My Yoyo Loach Is About To Explode

I have written numerous blogs about my fishtank.  During the last 20 years of my life I have enjoyed having egg laying types of fish.  Namely, tetras, barbs, and gouramis.  But in the last year I have added a fun type of fish, yoyo and clown loaches. 

These are fun active bottom feeders that also get rid of any snails that wander into the tank.  They have really added a lot of movement into my fishtank.  They are also great community fish, and get along with all the other fish I have in there.

What's also nice is that they are egg-layers so I don't have to worry about babies in the tank.  I found out I didn't like live bearers in that, they would have 30 babies, and then die.  Then 28 of the babies would die.  It was too much dying for me.  So imagine my surprise when I look over into my fishtank ,and see this.

I mean, how can she even swim straight being shaped like that?  Honestly, it looks like I photoshopped that picture.  I can barely believe it is real.

But yes, that is one of my yoyo loaches.   Or should I say that is half a loach and half roe (fish eggs.)  I honestly have no idea why she is so filled with roe.  Usually in a tank setting they will not lay eggs. 

However, after reading on the web, the one way for them to lay eggs that will grow up to be baby loaches is to do a huge water change, and then lower the temperature in the fishtank by five degrees.  And then I have to hope that one of the other yoyo loaches in the tank is a male. 

But the thing that worries me is if she will live after laying all those eggs?  I'm worried it will be way too much stress on her. 

Welcome Mike Nugget to the Fishtank

So yesterday I welcomed Mike Nugget to the fishtank.  He's a Gold Nugget Plecostomus.  My Sister wants to dismantle the fishtank in her room, and Mike was the last fish in there.  Actually, she always called him Nugget.  But I thought he should have a first name.  To be honest, I was watching football, and Bengals kicker Mike Nugent (not to be confused with Nugget) was mentioned.  So I saw that as the perfect sign to name Nugget, Mike Nugget.

 

 

 

Despite Mike's small size, he is at least eight years old.  Since he has lived most of his life in a 20 gallon tank, he never grew that big.  But the tank he is in now is 46 gallon so he has plenty of room to grow.  Not to mention he will have plenty of friends.  He will have Big Joe the 6th, (he's a common Pleco,) and a number of Loaches. 

 

In his old tank Mike tended to hide quite a bit.  However, he has actually spent some time in the open while eating algae in the new tank.  That's how I got all these pictures of him.

 

Speaking of pictures, here are a few more of Mike.  I hope he likes his new home.

 



Pleco Plushies

Like a lot of great thinkers, I do my best thinking in the shower.  I have no clue as to why this happens, but something about the water, soap, and being refreshed makes my brain step, "outside the box."  It was while I was on in the shower I thought of something that I thought was a swell idea.

Before I get into it though, let me start with Joe.  Joe the Pleco, also known as Joe the 6th, as he is the 6th pleco I have had in my life.  Joe is a plecostomus, also known as, "that sucker fish that eats the algae in your fishtank. 

 

So I've had Joe for about a decade or so.  He's been a good pleco.  When I worked in the pet industry, I sold a bunch of them.  However, when I showed the plecos to a woman who was new to having fish as pets, she freaked out as to how "ugly" they were.

I told her I thought they were like some breeds of dogs that were so ugly they were cute.  You know, like a bulldog with an underbite.  So ugly, but you want to talk baby talk to them all the time.

So back to the shower.  I was thinking about how they were ugly/cute, and that they would make a good plushie.  Then it occurred to me that if I'm thinking it, someone has already done it and put it on the internet.  And you know what?  Yep, it happened.

A company called Green Pleco beat me to the punch.  But I can't be mad, they have done a great job.

You know what would be great?  A pleco plushie that is around two feet long, and part pillow/part stuffed animal.  I think the kids would love it.  I have to admit that I feel better just knowing that these plushies are out there.

The Loach: Nature's Spaz

As I posted previously, I have had a snail problem in my fish tank.  Read this to catch up:

http://angjellockheart.blogspot.com/2015/01/std-snail-transmitted-disease.html

I tried to buy snail-b-gone from the pet store, but they don't sell it anymore.  The only way to naturally get rid of snails is to buy something that eats snails.  Namely, the loach.

So, I ended up buying two types of loaches, the very popular clown loach and the yoyo loach.  I bought them young so I will have them for a long time (hopefully.)  Here are the pictures.

