This is hard. Really hard! Difficult to tell, I mean. This is the story of how I lost all of my Tanganyikans from my 150 gallon tank. Well, not really how I lost them, because I can't say, but the story of the death of an entire stocked tank in a matter of hours.
Here's how it went:
I did my weekly PWC on Sunday afternoon, 4-ish, and I do only a 1/3 change because these are sensitive fish and any more than that seems to stress them. My other tanks get 1/2 PWC once a week. I did not disturb the decor or sand at all this time (it remains relatively clean without debris accumulating), but I simply placed the Python siphon hose into the water and started draining, then when it was 1/3 gone I tested my new tap water for temperature match and started refilling, taking care to add the correct amount of Prime. I have to be careful about temperature in particular because, again, they are sensitive and they show it when you are not careful about it. I have a pretty solid routine down, since this is a valuable tank in terms of the cost of the stock, as anyone who keeps or has kept Tanganyikan cichlids can attest. I've made mistakes with Tang cichlids in the past and treated this tank like the prima donnas they were.
Everything went fine, and we went out to dinner. No one was at home while we were out. We come home later and I fed them, and they all ate normally. We went to bed, and when I got up Monday morning everything looked fine, and we all left for work and school. We were all gone all day, with nobody home. When I got home from work my daughter alerted me that some of the fish were lying on the sand. Uh oh. What could this be?
I did a big PWC, thinking that something got into the tank, even though another PWC this soon after the first is risky, but I had to do something to try to save the tank, which was in obvious distress. All members were either dead or dying. Every last one. This included four 3.5-inch Kapampa frontosa, six Paracyprichromis nigripinnis, one 3-inch N. leleupi, and about 10-12 Altolamprologus species of various sizes, from 1.5" to 3". The water tested fine, in that there was no ammonia or nitrite, and very low nitrate (it hardly ever measures much nitrate, considering how small the fish were for this much water). This did not look like a case of not adding enough dechlor, since the times I have done that the water starts to cloud up and you see the params go wonky, and the fish start suffering immediately. I suppose this may not always be how it presents, but just in my own experience. Chlorine present in the water is not something this group of cichlids would take their time to react to, in other words. Cross that mistake off my list.
What then? I tested the pH and the tap water is the 7.6 it always is, with the tank measuring only a tiny bit higher at 7.9. Sometimes I reach 8 but as the tank matures the sand is buffering the water less and less, it seems. At first I thought the tap was measuring way low, at 6.2, but my pH meter needs to be calibrated and the liquid reagent kit proved it to be more alkaline, as always, at 7.6 (I'm sending the meter off to Milwaukee to be properly calibrated, as the adjustment screws are not solving the problem).
Over a matter of hours all fish dead. Monday night I tore the tank completely apart, removing and cleaning all the rocks (there must be 300 pounds of rock!) and cleaning out the sand, then taking apart the filters, a Fluval FX5 and a Rena Filstart XP4 and sterilizing them, loading with all new media. This took hours to complete, and was quite a physical strain, but I could not sit there and look at this giant glass testament to my failure.
What went wrong? What happened to slowly kill off every last fish? I've been over it and over it, and even my husband, who was present during the PWC procedure, can't come up with anything that does not match with my recollection. When I fed them I used the New Life Spectrum cichlid pellet, like always, and this time I did not use any frozen food, which could potentially go bad and perhaps sicken the fish. I think it must have had something to do with the water change, but with these fish any mistakes made in that procedure are typically evident quite rapidly, in my experience, and not 24 hours later.
I suppose I will never know, but I will continue to beat myself up over it, and not only because of the massive financial investment that went down the drain. I feel like I ought to have been able to get this tank mature and grow out the frontosa to their potential size, and this goal is not going to be achieved, at least not in the near future. I just don't have the funds to invest in replacing the fish and starting over. Maybe someday I will git it another shot, but not now. It would be easier to take if I knew what happened, so it could be mitigated in the future, but I just can't think of what happened.
Incidentally, when I did the water change on the 150 I also did one on the 20h goldfish tank in the kitchen, and they never had any problems whatsoever. Not a ragged fin, cloudy eye or red gill in the bunch. That tank, in fact, was cleaned aggressively (this tank was cleaned after I was done with the 150) and I moved decor around to siphon out the copious debris that collects with these filthy fish, and wound up with about an 80% change of the water. This is a typical change for that tank, and the goldfish seem to thrive with this weekly routine. They are fantails, and their fins are in perfect shape, with no signs of any water quality issues. I would not dream of that kind of maintenance on a Tang cichlid tank.
It could be there was something in the tap water that affects Tang cichlids and does not affect goldfish, which is definitely possible - goldfish are known to be much hardier - but I won't likely ever know. Copper leaching into the tap water would affect many species, but with the higher range pH that is less of an issue. If we had soft, acidic water then that would be high on my list.
In the past when I have called the water treatment plant to inquire about certain values (some systems contain levels of NO3 -nitrate- that cause aquarists some problems, for instance) I am usually met with defensiveness, as if I'm trying to blame the water treatment people for health issues, which I'm not. I just like to know what I'm dealing with when I put tap water into my tanks. This is a huge part of the process and I don't have any control over what comes out of the tap. If they said to me, "oh yes, Sunday we registered a higher than normal level of ________ in the system. That might explain it" I'd be grateful and go on with my life. Maybe they could even tell me to avoid doing PWCs on a certain day of the month, perhaps. I just want to be informed so I can manage my livestock the best I can.
So, now I'm setting my sights on a less pricey species from the other side of the world, in South America. I'm going to turn this tank into an "eartheater" tank, with Satanoperca daemon, which sounds awful but actually is the designation of a species of cichlid that is attractive and peaceful. It has been known as Geophagus jurupari, but there is a lot of work being done on the taxonomy of the genus so it covers quite a few species. I have added wood and plants to the tank, but only plants that attach themselves to the wood and rocks, and nothing planted in the sand, because it will be uprooted by these sand-sifting cichlids. I will consider angels and acaras as well for this tank, which are other peaceful cichlids that are appropriate tankmates.
