Guppy Behavior - Power Outage

As the power went out in my house (for a good hour) and my aquariums shutdown, I laid in bed watching how my guppies would react to the motionless water that then lacked a light source aside from what was coming in through the windows.

I have 2 guppy tanks in my room, one 10-gal which houses male guppies and the other 10-gal which houses female guppies. The power outage really did not seem to phase the male guppies as they continued their daily mating rituals with the other males in the aquarium. The power outage in the female aquarium however, well that made a big behavioral change...

The females began to group/school together as they sank down to the bottom of the aquarium as if they were ultimately terrified. Their body movements were brief as they moved themselves inch by inch about the tank in search of what was happening. The behavior continued for about half an hour as they began to realize they were all still okay. When I got out of bed they quickly relaxed as they knew I was about to feed them and after that point they no longer seemed afraid at all (to a guppy I suppose I am its means of positive well-being and a sign of their food source).

Overall, this makes me wonder if female guppies are perhaps better suited for survival over the male species. Which wouldn't be all too surprising since females aren't as colorful as males, thus aiding them in camouflage if/when hiding from predators. For more info on that topic checkout this article.

Aquarium Finds & Updates

I just saw that Nat Geo Wild has an aquarium show called 'Fish Tank Kings' which is basically like Animal Planets show 'Tanked'. I'm still wishing for a show that specializes in freshwater aquariums, and talks more about the aquatic life in the aquarium and such. In the mean time... 'River Monsters' still ranks as my fave fish show to watch.

Other news... one of my breeding guppy males 'Cheeky' passed away a few days ago, I noticed he was becoming inactive over the past week or so... it was really only a matter of time before he passed since I couldn't identify his condition. I'm not sure if 'Freckles' got pregnant from him or not but the two baby guppies I had found in my tank after giving away my fish appear to be a male and a female so... he will become the young females mate and 'Freckles' new mate in the future if all goes right. I'm also not sure if 'Blue' has impregnated 'Quartz' yet either. On that note, I'm going to have to name them both at some point!

I also wanted to share the recent overstocked, sick, mistreated, etc fish at my local Walmart this week. I think I'm going to periodically try and share these poor living conditions of fish because I don't think it's right for things like this to be acceptable in pet-stores/dealers and I'm trying to get people involved in what I call 'fish rights' because all these other pets (such as cats and dogs) undergo a certain process upon purchase and have rights, etc so, I think that's only fair.

In the first photo on my trip to Walmart's aquatic department you'll see a ton of Oscars all kept in a small tank and also how their are some small fancy goldfish such as Oranda's in the tank with them. First of all Goldfish shouldn't be kept with Oscars because Goldfish aren't tropical fish. Also, Oscars are aggressive fish that acquire a large habitat to live in and Oscars will even attack each other. So, as you can see the Oscars were eating the Goldfish, several Oscars managed to get the entire Goldfish inside them whole... Goldfish tails sticking out of their mouth and some of them still moving after being spit out in the Oscars attempt at eating the Goldfish alive.

Next you'll see a Walmart Goldfish, a case of bad fish care, and having been subject to some fish cruelty (also, yet another case of an overstocked small aquarium). This fish seemed to be swimming around fine and healthy although missing its top fin, the wound did seem healed although the fish will have to live with its handicap. Just out of curiosity but is their anyone out there that cares or collects injured fish because they are truly special and unique, and of course deserve a safe happy life?

Betta's with very low and poor quality water (why does it vary in colors?). I was almost tempted to grab a jug of spring water down the grocery isle and fill these up, eheh. Have you noticed that a lot if not all Walmart's got rid of their sink area in the fish dept?

Betta Eating Behavior

Recently I've noticed that Mr. Moto (my blue veil-tail Betta) hasn't been eating the way he use to. His Cubus tank is also getting dirtier than normal lately as the flake food is gradually building along the gravel. So, I moved Mr. Moto into a clean MiniBow 2.5gal tank to monitor the issue. I saw that he'll eat a flake and a few seconds later spit it out. Some of the food is apparently breaking down in his mouth and going out through his gills, thus causing a cloud of flake food particles to come out.

I did some research where a few others stated having the same issue and I'm not convinced that this is normal behavior. Mr. Moto also seems to rest more on the bottom of the tank which also isn't like him as he usually rests on top of his plants. He is still occasionally active throughout the day, no signs of illness or fungus and he still attempts to eat.

So here's what I did which seems to have stopped the issue...

