15, 2023 by Elodie Rose

[Elodie Rose]

Violetta and Vinny - purple mosaic

Alba and Albion - blue ivory mosaic

Elphaba and Emeric - green dragon

Darling and Dearborn - plat dumbo redtail

Leonora and Leonis - leopard (originally purchased a breeding group of 1 m/5f… but of the 5, 2 went bent spine before shipping and were refunded, and 2 have died since)

Cyan - blue gold double swordtail (female went bent spine) 

*the panda trio still need names

*the koi trio still need names

Washburne is buried beside Zoe.

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 7/15/2023 at 11:52 PM, Elodie Rose said:

the panda trio still need names

Domino, Ringo, and Pongo?

[Guppysnail]

I’m glad things are going well. Try feeding worms every 2 days. This may also help. 

 

[Elodie Rose]

Thank you!! I appreciate you so much.

and the panda trio are named, lol. Thank you 😂🥰. Domino, Ringo, and Pongo. Which one is the lady? 

I’ll call the koi guppies Cayenne, Saffron, and Obie (Old Bay).