GoofyGarra Posted May 27 Author Share Posted May 27 It has been a while since i fed my fish by "hand", i decided that since i had extra time this morning i would give it another try. Lighting wasn't the best for photography, but the fish were very interested in my hand. I think that Garra Guy's interactions were particularly hilarious. He was like a scared kid at a diving board, kind of investigating and backing away, investigating and backing away, before finally coming onto my hand and staying there for a while, eating off my dead skin just like his cousin Garra rufra. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoofyGarra Posted May 27 Author Share Posted May 27 The shrimp tank has been needing a do-over for a while. The shrimp just hide in the guppy grass all the time and the tank is not very aesthetic with just a mass of guppy grass floating on top. I decided that since i had the day off today was the day. Boy i did a lot. Several changes happened with this tank mostly just substrate and planting. This tank before had a layer of fine sand, I am done with sand, the mulm gathering on the surface just was horrible to look at. I replaced the sand with a nice natural gravel i had laying around, the only issue is it is a reddish gravel so it is a bit hard to see the shrimp, but maintenance will be so much easier now. Planting before had been a mass of Guppy Grass with some Anubias on wood below it. I am done with crazy growing plants like Guppy Grass, it just doesnt make the tank fun. I re-positioned the Anubias a bit, putting into crevices in the wood, and then added a Taiwan lily and a sprig of Water Wisteria, both of which should grow slower then the Guppy Grass. With all these changes i also turned down the light intensity so i hopefully wont have extreme algae problems. As is pretty common with my projects, I can never remember to take before pictures, just because my schedule is spontaneous. But i have a picture of the tank from a few weeks ago, back when it was in it's previous scape. I'm liking the new scape more simply because now we can actually see the shrimp and they are not just hiding in all the plants. Before: After (The water is a bit cloudy from the new substrate): 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoofyGarra Posted May 28 Author Share Posted May 28 Some stuff happened today. In order to prepare the school tank for the summer i needed to reduce the population of the adults. So a bunch of adults and juveniles came home with me today to live in the big tank. The only issue is that as soon as i added them the Mosquitofish tried to kill the Endler juveniles, and were chasing them all around the tank. I'm not so sure what to think of the Mosquitofish anymore, they are just too aggressive for my tank. Also let us all welcome back Balrog. He had been living at school and came home with the Endlers. The sunburst male had been aggressive to the females so he has been moved to the 5gallon with the Gouarmi until i can find him a new home. (I know, horrible QT move). 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoofyGarra Posted May 29 Author Share Posted May 29 Sometimes fish can just be amazing. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoofyGarra Posted May 30 Author Share Posted May 30 By this point the Honey Gouarmi is pretty much healthy, I can't believe we've gone so long without a name though. I am waiting to move her to the big tank until the Mosquitofish leave, those feelers look like tempting targets for fin nippers. Mosquitofish are going to a friend. His tank is 37gallons with Danios and Red-Eye tetras, nobody for the mosquitofish to bother over there. I told my friend that I had a few platy fry and he requested a male because his male died. With Balrog back in the big tank, the Sunburst male has been moved to the 5gallon, he will also be going to my friend at some point. (Side Note: The honey Gouarmi and Sunburst Male are getting along really well, i'd have thought since they look similar there might be aggression, but i've seen them swim around the tank together like friends) I have been moving Endler's out of the big tank as i find them, most have beat up tails and are stressed out, the mosquitofish are not playing nice which is a big reason they have to go. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted May 31 Share Posted May 31 On 5/30/2024 at 9:20 AM, GoofyGarra said: I am waiting to move her to the big tank until the Mosquitofish leave, those feelers look like tempting targets for fin nippers. Good call. Gambusia are relentless. I ended up with a few that came in with our feeder minnows when I worked at Petsmart. Cool fish, but rambunctious! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoofyGarra Posted May 31 Author Share Posted May 31 (edited) Chipmunk fun Edited May 31 by GoofyGarra 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chick-In-Of-TheSea Posted May 31 Share Posted May 31 Is there any access at all to the school tank over the summer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoofyGarra Posted May 31 Author Share Posted May 31 (edited) On 5/31/2024 at 9:42 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said: Is there any access at all to the school tank over the summer? I won't be able to access the tank, the building will be locked and its really out of the way for me. The plan was for the Bio teacher to come in and top off the water and just make sure everyone was ok. However it's pretty much the last week of school now and I was supposed to talk to her about it, but of course at the worst possible time i'm stuck home with Strep and havent had a chance to meet with her. Not the best plan but its too late to change it now Edited May 31 by GoofyGarra 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chick-In-Of-TheSea Posted May 31 Share Posted May 31 On 5/31/2024 at 9:45 AM, GoofyGarra said: I won't be able to access the tank, the building will be locked and its really out of the way for me. The plan was for the Bio teacher to come in and top off the water and just make sure everyone was ok. However it's pretty much the last week of school now and I was supposed to talk to her about it, but of course at the worst possible time i'm stuck home with Strep and havent had a chance to meet with her. Not the best plan but its too late to change it now Call the principal’s office and leave a message for her to call you. Hope you feel better soon! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoofyGarra Posted May 31 Author Share Posted May 31 On 5/31/2024 at 10:01 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said: Call the principal’s office and leave a message for her to call you. I will definitely reach out to her to make sure the fish are ok over the summer. Fortunately all the needed supplies are already at school so it shouldnt be too hard just to send her instructions. On 5/31/2024 at 10:01 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said: Hope you feel better soon! Thanks! In the meantime I get plenty of time with my fish and am around to feed my platy fry more often so they grow more. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoofyGarra Posted June 2 Author Share Posted June 2 (edited) The sunday routine is disrupted this morning. I was not feeling up to setting up BBS on friday and just to make my luck better the 5gallon bucket i use for my water changes developed a leak, which led to many problems in of itself. Its a good thing that the Honey Gouarmi does not have a name yet, because now I am unsure about the sex. Previously i had thought female because when I first got the fish he/she had a horizontal line down the body which i thought was a sign of a female. But now i've noticed that the Gouarmi's gill plate is showing blue/black scales, which i think is a sign of breeding dress on males. So anybody have any ideas? Also the 5 (i found 1 more) platy fry are now 1 week old and are growing fast and chunky. I've been feeding them lots of Easy Fry Food and they are doing great. Their tank gets fed a lot and needs routine vaccuming and water changes, but fortunately the tank is small so that is easy enough to accommodate. Edited June 2 by GoofyGarra 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoofyGarra Posted June 2 Author Share Posted June 2 Ok heading out today to my friend's house: 1 Sunburst platy male ~10-15 shrimp 2 Mosquitofish Also in DIY math, Gatorade Bottle+Hot Glue+Rock= Shrimp Feeding Dish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoofyGarra Posted June 3 Author Share Posted June 3 (edited) Ok with the mosquitofish out the Gouarmi has been added to the big tank. Very shy and just hiding in the back, but hopefully as he gets a bit bigger he will stop hiding. My goal for the 5gallon now is to use it as a breeder tank for Endler's and shrimp. i have built a large breeder box out of a ACO net and placed a few endler females inside, and the shrimp will be able to go inside the net (they climb out of the water to get inside) and also to swim around the tank. I want to try and work on a Endler's strain of my own, I want to focus more on a top-view type of fish because even though I usually few my fish from the side, I can appreciate a nice top view fish. Edited June 20 by GoofyGarra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoofyGarra Posted June 5 Author Share Posted June 5 (edited) I met up with my friend on Sunday and passed along some fish and shrimp to him. In return he gave me some clippings from the Watermelon plant he got from ACO. I floated the clippings in my shrimp tank and they are starting to grow, my only question is how well could i grow the new stems in my terrariums... Honey Gouarmi has been doing ok in the big tank, he is always hiding and is very small so not doing the centerpiece thing very well. A super cool fish though, I'm thinking about getting him a few friends in the future Platy fry are growing very well, i have been feeding them on BBS and Easy Fry Food and they have been doing great. Something I never realized before was how easy maintenance is in a very small tank like this