Step 1: Do a complete tank cleaning.
Step 2: Do not feed the fish for an entire day (24hrs).
Step 3: The next day only feed the Betta 4 big flakes (about 1 cm diameter) throughout the entire day. You should not see any food coming out through his gills.
Step 4: Only feed the Betta once a day (try to do this the same time every day), a very small pinch of food from here on out.

Keep in mind that Betta's love to eat, but you should never overfeed it. Although your Betta may look hungry and keep eating, I wouldn't feed it more than this. Your Betta more than likely will not starve either. Also, I still have not figured out why Mr. Moto keeps resting on the bottom of the tank but I will continue to closely monitor him.

Maturing Guppy Fry

As it's nearing the beginning of May, my guppy fry will then be reaching three months of age, they're currently around half the size of their mother (nearly one inch in length) and I am sure they're going to start growing more rapidly at this stage as they're taking on more food now. I have decided to finally clean out my other 10 gallon aquarium this coming weekend in order to have it setup before the males mature and begin chasing my females around (as I don't want to go overboard on the breeding ordeal right now). It appears about half my fry are male/female this time around. They all look very similar to their mother (showing a tuxedo body) which is slightly disappointing because I was hoping they would show different characteristics in order to better identify what their father looked like (perhaps he was similar to the mother in this case) but this could change in the males as they begin to mature more.

Maguro's Life Story

I purchased an adorable redcap oranda from PETCO and although it is cute and spunky when I bought it...I did notice it is not in perfect health.

Hello my name's Maguro...yes, it does mean tuna in Japanese.

My cute little friend here seems to have a yucky case of fin rot. Not only are its fins tattered, but it seems to have some black fungus covering the edges. If I can't get the fins to improve within two weeks it may get returned to PETCO because when fins continue to rot and lose more and more growth...eventually the fish will not have a tail and will more than likely not survive. It also appears to not have perfect looking scales, not sure if these were removed or something else, but hopefully it can build up a better slime coat by using the proper water conditioner.

My owner took me to a sushi restaurant during our first day together...she thinks I look like maguro nigiri, hence my name Maguro.

Also, I have never owned a goldfish like this (comet's yes, oranda's no) and I am beginning to wonder if it has a heart condition or this is normal behavior... I will see its gills move in and out, it swims about a bit and then it decides to stop...its gills stop moving and it remains motionless at the bottom (still right-side up of course). Its gills then start moving again and it swims about after seconds of being motionless (which feels like minutes at times)...or could it be sleep apnea?

I will keep this post updated with an "after" photo within two weeks time (or less).

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Day 1- Added my tap water with Maguro's petstore water (added random chemicals to test how fish would respond). Maguro had eaten a little flake food but did not seem to be a fan of brine shrimp.

Day 2- Changed out all Maguro's water with my tap water (added random chemicals to test how fish would respond). Maguro did not eat any food.

Day 3- Soaked Maguro in clean tap water with Jungle Clear Water (active ingredient: potassium permanganate) for 30 minutes. Solution: 5cups Water mixed with 1/4tsp Jungle Clear Water. However, after doing the soak for the first time I'd only recommend to leave the fish in the solutuion no longer then 15-20 minutes, then remove the fish from this soak and move onto the next step here (during the soak was the most active I had seen Maguro since I got him). Next I mixed together 1/8tsp MelaFix, 1/8tsp PimaFix, 1/4tsp Tetra AquaSafe and 9cups of clean tap water (I will do this treatment again tomorrow for its water change). I crushed up a little flake food and Maguro ate a bit of that, Maguro did not seem to care much for algae wafers.

Day 4- Today Maguro was his most active-self thus far, he was eatting and swimming around more, even after the water change today. I did notice a few white flecs (looked similar to dust really) on Maguro's wen yesterday, was wondering if it might have been a bit of white spot but I couldn't really see it today so it may have cleared from the treatment already. I do think Maguro may have some constipation so I will probably feed it a grain of epsom salt during its water change tomorrow. I also purchased some Aqueon Color Enhancing Goldfish Granules today along with Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Aquarium Salt which is said to help clear numerous ailments for goldfish (1/2TSP of API Aquarium Salt per 1 Gallon of Water for Goldfish).

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Day 5- I actually caught Maguro going to the surface of the water this afternoon, several times in fact, since he had only been staying at the bottom of the bowl. He does not seem to stop breathing anymore like before. Maguro is also eatting EVERYTHING (Algae Wafers, Flakes and Granules)...including his own poop (disgusting I know), so I decided to give him a bit more food then I had been. I made a gallon of water with 1/2tsp of aquarium salt and a 1/2tsp AquaSafe, I then added 5cups of the mix to a bowl with 3/4tsp of Jungle Clear Water and left Maguro in there for 15minutes. However, the salt in this mix seems to absorb the Jungle Clear Water and turns it tea colored instead of purple colored like before so I do not think the salt is an effective combination this time. I then placed Maguro with 10cups of clean Aquarium Salt mix with 1/8tsp MilaFix and PimaFix.

