Getting Acclimated

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.

Lindsay Gets a Mate

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.

Albino Corydoras

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.

Small Tetra Tank

Most of this blog has been focusing on my angelfish, but I also have a neon tetra tank. Neon tetras, glowlight tetras, and penguin tetras can not be placed in the same tank as full grown angelfish, because they would be considered food.

So they have their own tank, along with several corydoras and a miniature pleco.

This was supposed to be a fireplace but the contractor never finished it. Rather than to look at a gaping hole, I turned it into an aquarium. This is only 20 gallons, but the small tetras in this tank must think it is spacious.

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!

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.

Eddie the Jack Russell

Here are two pictures of Eddie and me. Eddie is a Jack Russell. The Robeson County (North Carolina) Humane Society discovered him at an area dog pound. He was scheduled for euthanasia because his leg was injured. They thought his leg had been broken but x-rays revealed that he'd been shot.

I adopted him and brought him to a surgeon in Cary, NC, who implanted a metal plate in his leg to help the shattered bone heal. He has made a full recovery and runs and walks to such an extent that you wouldn't even know he'd been injured. (The affected leg is the one that sticks out a bit from the rest of his body.)

Eddie has a special fondness for teeth and he cleans his sisters' teeth every day - a collie named Simone and another Jack Russell mix named Lucy. I draw the line at him cleaning mine.

Eddie loves to ride in a car, and he'd follow me anywhere and everywhere - as long as I am alone. When I take him out to the pet shop or someplace busy, he gets frightened and wants me to carry him - which I always do. I can't say "no" to the little fella.

A Video of the Pastel Betta

My pastel betta is a bit more shy than my multi-colored betta, so getting him to profile and stretch those fins is more of a challenge. I had never seen a betta with his coloring before - gold, lavender and green on a cream background - and he has become quite the pet. He usually watches me wash dishes and "follows" me around the kitchen from his tank, which is located on the counter between the kitchen and the breakfast nook.

It is also next to the multi-colored betta. This allows them to see each other, but it also gives them privacy when they swim elsewhere in their separate tanks.

A Video of the Double Comb-Tail Betta

I received so many comments last week about the photograph of my multi-colored double-comb betta, that I made a video this weekend of him.

I placed a mirror near his tank. When bettas see another betta or a fish they perceive to be a threat, they extend their fins as far as possible. It makes them look larger and a more formidable opponent, which hopefully would send "the other guy" running (or swimming) away.

Mr. Blue Gets Two Female Friends

Last week I mentioned that my blue marble angelfish had lost his long-time mate. He was pretty blue, hanging out in a corner and staring at his own reflection in the glass.

So I moved Emmie Lou, the platinum marble angelfish who was born to Lindsay Buckingfish and Stevie Fishnick right here in my own home, into his tank. (Shown below)

Because one should never introduce just one angelfish to a different tank, I also moved Alfreda AKA Alfie, a koi angelfish.

If I introduce just one angelfish to a group of angels, the newcomer will often be the target of territorial issues and bullying. By introducing two at once, especially in a tank with only three others present, it changes the dynamics and there is less likelihood of bullying.

Both Emmie Lou and Alfie are females, which is also acceptable in a tank with three males. Had I introduced another male, I would have had definite problems.

So far, Emmie Lou and Alfie have taken up with Mr. Blue, which is exactly what I wanted to happen.

The largest angels in this tank are Walter and Jack, two huge (12 inch tall) blue angels. They are named for Grumpy Old Men Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon, because they are always bickering. But they're brothers and I suspect if I moved one, they'd miss each other. Besides, nobody else wants to put up with them.

Super Delta Betta

Last week I purchased a new betta. I have two betta tanks; in one, I have a double comb betta in blue, green and red. In the video below, you can see the double comb fins very dramatically. He loves to swim with his fins completely fanned out, especially since a new betta has joined him in the tank next door.



The new betta is a pearl Super Delta. The tips of his fins are actually pearlescent green, which I believe will be stunning as he goes. He is just a baby now. The Super Deltas can grow to be 2-3 inches in length, which makes them larger than many other betta varieties.