one. I have been doing regular water changes to keep mulm levels down and i can do them even if i don't have much time. I also found an Endler fry (from the old tank) a bit older then the platy fry and also moved him into the 1.8 gallon tank with the platies. I think this is the best Shrimp picture I have ever taken, check out the detail on those Anubias leaves Also my Endler breeding plan completely failed. The net breeder box fell down in the tank and all the females escaped, they are all doing fine just not in a breeder box. I still want to breed some Endler's but it might be a bit harder now. Fortunately Mama Endler is recovering from the tail nips she received from the Mosquitofish, everything is much more peaceful without them. The Endler's have also been a lot more active and outgoing since the Mosquitofish were removed (Spot the platy photobomber) Edited June 20 by GoofyGarra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoofyGarra Posted June 6 Author Share Posted June 6 Platy fry are 10 days old now and doing amazing on a diet of Easy Fry Food and BBS. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoofyGarra Posted June 7 Author Share Posted June 7 (edited) Getting started on a new terrarium project, i installed ventilation and mixed up the substrate today. The tank is 5 gallons and my goal will be to make it look like a lichenous forest. I have a few cool hardscape pieces that have healthy lichens on them, so you'll see what i mean once i get to the hardscape step. Initially this was going to be an upgrade from my 2.5 gallon terrarium, but now i have the supplies to make it it's own thing so i want to do that instead and have fun with some new species. I definitely want to try a new kind of isopod in this setup, Powder Orange could be cool, but first i need to get the terrarium set up and seeded with Springtails. I also moved my mossy forest floor terrarium to my aquarium shelf in order to take advantage of the lights I have mounted there to light the 1.8 gallon tank. Moving this setup to a new light source will allow me to use the setup's old light to light up my new terrarium and grow mosses and lichens. In the past i have just used window light for my terrariums and i still do, but having a light on a timer just makes everything easier because sometimes I am busy or lazy. Edited June 7 by GoofyGarra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoofyGarra Posted June 9 Author Share Posted June 9 Still have not made it to Home Depot for a new bucket so the tank had to wait for water changes again. Fortunately between the low stocking and the plants the tank can go a few weeks without a water change. I had a ton of duckweed in my big tank so I netted it all out and put it on my drying rack to dry out, I like to use the dried duckweed for nutrients in my Isopods substrate. Anyway I put the duckweed on the drying rack and an Endler fell out of the net. I must have accidently grabbed him while netting out the duckweed at the surface. I managed to grab the fish and put him back and now he is doing well, good thing I double checked and managed to check it. (Endler in photo is not the Endler involved in the story, this is just my favorite Endler and I like photographing him) I made some slow progress on the terrarium project, I had my substrate mixed up but it was pretty sterile so far. I needed to take one of my old terrariums that had a very established substrate so I mixed that substrate in with the new stuff I made in order to seed it with springtails and bacteria. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoofyGarra Posted June 9 Author Share Posted June 9 Its finally summer vacation which means I have time for some breeding projects. The cories had layed a bunch of eggs a few days ago and a small amount have just survived on the glass so i decided if they lasted this long I would give them a shot to hatch and grow. I am pretty much following my standard corydora fry procedure at this point (I feel strangely experienced having a standard corydora fry procedure) with one big exception. No breeder boxes. I'm using a catch cup in the tank right now to hatch out the fish, but I am going to raise them differently this time. I am just done with breeder boxes, they are ugly, take up valuable tank space, and disrupt the flow patterns. The fry will most likely hatch in the next day or two so I have set up BBS in order to be ready for that. Once they are hatched I have 2 options for how to raise them. 1. is I will raise them in the catch cup for a week or two until they are big enough to join the rest of the fry in the 1.8 gallon tank and idea 2. is i will move the Platy and Endler fry into the 5gallon tank to give them more room to raise up and then use the 1.8 gallon just to raise the Corydora fry. I'm leaning towards option #2 at this point but I'm still conflicted. Option 3 is to move the Platy and endler fry into the big tank since they are uneatable, hence making sure i quickly forget about them and it will seem like they grow the fastest. But I dont really like