Redecorating a Community Tank

I liked the castles in Lindsay's and Stevie's Honeymoon Suite so much that I bought one for one of my community tanks.

Above, you can see two rare blue angels, a platinum marble angel named Emmie Lou who is the daughter of Lindsay and Stevie, and a blue marble angelfish. Emmie Lou (at the far left) is the only female. This tank is 55 gallons, and also contains corydoras and tetras.

Below is a video of their new digs:

Smiling at the Vet's Office

You know a veterinarian and his staff is great when this young lady smiles in his office.

Simone is a tri-colored collie.

She was rescued by the Robeson County Humane Society

and the Terrell family adopted her.

She is always the perfect lady!

Angels in the Community Tank

I have two community tanks with four angelfish in each one.

In this one, I have three males and one female. Normally, it's best to have things the other way around, as males can become quite territorial. This tank, however, is 70 gallons so there are places each male can go where they can not be seen by the others.

The oldest in this tank is John McFish. He is a silver angel around four years old. His mate, Christy McFish, was a smoky leopard who passed away some time ago.

The two koi angelfish are from the same brood. However, although one is male and one is female, they have never been interested in one another romantically - which might be a good thing, since they are brother and sister.

The female koi is interested in the blue marble angel, which is about the same age - around two years old. He is the alpha male in the tank, which might be why she is so interested in him. It is important for the male to be able to protect the eggs and fry from predators.

All of the angelfish get along just fine with the other fish in their tank.

Animals? REALLY?

A Special Post From Lucy, the Jack Russell Mix

So, I don't usually get political, but lately I've been seeing comments that have me barking. It all started with the inhuman acts by a group of monsters in Syria who were called "animals".

I beg to differ.

Animals do not attack one another based on their color. You'll never see white dogs on one side and black dogs on the other, facing off and taunting one another. We don't care whether you are black, white, red, yellow, brown, tan, brindle... or all of the above. We treat all dogs equally.

Animals do not wage war in the name of religion. Scientists are just now determining that we have souls. Well, we knew that all along. And we don't label ourselves as Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhists, Hindi or any other religion. We don't care what you believe in your heart, as long as you treat us with love and respect.

Animals don't kill for the sake of killing. You will never see a group of snakes scheming to kill an animal just to watch it die, or to create fear or terror. We kill for these reasons and these reasons only: (a) to protect ourselves from attack; (b) to eat. Period.

Animals do not abduct others. You will never see a group of animals corral another animal and keep it hostage. There are some of us who are trained to keep sheep or cattle within a group, but that's for their protection. We don't do it out of a need for power.

Animals do not dream up ways to kill. We will kill only for food or only when we are attacked. We don't sit around thinking of ways to torture before we kill, or ways to make someone suffer before they die. That is monstrous.

So please stop calling terrorists "animals" when they do hideous things. They are not animals. They are sub-animals. Stop giving us a bad name.

If you agree, please share this post!

Update on the Honeymoon Suite

Lindsay Buckingfish and Stevie Fishnick seem to be enjoying the new decor in their honeymoon suite.

I have noticed them side by side staring at parts of the tank - the castles, the plant leaves, and even the glass. This is common when they are considering laying eggs. I would love to know how they communicate; I can imagine them asking each other if they think the conditions are right in that particular spot for the eggs to flourish.

Here is Lindsay; he is about ten inches tall and about two years old now. He's fathered several hundred eggs!

This is a small tank; only 20 gallons. Though books recommend five gallons for each angelfish, I allow ten gallons for each one. Only Lindsay and Stevie live in this one, so there are no predators and their eggs and fry would be safe.

Redecorating the Honeymoon Suite

It's been quite some time since Lindsay and Stevie mated. I tried twice to return them to the community tank. Stevie was accepted instantly, as female angels are, but Lindsay was bullied and might have been pecked to death had I not intervened.

So I decided that even if they do not breed again, the two needed to remain in the Honeymoon Suite. I didn't want to have Lindsay there all by himself, so Stevie and Lindsay are together again and have all the privacy they need.

However, when they were breeding, it was important to keep the tank spartan. This helps me to clean the tank without disturbing the baby angelfish. Now that they're no longer breeding, I decided to redecorate.

I am writing two books that center around an Irish castle. The first of these two will be released in 2015, and the second either in 2015 or 2016. Irish castles tend not to have spirals on their towers, but I fell in love with these two castles. It has created a fairytale atmosphere for the two lovers. They seem to be enjoying their new surroundings.

Cuddle Time

My two Jack Russells, Eddie (with the blue collar) and Lucy (with the pink collar). 

Notice there's no room for me?