My Journey To Fish Keeping...

[carmstrong]

So here are some pics of my new additions to the tank!
 
Check out my new Dwarf Gourami
 

 
My male Dalmatian Molly
 

 
My Red Wag Platys (these are hard to photograph!)
 

 
Take a look at my Bamboo Shrimp! He's starting to get his brown/redish colouring
 

 
More to come! (when they will sit still long enough, lol)

 

[Mamashack]

Nice pictures, Candace!
It's difficult to get them in focus when they are moving isn't it?? lol

 

[carmstrong]

Thanks!
 
OMG is it ever! 
 
I think I sat by the tank for 30mins to get these! haha

 

[carmstrong]

Great news!
 
My pH has dropped even further to 7.8 from 8.2 

 
The tank is settling in nicely!

 

[carmstrong]

So Hobart is now in the Tank 

 

 
Things are coming along nicely, I added a fake plant to fill things out until mine grow, going to add a few more. 
 

 
Now i'm starting to enjoy this

 

[carmstrong]

So I was a bit worried about Hobart and if he would be able to get any food with the "Vultures" I have in my tank. 
 
So I looked up on Youtube and there was a person who trained the frog to jump into a fish net in order to feed him away from the other community... I figured I would give it a try!
 
So I bought myself a little net and placed the food inside. 
 

 
I had it tucked against the log and thought there was only enough space for the frog to get in...
 

 
I was mistaken!!!
The little vultures found a way to get into the net!
 
So I had to get creative..
 
I decided to remove Hobart from the tank completely and place him in a little cup..
 

 
It worked!!!
 
He ate a few pellets and I placed him back into the tank
 
We are well on our way to training our little frog

 

[carmstrong]

So I decided to add my other piece of driftwood to the tank yesterday! 
 
It was a bit cloudy after I stirred everything up so I decided to wait to take some pics. 
(please excuse the iPhone photo's, one day i'll have to get a better camera)
 

 

 
I had to load it full of gravel in order to weight it down lastnight, even though I soaked it for weeks before, lol
 

 
I added some more fake plants until my other plants grew.. 
I think I might need to invest in a proper light to grow live plants, this LED one isn't much and despite being in the window i'm wondering if thats enough either. 
 

 
My little Gourami will like these plants since they are covering the surface a little bit, he seems happy, his colouring has developed since I bought him. 
 
 
I THINK MY PLATY IS PREGNANT!!!
 

 
She's gotten FAT!
 


 
This should be interesting to see!
 
Its funny how you walk up to the tank and everyone assumes its feeding time!! hahaha
 

 

 

[Ninjouzata]

Glad to see you're enjoying them so much! Hopefully you can get Hobart trained so he can eat his meals in peace.
 
I would not be surprised if your platy is pregnant, they can store sperm for up to 6 months I think so can have multiple batches from one mating.
 
The driftwood looks great, and am sure the DG will appreciate those fake ones til the real ones grow in. So you have it by the window intentionally it sounds like?
I was going to ask if you plan to put a background on it to help block some of the light.

 

[carmstrong]

I am Its really exciting to see them every morning!
 
6 MONTHS!!! OMG! thats crazy.. 
 
I have it by the window intentionally yes, I don't have any other place to put it right now however, I was going to place some vertical blinds at that window to help shade the light. I wanted to watch the plants and see how well they grew before making changes. 
The tank has been setup for about 6 weeks now and i haven't had an issue with any green algae yet thankfully. 
 
I placed a small 2" x 24" black bristol board directly on the bottom to cover the substrate from direct sunlight.. that has proven to be helpful in keeping the algae at bay. 
 
I'm researching a new light for the tank, to help with the plant growth.. have no idea what i can get to fit my tank, Petsmart doesn't have much so i'm going to have to find a LFS that has more specialized items and I have one in mind. 
 
In the meantime, i'm going to experiment and see what happens, lol

 

[carmstrong]

So take a look everyone at how well my little Bamboo Shrimp is doing!! His name is now Edward, appropriately named after Edward Scissor Hands

 
Check out the changes in him since I brought him home!
 
Day 1

 
Week later

 
Two weeks later

 
Today!

 
Check out his colour! He's a happy shrimp

His latest thing, hanging out on the top of my fake plants catching all the debris in the water. 
 
Here's a recent tank shot (excuse the iPhone photo's)
 

 
Things are moving along very well! Slowly removing the "tea stains" as the driftwood becomes saturated
 
OH MY! Check out the size of my snail

 
Day 1
 

 
Bit bigger
 

 
Even bigger!
 

 
You can see how much his shell has grown

He must be enjoying being the only snail in the tank! haha
Boy can he move! Should call him lightning! lol
 
Caught this picture, Hobart came out to say hello today

 

 
He's just poking his head out looking for food

 

[Ninjouzata]

Edward seems to have grown a bit and is looking lovely! Is he in the FTS? If so I am having trouble locating him
 
The mystery snails do move pretty fast. Have you named yours yet?
 
LOL Hobart is too cute.

 

[carmstrong]

Heya Ninj, 
 
No I haven't named the snail yet, still waiting to see what he should be called. 
So far these are the names:
 
Bamboo Shrimp: Edward
ADF: Hobart
Gourami: Scrap (cause he's always looking for food) 
Rasboras: The Jets (after the West Side Story/ They just reminded me of the guys dancing around, lol)
 
Haven't named the Platys yet either, lol
 
Edward is in fact located in the FTS, he's on the second red plant from the bottom. You'll faintly see his little brown body lol
 
See..
 

 

[carmstrong]

Newest addition to the tank!
 
Two new Mystery/Apple Snails
 

 
Aren't they cute!
 
They look like little scoops of icecream

 

My Bamboo Shrimp moulted today!!!
 
He's getting bigger
 
Unfortunately I couldn't get a picture.. By the time I realized Hobart had eaten the skeleton!
 
Gross! lol

 

[carmstrong]

MY PLATY IS HAVING HER FIRST BABIES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Here's a pic of one.. hard too see and fast little things!
 

 

 
How exciting!!!

 

[Mamashack]

Ooooh! How many fry did she have altogether?
It's very exciting when they have their first batch!