Spring Cleaning For The Fish Tank

As all my friends know, I constantly remind them to clean their fish tanks on the 1st and the 15th of every month.  Which is strange because I don't think any of my friends have fish tanks?  But as sure as the sun come up in the morning, and goes down in the evening, I make sure my fish tank is clean.

I had noticed a problem the last time I was cleaning my fish tank.  It seems there was a lot of debris from my fake plants.  My pleco, Joe the 7th, had been chewing on them so long they were coming apart.  So it was time to buy some new fake plants.

Here's a tip a friend of mine shared.  Since aquarium plants sold in pet stores have a ridiculous markup, buy your plants at Michael's Arts and Crafts.  They have a wider selection, and are much cheaper.  Now, they aren't copies of underwater plants like you would find in pet shops, but some of them can pass very closely.

So not only did I throw out all the old plants, I gave my aquarium a heck of a cleaning.  I mean, I changed 40% of the water vs. the 20% I usually do.  I also gave the tank a good shaving.  As in, I took a straight razor blade, and shaved the algae off most of the tank's sides.

I've learned that since I have a bubble sprayer I have to shave my glass lid when I clean the tank.  Otherwise, there is too much algae buildup, and it cuts back on the amount of light that can come through.

So onto the photos.  Here are photos of the aquarium during the daytime.

These are the photos of the tank at the "Dusk" setting.  My light has about 20 settings, and this one is pretty trippy.  I put it on this setting at the end of the day/night, from 9PM to 10PM.

And this is the "Ocean Blue" Nighttime setting.

I have to say an aquarium can be an awesome thing.  But it depends how much time and money a person puts into it.  I want a clean environment for my fish so I put a fair amount of time into my aquarium.  And as you see it pays off.  Like Professor Moody said, "Constant vigilance!"

Fish Fight In The Parking Lot!!!

The story of my life is I'm always trying to do the right thing, and it backfires on me.  Here's the latest incident.  I was browsing Craigslist (no, not that section.)  I was looking at the free section.  I saw an ad giving away a pair of mated angelfish.  I looked at the included photo, and saw they were pretty good size.  It seems they had outgrown their tank, and needed to be rehomed.

I thought, "perfect!"  Since I had two angelfish pass away a few months ago I could use two angelfish to restock the tank.  Long story short, I brought them home.

As you can probably guess, that's when the trouble began.  The big male (the marble colored one) and the male that was already in my tank decided to have a fish fight.

I mean, they really went at it.  I'd never seen anything like it.  They would actually bite each other's lips and hold on.  Then there was posturing and maneuvering.  Despite my attempts to break up the fight they went at it for a couple hours until they were both worn out.

Since it was near the beginning of the month I decided to so something I had heard about.  Generally fish like their own territory, so if I were to rearrange the tank with natural breaks in it, I believed they would leave each other alone.

So I gave the tank a great scrubbing, and performed my first of the month cleaning/water change.  Next, I moved my rocks and plants around to create natural barriers.  It ended up looking like this.

It seems to have worked.  They are somewhat passive aggressive and engaged in what I would call a "fin measuring" contest.  But at least they aren't attacking each other.  The two males have claimed their own parts of the tank.  However, the loaches have no idea what's going on.  But in all honesty, they don't care.  Neither do the giant danios.

The new fish (the male and female pair) hang out together.

While the three fish (one male and two females) I originally had hang out together.

But every now and then the two males give each other dirty glances.

So my plan has somewhat worked out.  It's strange because I never had any problems with angelfish before this.  They had always gotten along.  But now that I think about it, they tended to be very young when I brought them home.  Hopefully after a week they'll figure out some sort of rhythm to the fish tank.

Angelfish: Gold Evolution

I have written quite a bit about the angelfish in my fish tank.  I have to admit they are some of the best fish I have ever raised.  I'm still learning a lot about them.  They have great personalities and are really friendly.  They've started taking food from my hand.  That's pretty awesome.

