Rapture

[Smells Fishy]

Where to start? Well I've never done a blog before or anything similar, well Facebook but I stopped that coming on 2 years ago simply because I can't be bothered with it. So yeah you've got a little measure of me all ready, screw Facebook. Good start hmmmm. I should show you a few pictures of my tank and some info to get the ball rolling. Enjoy

If you can't tell from the crappy camera work the occupants are x1 Black Moor, x1 Black Ranchu, x1 Calico Telescope, x1 Albino Common Plec and lastly my newest tank mate x1 Zebra Nerite Snail. Yep sadly fully stocked, a lot of people will say over stocked but I know what I'm doing I take my fishes life very seriously. I especially take their nutrition seriously, more to come on that one.

All so I've got a fair few different species of plants in and around the tank. I'll start inside - Elodea densa, Microsorum pteropus (Java fern), Anubias barteri and nana, some Moss ball pressed into some Mopani wood, Java moss and African water fern. Right that was all the normal aquatic plants.

All so got x2 house plants - Lucky Bamboo plant and a Peace Lilly.

The Lucky Bamboo isn't even a Bamboo, its one of the millions of stupidly named things out there, its actually an Dracaena plant. Its fine to be kept submerged as long as the leaves are kept dry.

And the Peace Lilly came recommended in Peter Hiscocks Encyclopedia of Aquarium Plants. He reckons if kept in good conditions it can live submerged for years! (Did try add a pic of how I attached it to the tank but I can't the picture is 2.06MB and your only allowed pictures of 1.91MB. Why! It was a good picture as well, shame, too good for ukaps! I will get a more suitable picture when I've got the time)

Now for my house plants on top of the tank.
x2 Bromeliad Flaming Sword, x1 Orchid and x1 Peace Lilly

Picture of one of the Bromeliads - Nom nom tasty fine.

Think I've said enough to gain your interest. I'll add more soon. Can't say when because me and my partner have just had a new born, 16 days ago called Jacob and he's a proper Velcro baby grrrrr. But he's loved so its all good.

 

[Smells Fishy]

Right the tank and equipment in use.
Aquael Classic 100. Its L 39inch, H 19inch, D 15inch, its 200L although probably about 180 with everything inside, came with x2 T8 lighting under the lid, 150w heater, the Fan filter 3, fish food and water conditioner for bang on £150. The lids not in use anymore same as the free lighting, T8's have been swapped for x2 T5's did have a 3rd blue night light but that's stopped working, one of these http://www.amazon.co.uk/mercury-Swi...&qid=1460214722&sr=8-2&keywords=clip+on+light with a energy saving 5w bulb that's equivalent to about 20w. There's x2 different internal filters, Aquael Fan 2 that's about 350LPH and an All pond solutions 1500 - ICF that's 600LPH so yeah not even 1000LPH which isn't good. I've got the Fan filter 3 that's 700LPH and hasn't been used yet because it just looks so big! Just typing I haven't even got a 1000LPH makes me sad and also makes me want to just add the Fan filter 3 so I can have a big chunky thing in my tank for the benefit of my fish.

 

[Smells Fishy]

I've managed to get a few snaps that aren't 2MB of how the Peace Lilly is attached.

Mr Plec eating a slice of Courgette. This is a tough fish that I've had for about 2 years, he's taken loads of sh*t from real nasty fish from my days when I didn't take the hobby serious and I didn't know most of the things I know now, ah well it was all experience. So to give you an idea of how nails he is, to start of with I bought him on the same day I bought another fairly large Plec, a Sailfin, but anyway Mr Plec was £10 and they both went into a 100L with a Parrot fish! It didn't take me long to fill the 100L with another Parrot fish, x3 Jack Dempsey that got took back to the shop the next day because there was far to much mouth wrestling and nipping. I then got x2 Jaguar Cichlids and the tank stayed like that for 6+ months. The Sailfin Plec got took to the LFS and then all the fish got transferred to my current 200L. Not long after the upgrade I put an Oscar in there and he got victimised so bad! He was the tramp of the tank with his fins all ways torn. In the end I obviously wanted something tranquil so I sold all the fish online. I sold the Parrot fish as a pair and when the guy came to buy them I had to lift their cave out of the water to get to them and their was loads of white eggs stuck to the roof! Once they were gone Mr Plec moved in and ate their eggs lol. So yeah you get the picture he's a tank, I mean he's even survived fin rot.