The one thing I've noticed about having loaches, is that, they are total spazzes.  Maybe they are just young and energetic?  I could tell you more about it, but let me SHOW you through the power of moving pictures!

So they are a fun fish to have in the tank.  I think I already see a reduction in the number of snails crawling around the tank.  Since the loaches are high energy I have made sure to put shrimp pellets in the tank for them to eat.  Between regular fish food, shrimp pellets, and a multitude of snails, I think the loaches will start growing pretty fast.  Maybe I will post another video of them in a year or so when they have some size on them?

Feel the Fury of Fishy Hatred, Part 2

For Part 1, read this:

http://angjellockheart.blogspot.com/2014/06/feel-fury-of-fishy-hatred.html

Well, I am still feeling hated.  And some of that comes from me.  After I moved the fish out to the small tank for the carpet to be laid down, I re-set up the old tank just fine.  All the fish survived the move initially.  However, after the tank started it's cycle, I started to lose some.  Of the five I originally moved, only two have survived.  The dickhead Alpha male, and one of the female blue gouramis. 

So, I just cleaned the tank, and I'm trying to decide what to do.  Do I keep buying gouramis or do I go with another type of fish?  I am heading on vacation, so I have a few weeks to decide what to do. 

I was thinking about some sort of cichlid fish, but they are a bit aggressive for my taste.  I will update in a few weeks when I finally decide.

Feel the Fury of Fishy Hatred

The fish are mad at me.  It's true.  You see, new carpet is being laid down in the house, so their 46 gallon mansion has to be moved.  What does this entail?  The short story, a lot.

But here's the long story.  First I had to set up a temporary tank outside.  I only had an old 10 gallon tank that I kept my pet scorpion "Sunny" in years ago.  So I had to set it up.  Next, came collecting all the fish, which they did not like.  I got them moved into their 10 gallon apartment.  I can understand them being mad.  Going from a 46 gallon mansion into a 10 gallon apartment?  You'd be mad too.

But overall the move is not too bad.  I get to do some serious maintenance on the big fish tank.  I am able to empty all the water, as well as take a razor to the glass to clean it.  I was able to take the main filter apart, and give it a good cleaning.  The main point is that it will look like a mostly new aquarium once it is put back together. 

Now as far as moving the tank around, that was surprisingly easy due to a giant lift jack my Dad put together.  We just put it level with the tank, moved the tank over to it, and shipped it off to the wash room until the new carpet is laid.  The fish tank stand is sitting outside at the moment.  Now both are out of the way for the carpet man. 

But back to the fishys.  They are not happy.  Would you be if you were living like this?

 

They're like, "What's your problem air breather?"

 

(Feel the fishy hatred.)

 

 

Have you ever seen a fish pucker his lip?

 

 

"Not gonna comment.  Nothing to say to you human."

 

"Why have you done this to me!!!!"

So there you have it.  They have to spend 24 hours in an apartment until the carpet gets put down, and I can reassemble the main tank.  Then, maybe they will start to like me again.

My Little Community of Fish

You know, I like having fish.  Some folks say they are boring, and have no personality, but I disagree with that.  I think it's like any animal in nature, you just have to watch them and study them.  The hard part about owning fish is that, they have a short lifespan.  It's rough if you really get to know one, and then they pass away.  Or worse yet you watch them get to the point where they can't swim around the tank anymore, and slowly starve and suffocate to death.

I can't really stand to watch that happen to my fish.  Just yesterday I had to put down one of the oldest fish I ever had.  He was a Red-Eye Tetra that I must of had for around five years.  He had gotten to the point where his health was in major decline.  His jaw was messed up.  All his fins were in bad shape.  And yesterday, he was not able to get away from the flow of the filter intake tube.  It's like when dog owners know it's time, I knew it was time. 

I have learned to scoop them out of the water, and "pinch" their heads to kill them quickly when they can't get around anymore.  I can't stand to see them suffocate in the air or try to survive while being flushed.  It's cruel.  So as much as I hate to do it, I "pinch" them, and end it quickly. 

It's been a rough week anyway.  At the beginning of the month I gave my tank a really good cleaning.  At that point with the tetra, I had a total of four fish.  Him, two gouramis, and Big Joe the Pleco.  Once my tetra died that left me with a total of three fish in a 46 gallon Euro-tank.  So I was feeling bad due to the rough week, and looking at a near empty tank didn't help. 

I've been having a rough time deciding to get new fish.  We will soon be replacing the carpet, and that means emptying and moving the tank.  And due to it's size, that's not an easy task.  But I was told to go ahead and get some new fish.

