Wow!
It really has been a while since the update. Since August, I've bought a new Eclipse 6 gallon because the open top 5 gallon was just too noisy. I thought falling water was suppose to be relaxing? I bought the Eclipse with a new stand for Christmas but have not had time to set up either. Petco had some great Palm Tree ornaments so it will have a beachy/island theme for my 2 male red guppies, 1 female guppy, 2 neon tetras, and 9? baby guppies. The baby guppies are really pretty but I have not been able to get a non-blurry picture of them yet. I thought they were all females but am now starting to tell that most if not all are males. They really are small for being born at the beginning of last fall. They lived through all of those hurricanes and 3 days running on a generator -- they really want to live!
8/19/2004:
Guppies, guppies everywhere!
I've been a slacker and haven't updated my webpage in over a year! I've had my ups and downs with my fish, too. I kept buying guppies that would develop cotton mouth disease or waste away. Finally, I set up my old 5 gallon tank with a hang on the back biowheel filter. The top of the tank has to set with the lid opening facing the back to allow the HOB to work. I've only had two fish die with the new tank and I believe it was just their time to go! After setting up the 5 gallon, I QT'd one of my new female guppies in a 1 gallon tank because she was being picked on by another red female guppy. I've had little luck with my red guppies--I think they all are mean! Anyway the new female guppy which appeared to have some yellow snakeskin pattern to her had baby fry in the 1 gallon tank. They escaped being eaten alive by hiding beneath the undergravel filter. I now have 9 fry growing in the old 3 gallon tank. They are all females, not one male in the bunch! I've got 2 small red males from a previous batch in the 3 gallon and may try to see if I can get some red snakeskin babies from the new females! I thought I wanted a much bigger tank, like 55 gallons, but the 5 gallon, 3 gallon, 1 gallon, and 4 betta bowls keep me busy. BTW, I've not been able to get baby bettas. The male just runs and hides from any of the females that I introduce him to. I'll try to add pictures of all my new guppies, bettas, snails, ghostshrimp, neon tetras, and baby fry soon!
7/16/2003:
Male Guppy Gone
The male guppy was dead at the bottom of the tank this morning. I had treated him with Ick Cure, Malafix, and aquarium salt with no luck. I posted on a forum at petfish.net and everyone was very helpful. I think I'll treat the tank with Maracyn or Jungle Fungle Elimantor as suggested. I received 2 new female guppies today to replace mine that died but I don't think I'll be putting them in that tank until I find something to treat it with.
7/13/2003:
Female Guppy Gone
I found the female guppy dead at the bottom of the tank this afternoon. The Nitrites were at 3ppm even after adding BioSpira the day before. I'm not getting the hang of this cycling and its very frustrating. I changed 1/3 of the water and the male guppy is seems to be okay but hovering at the top of the tank.
7/7/2003:
Ich?
I saw two small white dots on the body of the female guppy. I think she might have ich. The temp. in the tank is rather high so the cycle of Ich should go quickly. I've added some salt to the water but not much. The male guppy has no white spots which makes me wonder if the female really has it or not. Also, her fins still do not look too great so I'm going to watch them for a bit to see if the male is biting her. Her gravid spot still looks the same so I'm not sure how to tell if I'll have little guppies in 4 weeks.
7/6/2003:
Got Guppies?
I bought my guppies today and brought them home. I had let Petunia, my female betta, check out the Eclipse tank after I cleaned changed most of the water. The cycle was taking too long to complete, I may have rushed it but I did have 20ppm nitrates which I think meant it was cycling. I'll post pictures of the new guppies soon. I bought an orangish red male and a female with as little color as possible (small amount of neon green and neon yellow on her). She's really quite long, I can't wait to see the little guppies! The females were kept in a separate tank so it looks like I'll have to wait 4 weeks. There was a beautiful green snakeskin male and yellow snakeskin female and I almost wish I had bought them, too. Setting up my 5 gallon tank didn't work well due to the noise from the air and pump. The Eclipse with its biowheel has spoiled me. I'm thinking of getting another one.
6/25/2003:
Nitrogen Cycle!
I read all the websites that said to use Danios to cycle your tank but after my Mollies died, I decided to add some of Hagen's Cycle (directly on the biowheel) and add a bit of ammonia to finish off the cycling. Of course, I put way too much pure ammonia in the tank and had to change out some of the water but I think it helped. I finally have a good amount of nitrates so now I just need to wait for the nitrites to go down. Then I'm going to buy guppies! I've been reading up on guppy genetics but I think I'll just go to Petco and pick out the prettiest one I find. Maybe a Tequilla Sunrise(?) or a Green Snakeskin. I'll see if they have 2 pretty females to go along with it. I'm also thinking of just getting males. I can't decide. I pulled out the old 5 gallon tank my goldfish lived in for so many years. I wanted to put a biowheel filter on it but I don't think the slot in the back is big enough due to the light fixture.
6/16/2003:
Sad news to report.
Sweet, little Molly died sometime last night. I couldn't find her this morning. I looked under the tree trunk, where Mateo had died, but she was nowhere to be found. Finally, as I was taking the entire tank apart, I found her under the biowheel. How and why she got there, I do not know. My brand new male betta died last night, too. I can only assume the water that I bought was chlorinated even though it wasn't marked. My poor fish paid the price for me not buying a complete test kit. I'll be picking one up now. I think I'd prefer the strips rather than the drops. My female betta was in another tank in another room. She seems to be doing well. She's eating and swimming but I'm going to change her water in a few minutes...with water that I know is safe. She'll be going into her old bowl which is a bit smaller. Maybe I'll put her in the Eclipse tank. I know she can't fit through the small water return holes.
6/11/2003:
Welcome to my Fishy Aquarium Blog!
This is my Eclipse Three System tank that I finally set-up. I bought it a year ago. This picture shows it before I added the fishies.
I picked 2 silver mollies to be the first inhabitants of my tank. I wanted a male and female so they could fill the tank will little fishies. Unfortunately, the male, poor little Mateo, died after a week in the tank. The pet store said my tank had not finished cycling but to be honest, he was ill looking from the moment I got him home. He spluttered around in the bag and stressed himself out. He would hide in the tree cave for hours. For a short time, he perked up and chased sweet Molly girl but then he would retreat to the cave. That is where he died. RIP! Molly is doing great without him. I thought she might be lonely so I stuck my female betta bowl next to her tank. I think Molly just likes seeing her reflection in the tank. I'm monitoring her water closely and changing 25% of it weekly. I don't want to lose her. Her favorite time of the day is when I feed her! More to come...
Here's a final picture of Mateo (left) and Molly (right) during happier times. Molly came from a tank with females and males so I'm hoping she'll show signs of a gravid spot soon!
I bought a new male betta today. He's a rich shade of blue with a crown tail. I'll take pictures soon. If my female's gills look better, I hope to put them together for baby bettas!
