Chandelle Endlers, and a log of the mini menagerie

[Elodie Rose]

Went to the Aquarium Club of Lancaster County meeting and auction on Saturday, which was tons of fun. Came home with two pairs of Tiger Endlers, and a trio of Tequila Sunrise guppies. I had taken a couple dozen more of the mutt guppies from the last outside tub, a few of my blue-golds, and some misc. Reminder to self - don’t take green water, seed shrimp, or scuds, lol, but they do love plants. 

There’s just too much orange in the blue gold tank coming out. Earlier I had removed quite a few of them, and there were almost as many that were orange and blue as there were gold and blue. So I’m not going to cull those anymore, I want to let those males grow out and see if they look like the actual blue red swordtails, or the tropical sunrise variant. They’re beautiful, both of them, and I’ve thinned the tank out enough to let them overwinter. The combination of the window and the tannins make it so hard to take pictures of them, did some extra big water changes this weekend to try and lighten up the tanks. 

The distilled water from Aldi is not making a difference in the ram tank. Going to source some new water. 

The Green Dragon younglings are starting to get a little green in their tails, and I’m just in love with them. Emeric is dancing for all he’s worth, and Esmerelda must have just dropped fry, she’s just large, rather than enormous. The pandas are doing better, they like the extra cover (thank you GuppySnail!), and the shrimp are out more too.

I struggle with the pottery in that tank. But why would I buy plastic replicas of broken pottery, when I have an enormous collection of pottery from craft shops and art fairs over the years. 

Grindal worms are coming along, I’m not very good at transferring cultures, I guess, but I’m working with them.

Tiger Teddies are looking fantastic, I can see the markings on them, and the four of them seem quite busy in their little tank. I stuffed it full of rocks, hornwort and salvinia, and several types of shrimp-like critters.

Did a water change yesterday, along with all the others, but they had some pink nitrites. They’ve been getting flakes, along with all the others. I alternate the krill and the spirulina’. Bug bites are a new addition to the tanks, they’ve only had it once so far. 

Least Killis are doing well, they got a big clump of moss and have ben getting flakes too, and a teeny bit of the bug bites. I just added fish to that tank, so light feeds. Measurements ok so far, but watching. Concerned about the teddies.

Also concerned about the piano snails. I see an empty shell, and I don’t see more than one or two at a time. They’re getting a little tank of their own, so I can check on them and feed them directly. I tried so hard to keep the ramshorn and pond snails out of that tank, and lost. Starting a new one for them.

Ghost shrimp are surviving in the Cube at the moment, with the Tequila Sunrise guppies. I’ve only removed a couple. So there should still be a dozen in there, I had purchased 16 from the LFS in PA. It’s a much more promising start than the ones from HoT.

The blackworm experiment has failed, again, and I’m giving up on that one. The leeches win, I guess. Really I thought I got them out that last time. So I am in the process of getting rid of that tub, and set up a new one for white cloud breeding. I altered the false bottom to fit it, and took half a dozen of them out of the WC 20. Which is ridiculously overstocked atm, but it is really hard to catch Cories out of that tank. The WC were pretty easy.

The ACLC meeting was awesome. I was a LOT later than I wanted to be, and still got a nice lunch, and was in time for the presentation. Met some really nice people, sat with friends from CCY, and really enjoyed seeing the variety and assortment.

Alba has passed, as well as Cyan and Albion. That’s the end of the Blue-Ivories from Dansfish, though there are some fry in that tank that are growing. That group is gone, and so is the Leopard group, though Leo is still hanging out, living his best life in the Yellow Mosaic tank with a dozen or so of the fry that are growing out.

Neither type is doing very well, really, but I am loving them each, and seeing how they grow out. They might get a little extra TLC, but then, all the tanks have been getting a lot of individual attention recently. 

I’d hoped to have enough fry to offer some guppies at November and December meetings, but that might not happen. Which is okay, I’m learning the timeframe of how long it takes them to grow out. 

Esmerelda and Emeric are fantastic, and seem very healthy. The Panda Lady and Domino are doing well, and the third panda boy is in the Mutt Guppy tank to strut his stuff. There are good groups of fry, and starting to color up a teeny bit. It’s lovely to see.

The Violet Mosaics, too, are gorgeous. Just, wow. Every time I see Jen at Small World Aquatics, I buy another pair, I just can’t help myself. She has been very kind, and omg, the guppies are just lovely. Victor and Victoria are doing great. They’re so beautiful, and so is Violetta. I’m starting to see some purple on the first generation of their fry, and it’s a thrill.

The Tequila Sunrise trios are named Louie, Jo, and Nana. They’re very pretty, even more than I thought at the auction. I watched them eat krill flakes tonight, so I know they’re definitely eating. The Endlers are not nearly as shy, I see them dancing all the time. But the trio have been very shy and skittish, and lingering in the corner. So I put a towel over the tank and just let them be today, no light until this evening. It’s good to see them eating, and to see him preening for his ladies. 

The Limia Vittata aren’t happy, they’re excessively skittish, and I’m not sure why. I might need to add some dither fish, now that I think about it, I removed the tetras along with the orange fancies. Darn, I should have left a few who were familiar with the routine to help them out. I’ll have to think on that.