Right now the tank is cycling with some shubunkin (if you have been reading this blog you'll know that I do cycle tanks with fish and I'm not ashamed of it!) and after things have settled in the goldfish will go into a friend's pond. I'm doing large PWCs during the process, and we're about halfway there. The fish are about 3" long and there are only three of them in this huge tank, so nobody needs to get uptight about animal cruelty. I did the same thing with the goldfish I currently have in the kitchen, which started out cycling the 150 themselves a couple of years ago before I added my Tangs, and they are doing great to this day.
I am really trying to move on but will be affected by this traumatic event for a good while. I do feel like a failure but I'd sure like to know what I did. No broken heaters, no electrical shock, nobody spraying chemicals, painting nearby, etc. There was nothing in the water that I have a test kit for to explain it, so I guess it will always be a mystery, and be, to date, my biggest DISASTER!
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Sunday, October 9, 2011
The Puffers are Running!
This weekend the family had a gathering at my childhood summer cottage on Mobjack Bay in Mathews County, Virginia, which is now owned and has been lovingly restored by my sister and her husband. Typically the cottage is closed for the season this time of year, but it was a special occasion and the weather was gorgeous, so we all met down there for boating, fishing and feasting.
The tide was out during most of the afternoon, and considering how shallow and treacherous most of Mobjack can be during low tide, we fished from the pier. We had lots of action, but ALL of it from puffer fish! We must have reeled in 25 of them over the course of an hour or two, sometimes two on one rig. All were promptly released back into the water, and considering that fact, maybe we were catching the same puffers over and over, but you could easily see them in the water from the pier, and there were many, many of them in the vicinity.
This is the Sphoeroides maculatus, or the Northern puffer, and is common to the Chesapeake Bay. Most of the specimens we caught were about 8-10" and for the most part they did not puff up, which made me feel better! I am torn in situations like this, since I truly do enjoy fishing, and eating fish, for that matter, but puffers are near and dear to my heart and I hated for them to be stressed in this way! However, try as we might to catch other species that we typically catch off this pier, nothing was biting but the puffers. The kids put several in a bucket to observe them more closely for a few minutes, and they are indeed fascinating to watch.
Since I already keep a brackish puffer at home, I was very interested in the possibility of keeping several of these in a tank at home, though I'd have to devote a very large tank to them, like my 150-gal. If I did decide to create a setup for them, I'd want to get them as babies and raise them in the tank, rather than try to transport these adults into captivity. However, since I'm sure they spawn in much deeper water, the chances of me finding juveniles is very slim, so I'll just have to enjoy them from the pier.
Incidentally, these puffers were a popular food source from the Chesapeake until about 40 years ago, when their popularity faded, though locally you'll see them offered as "sugar toads." Their meat is apparently very sweet and delicious, and they allegedly do not contain any toxic organs like some marine species, so you don't have to worry about this when preparing them. I've never eaten them, but my mother recalls doing so, and they used to be a popular fish to serve children, who might not enjoy fish otherwise. She said they were easy to clean, because they are simply skinned and the strip of tender meat is removed from each side of the spine.
We certainly caught enough of them to have made a meal for our entire crowd, but they all went back into the water, to puff another day......
Since I already keep a brackish puffer at home, I was very interested in the possibility of keeping several of these in a tank at home, though I'd have to devote a very large tank to them, like my 150-gal. If I did decide to create a setup for them, I'd want to get them as babies and raise them in the tank, rather than try to transport these adults into captivity. However, since I'm sure they spawn in much deeper water, the chances of me finding juveniles is very slim, so I'll just have to enjoy them from the pier.
Incidentally, these puffers were a popular food source from the Chesapeake until about 40 years ago, when their popularity faded, though locally you'll see them offered as "sugar toads." Their meat is apparently very sweet and delicious, and they allegedly do not contain any toxic organs like some marine species, so you don't have to worry about this when preparing them. I've never eaten them, but my mother recalls doing so, and they used to be a popular fish to serve children, who might not enjoy fish otherwise. She said they were easy to clean, because they are simply skinned and the strip of tender meat is removed from each side of the spine.
We certainly caught enough of them to have made a meal for our entire crowd, but they all went back into the water, to puff another day......
Monday, October 3, 2011
Snails and Puppy Dog Tales
This is a snail tank where I cultivate food for my F8 puffer, Otis. It is working out great! They are filthy little critters, though, and the tank needs much more attention than my others. A 50% water change weekly is not enough! Otis is a happy fellow, though, and I don't have to dig through my planted tank trying to find a hidden snail to feed him.
I hosted our local aquarium club meeting yesterday, and we had a good turnout. We are just getting started with the Central Virginia Aquarium Society, and building membership while working out a routine for our meetings and auctions. This was mainly a social gathering, with burgers on the grill and a little bit of swapping of items, including fish. I met new people and saw old friends after a summer break from our meeting schedule. We did not really handle any business and due to the absence of some board members we didn't really settle on a meeting date for the next one, but we all agreed we'd likely wait until January. Typically we try to meet every other month, but December is not good for most of us.
I was kidding about the puppydog tales. I thought I'd have a cute story about one of the dogs, but I don't..... Here's Sirius. He's awesome too.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Post-Irene
We fared just fine through hurricane Irene, though many have not.
There was a lot of damage here in the central Virginia area, and many people are still without power nearly a week later. That is a familiar situation to what we experienced with Isabel in 2003. I moved to my current neighborhood not too long after Isabel, and they had power the day after the storm, but my old neighborhood, just a mile or two down the road, was without power for 6 days in 2003. That was not fun, what with all my fish tanks! I used a large plastic cup to stir the water, scooping it up and pouring it back into the tanks, aerating it. I lost no fish during that time, happily.
This time, the power went out around dinnertime on Saturday night, August 27, and was back on the next day about noon. Not too bad. Even so, as the storm was approaching I got out surge protectors and long outdoor extension cords, putting a surge protector in the middle of the floor of my office and connecting it to an extension cord that ran down the stairs and plugged into a surge protector in front of my 150 gal tank in the living room. This surge protector had a cord running outside to the small generator (800 watts). The minute the power went out I had my tanks running on generator power, since I did not wish to take any chances, and that generator is too small to run appliances with heating elements or the refrigerator. We have a large generator that we used for that.
