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Post by kagome on Jan 30, 2019 17:02:44 GMT -5
They are well worth it. As juveniles, they look pretty cool. They're active and don't tear things up or beat other fish to death like so many cichlids do.
But as adults, they are STUNNING. Their colors are so bright, the bright blue up front with the bright yellow on their tails. You can easily see them across the room. They are show stoppers. They get good-sized but aren't giant tank busters. They're pretty hardy.
All around, a great fish.
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Hydra
Jan 30, 2019 16:57:25 GMT -5
Carl likes this
Post by kagome on Jan 30, 2019 16:57:25 GMT -5
They have a long body with six tentacles at one end. Yep, that's definitely hydra. None of the others have the little tentacles.
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Post by kagome on Jan 29, 2019 17:55:28 GMT -5
Your bigger fry are so cute! I love how you can tell they're angels even though they're so tiny.
Sorry about the other batches.
Could you maybe move the eggs into a hard-sided breeder box in the same tank to help with temperature control? Just a thought.
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Post by kagome on Jan 29, 2019 17:51:44 GMT -5
If they're on the glass, they could be planaria, a kind of flatworm.
If they're planaria, you can look really closely with a magnifying glass. The head of planaria is slightly triangular.
Hydra has a main trunk and then 6 tentacles on one end. The other end is a sticky "foot" that they use to anchor themselves.
If it is hydra, they may be in other tanks but they're anchored to something that lets them blend in. Hydras reproduce by "budding," they pretty much clone themselves. The juveniles are really hard to see without magnification. So maybe one hitched a ride a while back and you're just now seeing them? All it take is the one and it can reproduce all on its own.
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Post by kagome on Jan 29, 2019 17:41:02 GMT -5
This is a 40 gallon long so it's about 3 1/2 feet long. I have kept this species in this tank before and they did really well.
They do like a long tank but you could keep easily keep a group in a 65 gallon. They like to hide in plants when they're young but once they get to be adults they mostly hang out in the open water high in the water column.
They are stunning, the pictures do not do them justice.
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Post by kagome on Jan 23, 2019 17:27:43 GMT -5
I love this tank. Basically, my Christmas present this year was to revamp it and add the rainbow fish. I'm so happy with it.
I want it to look like a Japanese garden in there.
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Post by kagome on Jan 18, 2019 19:49:24 GMT -5
Hello!!
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Post by kagome on Jan 18, 2019 19:42:06 GMT -5
So I went ahead and added the new driftwood. I love it! I let it soak in the salted water for 3 days and then took it out and rinsed it. Very, very few tannins came off of it while it was soaking. When I went to pick up the Ludwigia repens, he also had African water fern. I attached it to the driftwood with some fishing line until it grabs onto it by itself. IMG_0440 by Katherine Morgan, on Flickr The Ludwigia I put towards the back of the tank since it will (hopefully) grow really tall. For anyone not familiar with it, it's the red plant towards the back of the tank. Once it grows in I think the red will really pop in the tank and look awesome. IMG_0445 by Katherine Morgan, on Flickr IMG_0442 by Katherine Morgan, on Flickr IMG_0441 by Katherine Morgan, on Flickr Sorry for the poor picture quality, I need to clean the outside glass apparently
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Post by kagome on Jan 13, 2019 14:16:45 GMT -5
I'm so sorry to hear that he's not doing well
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Post by kagome on Jan 12, 2019 23:50:40 GMT -5
So I ordered my piece of driftwood from AAP. It got here and I love it! So I've had it soaking for the past two days in about 2 gallons of water with a 1/2 cup of pool salt dissolved in it. It floated the first day, but now it's sunk to the bottom of the bucket. But, now what? How do I know how long to soak it? The page says to let it soak for 1-5 days. Am I just waiting for it to sink? It doesn't seem to be putting off any noticeable tannins, but the bucket is orange so I'm not 100% sure. I'm supposed to pick up some plants from a local live fish store. I want to attach the African water fern to the driftwood. I think it's going to look awesome.
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Post by kagome on Jan 9, 2019 10:39:24 GMT -5
I hope he keeps improving!
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Post by kagome on Jan 7, 2019 10:54:22 GMT -5
Sorry you lost some but at least now you can keep a better eye on the ones in the 20 gallon. It's crazy how that instinctual switch about eating fry turns on and off. It's always amazed me that they don't eat fry while they raise them, but then it just switches off with a new spawn.
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Post by kagome on Jan 4, 2019 15:19:54 GMT -5
I'm sorry the poor little guy is still sick. Columnaris is rough. I've lost some fish to it myself. Usually, the first signs of improvement are that it stops spreading. Then the bleached out patches on the body start to recede. Definitely, tempt him with any food that you can. I've found that the ones that completely stop eating don't make it. And don't beat yourself up about this. You're doing a really good job of trying to fix him up. Unfortunately, Bettas can be inbred, genetically weak and are housed under really stressful conditions in shipping and at the pet stores. Also, breeders tend to dump older fish that are past their breeding prime. So sometimes you pick one up and it's much older than you think. I'm not saying people shouldn't own Bettas, I truly love these guys. Or that you shouldn't do your best to fix up Kabuki. But at the same time, don't ravage yourself or give up on the hobby because he got sick. You've obviously got a good heart and are a responsible pet owner. Indian almond leaf might be a good addition to the main tank. It has anti-inflammatory and other medicinal properties. It also helps mimic the natural conditions of Bettas, who are blackwater environment fish. If you can't find any locally, Carl sells the extract.
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Post by kagome on Jan 2, 2019 19:29:51 GMT -5
I'm sorry your fish is sick. That's always such a bummer. You're taking really good care of him! You asked about putting salt in his regular tank. Carl's article recommends 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons of water for sick fish. That would break down to 1.8 teaspoons for your 3 gallon tank. But, substrate and decor take up some room, usually about 20%. So that would come to 1.08 teaspoons for your tank. I'd just go with one teaspoon of aquarium salt. Dissolve it in some water when you do a water change and pour that into the tank. That way, if he gets curious about something being added to the tank, he doesn't come into direct contact with the salt and burn himself. www.aquarium-pond-answers.com/2008/03/salt-in-freshwater-aquariums.html
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Post by kagome on Jan 2, 2019 19:23:05 GMT -5
Ah, good point Carl. The barbells on an Otto are so much smaller than the bristles on a bristlenose. With the bristlenose, the finer sponge kept him from getting stuck because his bristles were too big to get into the finer sponge. But with the Otto, they could probably root around but still pull their faces away with a more course sponge.
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Post by kagome on Jan 1, 2019 15:45:35 GMT -5
I had a bristlenose pleco that would get tangled up in the sponge filter. He was able to get himself off but sometimes he would get stuck for 10 minutes or so. I think they like the tasty gunk on the sponges and can't resist them. It got better for me when I swapped out my sponges. It might be the sponge is breaking down a bit and is more porous. You could change out the sponge and see if that helps. I'd also recommend going with the finest possible sponge.
The nonwoven is a good idea if they just keep getting themselves stuck. I love fish, I really, really do, but sometimes they're not the brightest of creatures.
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Sofa
Dec 31, 2018 16:12:15 GMT -5
Carl likes this
Post by kagome on Dec 31, 2018 16:12:15 GMT -5
I can just see you using a crowbar on cats to get a place to sit down. Then your lap is probably annexed by at least 2 kitties.
In my house, I can sit down for about 2 minutes and then I have a very large ginger poof on my lap. And usually, a very large foot warmer, either the 90 pound Lab or the 140 pound mastiff. Luckily, they are mindful of my toes.
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Post by kagome on Dec 29, 2018 2:01:35 GMT -5
You've got babies popping up everywhere! Pretty awesome problem to have. I hope all goes well.
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Post by kagome on Dec 27, 2018 16:45:34 GMT -5
Congratulations!
Sometimes it can take the parents a few spawns to get it all figured out.
I love how we take care of our fish, buy them a bunch of stuff, maintain their tanks, feed them, and then they bite us every chance they get! They're like children you're not allowed to ground!
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Post by kagome on Dec 27, 2018 16:38:41 GMT -5
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