Endlers are a great dither fish, but I don’t think any kind of guppy can be kept with Limia, so I’ll have to research. A tetra or a minnow would be safer, and the WC 20 is overstocked, so. That’s a possibility. I wondered if a group of the White Clouds would do well with the Butterfly Splitfins, actually.  I’m unsure, and the Butterflies aren’t at all shy, so they don’t seem to show the need for it, tbh. I wish they were in a 20. Maybe if I don’t have room for 20s, I could check out a couple 15s. I’d love to get River and Booker into an upgrade, too. 

The GBR tank is happier, for sure. The plants are doing better, except that the Frogbit at the top is infested with mites/spiders and I need to find that seltzer. Regardless, the rams love their new caves. The smoky blue swordtail guppies ended up in there, I only had a few left. The trumpet snails are finally getting the sand under control, with the help of some cherry shrimp and an Amano shrimp (or 2?).

Every time I go to my LFS, which I love, I come home with a few. Any tank that doesn’t have cories will have some Amanos instead. 

 

 

 

 

[TheSwissAquarist]

You’re so lucky to have such a vibrant club! Mine has about 20 diehard members and little old me. 🫠

[Elodie Rose]

Visited a neighborhood fish keeper today, and picked up 20 yellow Neocardinas, and some blue ones to add to the existing colony. I’m hoping that because he’s only 30 minutes away, that the stress/adjustment will be minimal. What a lovely Fishroom! He’s very intense with Angelfish, but has a deep love for Endlers, and in fact was the first person to offer me Endlers last year when I started fish keeping again.

Great endlers, too, black-bar. I still have them, and recently added several pairs from the wonderful Adrian HD to bolster the genetics. They’re fantastic, and gorgeous. And bred prolifically over the summer in outdoor tubs. Very, very prolifically. A couple of my largest Endler females might even be the ones the Neighbor gave me. Very generous, professional fish keeper, and would be great to have time to talk to him about his angelfish. I’m not able to keep them, but I’m incredibly curious about them. Learning about them would be great. 

Tried again with the yellow shrimp from his Fishroom, and added them to the Yellow Metal Mosaic tank. 

Unfinished.

 

 

 

Edited October 27, 2023 by Elodie Rose

[Elodie Rose]

This week I’ve been working on these 10 gallons of fancy guppies. Tanks have been moved and reconfigured, but no occupants have been changed. 

Esmerelda and Emeric are still the largest and most beautiful of the Green Dragons. Some of their babies are starting to show green coloration, which is very exciting. There’s a small group of panda cories in this tank, but they’re very shy. The have good long barbels though. 

Louie, Jo, and Jan are the Tequila Sunrise trio, and I’m astonished by them on a daily basis. Just, wow. The ghost shrimp in their tank are still doing well, or at least I think so, I haven’t seen any pink bodies littering the bottom, as with my previous attempts with ghost shrimp. I can even see them, and find half a dozen or more when I really, really look. Fascinating little guys, I’ve made sure they get sinking wafers and calcium chips. Louie is actually iridescent green/teal. Just, how. 

Violetta is the reigning Queen of the Violet Mosaic tank. Victor and Victoria are doing well, though I miss the Blue Ivory trio. Have to give up on the Blue Ivory strain with all those gorgeous lavender-purple shades, and stay with the Small Aquatics strain of Violet Mosaics, which may hopefully show some of Alba, Cyan, and Albion’s characteristics. I miss them.

The trios from overseas, even when bolstered by the excellent care at Dansfish, aren’t always successful. I have a lot of hope for the F1s though, who have yet to grow into their colors and tails yet. That tank needs some cories. Still haven’t found any more habrosus cories. I did see some elegans, which were lovely.

Blue-Gold tank has been moved from beneath the window to the end of Fancy Guppy Row. I couldn’t ever get reasonable photos of them under the window, even though the indirect light was great. Some of the boys are starting to show the longer tail ribbons. I’ve culled some oranges, I really want them to stay blue-gold, rather than blue-red. But the blue-reds in the Mutt Guppy tank are very pretty!

I’m enjoying them a lot, maybe I should stop separating them out and just see what happens with them over the winter. But if the orange is so strong, I’m afraid the blue-gold will disappear. This is the first strain that I’m trying to learn to maintain, so probably I will keep removing oranges to the Mutt Guppy tank or to their own tank. Lovely boys, but I’m trying to learn how this is done. 

The tank beneath the window is a new 5 gallon, which holds the mixed mosses and environment from the Garden of Eder pickle jar. There isn’t a copepod in sight, but it’s got lots of nice vegetation and bacteria and mulm that’ve built up over the past months, while I’ve tried to give that strain of copepods a chance.

Now it has the piano snails and wizard snails, temporarily while I’m collecting them from Jacaranda (the former home of the wizard snails) and the 20 (the former home of the piano snails). Poor lil guys, its hard to be moved. One of the piano snails isn’t reacting well, and despite myself, I’ve been hovering near them for a day and a half, hoping they come out of their shell a bit more. There are blackworms in that tank, which is an interesting surprise. I thought the pickle jars were too warm for them.