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I also fed Maguro a tiny grain of epsom salt today, which was a little challenge all its own. First I had to lift Maguro out of the water, next I had to cover one of its eyes with my finger (everytime my hand moved in to place the salt into his mouth he'd close his mouth). So once the eye was covered I brought my hand around and was able to wiggle the salt into his mouth and dropped in a few drops of water to make sure the salt went down (as it'd stick to his lips and come back out).

Day 8- Maguro was seeming to get better until today, for some reason all he wanted to do was float around and do the back stroke while blowing bubbles at the waters surface. The black fungus on his tail has maybe gotten a little less dark due to all the Aquarium Salt water changes which I have been doing over the past few days regularly, but it's really hard to tell though to be honest. I personally think Maguro has gained a little weight and his wen seems bigger to me. I do think his tattered fins have been mending a bit and becoming less jagged and more rounded. Although I fear something internally is harming him today and I am not even sure he may live past today or the next few days. He is currently undergoing a Marcyn Two water treatment for today.

Day 9- Maguro is still alive! Apparently I may have fed him a bit too much flakes and brine shrimp yesterday and he took in too much air thus causing him to float upside down a bit while blowing out bubbles. He was well and normal this morning. However, I am concerned about the black fungus because it seems to have gone onto the tip of his dorsal now, even though it doesn't seem to have spread elsewhere on him. At this rate I am beginning to think to just move him into a tank by himself rather than the 10cup bowl I have been quarantining him in, perhaps less stress of daily water changes and chemicals may be more effective then what I have been doing to treat the black fin rot fungus.

I also did more research on the fungus which says...
In general, fin rot occurs when the fish is stressed. The most common cause is...

-Poor water quality (which couldn't be the cause for it getting worse since I change it everyday)
-Overfeeding
-Overcrowded environment
-Handling of your fish

To help prevent fin rot, make sure you...
-Do water changes every week (have been doing daily)
-Test the water (to make sure all is ok) (water is fine)
-Try not to over feed
-A little bit of stress coat should help keep out bacteria and allow electrolites from being lost (Instead of a treatment type med)

If there are red streaks or fuzz growing on the affected areas, then you can treat for baterial or fungal infection. Otherwise, just keep nitrates low. Sometimes these things may have permanent damage so if the slits don't fuse back, but don't become infected then don't worry.

So this means that I need to monitor his food intake, use stress coat rather than treatments, provide it with more swimming room and less handling of my fish. So yes as I stated before Mag's will be moved into a 10gal aquarium to see if he makes any progress. For more tips and advice on treatments checkout the link, I will also try raising the water temp in the new tank environment.

Perhaps an inner parasitic infection causing the sunk-in appearance and red spots.

Day 10- No Maguro isn't dead, this is just one of his recent tricks...err problems. Second time that I have cleaned his water that he decides to turn sideways or upside down but later on he goes back to normal. Not to mention he hasn't seemed to have eatten in the last few days. I think the black fin rot doesn't seem as dark as it was although it is still present as you can see. He also has some other black fungus on his wen now along with ick yet again.

Day 11- Marguro seems practically dead today, he has been laying on his side again since this morning on top the water, all limp bodied and barely if at all breathing and hasn't ate in days. At this point I don't think there is much else to do accept say goodbye to Mags, return him back to the store and hopefully get a refund. R.I.P. lil fishy.

Fishy Behavior

A few months ago I purchased a new male tequila sunrise guppy and several small gold barbs. I've noticed that my new guppy does not seem to be interested in mating with my young female guppy, but rather tries to entice my small gold barbs with its mating dance ritual and my gold barbs have no real interest in him what-so-ever. I have heard that guppies are capable of mating with mollies, platties and sword-tails, but mainly because they all reproduce live-bearing fry, although more often then not the fish which are born can be too mutant for survival. It has been said that a male guppy is more persistent mating then these other live-bearing species and that it can cause harm to other female species. So perhaps my guppy is in no way capable of reproducing with a gold barb and perhaps he is more enticed by the gold barbs because they have similar colors as himself. Or it could possibly be a sign of aggression but it does not seem like overly aggressive behavior as when my guppies fight they have a nose to nose stare down and move around the tank until one seems to tire himself out and retreat.