Friday Friends: I'm Stumped

Lucy gets more than her share of attention. She demands it. She is extremely bright, catches on quickly, and loves to play.

We've had her for about 16 months - close to a year and a half. She was more difficult to house train than any of our other dogs. But then she seemed to get it. We have three doggie doors that allow her into a fenced back yard that is about half an acre in size, and she can come and go 24 hours a day.

So why has she started urinating on the carpet again?

We did not get any new pets - dogs or cats or anything else other than fish babies who stay in their tank.

Nothing traumatic has happened. No one left for college. No one got married or brought a stranger into the house. No furniture has been moved. I'm so boring I am totally predictable.

She is spayed and is perfectly healthy.

We have a collie (female) who is extremely docile. And a Jack Russell (male) she plays with constantly. Neither of them are having issues.

Any ideas on why a dog will suddenly lose their house training?

Eggs for Breakfast

I noticed after baby angelfish hatched that their parents often laid additional eggs immediately afterward. This stumped me because if I was in their shoes - uh, fins - and I had 200 babies swimming around, why would I want 200 more?

Then I realized the parents were laying the additional eggs as a food source for the babies. I watched as the babies ate the eggs and the parents swam around, as if encouraging them.

I thought it was very interesting that the parents would come up with this ingenuous food source. Talking about growing your own!

Weak Babies

Lindsay Buckingfish and Stevie Fishnick have had numerous clutches of baby angelfish. I've come to the conclusion that they lay 300+ eggs and about 200 babies hatch each time, because the vast majority of them will not live past a few days. Otherwise, if they all grew to adult angelfish-hood, we'd have swarms of them in every pet shop, wouldn't you think?

But this last batch really surprised me with how weak they are. I have only one baby left and I've decided if he/she lives and is able to hold its own in the community tank, I will keep it. It is a beautiful white with black markings. Baby Angel is now in the betta tank, which is 2.5 gallons. She won't be able to stay there for long because an angelfish needs a minimum of 5 gallons, but she'll be okay while she's growing.

One thing I've noticed with this latest batch: they didn't learn to eat from the surface of the water. They remained with the parents far longer than normal because my infant tank was being used by a pair of honeymooning koi angels. And they became accustomed to eating the food as it fell through the water. If they didn't happen to see it fall, they were oblivious. And with the parents remaining overprotective, they hid behind the plants whenever I came near.

One more thing I noticed about them: a surprise food source I'll cover tomorrow.

Death of the Betta

Sad news to report. The golden, double-comb betta passed away.

For the past month, he had taken to staying at the bottom of his little tank, though he did rise to the surface to eat twice a day and he would periodically come up for fresh air.

I change his water frequently and there were no nitrates or nitrites. I have also been checking the temperature, and it is well within the correct range.

I added Betta-Fix to his water, but that didn't help at all.

Then I found him floating along the surface this morning when I went into the kitchen. His tank was on the counter between the kitchen and breakfast nook, where he could keep an eye on everything.

He may simply have lived out his little life.

May he rest in peace.

Blue Marbles

Here is a video of a pair of blue marble angelfish in a community tank. They share this tank with the two blue angels I videoed last week. The blue marbles have staked their claim on the right side of the tank while the blue angels claim the left side.

But when the four sleep, they drift all over the tank.

Eddie Sings

I took a break from writing and found Eddie, the Jack Russell, sitting next to my desk. His favorite song is the Andy Griffith song, and I sang it with him several times. But when I pulled out my iPhone to film, he became shy and hid for a bit under my desk.

He does start to sing, though!



The Blues

Here is a fun video of my two blue angelfish in a community tank.

They are my largest angelfish, along with Lindsay Buckingfish, the black marble in the Honeymoon Suite. These angelfish are ten inches tall.