I got a fishie!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
21

Okay, I’ll tell the Crab Bond story (that took a lot of coaxing…). Sorry about the short hijack, Rasa!

I brought home a fiddler crab one day. I put him in the tank and went about my business. After about 10 minutes, I went back to look in the tank and he was gone. I starting hunting through the apartment and eventually called the fish shop to see if they are prone to escape. The store rep told me that if there is any space at the top of the tank, they may find it and escape. Sure enough, my bio-wheel provides some open space. So then I started to pat the carpet, hoping the little shit had left a wet trail. No luck there. I looked under the fridge, under the couch - everywhere. He was gone. Dejected, I resolved to finding a rotting crab body in a shoe someday.

That evening, I walked past the tank and the little f*cker was in there, waving around his big claw. Apparently, he had burrowed himself in the pebbles and rocks before and I couldn’t see him. Well, I thought that was pretty sneaky but it was nothing compared to what the now aptly named Crab Bond had in store for me.

A few weeks go by and I’m pretty convinced that Crab Bond likes his new home. So it was pretty shocking when I walked by one morning and saw him near the front of the tank, limp and discolored. I though, “Shit! He didn’t last long.” I was really disappointed because I’m an anal retentive ammonia and pH tester and try to keep things really clean for my fishes. I got the net and scooped out Crab Bond. I looked at his little lifeless body and promptly flushed him down the toilet.

Gone, right?

Wrong. The next day, I walk by the tank and sure enough, that little f*cker is sitting there, waving around his big claw. Now, Inky- thought maybe he was replaced - but I lived alone and was single then. You can imagine how weird it is truly thinking that the thing was gone only to find it somehow in the tank. It’s like a weird, out of body experience.

Here’s what happened: Crab Bone had molted and his old shell was such a perfect replica of himself that I simply couldn’t tell the difference. He wasn’t around when I found the shell - presumably hiding until his new one hardened up some. I truly thought I had flushed the crab - and there wasn’t a noticable weight difference between the shell and crab because they he just wasn’t that big to start off with. So yeah, the shit was in the tank the whole time - he’s a MASTERMIND OF DISGUISES.

Like I said: Fishtank = hours of enjoyment!

Oh hell…one more story about another fishie…

I got a pleco. It is, more or less, a sucker fish that attaches its mouth on to the tank and sits there. Sometimes it sucks on some rocks, eating, etc. I’d had him for quite a while. One day, I went to the tank and he was sort of on his side, but not floating. I watched him for a while and he’d apparently died. I sighed, got the net, tapped him gently - nothing. He just bumped along the little statue of two fishies holding a sign that says, “No fishing allowed.” So I scooped him out, said some appropriate fishie prayers and tipped him over in the toilet.

The moment that little guy hit the cold water, he started to zip around in the toilet. ZIP ZIP ZIP. So NOW I’m wondering what to do because there was bleach in the toilet and he was sure to die from that. Also, I didn’t know if I could even put him back in the same tank after his bleached toilet experience. So I closed my eyes…and flushed, feeling horrible.

I heard the water swirling around and opened my eyes. Fish gone? Hell no! The little guy had SUCKED his FACE right on the side of the toilet bowl and was holding on for dear life as water swirled in a circle around him. His tail was flapping around as he held on.

Finally, it proved too much for him and he accepted his watery grave. Man, that bummed me out.

Fish tank = LOTSA FUN!

Tibs.

p.s. If you get some live-bearers, they make cute little baby fishies!

22

Heehee, great story, Tibs!

I went back to Petco and got some freeze dried blood worms (in a “tasty nutritious gel!” the package exclaims–who the hell decreed it tasty??) and a little live plant and some more gravel. I put the plant in and rinsed the gravel and put that in, and let things settle a bit.

The little bastid still won’t eat! I keep telling him “Look! Blood worms! Nummy nutritous gel! You should try it!” He kinda looks at me and goes “Meh.”

The snail’s digging the plant. Stuart keeps trying to nibble it too.

OOO! He just ate some of the blood worms! Yay! He’s not gonna starve after all.

