Some of you might remember Emmie Lou, one of the baby angels born to Lindsay Buckingfish and Stevie Fishnick last year. It was during a period of time in which Lindsay and Stevie were laying eggs about every three weeks, and this batch didn't fare so well. In fact, Emmie Lou was the only surviving angelfish, so since my betta tank was empty at the time, I placed her in there. She was smaller than a dime when I removed her from her parents' tank.
Here is Emmie Lou today. She is about ten inches tall and has actually outgrown all the other angels in her tank.
Her best friend is a red-eyed spangle. Her name is Stevie; I had purchased her for Lindsay when Emmie Lou's mother passed away, but Lindsay had decided no more women. The two girls have become great friends.
This is Lindsay Buckingfish and Stevie Fishnick during happy times, caring for their eggs.
The new Stevie Fishnick is getting acclimated to her new surroundings. She spent just one hour in the bag getting adjusted to the temperature, and then I released her into the tank with Lindsay. I am hoping they will breed, which might take several weeks as they become accustomed to one another.
Soon after the video below was taken, Lindsay pecked a bit at Stevie so I placed a divider between them. The divider allows them to see one another but not to invade each other's space. I will try removing the divider after a few days to see if he accepts her.
I haven't written much about Lindsay Buckingfish lately. His mate, Stevie Fishnick, died a few weeks ago. I tried moving Lindsay back into the community tank where he first lived but the male angelfish were extremely territorial and I was concerned for Lindsay's safety.
So Lindsay has been in the breeding tank all by his lonesome.
Last week, I learned from my friendly neighborhood pet shop, Carroll's Pets, that they had received a nice, large shipment of angelfish. The co-owner, Shelli, and I spent some time selecting what we think is a female.
We looked for:
(1) A head that slopes, versus one that rises sharply. Male angelfish get a bump on the top of their heads as they age; females do not.
(2) An angelfish remaining toward the back of the tank. Males tend to be more assertive and come to the front while females are content in the background.
(3) An angelfish that is not assertive when feeding. Females tend to allow the males to assertively rush to the top to eat.
(4) An angelfish without the barbs in the ventrals. Males have a barb that becomes more pronounced as they age; females do not.
The only surefire way to identify a female is when they mate, so we won't know for certain that I have a female for Lindsay until that time.
Here is Stevie Fishnick in the bag as it gets acclimated to the temperature. She is a red-eyed spangle. Lindsay's prior mates were both platinum angels, which looked identical to the new one except for the red eyes.
This week I was in the right place at the right time. I visited my friendly neighborhood pet shop, Carroll's Pets, and they told me they had received a shipment of large plecostomus just a few days earlier. While scooping them out of the bag to add them to their tanks, Shelli discovered a tiny baby albino pleco. It is not much larger than my fingernail.
Most of my tanks contain angelfish, which would make a quick meal out of the little fella. So I brought him home to my neon tetra tank, where the largest residents are corydoras, who get along with everybody. There are plenty of places for the little guy to hide out - in a castle, in a grassy "pod", and amongst plants.
This morning, I found him bright and early eating the algae off the side of the tank.
I think I'll name him Steven Tylerfish. Mick Jaggerfish is my largest pleco.
We don't know what variety of pleco Steven is. He might remain small or he could be 15 inches or larger. If he outgrows the neon tank, I can always introduce him to one of my larger angelfish tanks, which would accommodate a pleco of almost any size.
This morning when I fed my fish, I found this albino corydoras watching me from a hole in a tree trunk.
Corydoras get along with all fish. They are like little Merry Maids swimming around the bottom of the tank, sweeping up the food that others missed. I have about 20 corydoras in each of my community tanks. The more you have in a tank, the better they like it. They come in a variety of colors. I currently have four albino corys like the one shown here.
Barely visible in the picture is another corydoras in the lower left corner. He is a green cory.
