Weekend and Fish Stories

I had a good weekend despite being on call and not daring to leave the house really.  We have been testing a system upgrade at work and it went live this weekend and I was placed on call from Saturday to Monday night to be called to connect remotely and validate that everything still worked as expected.  I was dreading getting called in at 3:00 am as my boss and coworker were.  I thankfully didn't.

Because I didn't dare leave, I put my time to good use and got a lot done.  I got the little room rearranged and cleaned out so it doesn't look like a catch-all room anymore and we can enjoy the fish tank better.  I got a bunch of bedding washed and excess laundry done and all of it folded and put away. I got the living room picked up and a bunch of other stuff done and it felt good.  I need to get all the dog towels and bedding washed tonight and then a few more blankets and I will be fully caught up on laundry!  Yay!  Next big project will be to go thru the office downstairs and get it clean and organized.  That will be so nice.

I need to break out the carpet cleaner too and get the living room carpet done.

Since the little shrimps, pleco and danios did so well in the tank all week and my water parameters have been totally stable all week, I decided I was good to go to finish stocking.

I went to the same store since they had gotten some more lemon tetras in and the danios and pleco I got from them were all doing well.  This time their lemons all looked good and fought getting netted as they should so I bought all they had (six) as well as four ottos.  I was also going to buy a pearl gourami, but then I spotted these cute little, bright yellow gourami (s?) and asked about them.  They are honey gourami and I just couldn't resist them, so I bought two.  I also wanted to buy some swordtails, but they didn't have any males and I didn't like how their females were acting, so I didn't get any.

I got them home and put the bags in to float so the temperatures would match. Took some pics and then turned the light out so they would calm down.

One of the honey gourami and one of the ottos

The six lemon tetras I started with

Once they had floated for a while, I opened the bags and clipped them to the tank and then very carefully took out about half the water and then very slowly poured in the same amount of water from the tank.  I repeated this several times over the course of about an hour so they could slowly acclimate to my tank's water.  This way they don't get shocked by the difference when you put them in.  I then carefully netted them and placed them in the tank.  They all promptly hid.  I checked on them from time to time and everyone seemed fine.  

Despite by best efforts and doing everything "by the book" this time, I found an otto dead the next morning and one acting stupid.  Not too long after that one died as well.  This was very frustrating to me as I took all precautions so this wouldn't happen.  However, ottos are very sensitive and their deaths are not uncommon when being placed in a new tank, mine were just unlucky.  

Saturday afternoon, after a good visit with my parents and on the way home from their house, we stopped at a different fish store and purchased two more ottos and the three swordtails I wanted, a male and two females. They are called painted swordtails and are really pretty.  I took a little more care with these and did a drip acclimation with them, which is just floating the bags to match the temp and then pouring them all in a bucket and then running a line from the tank to the bucket with a knot in it so the water just drips slowly into the bucket and then going in now and again and removing half the water from the bucket until you're sure it's pretty much just tank water from your tank in there.  I did it for about two and half hours.  This method acclimates then slower and more evenly and is said to be a much better method. 

Later the same night however, after placing the new fish in the tank, I found a lemon acting stupid and it also died.  What the heck?  Sunday morning, I found another lemon dead.  What the crap? Sunday night, another otto died (from the first store, the first four all had stubby tails, the two from the other store looked a lot healthier and had fuller tails from the get go).  I was so sad and discouraged!  Five fishies dead.  This isn't supposed to happen!  I tested my water after each death and everything is perfect, I acclimated them, so it wasn't shock, but then I got to thinking about the fish store I got them from.  The lemons acting funny the first time, the swordtails acting funny the second, the difference in appearance from their ottos and the ottos I got from the other store, and decided it's not my fault.  I did everything I could to prevent deaths.  I've decided I won't buy fish from them anymore.

The remaining otto from the first store worries me because he's not active and I don't see him eating like I do the other two, but everyone else is acting normal and healthy.  The gourami are being terribly shy and don't come out unless I sit back from the tank and sit very still, and even then it's only for a sec.  I hope they get comfortable soon.  The shrimp have all gone into hiding because of the swordtails, but I hope they come back out soon too.  I did briefly spy a shrimp with eggs, that was cool.  I think I have enough hiding spots for the shrimplets since I can't find a single adult. lol