Happy New Year!

This year has been another full of learning experiences, new fishy friends (I love my ranchu!), cool aquatic sales ($1 per Gallon at Petco til 1/25/14!), and I can't wait to see what 2014 has in store. What type of posts do you enjoy on Guppy-Guide and what would you like for me to blog about in the new year?

Top 3 2013 posts on Guppy-Guide...

#3 Marina S10 Power Filter
#2 Ranchu Before and After
#1 A New Fish at Walmart

Ranchu - Before and After

I just wanted to do a quick post to show you how much my ranchu have grown and changed over the course of around 4 months now, and they have definitely gained lots of weight since I first got them (the scales don't lie).

Bumblez (Sakura Ranchu)

Oakki (Black Metallic Ranchu)

According to the breeder these ranchu will be 1 year old (12 months) come March 2014.

Ranchu Weigh-In

Its been around 23 days since the ranchu's last weigh-in and Bumblez has finally put on some weight at 35 grams now, while Oakki is a whopping 40 grams.

Bumblez (left), and Oakki (right)

Bumblez gained 3.5 grams since the last weigh-in and Oakki gained 6.5 grams. In my opinion most of Oakki's weight/growth seems to be at his belly area and tail length, while Bumblez growth seems to be at his back and possibly a little on his wen. I still do around two 50% water changes at least twice a week, sometimes the depth of the aquarium water varies but I feel they do better at a depth no more than 10 inches (which was recommended to me by the breeder as well).

I've been trying out numerous foods lately and the first week they ate at least twice a day which varied and possibly consisted of some nori, NLS (New Life Spectrum pellets for Goldfish), sliced ginger, Hikari frozen bloodworms, plain cooked white rice, and Hikari Lionhead pellets (just playing with different food options). The second week since I had a fish sitter they were being fed once a day sharing a 1/4 Tsp of the NLS. The 3rd week I got a fish feeder which dispersed NLS gradually over 6 hours, then a few Hikari Lionhead pellets over the following 6 hours, and then the feeding repeated again throughout 24 hours so they're almost constantly able to graze for tid bits of food (which I've read is more natural for ranchu/fancy goldfish) although it's not really going over the amount of food they generally consume in a day.

Having the feeder does seem to make them more active and curious about finding food so I'll probably continue with that regime while also giving them frozen bloodworms 1-2 times a week along with it, and perhaps a little piece nori once a week (Bumblez seems to enjoy that, while Oakki seems to enjoy the daily pellets of Hikari Lionhead).

Increase Oxygen

Here I've listed 5 simple ways to help increase oxygen levels in an aquarium.

#1 Lower Water Level. Try not to fill your aquarium all the way to the brim with water, as water drops down into the aquarium (waterfall effect) from the filter it forces water down into the aquarium and helps push oxygen into the water thus helping to increase oxygen levels (be sure the current is not too strong for the aquariums inhabitants).

#2 Water Changes. Too many water chemicals and/or waste, etc can cause a loss of oxygen in the water, it's very important to do regular water changes (clean tap water contains adequate amounts of oxygen).

#3 Lower Temperature. Cooler temperatures can hold more oxygen than warmer temperatures but, be sure the aquarium is the proper temperature for the aquariums inhabitants.

#4 Air Diffusers, Bubblers, etc. With these devices attached to an air pump it helps to increase oxygen and water movement in an aquarium.

Air Diffuser

* Bubbles should be tiny (almost pin hole size) looking for the most part, and probably vary in size. The tank should not just have large (about a cm) and/or slow moving bubbles as this may mean your water has become thickened by dirty water. Also be sure your air pump is strong enough to operate the equipment properly, and clean or replace old diffusers, tubing, and check valves as needed.

#5 Filtration. The right amount of filtration is key to keeping a healthy and clean aquarium, you want to make sure the tank is not overstocked with fish either as the fish will be competing for oxygen. Keep filter cartridges clean, and active carbon can help remove unwanted chemicals and aid in oxygen levels.

Ranchu Weigh-In

I bought an Ozeri kitchen scale ($18.85 on eBay) recently to weigh my ranchu's and track their dietary progress. Bumblez (sakura ranchu) weighed 31 grams and after 2 weeks he now weighs 31.5 grams (0.5 gram gain); Oakki (black metallic ranchu) weighed 28.5 grams and after 2 weeks he now weighs 33.5 grams (5 gram gain). I'm hoping Bumblez isn't sick or anything, he seems to eat but perhaps is just a slow and picky eater (compared to Oakki whom gobbles down everything).

Scale showing 2 different weights during this weigh-in.

Oakki has grown so much that my dad actually thought I had bought a new fish! Perhaps Oakki is just having some type of growth spurt, I have heard that fish with more hormones tend to grow more rapidly.

Combating Ammonia

If you have ammonia (NH3) in your aquarium it may be due to a new aquarium setup that has not yet completed the "tank cycling process" AKA "new tank syndrome", which means that your aquarium has not yet developed enough beneficial bacteria to sustain the new aquariums environment. It could also be poor water quality (dirty, lots of debris, dead fish, fecal matter, etc). No matter the true reason for the ammonia levels I find the best remedy for combating ammonia issues is to do 25-50% water changes 1-2 times a week or as needed  (there are also aquarium products on the market which claim to remove ammonia, but I have yet to find one that gave me instant success), and try to at least keep the ammonia levels in a safe range during this period. Once your aquarium becomes established (which can sometimes take months) the ammonia level should reach 0, and this is the ideal level to be at.

Below are some questions I've been asked about ammonia, and if you have anymore questions you'd like to ask feel free to write me in the comment section below.

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Question: Does 'Seachem Prime' show traces of ammonia when using ammonia test-strips in water?

Answer: I tried this using the 'API Ammonia test-strips' on my aquarium tap water as well as bottled water with the appropriate amount of 'SeaChem Prime' in them over the course of several days, and the results were negative.

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Question: Does 'Aquarium Salt' remove ammonia?

Answer: I tried using 'Aquarium Salt' to remove ammonia that was in an unestablished aquarium and this did not work over 24hrs later, if anything my ammonia readings seemed to get higher... which may not be all too surprising since 'Aquarium Salt' can be used to clean an aquarium (hence, possibly killing some beneficial bacteria??).

So it may actually be possible that if your aquarium was established and now has ammonia in it from being overly dirty than 'Aquarium Salt' may actually help the ammonia levels, but I have not tested that out yet.