The rest of the White Clouds were removed from the 20, and put in with the Black-bar Endlers in Jacaranda. There are 6 or so. Gorgeous with the cherry shrimp, wow. And very peaceful with the endlers. Such gorgeous fish. I hope the breeding attempt works this time.

Glitter Limia have been put in the 20, the temp was raised a bit, and I’ve removed all the endler boys and all the rainbow shiners (the shiners went back into the pond tub where they belong). There are still a dozen bronze cories, and 6-10 Paleatus cories in it, and one of the bronze cities has a white growth on its side. Will be looking at that later today to determine the best course of action. Wish I’d seen that *before* I added the limia. But it might be the result of stress from me removing the white clouds, shiners, and endlers over the past couple weeks, unsure.

That is a very tough tank to catch fish out of. No more messing around with that tank, they need some peace, and probably some kind of medicine. I’d add salt, but the piano snails were in there, so I don’t add salt to that tank. Or that has been the policy to date, until I’m certain I haven’t missed any babies. I love ramshorn snails, but I’m hating on them in that tank pretty hard, them and the pond snails, for taking over and out competing these larger, slower snails. Grr. 

The Banded Cuban Limia, which are MUCH thicker bodied and larger than I expected, went into the Redroom 10, and will definitely need to be rehomed or upgraded to a pond tub or a 20. They are not a 10 gallon fish. Bob went with them. He’s the same size as them. Not sure if I should let him stay with them, or give him to the LFS, or take him to a fish club meeting and give him away. There are still 2 green neon tetras in that tank!! The QT tank/tub. Gotta get them with their other buddies. So those 4 green neons from HoT actually did great. They’re just champion hiders in the QT tank.

So lots of work on tanks, getting situations settled for long term success. 

The blue shrimp from Neighbor DG were added to the colony in the kitchen tank, and seem to be doing well. I did spread a layer of white sand over the top of that, so I could see them better. 

His yellow shrimp were added to the Yellow Metal Mosaic tank. I don’t see them, but I also don’t see any bodies, so. I guess they’re okay, and using all the hiding places I put in that tank for them. Disconcerting, though.

Tiger Teddies are doing fantastic! Omg the color! Wow. Tiny lil beauties. No more nitrites in that tank, and the shrimp are doing well in it, too. They are just as big as the TTs. Neoheterandria elegans. The next CCY meeting is about the Latin names of fish, it’s going to be fun to learn why on earth their names are the way they are. 

The Least Killis seem to be doing well too, no shrimp in that tank yet.

Very unhappy with the green water 5 gallon, which is currently housing the Tiger Endler pairs. Probably going to drain it entirely and take it up to GuppySnail today or tomorrow. That tank needs to be redone entirely. It was a pickle jar, it had two of the mosquito fish males in it for a while, and I just didn’t expect it to be green water. 

The mosquito fish, all of them, are in a 5 gallon together, which was the first attempt at a ghost shrimp tank. Seem to be doing very well, not nearly as skittish now, I see them a lot. They come up to eat flakes now. Seems like the males really do help the females come out to eat, by being their lovely brainless selves and taking risks to get the food. Not a single fry from them yet, boy do I hope their new furniture helps them feel safer. Would love to get some scuds in there for them to hunt. Soon. 

 

 

Edited October 28, 2023 by Elodie Rose

[Elodie Rose]

 The bamboo arrived this week! GuppySnail had given me some lovely little glass bulb plant holders, and now every single one of them is in a tank, holding one or two stalks of bamboo. They’re pretty short now, but I have hopes! They are so, so pretty in her tanks. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, or so they say! Lol. Thank you @Guppysnail, for being such an inspiration and such a generous friend.  

Edited October 28, 2023 by Elodie Rose

[Elodie Rose]

Yellow metal mosaics

[TheSwissAquarist]

Those males are looking great! 

[Elodie Rose]

The Green Dragon tank has Camellanus worms, and has gotten 2 doses of Expel-P. No other tanks have it, but I may treat all tanks as a precaution, just in case. I haven’t seen any others, but I’m watching for them. Esmerelda has passed, and the female Longfin neon that was in there.

I don’t want to give up on any of my tanks, but I’m wondering if I’ve bitten off more than I can chew. 

I’m about to set up a 40 breeder, it’s been 13 years since I’ve had a large tank running, that one was a 75. But it will house a pair of gorgeous, precious little lemon blue-eyed bristlenose. Named Lee and Kaywinnet, proooobably. They are in with the Violet Mosaics. 

Tanks that have TONS of fry: Endlers, Redtail Splitfins, Marigold Milleri, Blue-gold doublesword.

Tanks that do NOT have tons of fry, and SHOULD: Green Dragon (there are lots of juveniles though), Violet Mosaic(several juveniles), Yellow Metal Mosaic (several juveniles), Mosquito fish - none. None! 

Panda guppies are kind of in-between.

The Ameca Splendens haven’t had any fry, but they have a 2 month gestation, I think, so I’m not surprised.