this option as it severly limits my control on the fry in case i want to do a project with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoofyGarra Posted June 10 Author Share Posted June 10 Corydora fry began hatching today, they are super small and my camera just would not focus. The opaque yellow dots on the bottom of the breeder box are yolk sacks, they are just so tiny. Honey Gouarmi is doing well. He is very healthy and I dont have a problem with him, but everything in the tank is bigger then him so he hasnt really been doing the whole centerpiece thing very well. He usually swim around in the back and comes to the front for feeding. I wish he was more out and about but it is a nice treat when I get to see him swimming around I have also been thinking seriously about my terrarium projects, i've realized that I'm not enjoying 2.5 gallon terrarium (its ugly and I've been neglecting it) and if I am changing that terrarium I may as well just move those Armadilidium vulgare into the new setup as they have been breeding and the 2.5 gallon will soon become crowded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chick-In-Of-TheSea Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 Congrats on the fry! How cute! The honey gourami is stunning 🧡 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chick-In-Of-TheSea Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 (edited) On 6/10/2024 at 7:11 AM, GoofyGarra said: thinking seriously about my terrarium projects You always have so many projects going on, haha How do you keep up with all of it? Of course there is no school right now so that makes it easier. Edited June 10 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoofyGarra Posted June 10 Author Share Posted June 10 On 6/10/2024 at 8:03 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said: How do you keep up with all of it? honestly I dont. My projects either get neglected and dont go well (Good example is the 2.5gallon terrarium, it has been getting very dry in there because I have been forgetting to water) , or its something that I can ignore for a long period of time and it just does it's thing. I've started doing more projects in the latter category because I get very easily distracted sometimes. I've been working on downsizing my terrarium projects (In quantity, not size of container....) lately because I just cant keep up with watering and caring for all of them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoofyGarra Posted June 10 Author Share Posted June 10 (edited) The terrarium scaping process begins. As as start I am using 2 sticks from outside with fungi and lichens growing on them that I will eventually glue together to make 1 stick, and i am using foam blocks to keep everything propped up until i can figure out a better solution. I will be heading to 1 or both LFSs later so I will definitely check their reptile supplies to see if they have anything I could use. (Hardscape is just stuff im collecting from around, i cannot afford to buy it) Edited June 10 by GoofyGarra 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoofyGarra Posted June 10 Author Share Posted June 10 Terrarium is finally finished. I ended up switching up the scape from my original plan, I had a new idea and liked it better. I created "logs" in the back of the tank by gluing bark on the outside of foam towers. It doesn't look like much yet but once the fungi, lichens, and mosses start growing in well it should start looking very nice. So far the only life is springtails in the substrate and whatever hitchhikers came on the wood, but once the mosses start growing I will be added isopods and other bugs, i really want to do some more millipedes. I also made a small trip to the LFS, didnt buy anything but it was hard. I tried to not take too many pictures but they had some cool fish in stock and I couldnt resist. I probably spent the most time just watching the tank with the Panda Garras in it, I was very seriously considering buying two more to be friends with Garra Guy but i realized it would be an impulse and a bad idea. (Bad idea for today, saying nothing about the future) They had these fish labled as Red Honey Gouarmis but after reading a post on this forum I believe they are actually Thick Lips Bunch of little Loaches looking nice and healthy Jewel Cichlids are just amazing. Ill probably never keep one but they look amazing They had a literally pink Endler. I have never seen a non-glofish pink fish before. I have some purple endlers going at school, so I'm not surprised someone's done pink Amazing group of fancy guppies, photo quality is not the best due to their activity levels but i think their colors still come through in the picture Bolivian Ram who was so busy trying to figure out what my camera was, he made himself hard to photograph. Even though I have a Honey Gouarmi now, Bolivians are probably one of the highest up on my fish bucket list. Little Dwarf Chain Loaches Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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