Bubbles

2008-11-17T13:36:00.000-08:00

Here' s my first attempt a posting a video. Hope it works! Its a video of the 72g with the cories schooling/following the danios. :)

Rams & Pygmy Cories!

2008-11-17T11:37:00.000-08:00

Bubbles hasn't been feeling well for over a week. She has been acting half-dead. She's barely active and spends a lot of time upside down. Well, I moved her from her upside down position to the middle of the tank before feeding time. I threw down a cube of snail jello near her, and when I came back, this is what I saw. In case its hard to see, she is managing to hold up the entire cube of snail jello.

Above are two of my newest babies....two Bolivian Rams. I'm pretty sure they have paired up as they never leave each others sight. It's quite adorable. They are both very peaceful fish, and they are very curious about humans. When I am sitting there, they like to slowly come up the glass and watch me as I watch them.

Here are more of the new occupants....the cat pack. A school of 10 pygmy cories. I had a very hard time getting a decent picture of them! They move so fast. They are probably the cutest thing in my tank. I expected them to be bottom-dwellers.....no, the whole tank is their turf. They spend just as much time in the upper areas as they do down below. They LOVE playing with the danios. They school with them often. They also are the only thing in the tank that chases the danios. Up until now, the danios have been the rulers of the tank kingdom (specifically Gertrude, my chubby alpha female). Well, the cat pack has shaken things up!!!! They have put the danios in their place- despite being only a 1/3 the size of a danio....lmao. It's crazy to watch!

Sorry, I don't have any new full tank shots. The tank looks about the same (scroll down). The plants are filling in on either side, and I have to trim them weekly (which is encouraging them to branch nicely) .

The next thing I am working on is getting the 10g setup so it can become a QT for when I am setting up the 20g.

Update on 72g tank!

2008-11-02T14:40:00.000-08:00

Here are a variety of pictures from my 72g.

They go in a somewhat chronological fashion.

I made some changes here and there and took pictures sporadically throughout.

So, the ones closest to the end are the way the tank looks now.

I added 3 new larger pieces of driftwood.

I have also moved around some plants.

Picture is fuzzy but that is a platy!

Some plants have been growing really well, others....not so well. The hornwort seems to grow drastically overnight, and it's so pretty, it's my new favorite plant!

I added some grass down in the sandy area.

It will take awhile for everything to fill in as this is a low-light, low fert., no CO2 tank.

I think we have arrived at the pictures that show pretty much what the tank looks like right now.

I added 4 new Zebra Danios, from my LFS. I wanted to increase the school to prevent aggression on new fish, so I settled for some more zebras. There is still room for the school to grow, though, if I do find some longfins.

My snails love the new driftwood. It's like a snail jungle gym.

Current Tank Inhabitants:
- 7 Zebra Danios
- 1 Longfin Danio (she schools w. the zebras, in fact, Ethel is clearly the #2 in command of the school, just after Gertrude, the alpha female)
- 3 Mystery Snails: Bubbles- the Ivory Snail, a copper-stripped one, and a blue one
- 6 Endlers; 3 boys, 3 girls
- 3 Platies

Blue snail.

The next addition to the tank will be a school of Panda Cories.

I purchased some frozen Daphnia on friday. The fish all love me now.

I love this little cave.

In the back you see a male Endler. They are my new obsession now (thanks Mary!). I have another colony living in my 20g. More on them later!

So, what does everyone think so far? I think the scape is basically done. Just need for some plants to grow in, and to stock (which will take awhile)!

Danio Retirement Home

2008-10-29T09:01:00.000-07:00

My goal is to have a Danio school of 12+. I am looking for mix of different varieties of Danio rerio, so that they will all school together. I don't want anymore shortfin zebras.

I started out w/ 3 adopted Shortfin Zebras who are getting kind of old.
I then adopted "Ethel", the longfin Blue.
I am awaiting the arrival of 3 more older ones. 2 more zebras...one of which is war-hardened from a battle w/ a crayfish. And a glowlight.

I need to increase the school soon, to cut down the agression of the danios. I am willing to take any blues, golds, leopards, longfins, etc....just not standard zebras (I will have 5 of those, that's 1/2 the school!). I went to my LFS yesterday....no luck. And they don't know what they'll be getting in and when. Ordering from an online store is out of the question...shipping is like $34. The fish only cost $1.49....that's silly. I tried Aquabid, without any luck. So, I have e-mailed another store in the area. And I will start calling the others (no websites) as soon as I have time. Hopefully, I can get 5 more by the weekend.

Updated stocking

2008-10-27T13:51:00.000-07:00

Here's the current stocking plan....suggestions are welcome!

72g:
12 Danios
12 Longfin Blackskirts
1 Pair of Bolivian Rams
10 Pygmy Cories
Endlers*
Platies*
10 Otos

* Numbers will vary as they are livebearers, the population will remain low by giving away or selling fry

20g:
12 Pristellas
8 Kuhli Loaches
1 Pair of Honey Gouramis

10g:
Invert. Tank!
Snails & Shrimp...and the overflow from the livebearers

Future Stocking Plans

2008-10-26T19:30:00.000-07:00

Here's the current stocking plan....suggestions are welcome!

72g:
12 Danios
12 Longfin Blackskirts
1 Pair of Blue Rams
8 Cories
Endlers*
Platy*
5 Otos

* Numbers will vary as they are livebearers, the population will remain low by giving away or selling fry

20g:
12 Pristellas
8 Kuhli Loaches
1 Pair of Honey Gouramis

10g:
Invert. Tank!
Snails & Shrimp...and the overflow from the livebearers

Today's Additions

2008-10-25T20:41:00.000-07:00

Here's a side view of the tank- as you can see I have added a lot more plants. This area will probably get changed soon since I have driftwood that will possibly be going here. Additionally, as the plants grow I may move some depending on how fast they grow and what height they get to. The endler and platy fry love this area. The orange spot in the center-bottom of picture is a platy. So cute!

Here's the blue snail...enjoying some of my homemade snail food. Yum! The snails just moved in today, but they have already made themselves at home.

The other favored spot of the fry...a floating plant.

I have 3 larger piece of driftwood I plan on adding as soon as they are done soaking.

Update on Blog Options

2008-10-25T20:40:00.000-07:00

Oops! Comments for non-users were not enabled before. They are now! So non-users feel free to comment as well!

Progress on the 72g.....

2008-10-25T13:00:00.000-07:00

Here's all the photos I have of the 72g thus far....

I've been working on it all day. Lots more plants added. I'll take some more pics after I have cleaned up some of the debris and have done a water change (it's still a bit cloudy from the substrate).

New Blog!

2008-10-25T12:56:00.000-07:00

I want to share photos of my tanks with everyone....but don't feel like uploading the pics 5 or 6 times to various places. So, I am going to post everything here and just pass the link on to interested parties. :)

I named this blog after my crazy snail, Bubbles....I'll explain more later.