The Blue Dragons, Platinum Dumbo Redtail, and Green Moscow will arrive this week. Biting. Chew. Oof. 

[Elodie Rose]

River is still active, and still very ill. She’s in a 5 gal hospital tank with Maracyn 2, and has gotten a few water changes due to ammonia. I’m not sure the green water was a good idea, I think the meds might be affecting it. 

The new residents are settling in. Dansfish sent me a new pair of Platinum Dumbo-ear Redtail guppies, which was super nice of them. Trios of Blue Dragons and Green Moscows. They seem young, and not as elaborately gorgeous and colored up as the previous guppies, and I hope that they are young, and that I’ll get to see them grow into their tails, and have them for a couple years.

It breaks my heart to lose them. Esmerelda and Darling are sorely missed. But they were very large females when they were sent to me, which isn’t necessarily ideal. Beautiful, oh my, yes. But my goal is a little colony tank. One I can add pairs to every few months, to make sure I don’t inbreed them into oblivion, but just a little 10 gallon tank of pretty guppies.

It’s good to have a goal to work towards! Gives me a solid direction for those tanks, and a standard to measure things by. If it isn’t good for the guppies and fry, then it shouldn’t be in the tank. And the Goodeid tanks are the same way, though I’m treating them with the “GBR protocol,” which is still developing, but gets more and more careful, thoughtful, and stringent.

Some of the tanks are treated very casually. Those fish need to be hardy enough to handle slightly irregular feeding times, temperature swings of a few degrees, a day or two without outside food, things that would actually happen in a fish’s natural environment. Weather patterns, food patterns, seasonal shifts.

The Blue-golds are treated this way, they are a casual tank, with nothing but Kuhli loaches for company. Tons of fry. Redundant colony in the GBR tank, just blue-gold culls (that are lovely) that have also had fry in that tank as well.   

The GBR tanks are more hands-off. Nothing goes into those tanks without intention and research, no new plants, no new creatures from outside the house. Very rarely I’ve added inverts from other healthy tanks, or a particular guppy. I’ve removed a few guppy females when they start getting enormous, that’s not a breeding tank, after all. The GBR are considered first. Seems sensible.

Another fishy goal: doing things in the Fishroom intentionally, instead of haphazardly “because that’s what I heard somewhere/read on FB/saw on YT/etc.” I set up a few tanks very hastily this summer, and now I’m reconsidering whether or not to take them into the winter. Some of them are doing fantastic and actually need a little thinning. Others, not so much. 

I don’t know how to figure out the equilibrium of a livebearer colony yet. It’s very exciting to be breeding fish, to see the generations of fry in the tank and watch them grow up. The summer tubs were great for producing tons of fish, and they were very colorful, but I didn’t get to spend time with them. I didn’t even really get to see them much, cause the dwarf water lettuce took over. It’s good at that, I’ve noticed. Something to think about for next year’s tubs. 

Speaking of tubs, the last one got put in the utility room yesterday. Got very very cold last night, and I was worried the heater wasn’t enough. I’d like to figure out how to make a little pond that I actually enjoy. With the koi guppies, preferably, because OMG prolific. I thought I rehomed the majority of the colony, along with the original trio.

How do I still have an entire colony of koi guppies?? They left enough fry in the tank for a pond tub by themselves. 

The Panda Lady, however, chased around some fry last evening for a while. I thinned the floating plants and she seized that opportunity… to go hunting? Yikes, Panda Lady. The yellow shrimp never did catch on in that tank, I wonder if she ate them. When I have a spare tank (LOLOL why am I like this) I could try moving some of the fry into it to grow up more safely. 

Marigold is the Tank Boss, and I am Here. For. It. She’s doing great, and there have been a couple small batches of fry in that tank. One of them significantly smaller than any others I’ve seen from them, more like guppy fry, so they’re possibly from a younger female, or they need a rest. It’s time to lower the temperature anyway, I’ll check it today and probably lower it a degree. There are quite a few juveniles and fry in there though, which is lovely to see.

Also in that tank, the dwarf aquarium lily has some disintegrating leaves. I put a plant weight on the bacopa, now that it’s long enough to reach from the substrate to the surface. 

 Lemon Blue-Eyed Bristlenose babies. I visit the Violet Mosaics often to check on them, and the guppies are looooving the extra attention. There aren’t enough fry in that tank, it needs more plants and more regular food. Which it is now getting, so the lemon babies, Lee and Kaywinnet, are benefitting the guppies. They don’t seem to hang out together much.

I haven’t had a pleco in 20  years, lol, and those were in my Monster Cichlid tanks. These are teeny little aliens, with completely unfamiliar and strange patterns and movements. Utterly darling ones, that I have to resist sitting to gaze at in wonder. I never had babies, back in the Monster Cichlid days. They’re getting microwaved green beans, and last night I made some green repashy, which will be shared amongst the tanks as well. The entire Fishroom is gonna love those babies, lol.