Bettas require little care and are quite hardy and robust. They're the perfect fish for the novice, which is why I got my grandchildren started in fishkeeping with bettas of their own.

Vicki's Angelfish at 6 Weeks

Here's the last video I took of the latest batch of Vicki's Angelfish, named for a character in my Black Swamp Mysteries series.

They were 6 weeks old in this video. At 8-10 weeks, they are ready to go to the local pet shop. Shelli, one of the owners of Carroll's Pets in Lumberton, North Carolina, enjoys coming to my home and scooping out the angels herself. She gets to see the parents and the water conditions. She knows I clean all my tanks every weekend (one reason I am not checking emails over the weekend!) and I will not overcrowd my angels.



Overcrowding leads to angels that have squat bodies and short vertical fins. In severe overcrowding, their vertical fins can also be bent.

I tank-raise my angels, which allows me to monitor the water conditions. It also allows the fish to get accustomed to seeing humans and they come to equate humans with bearers of food.

In contrast, some large breeders have pond-raised angels. The water conditions are more natural, which can lead to big adjustments when the fish are sold to hobbyists intending to keep them in tanks. They are also frightened of humans, and spend more time hiding behind plants or turning their backs on anyone approaching the tank - they think if they can't see you, you can no longer see them.

If you buy a pond-raised angelfish, it really is imperative that you add amazon extract or blackwater extract to the tank. Without it, they often suffer vitamin deficiencies and shortened lives. They can get accustomed to humans but it's important not to frighten them and to approach the tank slowly until they get used to you. They always do better when placed with other angelfish who are already accustomed to humans; they learn faster that we will not harm them.

A Dog Who Sleeps Like a Cat

Each evening, Lucy Lou sleeps on top of the couch at my head. I don't know how she manages to remain up there without falling off, but she never has. When I go to the bedroom, I pick up her and carry her to bed. She barely wakes up and snuggles right away under the covers.



Playing in the Snow

Seems like we've gone from winter to spring and back to winter!

Here is a video of the dogs, Eddie (a Jack Russell), Lucy (a Jack Russell/ hound mix) and Simone (a collie) playing in the snow from a couple of weeks ago. All the snow is melted and now the storm is just a memory.



Feeding Baby Angelfish

When angelfish first begin to swim, it's time to start feeding!

The first food I feed my angels are live brine shrimp and First Bites. Live brine shrimp will cause the fish to grow very quickly and become more robust. It's very easy to hatch brine shrimp; one of the easiest methods is with a brine shrimp hatchery. But you can purchase the eggs at any pet shop and by adding aquarium salt to the water and shrimp eggs, you can grow them in almost anything, from old milk jugs to glass jars.

First Bites is an alternative if you don't want to grow brine shrimp yourself. This is prepared especially for newly hatched fish, so it is miniscule. When a tiny spoonful is put into the water (I use an 1/8 of a teaspoon) it floats through the water like live "bait". Angelfish are born with the instinct to go after this tiny food in the water, as well as any algae forming on plant leaves or glass.

Now that the angelfish are four weeks old, I have switched to dried brine shrimp instead of live. By crumbling it into the water, it's larger than freshly hatched shrimp and a bit more filling.



Within the next couple of weeks, I will be adding dried fish flakes to their feeding. By the time the angelfish are between eight and ten weeks old, they will have been weaned completely off the brine shrimp and First Bites and will be eating a diet consisting solely of dried fish flakes. This allows them to settle in much more easily with a community tank.

Angelfish Babies Learning Their World

I'm really happy to report that the angelfish babies are continuing to thrive. Just a week or two ago, they remained near the gravel, as close to the bottom of the tank as they could get. They traveled in a school and whenever I came near the tank, they moved to the far back.

As they've grown, however, and especially once I removed the plants they were hiding behind, they have become more confident with their surroundings. They've begun to swim from the bottom of the tank to the top. And they've fanned out, no longer feeling the need to remain in a school.