So, my fish fared just fine this time, and hopefully the rest of our area will have power restored soon.
There was a lot of damage here in the central Virginia area, and many people are still without power nearly a week later. That is a familiar situation to what we experienced with Isabel in 2003. I moved to my current neighborhood not too long after Isabel, and they had power the day after the storm, but my old neighborhood, just a mile or two down the road, was without power for 6 days in 2003. That was not fun, what with all my fish tanks! I used a large plastic cup to stir the water, scooping it up and pouring it back into the tanks, aerating it. I lost no fish during that time, happily.
This time, the power went out around dinnertime on Saturday night, August 27, and was back on the next day about noon. Not too bad. Even so, as the storm was approaching I got out surge protectors and long outdoor extension cords, putting a surge protector in the middle of the floor of my office and connecting it to an extension cord that ran down the stairs and plugged into a surge protector in front of my 150 gal tank in the living room. This surge protector had a cord running outside to the small generator (800 watts). The minute the power went out I had my tanks running on generator power, since I did not wish to take any chances, and that generator is too small to run appliances with heating elements or the refrigerator. We have a large generator that we used for that.
So, my fish fared just fine this time, and hopefully the rest of our area will have power restored soon.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Earthquakes and Hurricanes
Tuesday, August 23 our area experienced a 5.8 earthquake, which was a dramatic and very rare event for us. I was at my desk (where else?!) and the house began to shake with a rhythmic pattern, and the noise was deafening. I could not understand what was happening, and at first did not think of an earthquake. It is just not what comes to mind when you grow up in the mid-Atlantic area of the country. I tore downstairs as quickly as I could, since my reptilian brain wanted out of that house, pronto, and when I got to the kitchen I saw my sister, nephew and the twins in the pool, gawping up at the house in wonderment, mouths hanging open. I truly thought for a second that one of those large personnel carrier helicopters was landing on my roof or something, lol. Then I realized the sound and shaking was coming from all directions, and it must be an earthquake.
I made it outside, and they told me they could not feel anything while floating in the pool, but they saw the house and the plants and furniture on the deck shaking violently. The dogs were not particularly alarmed, though they were eager to head outside to confront this potential threat, until they got out there and could not determine where the threat originated! They were confused but not at all upset. I was very surprised that there was no damage to my house. The shaking was such that I immediately felt like my solidly built and well constructed home was the flimsiest thing ever built. Nothing even fell off the walls like they did in 2000 when we had a much smaller quake here.
Next up, Hurricane Irene. Today is 8/27/11 and the hurricane is pretty much here, at 4:18 p.m. A lot of gusty wind and we've had a ton of rain since early this morning. The pool is overflowing. A few branches down but not too bad. We still have power, but I expect that to change pretty soon - it has flickered off and back on several times already.
Rick is at the boat in Kinsale, where the storm is going to be much worse, and I wish he'd come home. He wants to be there to adjust lines on the boat as the storm surge causes the water to rise many feet higher than normal high tide, but I think it will be dangerous for him to be there. Also, if the gusts get more than 50 mph they'll close the bridges, and he needs them to get home. I don't want him to be injured or trapped in the direct path of the storm, where "devastating" winds are forecasted. We've got "damaging" winds forecasted here. This storm reminds everyone of Isabel in 2003, which caused us to be without power for 6 days, though not all neighborhoods had it that bad. My sister, who lived no more than a couple of miles away, lost power for only one day with that storm.
So, with Isabel fresh in our minds, we've made quite a few preparations, and I think we've done what we can. We have two generators, a small one that is relatively quiet and can be expected to run all of my fish tank filters, since they all have pretty low wattage, and also a fan or two, and then we have a very large generator we got when Isabel hit, and that one can run the refrigerator and a few other things if it looks like power will be out long-term.
Maybe I've got selective memory, but I grew up here and I don't recall hurricanes. Not at all. I'll have to ask my mother, who will be able to tell me more, but since we've moved back here after living in Florida for 9 years we've had more trouble with hurricanes here than in South Florida. In fact, the reason we moved back to Virginia at all was because of the devastation of hurricane Andrew in Homestead, which alarmed my husband enough to want to move away. He was in construction and volunteered his time to inspect homes there to determine if they could be saved or were a total loss from the storm. It hit him very hard to see first-hand what a storm like that could do to a community. Then we move back to Virginia and have had several hurricane scares, and a tropical storm (Gaston) that caused widespread flooding here.
I will check back in when all is said and done.
I made it outside, and they told me they could not feel anything while floating in the pool, but they saw the house and the plants and furniture on the deck shaking violently. The dogs were not particularly alarmed, though they were eager to head outside to confront this potential threat, until they got out there and could not determine where the threat originated! They were confused but not at all upset. I was very surprised that there was no damage to my house. The shaking was such that I immediately felt like my solidly built and well constructed home was the flimsiest thing ever built. Nothing even fell off the walls like they did in 2000 when we had a much smaller quake here.
Next up, Hurricane Irene. Today is 8/27/11 and the hurricane is pretty much here, at 4:18 p.m. A lot of gusty wind and we've had a ton of rain since early this morning. The pool is overflowing. A few branches down but not too bad. We still have power, but I expect that to change pretty soon - it has flickered off and back on several times already.
Rick is at the boat in Kinsale, where the storm is going to be much worse, and I wish he'd come home. He wants to be there to adjust lines on the boat as the storm surge causes the water to rise many feet higher than normal high tide, but I think it will be dangerous for him to be there. Also, if the gusts get more than 50 mph they'll close the bridges, and he needs them to get home. I don't want him to be injured or trapped in the direct path of the storm, where "devastating" winds are forecasted. We've got "damaging" winds forecasted here. This storm reminds everyone of Isabel in 2003, which caused us to be without power for 6 days, though not all neighborhoods had it that bad. My sister, who lived no more than a couple of miles away, lost power for only one day with that storm.