Maybe I’ll even get a picture of them soon. They’re shy, and I haven’t wanted to frighten them by ‘hunting’ them with direct and focused attention following them, I want them to feel safe and settle in. Like the difference between a boss-stare with a dog and a soft-stare. Not as subtle, but still, the principle applies. GuppySnail has me thinking about the psychology of fish quite a bit! It’s fascinating. I believe in the subtle energies and emotions within these tanks, I spend hours with them every day. My job gets done, certainly, but the tanks get a lot of time as I move throughout the house during the day. 

There is the Guppy Room, which is the bedroom. The Goodeid room, which is the office. The “lab” which is the front of the house, because that’s where the direct sunlight comes into the windows. And the GBR room, which is the living room (and now has the least killifish and the tiger teddies, too). I like that each tank is starting to become a decorated, planted, individual little ecosystem. Even if it’s only the very beginning, with just fish, plants, and snails.

Snails!! I am becoming more and more obsessed with snails. Piano Snaaaaaails. I only have FOUR. Well, I can only find 4, in the 20 gallon which is full of hiding spaces for catfish and shrimp. But still. Heartbreaking. They did not thrive there, like I expected, instead they were outcompeted. An important lesson for me.

I tried to target feed them, but it didn’t seem to work, so I need better methods before I try that in the future. Now they’re in Snailhaven, and there wouldn’t be any fish in there at all, if I hadn’t needed a place for Darling and Dearborn 2.0. No. More. Tanks. If something comes in, something’s gotta go out.  Equilibrium of some kind has to be a goal, too. 

OMG. Omg. There’s a baby in the Tiger Teddies tank. Oh, my heart, it’s so teeny. I love, love, love this hobby. My heart feels so full in these moments, even when desperately worried about them, too. 

 

Edited November 1, 2023 by Elodie Rose

[Elodie Rose]

BISCUITS. There are nitrites in the Green Dragon tank. Did a 50% water change and gravel vac’d again. 

The water came out dark as sweet tea, so the almond leaves are doing their work. I do need to be able to see the fish, though.

[Guppysnail]

It’s very possible the maracyn is killing off your green water. Do a larger water change and redose maracyn for what was removed as needed. 
 

In so glad you live the little lemons. They have such different personalities from other fish. 

[Elodie Rose]

Starting day 4 of treating with Maracyn 2. Seems to have eaten grindal worms overnight. She’ll get more this morning, in a feeding dish, so they don’t disappear into the substrate. 

[Elodie Rose]

The lump is almost gone from River’s cheek. What a little fighter she is!  If we continue, this would be a 2nd round of antibiotics, for another week. 

I’m not sure whether to continue medicating for a 2nd week, or if I should just let her be and give her the space to heal. 

Spixi snails! I am going to start breeding them, I’m terribly excited. There are no egg layers or shrimp in the Mosquito fish tank, so they went into there. It won’t be hard to add extra ramshorns or bladder snails if needed. I’ll need to remove the eggs to a breeder box so that as man survive as possible. 

And piano snails! They and the wizard snails are staging a comeback. But their tank is overrun with tiny ramshorn snails, which I’m going to use cucumber to remove as many as possible. Ironic. Maybe I could empty their tank and start it over again, and try to get a tank that is free of anything but trapdoor snails.

At the CCY meeting yesterday I bought some red root floaters, and GuppySnail gave me a big bag of hornwort. I’m going to try with those plants, since it was probably by grabbing plants from another tank that I brought the ramshorns over. 

Also at the meeting, I bought some magenta mystery snails. A LOT of magenta mystery snails. So every tank upstairs got a mystery snail, except the Mosquito fish and the Trapdoor snail tanks. Didn’t put them in the Least killis or Tiger teddies tanks either, but there were 15 mystery snails.

The group of 5 went into the bathroom tanks, and the group of 10 went into the living room and bedroom tanks. One of the groups was male, and the other group was female, but I was flustered and didn’t write down which was which. 

A second trio of Tequila Sunrise guppies joined the first trio!! I was prepared to spend $50 on them, and I got them for $5!!! STEAL of the century. No more big guppies can go in that tank, but I am super happy with a breeding group of 2 males and 4 females.

And although I did remove 1 dead ghost shrimp last week, there are at least a dozen still in that tank, invisible as ever. I need to make sure I get them enough food, shrimp eat more than I thought. The airline on their pump keeps popping off, I’m about to super glue it, which is a terrible solution.

Every tank will get another round of Expel-P today, except River’s, and then I’ll need to turn the lights off. So I may do that a little later in the day, so I can spend some time with the tanks this morning and see how everyone is doing. 

Daphnia… are… existing, I guess? In the green water jug I gave them. I need to watch some how-to videos today I guess, I feel kind of clueless about whether to harvest them or not, or what to do. I did some research on it, but don’t feel comfortable yet, and will probably need to add a page to the fish log. 

A bullet journal has become the fish log, a physical notebook where I intend to keep the details of where the various fish were obtained, what their needs are, and a log of whether they were ever ill/medicated. While I’m sick this morning I may work on that for a while. 

Mama Amano has been removed to a small freshwater container. I don’t think she released the zoe yet, but boy is this new. I’ve changed her water, given her more plants, and we’ll see. I wouldn’t be the first one to fail, but it’s my first try, so I’m gonna try.