I had been aiming to go to the pet store anyway.  I needed Ammo-carb and some aquarium salt.  So while I was there at Pet City in Lutz, I looked over the fish.  They didn't have many gouramis which I thought was odd.  I wandered down to where the guppies were when something caught my eye.  They had these smaller, friendlier gouramis in with the guppies.  And these were nice and red.  I had never seen any like these before.  There were not many in the tank so I got the three that they had.

I took many pictures of them in my tank, but they were still a bit freaked out by the move, and kept hiding from me.  Only two pictures came out well.  The older ones kept getting in my way thinking I was going to feed them.  That or they were like, "What do you want Pops?"  So I took the best pictures I could, and posted them below.

They are smaller, so I hope I bought them young.  I would like them to hang around a while.  We'll see how things go, and I might try to find another few like them.  I mean, I certainly have enough room in the tank.  And the good news is that, so far everyone is getting along.  Yes, there is some fish showing dominate signs, but everyone accepts it, and no one is fin nipping or fighting.  I think it's going to be a happy little community of fish.

Life of Gourami

I got new fish today.  I know this is not a big deal to some people, but it is to me.  You see, I have had Tetras the last 20 years.  Today I decided to get something different.  I decided to get Gouramis.  In my younger days I did not like gouramis.  Namely because one big male gourami bullied my favorite fish, Elizabeth (a Mollie) at the fishtank at school.  Really, the gouramis need more room than the 20 gallon tank that was at school. 

So now I have six new gouramis in my 46 gallon Eurotank.  They seem to be enjoying the new tank.  I have made sure to have plenty of rocks and plants for hiding places.  The fish tend to get along better that way.  I also changed the light bulbs as the old ones were getting really faded.

So I took pictures, and made an Independent film about these new fish.  I hope you enjoy them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here is my Independent film, "Life of Gourami."

 

 



My Pleco is Strangely Talented

That's right.  I have a strangely talented pleco.  Some of you get it, some of you wonder what I'm talking about.  So first up, I will "borrow" a little definition from Wikipedia.

Hypostomus plecostomus (known colloquially as a sucker fish) is the scientific name for a type of freshwater tropical Central and South American fish belonging to the family Loricariidae. They are large algae eaters, and to differentiate them from small algae eaters, they are often referred to as plecostomus, often abbreviated as plecos or plecs. They are extremely popular in aquaria for their ability to clean tanks by eating algae growth and dead fish.

Simply put, if you have ever had a freshwater tank, you have had some sort of pleco. 

My pleco's name is Big Joe the Sixth.  He is the sixth in line of plecos that I have had, going back 35 years.  Plecos tend to live a very long time if kept correctly.  My Dad bought his very first one when I was born.  That was the original Big Joe.  He lived 12 years. 

Number Six  was bought just up the road at Pet City.  I remember it because it was kind of traumatic for him.  You see, the young lady who got him out of the tank was kind of rough with him.  She dropped him, and then put him in a bag that was way too small for him to be transported in.  Then, she dropped him in the brine shrimp tank when trying to put him in a bigger bag.  She then grabbed him by the head, and tossed him in the larger bag.  It was kind of like a three stooges skit.  I thought for sure Joe was going to be dead on arrival.  But, I gave him plenty of food, space, and places to hide, and he made it.

In fact, I'm not sure how old Joe is.  I know I've had him a few years, and he had gotten more comfortable living in the tank.  He has also grown to be the biggest pleco that I have ever had.  Most of them I've had have grown to 6-7 inches.  He has grown to be almost 9 inches.  Here's a few pictures of him.  Side note, it's hard to get a few good pictures of him as he won't hold still long enough to get a good picture. 

But here's the funny thing about Joe.  He knows when it's dinnertime.  When 6:30 PM rolls around, he starts to hang up near the top of the tank.  I usually feed the fish (for their night feeding) at 7:00 PM.  When I actually start to feed the fish, Joe has a sneaky way of grabbing the food.

That's right.  He actually swims upside down, and grabs all the flakes he can.  The other fish give him a wide berth since he is armored, and about 20 times their size. 

I have to say Big Joe the Sixth is by far the most entertaining pleco I have ever had.  I believe that the way my tank is set up gives him a very healthy atmosphere, and I make sure that he has enough food.  He is so personable that when I imitate what I think his voice would sound like, I do an impression of Shaquille O'Neal.  It really does suit him.