So, with Isabel fresh in our minds, we've made quite a few preparations, and I think we've done what we can. We have two generators, a small one that is relatively quiet and can be expected to run all of my fish tank filters, since they all have pretty low wattage, and also a fan or two, and then we have a very large generator we got when Isabel hit, and that one can run the refrigerator and a few other things if it looks like power will be out long-term.
Maybe I've got selective memory, but I grew up here and I don't recall hurricanes. Not at all. I'll have to ask my mother, who will be able to tell me more, but since we've moved back here after living in Florida for 9 years we've had more trouble with hurricanes here than in South Florida. In fact, the reason we moved back to Virginia at all was because of the devastation of hurricane Andrew in Homestead, which alarmed my husband enough to want to move away. He was in construction and volunteered his time to inspect homes there to determine if they could be saved or were a total loss from the storm. It hit him very hard to see first-hand what a storm like that could do to a community. Then we move back to Virginia and have had several hurricane scares, and a tropical storm (Gaston) that caused widespread flooding here.
I will check back in when all is said and done.
Monday, August 8, 2011
What goes up must come down
This past weekend I decided I had to take down the 45-gallon with the leopoldi angel, black neon tetras and cardinal tetras. My work schedule is such that it has become tricky to maintain all these tanks, and the tank itself was not enjoyable for me. I had planned on stocking it more to make it more interesting, but I am going to have to put together a snail tank for Otis, so something had to go.
Since I'm down to only one leopoldi it was hard to justify keeping this tank up, when he could be moved to the 40 heavily planted community with tetras and one wild ram. My wild ram and the wild caught leopoldi angel are both snail eaters (more so than a domestic cichlid, interestingly) and I cannot keep a population of snails going for my puffer, Otis.
I've therefore taken down the 45, and relocated the angel into the 40, along with the black neons and cardinals, and all is well, for the time being. I'm not terribly optimistic about the angel, since this is a wild caught fish who has difficulty settling into new situations and does not like to be moved. On top of that I put him into a relatively brightly lit, heavily planted tank, and this is really not the ideal setup. He should have a deep, dim and branchy tank with floating plants only, but I can't really do that for him at the moment. We shall see. I put the 45 into the eaves for my next adventure!
I kept a dedicated snail tank once before, but it ran aground at some point due to my inability to keep it as clean as I'd like - the water likely became too acidic and the snails died out. I kept it on the floor (no available lateral surfaces!) so I had to use a Python to do PWCs, and this would suck up eggs and babies, but I could not get a siphon going with a regular siphon with it so low to the floor. *Sigh* Anyway, I obtained a very large supply of snails from an Aquabid dealer and she was VERY kind and informative, and gave me full instructions on maintaining a good healthy colony. She can be found on Aquabid under Nelly's Fishy Friends, so hit her up!
I have resurrected Otis' old 10-gal and set that up with calciferous sand, rocks and driftwood, and a lance-leaved anubias plant. This is home to some of my new ramshorns, most of which are a very good pencil-eraser size and larger, which impressed me. I have put about 25 of them into my tank at work, which is where I have been harvesting snails from for Otis of late, though they are thin on the ground. Now that I'm going to be working full time I can take special care to feed that tank and support the new population of snails.
Now I want some tankmates for the snails in the 10-gal at home, and envisioned a nano setup with celestial peal danios or some of the nifty micro rasboras, for instance, but I am picturing the wee fishies snacking on tiny snail babies, and decided I needed to rethink this. What about shrimp? Crystal reds? Would they eat eggs and babies enough to prevent my snail colony from thriving? I'm off to email Nelly and get her advice on this.
Update: Nelly does not see any reason why I could not keep shrimp with the snails, but she has not done it. She keeps guppies with hers. I do think I'll try some very small shrimp species and see what happens. I like shrimp anyway, and this will be a suitable setup for them. She mentions that the most important thing for a snail tank is the GRAVEL, since that's where they breed and the babies can safely hunker down in the crevices, but this is, as mentioned, already set up as a sand tank. I'm hoping this is going to be okay! There is irony in the reality that so many aquarists have nuisance snails they have trouble getting rid of, and here I am, trying desperately to cultivate them.
I've said it before, but here it goes again: If you have an uncontrollable snail population I promise you are overfeeding your tank. If the fish get all the food the snails will die right out. This is why I have had poor results at work - I'm there only three days a week and the fish don't get fed during that time, and they go 4 days without food when we aren't there every other Friday. I'm not getting the molly babies I'd expect, either. That's not such a big deal, but I'd like to have more than one tank for snails, since if something goes wrong I'll have a backup. My schedule is switching to 5 days a week at work, so I am positive this will result in a thriving snail population (that is a gravel tank!) and more molly babies.
The jury is still out with regards to the angel in the 40-gal, but this was the right choice for me right now and hopefully he will settle. An interesting thing is going on, though, and that is that these fish suddenly do not like flake food. I watch carefully and they all take it up and spit it right out. I'm not sure what's up with that. They also do the same with the tiny NLS "growth" pellets that are about 1-2 mm in diameter. I don't really know what kind of food they want.
Since I'm down to only one leopoldi it was hard to justify keeping this tank up, when he could be moved to the 40 heavily planted community with tetras and one wild ram. My wild ram and the wild caught leopoldi angel are both snail eaters (more so than a domestic cichlid, interestingly) and I cannot keep a population of snails going for my puffer, Otis.
I've therefore taken down the 45, and relocated the angel into the 40, along with the black neons and cardinals, and all is well, for the time being. I'm not terribly optimistic about the angel, since this is a wild caught fish who has difficulty settling into new situations and does not like to be moved. On top of that I put him into a relatively brightly lit, heavily planted tank, and this is really not the ideal setup. He should have a deep, dim and branchy tank with floating plants only, but I can't really do that for him at the moment. We shall see. I put the 45 into the eaves for my next adventure!