This is Blink. That's his name because when I was at the LFS checking out the goldies he caught my eye by blinking. After a few minutes me and my partner established he was the best fish in the tank so we bought him for £4.50. When we got home 15mins later, before I had even let him out the bag he blinked again. So yeah he pretty much named himself. I love this fish can't wait to see him grow up.

This is Zeb. My partner named him, pretty cool name. I'm a total sucker for snails especially Rabbit snails, I would fill a tank with them if I could. Would add Apples and Pagoda snails also.

( Been doing some editing because I tend to type away when its stupid o'clock and my eyes are stinging, I tend to miss a lot out. Just trying to make it more interesting.)

 

[Smells Fishy]

A lots happened in my little dandy tank. Well I ditched the Peace Lilly and went for a make over since I've got family coming to visit soon and I obviously want the tank looking a bit better.
.

.Lucky Bamboo has grown a bit more since its in a better spot.

I've had a new shoot sprout for my Anubias barteri which has made me happy because I thought the plant was on its way out because over the past year I've peeled back about 5-6 of its leaves so its down to only 2 healthy leaves and it stayed with 2 leaves for months.

So here's how the tank looks now.

Hopefully I'll see some difference in the Anubias nana at the bottom of the bogwood because its now not directly under the lights. Its such a shame the cables are in the background, same for this other picture.

Pictures were a good taster of the plants for you. Since it is stupid o'clock I'm nearly done so I'll stop by saying I'm still not up to date and right now Blinks going through some seriously cool/horrible health problems.

 

[richard powell]

Mate blink looks stunning very good looking markings aswell,

Tanks looking cool how do u see it looking once finished? U gunna add many more plants n fish?

 

[Smells Fishy]

Mate blink looks stunning very good looking markings aswell,

Tanks looking cool how do u see it looking once finished? U gunna add many more plants n fish?

Cheers for the new read and the comment man. Yeah Blink is a stunning fish no doubt and the best part is he's only going to get better with age, that's why I like to buy my fish young so this way I definitely know what age the fish is. I know Black Moor, Ranchu and Blink were no older than a year when I first bought them all. Na not going to add any more fish in this tank but most likely some more snails, you can get some really cool looking Nerite snails like ones with horns. Pets At Home sell them, x2 for a fiver which isn't bad. Our nearest P@H is a bit of a trek to get to but it will be worth it to bag some snails and a bonus is there's a mere right next to the store so on a nice day a trip there with a loaf of bread to feed the swans and ducks is something to look forward to with our almost-one-month-old son. You like Blink well here's a stunning picture for you enjoy!

Nice piece of poo hanging out as well. When I feel a bit more up to it I'll add another post regarding Blinks health, its horrific but has added to his character and is very fitting with his name. As for plants I've got a right wish list but realistically with goldfish I'm aiming for a Banana plant or 2 in a nice plant pot filled with some Tropica plant substrate, LOADS more Elodea (ebay bargin!) and some Spadeleaf plants in pots also.

 

[richard powell]

Yeah that's the best way I'm the same I don't like getting grown up fish prefer to get them young and watch them grow to mature fish

Yeah I gathered you like snails mate lol ain't going to lie the sound of a snail with horns sounds pretty cool haha that's alright ain't it 2 for a fiver you can't moan at that. How many different shops you got near you just pets at home? I'm pretty lucky I've got 7 shops near me no more than 15 mins away I wouldn't shop at all of them only say 3 of them I would.