A breeder box might have been better than a separate container. I’m starting to see places where those can be extremely helpful. There’s usually a coupon at That Fish Place where the ACLC swap is, maybe I can pick up one or two at the store with that coupon.  

Three teeny little horned zebra nerite snails joined the menagerie last week, and are in a low-end brackish tank, getting it started for the zoes, if there are any. They have almond leaves and java moss at the moment. I’ve looked up other plants that can tolerate brackish conditions: Java fern, Java moss, Red mangrove tree sprout, Moneywort, Crypt lutea, Anubias, and Crypt ‘beckett’ (sp?). 

Grindal worms are doing great! But getting dry. Added a ton of water yesterday. The air holes might be too big, I’ll try covering half of it this week with tape. But the soil isn’t holding moisture very well at all. 

I’m struggling with whether or not it will be safe to take any fish to the Nov 12 meeting. They will have been medicated twice with Expel-P. I haven’t actually seen anything in any tank but the Green Dragons. And yet. It might be too soon to “open the Fishroom” again. I’ll have to ask for advice, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.

[Elodie Rose]

New batches of fry in the Violet Mosaic and Tequila Sunrise tanks! Delightful. 

Really wanted some shrimp in with the Least Killis, but since the Fishroom is on lockdown, I got a few at the club auction this weekend instead. 

Instead of just having an extra set of tools for the hospital tank, I’m leaving a net and pipette, gallon jugs, (and anything else I have duplicates of) at each tank. I’ll get to decorate the buckets and pitchers with fish and fish vendor stickers. 😄  Sometimes its the little things. But the duplicate tools create clutter, and it took a week to figure out where and how they should be stored/labeled.  

Doses of Expel P given to some tanks tonight. It seems the new package that I ordered is misplaced, so I’ll have to get another one tomorrow to treat the rest of the tanks. The Mosquito fish/Spixi tank needs to be excluded, and the Platinum Redtail/Wizard snail tank needs to be excluded. But I put a Mystery Snail into several tanks this weekend, so. May the odds be ever in their favor.  

I’m betting on the little guys, though. These meds are supposed to be invert safe. The more serious treatment is Levamisol. Which I had also gotten, and is now also lost, and has to be replaced. 

Setbacks happen. This isn’t my first go-round, but boy, I had forgotten this feeling. The big cichlid tanks were so difficult to treat, and I don’t even remember what we used. Whatever the pet store sold us at the time, I suppose, it was the late 90s/early 00s. 

And then later, with the Orandas, which I am still a sucker for. Particularly Chocolate Orandas. Only Blue Rams are prettier, but the swim bladder problems were endless. The epsom salt and smashed peas, and an attempt at live plants that ended up as expensive fish food. They were like puppies though, and utterly adorable with unique personalities. Whole different world though, and I wish I’d been able to find the resources then that the Interwebs have put me in touch with now. 

This time, the need for separate tools became apparent. I’m glad I had already set up the fish log, I’ve been able to track the meds better than just using the glass pens/crayons. But it has been handy to be able to write on them, the sticky notes don’t stay. But the dates of the first batches of fry are all in this journal.

Trying to think of where I’ve put plants. That might be a concern. But after the damselfly larvae in the Hornwort this summer and the spider mites on the Frogbit/dwarf water lettuce/salvinia in the pond tubs, I’ve been a lot more careful with live plants coming into the Fishroom.

Reverse respiration happened with the Frogbit from the auction, but I’m still waiting to see whether it recovers. And now I have a bucket of red root floaters to treat. But I’m excited to have them! Some tanks have benefitted from the lack of floating plants, but not the ones without guppy fry. I still want to set up 3x daily auto feeders on a few of them.

And I did get a light timer this weekend! The CCY raffles away these great Aquarium Co-op bags full of useful things, like a bright green bag of holding. There was a timer, a few packets of different foods, gummy fish which were immediately devoured, small bottles of water conditioner, and Microbe-lift.  I’m going to have to take a picture. I was thrilled. All kinds of new and fun things to try.

I accidentally won 2 of the CCY raffles, but luckily they gave the other prize to someone else. In that case, rules lawyering is not welcome, but silly. Of course one person shouldn’t win two prizes and keep them both, in a club full of other people who also want to win a leprechaun’s treasure in a kelly green bag. It was such fun! 

There’s going to be a coupon at That Fish Place next weekend, and now I have some great ideas of little gift-bags I might be able to put together for the November/December fish club swaps. If I can’t take fish, there are some other ways to contribute. I can imagine how handy a “hospital tank” gift-bag could be.

Or maybe I could start baking things again. Might be time to break out the dragon bundt cake pan, unless its too nerdy for the fish folks. Who are nerdy for fish, but not necessarily for d&d and the like. 😆

 

 

 

Edited November 6, 2023 by Elodie Rose

[Guppysnail]

On 11/5/2023 at 8:57 AM, Elodie Rose said:

It won’t be hard to add extra ramshorns or bladder snails if needed.