I kept a dedicated snail tank once before, but it ran aground at some point due to my inability to keep it as clean as I'd like - the water likely became too acidic and the snails died out. I kept it on the floor (no available lateral surfaces!) so I had to use a Python to do PWCs, and this would suck up eggs and babies, but I could not get a siphon going with a regular siphon with it so low to the floor. *Sigh* Anyway, I obtained a very large supply of snails from an Aquabid dealer and she was VERY kind and informative, and gave me full instructions on maintaining a good healthy colony. She can be found on Aquabid under Nelly's Fishy Friends, so hit her up!
I have resurrected Otis' old 10-gal and set that up with calciferous sand, rocks and driftwood, and a lance-leaved anubias plant. This is home to some of my new ramshorns, most of which are a very good pencil-eraser size and larger, which impressed me. I have put about 25 of them into my tank at work, which is where I have been harvesting snails from for Otis of late, though they are thin on the ground. Now that I'm going to be working full time I can take special care to feed that tank and support the new population of snails.
Now I want some tankmates for the snails in the 10-gal at home, and envisioned a nano setup with celestial peal danios or some of the nifty micro rasboras, for instance, but I am picturing the wee fishies snacking on tiny snail babies, and decided I needed to rethink this. What about shrimp? Crystal reds? Would they eat eggs and babies enough to prevent my snail colony from thriving? I'm off to email Nelly and get her advice on this.
Update: Nelly does not see any reason why I could not keep shrimp with the snails, but she has not done it. She keeps guppies with hers. I do think I'll try some very small shrimp species and see what happens. I like shrimp anyway, and this will be a suitable setup for them. She mentions that the most important thing for a snail tank is the GRAVEL, since that's where they breed and the babies can safely hunker down in the crevices, but this is, as mentioned, already set up as a sand tank. I'm hoping this is going to be okay! There is irony in the reality that so many aquarists have nuisance snails they have trouble getting rid of, and here I am, trying desperately to cultivate them.
I've said it before, but here it goes again: If you have an uncontrollable snail population I promise you are overfeeding your tank. If the fish get all the food the snails will die right out. This is why I have had poor results at work - I'm there only three days a week and the fish don't get fed during that time, and they go 4 days without food when we aren't there every other Friday. I'm not getting the molly babies I'd expect, either. That's not such a big deal, but I'd like to have more than one tank for snails, since if something goes wrong I'll have a backup. My schedule is switching to 5 days a week at work, so I am positive this will result in a thriving snail population (that is a gravel tank!) and more molly babies.
The jury is still out with regards to the angel in the 40-gal, but this was the right choice for me right now and hopefully he will settle. An interesting thing is going on, though, and that is that these fish suddenly do not like flake food. I watch carefully and they all take it up and spit it right out. I'm not sure what's up with that. They also do the same with the tiny NLS "growth" pellets that are about 1-2 mm in diameter. I don't really know what kind of food they want.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Tank Updates
Yesterday was devoted to tank maintenance in my office, where I keep a 40-gallon planted, which contains a single wild caught ram (the mate died recently of bloat - I may have mentioned I have horrible luck keeping rams alive, like many people), the ember tetras and het rasboras. This tank gets overgrown very easily with the plantings, and the floating salvinia needs to be scooped out regularly. There is a curious substance all over the sand that I can only describe as an algae, but the rest of the tank has no algae whatsoever. It is a debris that is dark and coats the sand in clumps, and it is not possible to suction it out with a siphon. I stir the sand regularly, what little there is, and I'm not sure why this tank suffers from it, though it does make the sand look "natural," lol. I'm increasing the PWCs in an effort to gain control of it. If that does the trick then I'll know there is some kind of nutrient imbalance.
I did a PWC for dear Otis, who is just a dream in his 20 long. No issues there other than the persistent diatom algae, but this tank easily gets higher nitrate levels due to his meaty diet, and the brackish water seems to have this problem more than a similar tank that was fresh. No worries, though - he's looking great and I'm content.
The HOB filter on the 37 gets clogged quickly and I'm constantly having to clean it out, when it does not seem that dirty. At least not dirty enough to cause the clogging. Even after I rinse everything out and put it back together it seems to run as if the filter pads are clogged. I don't have any extra media trays in it at all. Recently I noticed that the water level was dropping dramatically - more so than the other 3 tanks in the room, and yesterday I found out why: the curtain hanging next to the tank was being splashed by the filter, which was clogged and not flowing properly, and the curtain was sucking up the water up its entire floor to ceiling length! I cleaned out the filter, again, and did a big PWC, and took down the curtain.
The reason I did such a big PWC was so that I could pull the rocks and get out the extra leleupi, which was cramping the style of the pair that has formed. Slowly but surely all six have whittled down to two, and now that they have the tank to themselves they are much calmer and hopefully will spawn for me. Even the one stunted little leleupi left in there was a huge distraction for them, despite the fact that he kept to an upper corner, completely out of their way. They took turns all day long chasing after him. I sold (what appeared to be) an extra dominant male initially, once that situation made itself clear, then one day my daughter happened to find a leleupi on the floor next to the tank, and my husband was able to save it and got it back into the tank alive. It was quite clear that the fish was being bullied and chased and needed to go, so I put it downstairs in the 150 with the other Tanganyikans since I had nowhere else for it to go, and the frontosa and Altolamps in that tank are of a decent size now so as not to be bullied by the wee leleupi. That left 3 fish in the 37, and it soon became obvious which fish were the pair, and yesterday I got the third one out and put him downstairs as well. I'm not sure how that is going to work out, but, again, I have nowhere else for him to go and he is very small still, so he'll either sink or swim downstairs. I fear the leleupi and the Paracyprichromis in the 150 are doomed once the frontosa get bigger, but we shall see. It is remarkable how relaxed the leleupi are in the 37 upstairs now that they are alone together. They can concentrate on making babies now! If one of them decides it wants to "own" the tank and bullies the other, then I'll just sell the pair off and take down the tank.
That leaves the 45-gallon in the office, and sadly I lost another leopoldi angel last week. It was wasting away and looked like it had been beaten up, though I did not see the other bullying it. I think it was just ill, or old, and it did not make it too long after I noticed its deteriorating condition. I now have one single leopoldi left, with some black neons and a few cardinal tetras. This tank is a puzzle to me because I don't like the looks of it and would just as soon put all the fish in the 40 with the others, but I don't think the 40 is a good place for the leopoldi. Too many plants and too much light. I think I will create a community in the 45, with more tetras and perhaps some catfish of some type. Deborah will help me determine which species would work.
This week I'll need to do a PWC on the 150 and the 20 high goldfish tank (love this tank! Too cute!). The frontosa are getting big and it is nearly time for me to swap out the small, fussy stacked rocks for larger boulder type rocks so they don't knock everything over. I'm looking forward to going rock shopping, which is something I very much enjoy, lol. I've got a great landscaping place right up the street and they've got a huge pile of the right type of rock for me to look through.
I still have all of the Altolamps that I originally put in this tank, so there are 8 of them, and the 5 Paracyps, 4 Kapampa frontosa and now the two small leleupi. I just went down to check on the new leleupi addition, and what do I see? He's somehow gotten behind the overflow box where the filter intake is located! How on earth did he squeeze into that spot and how on earth am I going to get him out??? I just swore and walked back upstairs when I saw that..... I've got work to do first before I even begin to tackle that. The hood is in the way for me to lean over at the right angle to get a net back there, so I might have to get Rick to help me take the hood down first, and then I might be able to get him if I stand on a high stool. I suppose he was chased and he was able to squeeze back there. The gap is only big enough for fry, so I'm not sure how he pulled it off. I suppose I should have them siliconed in place but I wanted more flexibility with the setup so I have it wedged, hiding the filter intakes and heater. *Sigh* I knew there'd be something, since it is hard to add a fish to a well established setup without something happening. I'll need to get some pictures of the 150 soon to show how the frontosa have grown, and how great they look. I'm really eager to see them reach their final size, when the tank will really show off well.
I did a PWC for dear Otis, who is just a dream in his 20 long. No issues there other than the persistent diatom algae, but this tank easily gets higher nitrate levels due to his meaty diet, and the brackish water seems to have this problem more than a similar tank that was fresh. No worries, though - he's looking great and I'm content.
The HOB filter on the 37 gets clogged quickly and I'm constantly having to clean it out, when it does not seem that dirty. At least not dirty enough to cause the clogging. Even after I rinse everything out and put it back together it seems to run as if the filter pads are clogged. I don't have any extra media trays in it at all. Recently I noticed that the water level was dropping dramatically - more so than the other 3 tanks in the room, and yesterday I found out why: the curtain hanging next to the tank was being splashed by the filter, which was clogged and not flowing properly, and the curtain was sucking up the water up its entire floor to ceiling length! I cleaned out the filter, again, and did a big PWC, and took down the curtain.
The reason I did such a big PWC was so that I could pull the rocks and get out the extra leleupi, which was cramping the style of the pair that has formed. Slowly but surely all six have whittled down to two, and now that they have the tank to themselves they are much calmer and hopefully will spawn for me. Even the one stunted little leleupi left in there was a huge distraction for them, despite the fact that he kept to an upper corner, completely out of their way. They took turns all day long chasing after him. I sold (what appeared to be) an extra dominant male initially, once that situation made itself clear, then one day my daughter happened to find a leleupi on the floor next to the tank, and my husband was able to save it and got it back into the tank alive. It was quite clear that the fish was being bullied and chased and needed to go, so I put it downstairs in the 150 with the other Tanganyikans since I had nowhere else for it to go, and the frontosa and Altolamps in that tank are of a decent size now so as not to be bullied by the wee leleupi. That left 3 fish in the 37, and it soon became obvious which fish were the pair, and yesterday I got the third one out and put him downstairs as well. I'm not sure how that is going to work out, but, again, I have nowhere else for him to go and he is very small still, so he'll either sink or swim downstairs. I fear the leleupi and the Paracyprichromis in the 150 are doomed once the frontosa get bigger, but we shall see. It is remarkable how relaxed the leleupi are in the 37 upstairs now that they are alone together. They can concentrate on making babies now! If one of them decides it wants to "own" the tank and bullies the other, then I'll just sell the pair off and take down the tank.
That leaves the 45-gallon in the office, and sadly I lost another leopoldi angel last week. It was wasting away and looked like it had been beaten up, though I did not see the other bullying it. I think it was just ill, or old, and it did not make it too long after I noticed its deteriorating condition. I now have one single leopoldi left, with some black neons and a few cardinal tetras. This tank is a puzzle to me because I don't like the looks of it and would just as soon put all the fish in the 40 with the others, but I don't think the 40 is a good place for the leopoldi. Too many plants and too much light. I think I will create a community in the 45, with more tetras and perhaps some catfish of some type. Deborah will help me determine which species would work.
This week I'll need to do a PWC on the 150 and the 20 high goldfish tank (love this tank! Too cute!). The frontosa are getting big and it is nearly time for me to swap out the small, fussy stacked rocks for larger boulder type rocks so they don't knock everything over. I'm looking forward to going rock shopping, which is something I very much enjoy, lol. I've got a great landscaping place right up the street and they've got a huge pile of the right type of rock for me to look through.
I still have all of the Altolamps that I originally put in this tank, so there are 8 of them, and the 5 Paracyps, 4 Kapampa frontosa and now the two small leleupi. I just went down to check on the new leleupi addition, and what do I see? He's somehow gotten behind the overflow box where the filter intake is located! How on earth did he squeeze into that spot and how on earth am I going to get him out??? I just swore and walked back upstairs when I saw that..... I've got work to do first before I even begin to tackle that. The hood is in the way for me to lean over at the right angle to get a net back there, so I might have to get Rick to help me take the hood down first, and then I might be able to get him if I stand on a high stool. I suppose he was chased and he was able to squeeze back there. The gap is only big enough for fry, so I'm not sure how he pulled it off. I suppose I should have them siliconed in place but I wanted more flexibility with the setup so I have it wedged, hiding the filter intakes and heater. *Sigh* I knew there'd be something, since it is hard to add a fish to a well established setup without something happening. I'll need to get some pictures of the 150 soon to show how the frontosa have grown, and how great they look. I'm really eager to see them reach their final size, when the tank will really show off well.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
American Cichlid Association Convention
My friend, Deborah, and I traveled to the 2011 ACA convention held in Washington, DC a couple of weeks ago. This was a much anticipated trip for me, as a long time keeper of cichlids, and though I've wanted to attend this event for many years, it has never been this close to where I live.
