Guppy & Betta Updates

About a month ago Freckles gave birth to her first line of fry with Peppermint, and she's expecting again, very soon from the looks of it! This will be Freckles last drop though *fingers crossed* and then I'm retiring her from breeding (it's only good to let a guppy give birth twice really, it's a lot of work for a guppy and they're usually 'pre-hit' for a 3rd pregnancy anyway). Rudder gave birth for the first time a few days ago so, I'm on fry overload in my tanks currently, and Peppermint is on a breeding frenzy with these two gals (this being the case I am actually just going to retire all 3 from breeding). I also plan to update the decor a bit in there aquarium setup soon so, maybe I'll post up some before and after photos of that. I don't know why I have my tanks looking the way they do currently because they aren't overly appealing so, hopefully I get that worked on before I start college again this month.

Now that Mr. Moto has passed on I will be cleaning out his 2.5gal Minibow setup for my other betta Ebo to live in since Ebo has been living in a small plastic container, poor fella'. I still don't think I have yet to put any photo's of Ebo up on here but now that I have a new camera I'll definitely try to get some new fish photos up soon.

Substrate

A recent question I came across online is "how much substrate do you need in an aquarium and what type is best?".

Lets be honest, most of the time you probably don't even need to have a substrate at all however, it's said to reduce fish stress, hold beneficial bacteria, looks more aesthetically pleasing, etc (if you're asking this question than you probably already know that you yourself want to add a substrate to your aquarium).

First off their are many different variables in trying to answer this question such as... what's your substrate material (sand, stone, gravel, dirt, combination, etc)?; is there an under-gravel filter?; how many gallons is the aquarium?; what are the dimensions of the aquarium?; will you have live or fake plants?; etc. Also keep in mind that the more pounds of substrate you put into your aquarium, the less amount of water that will be going into your aquarium since your substrate is more dense than water. The less amount of water your tank has, the less fish you'll probably be able to keep.

In actuality there is no set amount of how much substrate you should have in your aquarium so, this question is really just personal preference and what you feel works best for you. A lot of people will tell you that it's 2lb of gravel per 1 gallon of water, or even 1lb of gravel per 1 gallon of  water. Well that really isn't a good method to teach people because tanks have different dimensions and shapes.

So when faced with a method as to how much substrate to add to your aquarium, I'd recommend using how many inches, centimeters, etc of substrate you want. Maybe you like a 2 inch dense amount of substrate, or maybe even 1 cm, or maybe you want some areas in your aquarium to have more or less substrate. For those who are Takashi Amano enthusiasts/fans like myself I'd say it's anything from a thin layer of substrate that completely covers the base up to 2 inches although most of his tanks appear to be around an inch. I'd say for most aquariums you probably don't need anything more than 3 inches but it may also depend on the density of the substrate material you're using (like rocks, stones, etc).

As for what type of substrate is best that depends on what you're hoping to achieve in your aquarium. Most beginners usually use the popular 'pea gravel' which is just your basic gravel rocks that are about the size of a pea and you can find this in all types of colors from pink, black, red, white, blue, neon, etc. The downfall to bigger substrate materials is that it creates lots of pockets between the gaps of the substrate which allows for toxic gases and such to form under the substrate, and some types of fish could possibly get the 'pea gravel' lodged into their throat. Most people seem to think 'sand gravel' is more likely to get consumed by fish and harm them but this is not true, as fish in the wild generally live in soil substrates. Also, since the 'sand gravel' is much finer than 'pea gravel' it allows less pockets for toxic gases and such to form. 'Sand gravel' is also not as hard to vacuum as you may imagine, I find it about the same as 'pea gravel' except the 'sand gravel' doesn't get lodged into the mouth of the vacuum.

So long Mr. Moto

Mr. Moto and I have had lots of memories and learning experiences together as he taught me so much about betta fish for close to 2 years. Mr. Moto was practically an adult when I brought him home from the pet-store and I feel blessed to have had him for as long as I did but, I could tell as time passed he was growing older and his time was drawing to an end. Thank you Moto for helping to teach myself and others more about betta's and how you somehow managed to become known to so many people through the web and in my life. R.I.P. we will all miss you.

Aqueon Mini 10W Heater - Review

I have owned the Aqueon Mini Heater for awhile now so, I decided being winter months now that it was a good time to give a 'mini' review on it.

Just to answer a few quick questions you may have...

Does it work? Yes.
Does it use suction cup/s? Yes.
Wireless? No.
Indicator Light? No.
Adjustable temperature? No.
Fully Submersible? Yes.
Size and Color: I'd say it's around 4in x 1in with a 1/2in depth, color is black.

I have been using the Aqueon mini heater for Mr. Moto (my betta fish) in his 2.5 gallon mini bow aquarium (acrylic aquarium). Since Ebo (my newest betta) doesn't have a heater in his habitat it was reading at 70.2F, while Mr. Moto's aquarium with the mini heater was at 76.8F. That being said Aqueon's Mini Heater raised the temperature 6.6F, which seems to be a nice temperature for a small betta tank like Mr.Moto's. Keep in mind that if your tank water is colder/warmer (depending on the outside temp) or your aquarium size is bigger/smaller than the heater may not give the same readings as mine as their are many different variables to consider when using practically any aquarium heater. Their is also no adjustable dial on this device to lower or increase the heat so while it may work for some it may not work for others, but I find it's perfect for my 2.5 mini bow aquarium setup I have. I definitely recommend trying it if you do have a small aquarium setup such as 5 gallons or less.

As a side note this product claims that if you leave it outside of water and plugged in that it has a 'thermal safety shut-off' that will initiate, and the unit will then be rendered unusable after that. As always with aquarium heaters, give the device several days to work in your aquarium setup before judging its performance as heaters can take up to 48hrs to gradually heat the aquarium, this is done purposely as to not shock your fish and cause them to get ill.

Thanksgiving Surprise

I am so excited to share with my fellow Bloggers that 'Blue' and 'Quartz' gave birth to several guppy fry this Thanksgiving! They were my best picked pairing option for my new guppy line/strain. I can't wait to see how their young will turn out but that'll take 3-6 months for them to develop a bit more. Unfortunately both Blue and Quartz passed away from dropsy recently since I neglected my water changes having been busy with classes and work. There are 4 surviving fry though that are already showing signs of Tuxedo and I am working on getting my water stats back to healthy standards for these babies.

As for my other guppy strain, most of you already know about 'Cheeky' passing away although that tank was shared with two small fry that have now reached maturity and one happened to be female and the other a male. That male has now grown up to be fairly handsome as well and to me he has much more of a white color to him than previous male guppies I've raised, and he also has some red lining down his lower back which seems to be a new trait. I'm naming the new male 'Peppermint' for him being mostly white and red although he does have some black tux to him. The new blue tux female will be named 'Rudder' for her dark pectoral fins in comparison to 'Freckles' clear colored ones. Freckles has also been growing in size, and I'm not sure when she'll be dropping her first fry but I'm sure she'll be expecting soon. Also, I'm not sure if Cheeky impregnated her before his passing or Peppermint did (guess they'll need to go on the Maury show if they want to find out who the baby's daddy is, lol).

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?