My Big Black Pleco

In the year that I was born my father bought a 55 gallon fish tank.  He decided to raise guppies.  Along with the guppies he bought a very small Plecostomus, AKA a pleco.  It's also known as one of them "Sucker Fish" that gets rid of the algae on the side of your tank.  I ended up naming him, "Big Joe" as he was six inches long and much bigger than any of the guppies in the tank.

Big Joe lived to twelve years old.  That's not bad considering how much care was put into the tank.  Dad kind of gave up on it.  When I was old enough to really start taking care of the tank I cleaned it up, and changed the kind of fish we had in it.  That's when we bought, "Joe the 2nd."  We bought him at about two inches long.  He ended up growing to about six inches and then passed away.

Well, I'm a bit over forty years old now.  The last fourteen years (or more) we've had "Joe the 6th."  Honestly, I didn't expect that Joe would even make it in the tank.  The store employee didn't treat Joe all that gently.  First she didn't put in the a bag that was big enough.  You see, Joe was about six inches long when I bought him, and the bag she put him in wouldn't let him turn around.

So I said something to her about the bag not being big enough.  So she grabbed another bag, and went to put him in it.  Unfortunately, Joe fell out of the bag and into a small dish where they kept the brine shrimp.  The employee then grabbed Joe by the head, and chucked him into the much larger bag.  I thought to myself, "There's no way he's going to survive the night.  She had to of hurt him too much."

But the next morning I found him alive and well.  Joe the 6th actually grew to be my biggest pleco (of all the Joes.)  He was about seven inches.  That's when I read up on feeding him supplementary foods.  Even I figured there wasn't enough algae in the tank to feed him.  So I started adding shrimp pellets and algae wafers.  Everything in the tank loves the shrimp pellets so that worked out well.  Joe would end up snacking on the pellets and wafers.

 Little by little he started to grow.  But lately his growth has just taken off.  It seems he went from nine inches long to much larger.  One day he was hanging on the side of the tank.  I happened to have my tools with me for a project inside the house.  So I took my measuring tape out just to find how big he had gotten.

He had grown to exactly twelve inches.  That makes him the biggest pleco I've ever had by a whopping five inches.  Here is a photo of my giant angelfish Blackie Lawless (yes he's named after the lead singer of W.A.S.P.)

Here is a photo of Joe next to Blackie.

You can see just how big he has gotten.  The only real problem I've had is when Joe gets excited, swims too fast, and jumps out of the water.  He ends up hitting his head on the glass canopy.  I'll admit, it's scared the bejesus out of me a few times.

I've heard aquarium owners say they've had plecos live up to twenty years.  Now, Joe was already pretty big when I bought him.  I know he has to be around sixteen years of age at least.  I'll keep taking care of him as I want to him keep hanging around the tank.  I mean, look into those eyes.  He's kind of adorable, right?

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!"

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. 

Long Finned Zebra Danios and Mike Nugget, The Pleco Hide And Seek Champion

My last Gold Gourami passed away last week.  I didn't want to add any more fish to the tank with her still in it.  Namely, since I wanted to change the tank over to Angelfish, I didn't want them fighting.  I know they are "supposed" to get along together, but I had Gouramis fighting each other.  I wasn't about to add other fish to the mix.

So today I decided to buy some Zebra Danios.  I know they're not Angelfish, but I have a method to my madness.  After giving my tank a good cleaning, I needed to reestablish my good bacteria.  I also wanted to have some fish to go along with the Angelfish I will be getting in a few weeks.  Danios are great since they are off the minnow line, and aren't fin-pickers like some other "community" fish.

But as life is fickle, things didn't exactly go my way.  You see, they didn't have any of the cheap Zebra Danios.  They had the prettier, more expensive Long Finned Zebra Danios.  So I decided to buy three of them.  They have quite a bit of room in my 46 gallon bow-front Eurotank. 

I tried to get some nice pictures of them, but dang, they are fast.  They just won't slow down for me to take a picture. 

Trust me, they are a lot prettier in person than they are on in the photos.

Also in the tank is Big Joe the Sixth.  Joe don't care.  He's just been hanging out there for 12 years or so.

Even though I gave the tank a good cleaning last week, I couldn't find Mike Nugget, the Gold Nugget Pleco.  In fact, I hadn't seen him for over two weeks.  I thought he had passed away, but today I found him.  I have to give him credit.  He is the Pleco hide and seek champion. 

Here's the only pictures I could get of him.  Look directly in the middle of the photo.  He's hiding between the rock and the glass of the aquarium.  If you see the yellow polka dots, that's him.  Like I said, he's good.

So that's the exciting fish tank news for the day.  In two weeks or so I should have some new Angelfish to show off.  They will be the classic Marble Angelfish.  Stay tuned.

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?

Good and Evil, Right and Wrong, Acidity and Alakaline

I have always loved fish.  Let me clarify, I have loved having fish as pets.  From about the time I was 12 I really studied up on them to learn how a fishtank worked.  During that time a lot of the equipment changed.  The good news is it changed for the better.  So I learned how to use a lot of the new equipment to make a better tank.

However, there was one weak point.  I was/am terrible at chemistry, which is kinda important when you have a fishtank.  Truthfully, I failed both halves of chemistry in high school.  I failed high school chemistry again in college.  When I took it a second time I would have failed it, but the professor took pity on me, and gave me a "C."

I worked at many pet stores.  They hired me due to my strengths in knowing how the big world of fish and fishtanks work.  Once I was there, I was the "go to" guy on all things fish.

So when I started having problems with my own fishtank lately I was a little more than upset.  I was switching my tank over from tetras, which I have had for almost 20 years to gouramis.  At first, I was suspect of the place I was getting them from.  Independent stores can either be really hit or miss.  It was when I brought home two beautiful gouramis that died within 24 hours that I started to suspect the problem was on my end.

Long story short, I got my acidity and alkaline mixed up on the PH scale.  I got them completely backwards.  Since I am pulling my water straight out of the well, it was really alkaline due to the limestone we have in the Florida aquifer.  My water was coming in at a 7.8 PH.  Now gouramis can live at that PH water, but when they come from the pet store with water at 6.6 PH, it tends to kill them.

When I realized my mistake I started testing everything.  The well water, the water out of the sink, the fishtank, and most importantly, the water out of the rain barrel.  Yes, my sister has a rain collection barrel for certain plants in her garden.  When I tested it, it came in at a perfect 7.0 PH, completely neutral.  So I changed my tank water over 70%.  When I tested it, it came in at 7.0 PH. 

So I went to the store and bought 6 new gouramis.  2 blue, 2 gold, 2 pearl.  A few days later I went to another pet store and bought 4 opaline gouramis.  So those ten, along with the original 3, plus the pleco are doing fine.  I haven't lost one yet.  They are getting along, and so far I haven't detected any problems. 

Honestly, I am mad at myself.  I know everyone makes mistakes.  But I hold myself to a higher level in that I was supposed to be a sort of "fish specialist."  But I'm glad I got it right now. 

So to end this story, here are the pictures and some video.