In the wild or in a community tank, plants or decorations with very small openings are necessary to keep the baby angelfish from being eaten by predators - even other (adult) angelfish. Remaining in a school can be necessary for survival as well.

But in an infant tank like I have set up, there are no predators. I don't even have corydoras or other bottom-feeding or algae-eating fish, because they can find newborn fry very tasty. So there are no predators and the angelfish are learning they are perfectly safe.



I've been asked about the sponge on the intake filter. I bought the sponge at my local pet shop and cut it so it slips onto the intake. This prevents very small and weak angelfish from being sucked into the filter. It also provides a place where brine shrimp can become lodged, which the babies will pick off without having to worry about getting sucked in. The water can still circulate through the filter, providing both filtering and water movement that is essential to keeping the water oxygenated.

Angelfish Begin to Form Their Shape

The angelfish are just over two weeks old, and they have begun to form their distinctive angelfish shape.



The more angels you have in one tank, the shorter and squatter they become. The more space each one has to grow, the more likely they are to have very tall fins.

It is difficult at this point to count the fry, but I believe there are close to three dozen in this 20-gallon tank, which should give them plenty of space to grow over the next few weeks. When they have reached a body size of a quarter, they will go to the local pet shop. Some breeders sell them when their bodies are the size of a dime. I believe this is entirely too small, as the water changes from the breeder to the pet shop and then to the buyer's tank often results in high fatalities.

I changed the water the day before this video was taken. Water can become very dirty with babies, because of the brine shrimp that is fed to them - it creates cloudier water than fish flakes, which they won't be able to eat for several more weeks. During the water change, I removed the plants. This confuses them for a day or two, but it makes it more likely for them to get used to me, so they won't hide from people in the pet shop - or in their new home. They'll come to associate people with food.

Loving the Snow

My collie, Simone, is loving the snow. This week, a more severe storm moved in (Pax) which brought a reported five inches of snow to Robeson County on Tuesday, and an estimated .75 inch of ice on Wednesday.

Though it shut down the town, Simone loved the cold so much that she spent part of her day sitting in the snow.

In case you're wondering if she was left out there for long, note the doggie door on the side of the house. :) The dogs have three doggie doors so they can come and go as much as they'd like. I have discovered, however, that they will run around and play in the snow for a few minutes, then come inside for Mommy to dry them off, they'll warm up, and a few minutes later, they're back outside in it!



Babies Thriving

Since I moved the parents to a different tank, the babies have been exploring their tank more thoroughly. There are no predators so they are perfectly safe swimming about. There is no need for them to hide among the plants, as their parents were keeping them.



You can see the difference in size. The smallest are most likely female, and the largest are most likely the alpha males - the ones most likely to get to the food first, and who will be more assertive as they age. When looking for a pair, it's often best to select one of the largest (most likely, a male) with one of the smaller ones (most likely, a female). Getting two of the largest often means you've selected two males, which can result in territorial issues.



Parents Fighting

Last evening I was sitting across the room from the Infant Tank when I noticed Stevie Fishnick and Lindsay Buckingfish fighting. I had never witnessed this before; they are usually quite compatible. As I approached the tank, they locked lips and tugged at one another.

There is only reason for this to have happened. One of the parents (most likely, the male) decided to begin culling the babies. In the wild, the parents will often select the weakest to kill (or eat!) which helps the strongest to survive, as there are fewer competitors for food or resources.

However, this can cause a problem if the only parent does not agree with the culling decision.

So I believe that Stevie was continuing to protect her young - but the tables had turned so she was now protecting them from their own father.

I removed them both immediately to the empty tank directly above the Infant Tank. I had planned on moving them anyway when the babies got a little larger, but truthfully, the babies can do well on their own as soon as they become free-swimming. Because there are no predators in the tank and the filter intake has a baby-proof sponge on it, there's no reason for the parents to keep them hidden among the plants and leaves.



Tomorrow: how the babies are doing on their own.