Due to the high cost of angelfish, every one I have brought home has been young and tiny.  (So I can buy them cheaper.)  Most of them were no bigger than a quarter, counting only the main body, not the large fins.  So I've had the chance to watch them grow from very tiny to pretty good size.  And boy, do they grow.  They have grown faster than any fish I've ever had.

But now, something new has happened.  My two oldest angelfish have started to have some orange/gold develop on their bodies.  I was kind of shocked at first.  One day they were black and white, and the next day they have this beautiful orange/gold color.  Let's go to the pictures!

This one is my oldest. 

You can see the orange/gold on the nose and dorsal fin.  It's like highlights for fish. 

Here's a picture really close up.

This one is my second oldest.

Again, you can see the orange/gold developing on the nose, lips, and dorsal fin.  It's an amazing look.

This next picture is of my most recently bought angelfish.  Boy, has this one grown up fast.  Again, this is one that was no bigger than a quarter when it came home.

When I bought this one it was transparent.  I'm not kidding.  You could see right through it.  Now, it's starting to develop some black on it's long fins.  I hope it will continue to have some color patterns develop on it. 

If it does, you know I'll post about it here.  I love talking about my fish.  It's my thing. 

View From The Recliner: Feed Me

My fish tank sits right by my recliner.  I like having it there.  Namely since I can look directly to my right, and see the fish tank in all it's glory.  However, I have noticed something.  My Angelfish are starting to become a little too smart.  I grabbed my camera, and took a photo.  Do you notice something?

They say to have a large fish tank for Angelfish to live in.  But do you notice what they are doing?  All five Angelfish are over in the corner looking right at me.  This is pretty much what they do all day.  I have a 46 gallon Euro-tank, and all they do is sit in the corner waiting for food.

I don't want to give the wrong idea.  Believe me, they get plenty of food.  I actually worry I'm overfeeding them.  It's just the giant danios and other fish don't hang out in the corner.  Only the Angelfish.  They sit there eyeballing me throughout most of the day.  Well, at least I know they are in the corner when I'm in my recliner.  I'm not sure what they do when I'm not there. 

I do like having Angelfish.  They are more personable than any other fish I've had.  I just wish they wouldn't eyeball me all the time.  There's a lot more tank to explore.  Maybe they can swim over to the other side and hang out there?

Overhauling the Fish Tank: New Light, New Fish, New Look

In an earlier post I showed the pictures of the new fake plants I had bought.  It gave the fish tank a great look.  Here's the link:

http://angjellockheart.blogspot.com/2017/02/time-to-spruce-fish-tank-up-new-fake.html

In the past week I have really spruced up the tank.  First up was a new light.  It's amazing what technology can do these days.  Check out the Current's website for what this light can do:

http://current-usa.com/aquarium-led-lights/satellite-led-fixtures/satellite-freshwater-led-plus/

I won't go into everything it can do since I would just be repeating what the website link would say.  But here is the view of my fish tank with the full spectrum setting on the light-strip. 

Here is the moonlight setting.  I use it at nighttime when the fish "go to bed."

There are a lot of other settings, but my camera is not nuanced enough to display the difference in colors. 

I was able to make a few additions to the tank.  Two new angel fish followed me home.  When I saw them in the pet store they caught my eye.  They were no bigger than black tetras. 

What's neat is that, when I had them in the bag from the pet store, when I would hold them up to the light they were incandescent.  I could actually see through parts of them.  I could also see the heart and insides of the gills.  As they get older I'm sure some of their color will come in.

It's hard to get a good picture with my camera.  It doesn't have a fast shutter speed, and the fish don't like to hold still.  Anyway, you can get a glimpse of how small the little angelfish is next to my oldest one. 

I have to say the lighting from the new light really makes the fish look awesome.  It really highlights the plants and rocks as well.

In addition to the two new angelfish I brought home some giant danios.  They move really fast so it was hard to get a decent picture of them, but I think I did okay with these shots.

So I feel really great about the fish tank at the moment.  I really needed to update it, and I think I did a great job.  I like having it right by my chair.  I can stare off into it, and feel a nice calming sense flow over me. 