They will be competing for food. Though I have seen Spixii eat baby bladders for breeding you want the Spixii to get all the food. The bladder and ramshorn populations will explode feeding high protein food directly to Spixii. Kens meat wafers are a favorite. They like green beans and cucumbers and such also. They are omnivorous so need both meat and veggies. 
 

[Elodie Rose]

Thank you! I will use some cucumber to remove them. 

[Elodie Rose]

There are little fry in the Glitter Limia tank!!!! Yay!

[Pokey]

I enjoy reading your journal, 😃 And the pictures!

What do you do with all the green water and other jars? Are they experiments, or for feeding?

 
It sounds like you’re getting a lot of joy from your tanks, even with the ups & downs. Thanks for sharing!

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 11/7/2023 at 5:09 PM, Elodie Rose said:

There are little fry in the Glitter Limia tank!!!! Yay!

Congrats! They’re such a cool fish. 

[Elodie Rose]

Lost River last night. 

[Elodie Rose]

On 11/7/2023 at 2:12 PM, Pokey said:

I enjoy reading your journal, 😃 And the pictures!

What do you do with all the green water and other jars? Are they experiments, or for feeding?

 
It sounds like you’re getting a lot of joy from your tanks, even with the ups & downs. Thanks for sharing!

Thank you very much! That’s very true, despite the troubles the tanks are full of life and bring me a lot of happiness. Thank you for the encouragement. 

Most of the jars are experiments! Since the green water was an accident, and has since switched from Jar C to the current Jar G, I’m still trying to figure out why and how. I diversify to keep it going in case the main jar crashes, just like with white worms or grindal worms. 

They are holding plants, seed shrimp, scuds, snails, and other critters. They can be moved around easily to find the best sunlight through the day. Some are food for the fish, others are my attempts to introduce biodiversity to the tiny ecosystems in the tanks that I’m trying to create. Like a food web. 
 

Edited November 8, 2023 by Elodie Rose

[Elodie Rose]

Busy busy busy! It’s been nonstop, with the ACLC Swap on Saturday, the ACM’s 1st meeting on Sunday, and the breeding projects of piano snails and spixi snails, and finally, the newsletter assistance. 

The Swap was fun, I learned how to bag fish much better than before, and received some lovely purple guppies from Jen at Small World Aquatics. And I found some spixi snails this weekend, too! Another dozen joined the menagerie, as well as that final elusive darling from GuppySnail’s tank.

Sunday was the first meeting of the ACM, and while it was a very long meeting, it was also tons of fun. Father Fish came to speak with us, and was fantastic. Lovely person. And he bid on pretty much any auction item that didn’t seem like it was going to sell, which was both generous and kind of him. There were some fierce bidding wars over cichlids, though! Very entertaining. 

I’m transitioning some of the 5s to a rack in the office, since the spare bedroom furniture has been removed… and now I have a free wall with 3 outlets.

Completely emptied and redid the piano snails’ tank, and hopefully this time there won’t be any ramshorn/bladder snails. There’s a journal for that breeding project! Notes and pictures will continue there. Also for the Spixi snails… who will likely need a tank redo as well. The only way to start a tank without ramshorns/bladder snails is NOT to use any plants from any of my own tanks. Ouch. Luckily, GuppySnail gifted me with hornwort, and I’ve picked up a few other things from auctions. 

Grindal worm feedings are almost at twice daily, which is fantastic. 

Indoor pond-tubs as growout tanks/tubs for the most prolific of the guppies may be something that I set up soon. The 5 gallons aren’t working for the guppies, which are either being transferred or rehomed, as I’m figuring out what works for me and what doesn’t. Not just tank size but strains, foods, plants, water changes, tannins.

Many things are happening, even if I’m not getting them all recorded. 

 

Edited November 16, 2023 by Elodie Rose

[Elodie Rose]

So busy. Many things have happened, some are good, some not so much.

I’m working on my first little ‘fish rack’ which will have 8 of the 5 gallons on it, Which is a good start for them, and a great consolidation, since they were covering pretty much every surface. What’s on there so far: Koi guppies, Yellow metal mosaic (more on these later), Panda guppies, Redtail splitfins, and the guppy Mosh Pit. 

What still needs to go on it: The Gambusia holbrooki, and… 2 others that I haven’t decided, but since the top shelf is almost as tall as I am, those last 2 may be a moot point, unsure.

PIANO SNAIL BABIES! There are so many! And they are so adorable. And yet SOMEHOW  a bladder snail got in there, and I’m taking a few out every night. Grrr. Oh, and the tank has hydra. Probably all the snail tanks do, except the Spixi snails, of course.

I wonder if just ONE Spixi snail would eat the hydra, and not the rest of the available food…. Hah. Nevermind.

The White Wizard snails have their on tank, and so do the Tiger Tower snails. Lovely creatures. They each got a few guppies too, naturally, one of them got a mix of green/purple Moscows, the other a few of the Green Dragon juvies. 

A trio of purple Moscows, two pairs of green Moscows, and a blue-green Moscow are all in a tank together. Nobody else will want the hybrids, but I do, and if any are that pretty blue-green, the lady at Go-Fish would, I’m sure. I should check in with her and see how her panda babies are doing. 