LOL Tibs something tells me I shouldn’t add live breeders in with my Siamese Fighting Fish… :wink:

I think I’ll turn the webcam on and leave it on while I’m at work tonight so I can watch him from work!

23

Ok, A Boy Named Sue has decided that the plant I put in the aquarium is his own personal buffet. He gloms onto one of the leaves and just munches away.

Stuart is very playful and keeps headbutting Sue and then darting away, and looking kinda… disapointed when Sue won’t give chase. But for a snail, Sue’s pretty quick.

I gotta say though, the real life Sue (Duhnym, that is) doesn’t leave slime trails on the walls like her namesake does. :wink:

24

nice plant. stuart and a boy named sue look very happy.

25

I used to feed my fish Dr. Drew (August 1998-January 1999, RIP) a special betta food. I think it was called Betta Bites. He really liked it. Maybe Stewart would prefer that to the undoubtably more expensive freeze-dried worms.

Stoogies and Susie are fine-looking sea life. You should be proud.

26

“A Boy Named Sue” is an appropriate name for a snail. Snails are hermaphrodites.

27

Nice fish you have there. One word of caution I would have - if your fish dies don’t start feeling racked with guilt. I’ve had fish die for seemingly no reason when a water test says that the water is fine.

28

SueDuhnym doesn’t leave slime trails? Maybe you’re not doing it right.

[Ellen Degeneres]Kidding! Kidding, I’m a kidder, that’s what I do, I kid.[/Ellen Degeneres]

Tibs.

29

I got new fish a little over a week ago…and two weeks before last…

I really thought it’d be good for the fish to do a fishless amonia cycle, and even though it took two an a half weeks, I was excited that my fish were going to be really healthy and…then I made the mistake of buying the fish from a less than great store apparently. My pretty red betta and one of the two neon tetras died four and five days after I bought them. :frowning:

I left the sole surviving neon in the tank alone and he swam around looking sort of lost in those five gallons for a week before I decided that he wasn’t going to die on me too.

As soon as I put the bag with his three new tank buddies in he swam up and started looking at them. He almost seemed excited, if fish can get excited. They all seem quite happy and since it was a week on Thursday, I might soon stop counting them every morning when I wake up :slight_smile:

I was told not to buy a snail or any bottom feeders for a couple of weeks, though, since they eat fish waste which isn’t extablished in a new tank, though.

30

Juniper: We tried the Betta Bites. No go. He turned up his fishy little nose at them. He seems to like the prepackaged freeze dried worms. Being as how he’s just one fishie, I feed him half a packet and give him the next half the next day. He swam up to the top of the tank and gobbled up the ickky freeze dried worm goo gel today, so that’s a good sign!

I did not know snails were hermaphroditic. I just assumed he was male cuz the guy at the store said “he”… so he is aply named indeed! He’s not really feeding on algae/Stuart poop at the moment; his snack of choice is the plant I put in there with them. He gloms onto a leaf and munches away for a bit, then proceeds to suck on the gravel for Stuart’s leftovers.

My water is still cloudy but it doesn’t look like it’s getting worse. I’ll wait a week and then change some of the water, like the websites have all recommended… I haven’t tested the pH or ammonia levels and stuff; I figure, if he survives the first week things look good and I’ll invest a bit more money into this endeavor. I didn’t want to go all out and get a testing kit and all that and have him die on me immediately.

Arnold, I’m already worried about him dying on me! Heehee, when I wake up in the morning I go “Ok. If he’s dead, it’s not my fault. I did my best. I’m not a horrible fish killer.” So far, so good though!

31

Bettas are good fish. I had a blue/red one named Copernicus, that lived in one of those little plastic hexagonal tanks barely bigger than the jars they sell them in. The bugger lived over two years in nothing but tap water with a little dechlorinator-stuff and flake fish food. I always assumed he just died of old age.

Rasa, find a little pocket mirror, and put it up to the side of the tank when he’s near the glass, so he can see himself. Then you’ll understand why the guy at the store told you not to get two of them in the same tank. :slight_smile: