My Aquarium Journal

[Mayu]

none. My pregnant dalmation molly died when she got stuck behind the heater. (when I was away, my mom was feeding my fish, and when she accidentally pulled the heater loose, she put it in the wrong place, the molly swam behind it, got stuck, burnt and died from the injuries. )

the other female molly, she's starting to look preggers, but I don't know if she'd give birth. I'm having an ick outbreak, which has effected her... so I don't know if the stress of the heat/salt treatment along with gravel siphoning every 2 days are going to be condusive to her giving birth.

I'm just hoping this Ick treatment is going to work. (I added 1 tablespoon of salt per 5 gallons of water... after a few days I started slowly raising the temp to where it's at now... which is 87 degrees... removed 3.5 gallons of water to create more splash with my filter for extra oxygen...) now it's a waiting game. So that's my main concern.

 

[erk628]

That snail pic is sweet!

 

[Mayu]

Sakura and Naruto are pretty much over Ick!! I'm so happy!! all of my fish are spotless, so probably by the middle of next week I can start weaning them off the salt and heat therapy and get back to business!

I just wanted to share the pic. Now I have to go update my journal.

 

[Mayu]

All of the fish in my Ick tank are 2 days spotless. I think I'm finally over that hurdle and my fish are finally on the road to recovery.

In my betta tank everyone is still doing good. Genesis loves his bloodworms, and Gary finished cleaning the floor and is now getting the algae on the wall.

the baby snails are growing too. At first I wondered if they were the same species as Gary or if they came on the plants I use to have in the tank... but as they get bigger, I can tell their shells are starting to take the shape of a Japanese Trapdoor snail (which is what Gary is.)

 

[llamalord305]

In the first pic they look similar to ramshorns, but its difficult to tell.

 

[Mayu]

thats what I thought at first, that or an apple snail, which is why I thought maybe they came attached to the live plants I use to have in the tank...

but (it's hard to tell in the pic) it looks like the shell is starting to take the shape of a trapdoor as they grow.

 

[Mayu]

finally got a cute pic of Genesis. He loves his colorful silk plants. I thought since they're so bright he'd get stressed, but he seems to like them more than his real plants.

So off to update my fish blog. I have pics of the new plants and Japanese pagoda I put in my main tank too! Woots

 

[Mayu]

Here is the tank I fixed up for my Bolivian Ram Cichlids when the tank is ready for them.

I worked on it forever to clean it up (it was a mess when I got it), cycle it and get it ready for fish.

it's not pretty, I need to add a back drop, maybe some more plants, and I'd like to get a decoration that can serve as a "cave" for the female ram to hide in, as I hear they're keen on caves...

but right now my main concern is making sure it's ready for fish... which it seems to almost be. (levels have been holding steady, Nitrates, Nitrites and Ammonias are 0... pH is 7.4 (I read pH can be 6.0-7.4 so I'm good there.)

I have the heater set to a constant 74 degrees...

the only thing I lack right now is a hood. The one that came with the tank was broken... So I ordered one... and when it came in... it was too long. It was made for a 30 gallon long tank... this is 30 gallons high... So now I have to return it and order a new one. hopefully that won't take too long because I think the tank will be ready for the fish soon.

 

[~T~]

All of the fish in my Ick tank are 2 days spotless. I think I'm finally over that hurdle and my fish are finally on the road to recovery.

In my betta tank everyone is still doing good. Genesis loves his bloodworms, and Gary finished cleaning the floor and is now getting the algae on the wall.

the baby snails are growing too. At first I wondered if they were the same species as Gary or if they came on the plants I use to have in the tank... but as they get bigger, I can tell their shells are starting to take the shape of a Japanese Trapdoor snail (which is what Gary is.)

Yup those are beby trapdoor snails.

 

[Mayu]

I have three baby trapdoors in the betta tank. I've named them Heizo, Dansuke and Mitsu.

 

[Mayu]

Well today I was in a cleaning frenzy. I did an all over cleaning of my betta tank. No matter how many water changes I do, it seems the green algae always comes back. The rocks are fine, Gary the snail and his/her babies are doing a good job on the gravel... but now the walls are spotted with green algae.

So I did a water change, vaccumed the gravel a little, and wiped down the walls. I'm mad because I noticed in my pics I missed a few spots... but its definately a lot cleaner.

Genesis is happy

I'm also doing better in my main tank that was infested with Ich (Ick). However, after 2 weeks of treatment, (Salt/heat therapy and occassional gravel vaccums) it seems to be under control. No one is spotted, no one seems to be any worse for wear... in fact, they seem to be much happier with the addition of new silk plants to hide in. They also like sneaking around the Japanese pagoda.

(Ein always seems to want to hang out with the 6 pack more than with Spike and Jet, my other two black neons.)

Because they're doing so well, tonight I turned the temp down from 87 to 85 and added a half gallon of new water. If they do well, I'll turn the temp down to 83 in the morning, and add a little more water, and by probably Sunday or Monday, have the tank back to normal.

I am almost done with my new tank. I added a cichlid cave for them to hide in... and I'll probably get a few more plants. Water levels are still excellent. 7.4pH, 0 Nitrites, Nitrates and Ammonia... so its looking good. I was thinking I'd be able to get my Rams tomorrow, but I was told they will probably most likely not be in yet. the breeder was unsure if he'd make it this way by tomorrow. So I may have to wait a bit longer.

I still have to get a background. No where around here sells them. I may have to order one from Drs foster and smith.

 

[Mayu]

well this is NOT my Bolivian cichlid. If you wanna know what up... you can read my blog (linked on my profile.) I'm just too angry to discuss it now. *Sigh*

 

[Mayu]

Well, baby snails are doing fine... Its cute watching them move. They're so slow but determined. Lol

Genesis is happy as can be

The main tank is finally back to normal after the ick outbreak. (normal temp, normal water level, water test shows levels are good)

The only thing I'm having an issue with is my new fish... the Blue Ram Cichlids. (Again, long story)

Still trying to figure out what those white bumps are. It's between fungus, white spot and calcium deposits so far.

so that's where things have been.

 

[Mayu]

ok, so... ok.

tell me if this is not cute. Daddy Gary is giving his/her baby a piggy back ride.

My main tank is doing great after a bout of ick. Everyone is looking fine, no more ick. I'm happy the heat/salt therapy worked. I didn't loose a single fishy.

I finally got the background for my new tank. It looks 3D. I need to get more plants in there, but I'm going to wait until I figure out what up with my fish. (the one who has weird unidentifed white spots.) They like to hide, and I need to be able to do checks to see how those spots are doing, so I'm going to wait until he's better before I add more hiding spots.

And here is a rare shot of my problem child. As you can see, he's still swimming around like nothing is wrong, eating well and his colors are fairly normal, so who knows. I guess time will tell.

 

[Mayu]

Its been a while since I've updated this journal.

Everything has been going great. My Betta tank is good... Genesis is swimming happily, Gary's babies are growing fast, so all is well.

The Molly tank is also doing good. I added some new decorations, Sakura is getting pretty round with babies... hopefully she'll drop soon. After the disaster with Okasan, I worry about Sakura.

And of course Hachiko and Haruko in my Cichlid tank are doing much better. Today is their 2nd day without medicine in their tank... They seem to be doing ok. Hachiko enjoys spending time swimming through the plants... and Haruko likes to peek out of her little cave.

So all is well. (In order the pics are - Genesis, Gary's baby, the Molly tank, Sakura and Naruto, the Chiclid tank and Haruko and Hachiko.)

as you can see under Sakura in the picture... there's a bladder snail. My Molly tank was over run by them and I'm not even sure how... There are like a hundred in there, all of them fairly tiny... I've tried to catch as many as I could to release them (they're just overtaking the tank so I have no choice as bad as I feel about it.) But it's really wet and muddy here as spring has arrived... so maybe they'll like it.