Though the convention lasts for four days, we were interested only in attending on Saturday, so we left early that morning and made our way up I-95. There was traffic, as you'd expect, particularly in the Tyson's Corner area where there is a great deal of construction underway, but we made very good time and found our destination easily. We also found free underground parking just a few blocks from the hotel, which was a plus considering the nearly 100-degree weather; we knew the car would at least stay relatively cool while we were inside.
We registered and were given a very, very generous goodie bag, which contained our meeting credentials on a lanyard, a raffle ticket, a t-shirt from Drs. Foster & Smith, and quite a few samples of food and water treatments from various vendors, as well as periodicals, posters, coupons, stickers, etc. Not too shabby! The only downside to this was that the bag was heavy and we'd have to carry it around all day.
We then proceeded to browse the commercial tables where all of the familiar aquatic products were on display for sale at a reduced price. All the big names were there, and I must praise Aqueon for giving away full-size containers of food, water treatments and liquid plant food. They were very generous, though many of us were timid about taking two or three containers of food, as suggested, when the adjacent tables were selling their wares. Aqueon is really trying to make a name for themselves as they have expanded their product line, and they felt the patrons of the convention ought to come away with something to make the trip and the stay in DC a little more worthwhile. I agree, and these small gifts wound up being worth more to me than I realized at the time.
We wandered around, looking at the tanks set up in the hallways up for auction. They were pretty typical setups, though I think they were my favorite part of the convention, since you got to see some creative aquascaping (though some ho-hum setups were on display as well) and some interesting species mixed with other non-cichlid species, in some cases. I'd have really liked to have seen some more unusual cichlids, though, like Altum angels, for instance, and I was really expecting that, but did not see anything I had not seen before.
The main area was downstairs on the first floor, and there were also rooms set up on the 4th floor where if you rummaged in your goodie bag you'd find a ticket to receive a free t-shirt from the Capital Cichlid Association, who hosted this event. This giveaway was for a limited number of T-shirts, so at the specified time we all lined up to receive our shirts. I'm truly not sure why I wanted a T-shirt, since I don't wear that type of shirt, but I thought it might be an interesting momento, and perhaps Rick would wear it, or I could put it in one of my own local club's goodie bags at an upcoming meeting.
We finally get up to receive our shirt and see that they are standing you against a background and they have a photographer taking a picture of everyone who gets a shirt, and this was, apparently, required to receive the shirt. I'm not sure what this was about, other than some mention of the pictures going up on Facebook, but I thought it odd that you were not able to receive a shirt without getting the picture taken. I don't like getting my picture taken, so I asked, and was told that I HAD to if I wanted the shirt. I am a rebellious type but I went along anyway, and once I agreed two young men, 15 or 16 years of age, who were obviously assisting in the process of handing out T-shirts, asked if they could be in the picture with me. I readily agreed, and thanked them for the offer. I'm not sure why they did that, but they probably wanted to be in as many Facebook pics as they could.
Anyway, off we go, eagerly seeking out new gems, hoping to see more fish, and wanting to sit in on an interesting lecture. We happened upon the conference room where the lectures were being held, and we caught the beginning of what we thought would be an interesting lecture on pike cichlids, a variant that neither Deborah nor I knew much about. We were not impressed with the bawdy style of the speaker, whose manner would have gone over great in a hall full of college students, perhaps, but I'd have preferred more science and fewer "wink, wink, nudge, nudge" off-color humor. Our speaker is a chemist and runs a pharmaceutical company and may indeed have biology credentials, but we we left early, lol. We are SUCH snobs!
Let me interject at this point that a mitigating factor to our so-so reaction to everything was that the hotel's air conditioning system was not functioning properly, and, as mentioned, the temps were approaching 100 degrees F outside. Air was moving, but it was not cool, so we were a bit crankier and harder to please that day than we might have been.
We then made our way to the auction room, which had many tanks set up, stacked from the floor to head height, all with number designations and in many cases a species ID for the fish within. There were no lights on the fish so you had to really know what you were looking for in order to make a bid. This again reminded us of our own club auctions, where people bring in fish in bags and float them, and if you don't know the person to ask you might not know what fish you were bidding on.
I honestly can't say what I expected, and why I was disappointed. I guess I expected Heiko Bleher to be there with a beautiful river biotope containing Altum angels, rummynose and cardinal tetras, leaf litter and floating plants placed strategically to mimic his personal recollection of the cichlid's native home. Maybe I expected displays of fish with descriptions, like a public aquarium. Why did I think the whole thing would be bigger and more interesting? I can't tell you - nobody ever told me, but I thought there'd be more fish for sale, rather than the tanks of discus, oscars, jack dempseys, jewels and assorted mbuna like you'd see at any decent fish store. Don't get me wrong - they did have some less common species, but in the dim stacked tanks they were hard to see, as many of them hid behind the sponge filter or other structure, naturally, after their ordeal of being moved.
I think once you return time and again you begin to recognize the people who are putting the fish up for auction, and plan ahead as to what fish you want, so you can bid on them when you get there. I would have loved to have gotten some interesting Apistogramma species, which is something I'm in the market for, but there were only A. cacatuoides, and though I would not mind having that species I was hoping for something a little less ordinary (the specimen they did have was in marvelous shape, though!).
We wound up leaving earlier than originally planned, and made a side trip to Pristine Aquariums in Alexandria, since one of our favorite things to do is to visit hole-in-the-wall fish stores wherever we go. It left much to be desired, though when I checked the web before heading over there they got rave reviews. It was on the way home, so no biggie, but we'd have sure been pleased if they had some Apistos or catfish that caught our eye! It is a very nice, clean shop, and a large one, so maybe they were low on stock and having a bad week.