Yeah he definitely is a cool looking fish with great markings. You mention his health is it really that bad? Sounds like a plan you can pick some really cool deals on plants on eBay or even on here. I understand goldfish eat certain plants so you have to be careful what you choose

 

[PARAGUAY]

Has Blinks a diet issue? supplement live Daphni helps

 

[Smells Fishy]

How many different shops you got near you just pets at home? I'm pretty lucky I've got 7 shops near me no more than 15 mins away I wouldn't shop at all of them only say 3 of them I would.

Yeah he definitely is a cool looking fish with great markings. You mention his health is it really that bad? I understand goldfish eat certain plants so you have to be careful what you choose

There's 3 pet shops near me in town, same yeah no more than 15mins away. One has been going 30 years and sells marines plus interesting fish like Archer's, seen an Arowana and Porcupine puffer there, the owner has got a proper deep voice that's like WOW. Then there's another that's not special and also one that's just closed down and the last one we've got I stopped going too about a year + ago because he's a d*ckhead, try's to be funny and dead braggy "I've got people coming to me for my Plec's from all across the UK" Yeah whatever, at that point he had only been open less than a year, plus his prices are well high I mean I bought a Snowball Plec from him for £40 and I wish I knew before that at are best LFS was selling one for £29.99. I also bought my Jack Demseys from him for £10 a piece! The best LFS guy said he's sold them for £3.50 before. So yeah from my experience shops that have not long started up are rip offs. Lucky you having 7 shops that you can shop around for the best price. Have you got a maidenhead aquatics? I've been reading the PFK mags for a while now and that shop gets a lot of page coverage but yeah I would love to go to my nearest one and have a browse I would probably spend ages gazing into all the tanks and probably coming home with some fish food lol.

Yeah plants VS goldfish is a never ending battle. Its because goldfish are all ways hungry, they haven't got stomachs, instead they use their intestine to digest food so the digestion process happens really fast meaning they never feel full un less their massively over fed, it can happen, but obviously that's bad for the fish and can lead to swim bladder problems. The best way to help out the goldfish is to make sure there is all ways something fibrous for them to munch on like veg or soft plants like Elodea as its a lot easier for them to digest those foods compared to foods with high protein. My goldfish aren't fussy when it comes to eating plants even 'tough' plants like Anubias and Java fen I've seen them having a go at. Black Moor is the worst for it by far and he doesn't care that my 'tough' plants are meant to be nasty tasting.

PARAGUAY - Nope I wish it was a diet issue that I might be able to solve. Its so bad that nothing can be done to fix it. He'll never be the same again

 

[Smells Fishy]

 

[Smells Fishy]

Has Blinks a diet issue? supplement live Daphni helps

To be honest I've never tried Daphnia live or any food live, just frozen Blood worms. All the times I've seen it in my LFS that sells it there's all ways been loads of it dead ones at the bottom of the bag so I've all ways been put off. I did think about buying a Micro worm culture to start but I'm not sure if they are to small for my goldfish? While the topics on diet, all the fish are well catered for. Everyday once a day they get a different veg, when I wake up their first feed is sinking pellets and an algae wafer and sometimes veg if there's some left from the last feed, then on a night time about 11ish its veg. On the menu is broccoli, sweet potato, green beans, pettie pois, courgette and mung beans. I have tried carrot but all the goldfish just spit it out and cauliflower as well which all the fish loved but it was super messy so that's never happening again. I haven't fed my fish Blood worms for a while now, I should really pick some more frozen food up. Fancy them trying Cyclops.

 

[PARAGUAY]

If its a reputable shop you could ask what day fresh "live Daphnia is delivered. Bloodworm is very rich and for fish such as Blinks who is not a carnivore it would be considered a occasional treat I would have thought Fancy guppies,fancy goldfish and similar are well known for diet problems, live Daphnia would help supply roughage to the diet and supply some vitamins.I mentioned it because stringy poo is often a sign of incomplete diet.Some members provide their own Daphnia by culturing their own in small ponds even bowls in the garden,sure to on the threads somewere