I should really invite some hippies to sit by the fish tank.  That way, they could just stare into it for a few hours.  Of course, I risk a drum circle breaking out.  But that's okay.  Nothing can get me down.  I have a pretty awesome fish tank, and that makes me feel pretty good. 

Welcome Bob A. Fish To The Fish Tank

I was aiming to post this a little while back, but as you can see down my blog feed my Grandmother passed away.  So this post had to be put on hold for a while. 

A few weeks ago I dropped by Pet City to see about adding some more fish to my fish tank.  I had five angelfish already so I wasn't looking to add anymore.  I was checking the price on certain tetras or other fish that would get along with angelfish.

But that's when I saw him.  Bob.  Bob Angel Fish.  He was so tiny, but had some amazing markings.  So he had to come home with me.  This is Bob.

You can see just how tiny he is for an angelfish.  I was worried he might be picked at by the larger fish.  However, I have not had any trouble with these angelfish.  Honestly, I've had more trouble with mollies.  That's right.  Those "community fish," that are supposed to get along with each other?  I had one molly flat out kill another many years ago.  I have had no trouble at all with these angels.

I have to say the five angelfish I bought a couple of months back have been some of the smartest fish I've had.  They know who feeds them.  I can sit in my chair, and they will stare at me or at least come over to check on me.  Yes, I've had fish do that before, but none learned to do that within three days. 

Here's a picture of Bob with some of the older angels.

Here's one of the bigger angels in what is one of my better pictures.

It's funny in that, they were so tiny just a couple of months ago.  I remember commenting on how their bodies (not counting the fins) were no bigger than a quarter.  Now, they are much, much bigger.  Bob is no bigger than a black tetra at this moment.  But I think he will get some size on him in no time.  Much like his tank mates.

So maybe I will get a few more fish in the tank.  I do have the room.  I think some black neon tetras would get along well with everyone.  I've had great luck with them before.  But we'll see.  If I do, you can be sure that I will write a blog post about it. 

Restocking the Fish Tank: Angelfish Sunday

Today was the day I finally put some angelfish in the fish tank.  There is an independent pet store called Pet City that had the smaller marble angelfish in stock.  So a few were purchased, namely five of them.  Also purchased was some specialty food, aquarium salt, and a new Marineland jet sprayer.  Let's take a look at the pictures.

For clarity, the funny looking white things are the air bubbles shooting from the sprayer.  The angelfish are still schooling together.  Since they are in a new environment, they don't like separating that far from one another. 

Here's a short video clip that I took of the tank.

I'm glad I was able to get the angelfish while they were small.  That will give them plenty of time to grow.  Since they are young and small, they are getting along well with the danios.  Everyone is getting along nicely. 

The old Marineland jet sprayer finally bit the dust last week.  But honestly, it hadn't worked well in years.  I should have replaced it back then.  But the good news is I assembled it correctly, and it's working just fine in the fish tank.  It looks pretty, and I'm sure the fish are yelling, "BUBBLES!!!!"

I could put more fish in the tank, but I'm not sure what kind.  I think some glo-light tetras would get along well with everyone.  I could add some clown loaches since my last one passed away.  I'll get on the internet, and see what fish get along with angelfish.  I'll try to pick something that I haven't had before. 

Fish Post Friday: More Danios

In my last post I wrote about how I had bought a few Longfin Zebra Danios to add to my mostly empty tank.  Here's the original post:

http://angjellockheart.blogspot.com/2016/09/long-finned-zebra-danios-and-mike.html

So today I went to a different pet shop and bought some "mixed" Danios.  Basically, there were three different types.  So I bought six total.  Two white ones, two regular zebra ones, and two that I could only describe as "speckled." 

This time I thought I would be smart.  Since they won't hold still I decided to take some pictures of them in the bag.  It didn't work out.  They are still just too fast for my camera.

So I decided I would let my camera work for me.  I took a short video of the Danios swimming around.  Take a peek.

Everyone seems happy, and they really fill the tank after it being empty.  I really like having them.  I'm not sure why I never had them before.  So, please look forward to more updates when I add some Angelfish in the tank.