The Platinum Dumbo Redtails had fry! Lots of fry!!! Yaaaaaaay. Darling never had any, and so Dansfish sent me a new pair. Jonny and Dan are really, really great. 

The Green Dragons… have no fry. NONE. What… on earth. If I’ve lost that line, despite having over a dozen lovely little ladies in that tank, I’ll be devastated. I can’t even find any more to bolster the genetics. 

But the Violet Mosaics have LOTS of fry! And lots of juveniles. They’re looking wonderful, EXCEPT for the larger female that died of a prolapse yesterday, despite me removing her to a hospital tank with epsom salt as soon as I spotted her. Poor lil thing.

Lee and Kaywinnet are still in their tank, and are growing too, like teeny, lovely little blue-eyed dandelions. Their 40 gallon is coming, probably in December. 

I thought, mistakenly, that the White Clouds would be fast enough to keep up with, or avoid, the Ameca Splendens. Nope. The Butterfly split fits beat the heck out of them and left them in tatters. They’re in a hospital tank now. Ngl, those Butterflies are SAVAGE. And have NO fry… but if they go after everything in the tank that way, no wonder!!! Going to have to change that tank up some, the cover obviously isn’t enough. 

There are some mystery limia fry that need to be separated out, until I can figure out which they are. 

Last week I removed a male panda guppy from the Yellow Mosaic tank. Cheese. And. Crackers. The reason they have all that lovely blue is that they were crossed with Panda guppies. So I don’t have Yellow Metal Mosaics, at all, anymore, that line died out completely. On the other hand, the guppies that resulted are beyond gorgeous, and I’m in love with them. 

How many ways can one person mess up a dozen lines of guppies, let me count the ways. There are so many. But lessons are being learned, I just wish I wasn’t learning them by screwing so many things up.

The Tiger Teddies are gone, all of them, fry too. Whole tank crashed, everything died. Mistakes were made, tears were shed. Next time I’ll do better. 

The Least Killis are in with the Spixi snails now, except for a couple that I dropped into the Piano snail tank to see if they would eat the hydra. They’re looking great! Not tons of fry, but the colony is growing, and there are all sizes, so I think they’re doing ok. So teeny. 

To be continued

[Elodie Rose]

The Blue Dragons are doing really, really well, and I think I’ve seen some guppy fry, in amongst the platy fry. 

Speaking of Marigold, she is doing fantastic. I gave up four of her lil babies to a club auction, and boy did I have some seriously mixed feelings about it. They’re platies, sure, but they’re Xiph. Milleri, and I just have trouble reconciling the idea of tossing them in with a group of mixed platies. But isn’t that what we want for them? For them to be so common that they are unremarkable? We’re not there yet, though. A dilemma.

Booker is doing well, but I’m afraid he’s lonely, and I keep looking and looking at those “Dark Storm” rams, some kind of hybrid I think, between the black rams and blue ones. Booker is a hybrid too though, he’s electric and German blue. So maybe his lil lady friend could be, too. Might go back and look at them again today, and think on it. 

5 out of 6 pagoda snails died, and oh my god, the stench was tremendous. Oh my god. That is wretched. I can’t even.

ONE pagoda snail is a lil trooper though, and she has her own lil home. Not sure I’ll be getting her (him? No clue)  any friends though.

Assassin snails have joined the menagerie, and are mysterious beauties, being kept separate. Very separate. Boy are they pretty, though.

Yellow shrimp!!! There are suddenly tons of them in with the Blue Leopards, which is awesome. Most of them are probably from DG in the neighborhood, I’m glad they feel safe enough to be visible.

CALCIUM CHIPS. Some of the rams horns are looking teeeeerrrrribblle. So everybody is on a calcium regimen now, helped along by a big package of snail calcium and snail food from GuppySnail.

The blue ramshorn snails were DOA. A new batch might arrive in the next week. Instead of having brown bodies with blue shells, they seem to have blue/black bodies with clear shells. Kind of like the pink/red ones. Hardy as these things are, how on earth did they perish in shipping? Then again, I didn’t pay for the upgraded box, so they were mailed without packing material, so maybe that’s how. The 2nd time around, the seller recommended the box and warming packet, so I’m guessing they’ll do better. But I did gather up some of my own blues and put them together, too. 

No more mail order fish after these snails, the time for shipping is over. Too. Darn. Cold. Besides, I have plenty to keep me busy… and I’ve yet to come home from an auction without anything to add to the menagerie. 

Checking into BAP for the ACLC! I’m not sure how it works yet. The CCY one is only for cichlids, so I doubt I’ll be doing any BAP there. The MD club BAP hasn’t begun yet.

TBC

 

[Guppysnail]

On 11/28/2023 at 10:48 AM, Elodie Rose said:

The Least Killis are in with the Spixi snails now, except for a couple that I dropped into the Piano snail tank to see if they would eat the hydra.

You would be better keeping small fish out for now that way no powder food goes in tanks. The hydra will cyst up in a week or two lacking food then get vacuumed out. 
 

LOVE LOVE LOVE the guppy rack 🥰