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?

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. 

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.