Updated Fish Photos

I snapped a few pictures of my fish. I've added a few since the last time I've taken photographs.

I have 4 angel fish, here is a good picture of one of them.


A school of 12 neons, I couldn't get them all in the picture!


Here is my blue guppy, near one of my original females, also seen, the cory cat.


Finally, a close up of the corydoras catfish.

Aquarium Update

Well, the aquarium fish stocking is basically done.

• 4 angel fish
• 5 corydoras catfish
• 12 neon tetras
• 3 kuhli loaches (that I've seen recently)
• 5 adult female guppies
• 3 adult male guppies
• 2 adolescent female guppies
• 7 juvenile guppies
• a few guppy fry
• 4 rosy red minnows

I think that two kuhli loaches have died, as has one of the original female guppies. I added an adult male guppy, a turquoise blue color. I plan on adding some live plants and over time, replacing the fake plants to have a completely live planted tank. I already have a java fern which looks pretty good, I think I might add a few more of those next week. I'd also like to get rid of the rosy red minnows, they have served their purpose of getting the tanks biology going, but now I don't know what to do with them.

Amy Found the Baby Guppy

Baby guppies are very small, so the picture isn't so great, but here it is.



Well, the big fish are well fed, so, hopefully that will help the little fry have a chance to survive.

Baby Guppy & Some Black Worms

Well, today we saw the first baby guppy. I'm not intentionally trying to breed guppies, but when you put male and female guppies together, that is what they do. It was very tiny, and I haven't seen it for a while. It may have been eaten. And since it is rare for only a single guppy to be born at a time, I guess more than one baby guppy was eaten today. I'll keep my eyes open for them still though, they are very small and can hide very well. I'm going to try and keep the adult fish well fed, as maybe that will help spare the little guys. I've also added some floating water sprite plant to the tank, which should give the guppy fry a chance, even if they hide well at the bottom of the tank, they'll have a hard time getting food down there.

Along with the well fed notion, I like to feed fish a variety of food. This week I'll supplement their flake diet with black worms. At first, the guppies ignored them, but the rosy reds were gobbling them up. I took my eyes off of them for a while and when I returned, the guppies were chowing down on the black worms. I'm a little worried that I put to many in and over fed the fish. They seem to be doing OK right now. When I get my kuhli loaches, I'll add some algae wafers and sinking pellets to the menu. I'll also feed them some brine shrimp on occasion. Sure, they will live on just flake food, but they will live better with a varied diet including live food.

Guppies are not Sushi

Maybe the rosy reds would be OK! LOL! Seriously, should I be worried when Amy looks at my fish tank and declares that she wants sushi? I'm sure that she isn't actually thinking about eating my fish, it is just a little bit of irony. Maybe the next time Amy gets sushi she should eat it in front of the aquarium.

First Water Change

The first water change after adding several fish to the tank is always scary. Last night I changed about ten gallons of water, which is about the most I can do at one time. I should really be doing about fifteen gallons at a time, but I’ll have to find another bucket. Still, even with changing only ten gallons, I worried that I’d kill the fish or disrupt the biological filter. All of the fish have survived at least the first twelve hours, which is when temperature and PH differences can cause the fish to be stressed or die. The next day or so I’ll keep a good eye on the biological filter to make sure that any chlorine didn’t kill off the good bacteria that break down the ammonia and nitrites. I conditioned the water before adding it, but this is my first time dealing with chlorinated water, so I don’t have a good feel for it. My old water was well water that was very acidic. I brought the PH up with baking soda, which worked quite well. My tap water in Frederick is great for fish, other than the chlorine and chloramines, which should be removed by the Stress Coat + that I add to the water before putting it in the tank.

The Aquarium's Biological Filter is Going

Today's water tests has revealed nitrates. While nitrates aren't exactly healthy for fish, they aren't as lethal as ammonia, which the fish produce as waste and also comes from decay, and nitrites, what ammonia is converted to when nitrifier bacteria metabolize it. The nitrates are produced when the nitrospira bacteria metabolize the nitrite. So, having nitrates in your tank is good, in moderation, the only way to really get rid of it is through water changes, although some live plants will consume nitrate, but generally not enough to avoid water changes.