Next up will be the Catfish Convention hosted by the PVAS next year, which I hope to be didactic and fruitful, though now I'm jaded! I know very little about catfish in general, though, so I'm looking forward to it.
Though the convention lasts for four days, we were interested only in attending on Saturday, so we left early that morning and made our way up I-95. There was traffic, as you'd expect, particularly in the Tyson's Corner area where there is a great deal of construction underway, but we made very good time and found our destination easily. We also found free underground parking just a few blocks from the hotel, which was a plus considering the nearly 100-degree weather; we knew the car would at least stay relatively cool while we were inside.
We registered and were given a very, very generous goodie bag, which contained our meeting credentials on a lanyard, a raffle ticket, a t-shirt from Drs. Foster & Smith, and quite a few samples of food and water treatments from various vendors, as well as periodicals, posters, coupons, stickers, etc. Not too shabby! The only downside to this was that the bag was heavy and we'd have to carry it around all day.
We then proceeded to browse the commercial tables where all of the familiar aquatic products were on display for sale at a reduced price. All the big names were there, and I must praise Aqueon for giving away full-size containers of food, water treatments and liquid plant food. They were very generous, though many of us were timid about taking two or three containers of food, as suggested, when the adjacent tables were selling their wares. Aqueon is really trying to make a name for themselves as they have expanded their product line, and they felt the patrons of the convention ought to come away with something to make the trip and the stay in DC a little more worthwhile. I agree, and these small gifts wound up being worth more to me than I realized at the time.
We wandered around, looking at the tanks set up in the hallways up for auction. They were pretty typical setups, though I think they were my favorite part of the convention, since you got to see some creative aquascaping (though some ho-hum setups were on display as well) and some interesting species mixed with other non-cichlid species, in some cases. I'd have really liked to have seen some more unusual cichlids, though, like Altum angels, for instance, and I was really expecting that, but did not see anything I had not seen before.
The main area was downstairs on the first floor, and there were also rooms set up on the 4th floor where if you rummaged in your goodie bag you'd find a ticket to receive a free t-shirt from the Capital Cichlid Association, who hosted this event. This giveaway was for a limited number of T-shirts, so at the specified time we all lined up to receive our shirts. I'm truly not sure why I wanted a T-shirt, since I don't wear that type of shirt, but I thought it might be an interesting momento, and perhaps Rick would wear it, or I could put it in one of my own local club's goodie bags at an upcoming meeting.
We finally get up to receive our shirt and see that they are standing you against a background and they have a photographer taking a picture of everyone who gets a shirt, and this was, apparently, required to receive the shirt. I'm not sure what this was about, other than some mention of the pictures going up on Facebook, but I thought it odd that you were not able to receive a shirt without getting the picture taken. I don't like getting my picture taken, so I asked, and was told that I HAD to if I wanted the shirt. I am a rebellious type but I went along anyway, and once I agreed two young men, 15 or 16 years of age, who were obviously assisting in the process of handing out T-shirts, asked if they could be in the picture with me. I readily agreed, and thanked them for the offer. I'm not sure why they did that, but they probably wanted to be in as many Facebook pics as they could.
Anyway, off we go, eagerly seeking out new gems, hoping to see more fish, and wanting to sit in on an interesting lecture. We happened upon the conference room where the lectures were being held, and we caught the beginning of what we thought would be an interesting lecture on pike cichlids, a variant that neither Deborah nor I knew much about. We were not impressed with the bawdy style of the speaker, whose manner would have gone over great in a hall full of college students, perhaps, but I'd have preferred more science and fewer "wink, wink, nudge, nudge" off-color humor. Our speaker is a chemist and runs a pharmaceutical company and may indeed have biology credentials, but we we left early, lol. We are SUCH snobs!
Let me interject at this point that a mitigating factor to our so-so reaction to everything was that the hotel's air conditioning system was not functioning properly, and, as mentioned, the temps were approaching 100 degrees F outside. Air was moving, but it was not cool, so we were a bit crankier and harder to please that day than we might have been.
We then made our way to the auction room, which had many tanks set up, stacked from the floor to head height, all with number designations and in many cases a species ID for the fish within. There were no lights on the fish so you had to really know what you were looking for in order to make a bid. This again reminded us of our own club auctions, where people bring in fish in bags and float them, and if you don't know the person to ask you might not know what fish you were bidding on.
I honestly can't say what I expected, and why I was disappointed. I guess I expected Heiko Bleher to be there with a beautiful river biotope containing Altum angels, rummynose and cardinal tetras, leaf litter and floating plants placed strategically to mimic his personal recollection of the cichlid's native home. Maybe I expected displays of fish with descriptions, like a public aquarium. Why did I think the whole thing would be bigger and more interesting? I can't tell you - nobody ever told me, but I thought there'd be more fish for sale, rather than the tanks of discus, oscars, jack dempseys, jewels and assorted mbuna like you'd see at any decent fish store. Don't get me wrong - they did have some less common species, but in the dim stacked tanks they were hard to see, as many of them hid behind the sponge filter or other structure, naturally, after their ordeal of being moved.
I think once you return time and again you begin to recognize the people who are putting the fish up for auction, and plan ahead as to what fish you want, so you can bid on them when you get there. I would have loved to have gotten some interesting Apistogramma species, which is something I'm in the market for, but there were only A. cacatuoides, and though I would not mind having that species I was hoping for something a little less ordinary (the specimen they did have was in marvelous shape, though!).
We wound up leaving earlier than originally planned, and made a side trip to Pristine Aquariums in Alexandria, since one of our favorite things to do is to visit hole-in-the-wall fish stores wherever we go. It left much to be desired, though when I checked the web before heading over there they got rave reviews. It was on the way home, so no biggie, but we'd have sure been pleased if they had some Apistos or catfish that caught our eye! It is a very nice, clean shop, and a large one, so maybe they were low on stock and having a bad week.
Next up will be the Catfish Convention hosted by the PVAS next year, which I hope to be didactic and fruitful, though now I'm jaded! I know very little about catfish in general, though, so I'm looking forward to it.
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