The snails stopped moving during the very cold weather at the beginning of the year. I searched online for some expert opinions and discovered the 3 most likely reasons - death, resting before egg laying or hibernation. It turned out that 1 of them had died but the other started moving again last week and this week we noticed a minute snail near the water line! So we still have 2 snails or maybe more. Since confirming the presence of the tiny snail on Monday we've lost it again, it's in the tank but it fell from the water line and is so small (10 would probably fit on a 1p piece!) that we haven't seen it since.
On Sunday I noticed that Rusty (our smallest shubumkin) had a swimming problem - every time he (I refer to all the fish as 'he'!) stopped moving he'd immediately start to sink. Another www search confirmed a likely swim bladder problem. I gave an appropriate water treatment but by the end of the day he'd stopped moving. Ironically he was my favourite fish - the one most likely to swim around to me when I approached the tank and follow my finger round. The fish total was down to 3 - Gold and Silver, both Sarosas, and Copper, another shubumkin. They've had a clean filter and a deep water change and today we chose some new fish, 2 more shubumkins ('Merica and Inky - as named by Alice) and a yellow goldfish (I named Sunshine). Interestingly they seemed to have grouped together as 6 fish in a way that they never did as 4?
So there's been drama with the tank and drama in the tank, now I'm hoping for breeding and peace!!
Showing posts with label fish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fish. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
THE PERFECT DAY!
After dance class I asked Alice if she wanted to go to see some fish (at an aquarium), she shrieked her enthusiastic agreement and we drove over the border to B and it's new aquarium. I bought a year's pass for each of us, not only did Alice have a lovely time there but she's already asking to go back! (It would be nice to think that Little Sis might be around before the passes expire, hopefully she'll get in free for a while yet and it's very pushchair friendly - yep, already planning life with 2!)
Monday, November 16, 2009
WHAT A DAY
I had an important day at work, being observed for my classroom management - it went well, in fact the whole school day was enjoyable and successful. As I got home I knew something had happened - I saw what remained of the fish tank in the garage, uh oh!
They'd definitely had a dramatic day without me at home! Pudding had knocked over and smashed the fish tank, the Ever-Magnificent-T managed to catch one fish (Rusty) in her hands, but struggled to find the other 3 (found under the sideboard) - ironically Rusty was the fish that seemed most traumatised by it! By the time I got home the playroom carpet had been washed (thank heavens I bought a carpet cleaner this summer) and had begun to dry, the fish were temporarily rehoused in the fish bowl and Pud had kept well out of the way!
The first fish tank lasted exactly a month, almost to the hour! It was a 30 litre tank. Originally Alice was given 2 Sarasa Somethings, one mostly goldfish coloured (called Gold) and a motley white and gold one (called Silver), a couple of weeks later I added 2 Shubumpkins (Copper and Rusty - though Alice sometimes calls Rusty 'Tank'!) After I'd bought the tank I realised I could have bought a lovely spherical one with a bubble tube - far more modern and stylish in appearance. On Tuesday I went out to replace the tank, so we now have a spherical one, this time a 60 litre one (that's 16 gallons!) and now we have 2 apple snails as well (Bumpy and Slugsy - like Fifi!) Hopefully the snails will keep the tank cleaner, this style is supposed to be more efficient at self cleaning (it can't be worse than the last one!) Having bought a larger tank I think we might have just one more fish, hopefully a Yellow Comet, maybe 2!
Meanwhile the playroom furniture has been rearranged - I was already planning a turn around and it was needed to accommodate a Christmas tree (no, not yet, but planned!) and the carpet, only 18 months old but despite 2 cleanings it still smells and I think we need the professionals!
They'd definitely had a dramatic day without me at home! Pudding had knocked over and smashed the fish tank, the Ever-Magnificent-T managed to catch one fish (Rusty) in her hands, but struggled to find the other 3 (found under the sideboard) - ironically Rusty was the fish that seemed most traumatised by it! By the time I got home the playroom carpet had been washed (thank heavens I bought a carpet cleaner this summer) and had begun to dry, the fish were temporarily rehoused in the fish bowl and Pud had kept well out of the way!
The first fish tank lasted exactly a month, almost to the hour! It was a 30 litre tank. Originally Alice was given 2 Sarasa Somethings, one mostly goldfish coloured (called Gold) and a motley white and gold one (called Silver), a couple of weeks later I added 2 Shubumpkins (Copper and Rusty - though Alice sometimes calls Rusty 'Tank'!) After I'd bought the tank I realised I could have bought a lovely spherical one with a bubble tube - far more modern and stylish in appearance. On Tuesday I went out to replace the tank, so we now have a spherical one, this time a 60 litre one (that's 16 gallons!) and now we have 2 apple snails as well (Bumpy and Slugsy - like Fifi!) Hopefully the snails will keep the tank cleaner, this style is supposed to be more efficient at self cleaning (it can't be worse than the last one!) Having bought a larger tank I think we might have just one more fish, hopefully a Yellow Comet, maybe 2!
Meanwhile the playroom furniture has been rearranged - I was already planning a turn around and it was needed to accommodate a Christmas tree (no, not yet, but planned!) and the carpet, only 18 months old but despite 2 cleanings it still smells and I think we need the professionals!
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