Right now I my readings are: ammonia, 0.125 ppm, nitrite, 0.125 ppm, nitrate 4 ppm. When things are perfect, you'll generally see 0 ppm to just a trace of ammonia and nitrite. If over the next few tests I see my ammonia and nitrite hold steady or drop, and the nitrates rise, the tank will be ready for some new fish. Hopefully that is when I'll be able to add my kuhli loaches. I'll need to call the local fish store and ask them if they are in stock, I'll want at least 5.

Eight Guppies

I know it is way to early, but I just couldn't stand looking at an empty tank. Since the tank is good sized, and guppies are small, they should be OK. I'll need to keep an eye on the ammonia levels in the tank to make sure the fish aren't poisoned by their own waste. So far, my water tests show a trace amount of ammonia, maybe 0.1 parts per million.


Male guppy


So, I've added two male guppies to the tank, with six female guppies. I took extra care in acclimating them to the tank so the fish are stressed as little as possible, because they might have to be stressed with higher ammonia levels for a little while. I follow the rule of three to one females to males because male guppies can fight over to few females, and if they are chasing the same female all the time, it will stress out and can kill the female.

Female guppy


Back when I had my thirty gallon tank, I took a couple of pictures with a thirty-five millimeter camera, you could see fish but they didn't turn out that great. These days, with digital cameras, you can keep taking pictures until you get it right, and you can see it right away and adjust. So, I was able to get some OK shots and crop them down to individual fish.

First Fish

Well, I couldn't wait, I wanted to get this aquarium started right away. The problem with starting an aquarium is that fish pee where they live but they can't really live in their pee. There needs to be bacteria in the tank to break down the ammonia, but in a new tank, there is nothing to really get bacteria started. So, in order to jump start things I put a few twelve cent rosy reds in the tank. As feeders go, they are clean, and since they were 12¢ it really doesn't matter much if they don't last long. All I need them for is their ammonia.

I still need to get a master test kit, which is pretty important when you are getting started. Right now I'm just relying on memory and experience from years ago. I planned to buy a kit when I was at Petsmart today, but the salesman just had to ask me if he could help, and I forgot all about it.

I did make the rounds to some local pet stores though, finding that one is out of business. Another, Rick's Fish was right up my alley, but his fish are a little pricey. Pricey fish are not necessarily all bad, if that price is due to overhead of healthy fish, and Rick's had the feel of a place that knew their fish. I will go back there, most likely for fish. I'll probably get other products at the chain stores like Petsmart, Today's Pet, or Wal-Mart.

Fish Aquarium

For my birthday, Amy surprised me with a sixty gallon aquarium for fish. I've been mentioning it here and there for some time now, and sometime around Amy's birthday, I mentioned that I would find one to be a good gift. Fish were one of my hobbies growing up. For many years I maintained a 30 gallon tank with a variety of fish, usually centered around a pair or two of angel fish. I'm really not sure why I didn't move the tank when we moved, or even take it when Steve, my stepfather, didn't want it anymore either. I told him to give it away! I do hope that whoever got it was starting out and is now enjoying the great hobby.

Tonight was setup night. I had actually started filling it yesterday, and added the gravel, but tonight, I setup the filter and heater, finished filling it, and placed the decorations, rocks and fake plants. It looks pretty good, but one of the fluorescent bulbs on the cover doesn't seem to want to light. The water needs to settle and let some bacteria develop before I add some fish, but it won't be long. I should be able to add a few small fish in three or four days. I'm not sure what to add though. I'm thinking of rosy barbs or tiger barbs. As tropical fish go, they are virtual indestructible or at least the most resilient for a new tank.

In the coming weeks, I want to add a couple of loaches for bottom feeding, a school of neons or other tetras, eventually leading up to four or so angel fish. Before introducing the angel fish, I want the smaller fish to be well established in the tank, and grown a little from their pet store size. Angel fish can bully and even kill smaller fish in the tank, and this introduction method will give the smaller fish the upper hand.

Much later, I would like to work on a more complete ecosystem. I had a lot of trouble with this when I was a kid, but I think I have more patients now, and even then I understood that my 30 gallon tank was a little small for that. With the right balance of different types of fish and plants, and proper water filtration, you get a balanced ecosystem that requires less overall maintenance. The trick is getting the right balance! We'll see, first, I have to keep the first few fish alive!