RIP

I meant to write 'God of the Underworld', but there was not enough room!

I'm glad to report that Hades has finally left the freezer and has been buried successfully (that enough snow has melted...). And I'm glad I didn't put it off, for it's snowing hard again today!

What a Trickster!

Twice now Socrates has tricked me into thinking he was dead. The first time, I came home only to see a shell floating around in the water. Being my first snail, I didn't know what a dead yellow apple snail looked like, so I began researching what a dead one looks like. I picked him up out of the water and tried moving him back on to the glass, but he never responded. I learned that a dead snail stinks terribly, as I looked up at my tank, I saw him blissfully cruising up the glass as if nothing had ever happened. As you can imagine, I was overjoyed to see this and glad I didn't bury him alive, but also upset that he would play such a cruel joke. The next instance, I noticed that he had not moved at all since that morning. I kept an eye on him, and he still failed to move around. I had to go to a family event, and hoped to see him active when I returned. And what do ya know... when I got back a few hours later,  he was cruising along as usual! I don't know what it is with snails, they just love playing possum!

Dreadful news.... Again

It seems all I can give you these days is bad news :(. Yet another fish has passed--- our dear Hades. I hope he goes to heaven... Contrary to what his name suggests. He was a great fish and a great buddy to Athena. And now the worst news: the weather is so excessively snowy that the fish cemetery is buried under snow. So I have wrapped him up in tissues and am storing him in the freezer until spring. ( I know, I know, this is very gruesome indeed.) I just hope nobody opens that bag mistakenly while going through the freezer. I've decided to hold off on getting any fish until after New Years to give my tank time to stabilize. Rest in peace, Hades.

Hades

His "Coffin" (Sorry, I know it's upside-down)

The buried graveyard

Moving Day!

Yesterday was certainly a big day! I had to let the water cycle for 24 hours, which, I must say, it was very hard to be patient. I followed the steps from this website: http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/qa/f/faq0018.htm, and it was very helpful. Everything went as planned, I got to use some of the decorations that my uncle gave me, which included some very tall plants. I also got a very magical gravel vacuum that hooks right up to the sink. (Is it only magical to me? I mean, it seems like everybody has had one before except me...) I decided to bag the fish so I could acclimate them to the water temp. & pH. They were really unhappy about it until I let them go free in the new tank. They are gleefully frolicking around the new spacious tank. The hard part was moving Zeus. He definitely fought back. I tried, but he would jump, splashing water all over the place. Defeated, I asked my dad for help. He marched in, thinking it would be easy. Little did he know the size of Zeus. Finally, I asked my mom for help. She did it in the blink of an eye! Way to go mom! Once he was in the 20 gallon, he realized why he should of cooperated in the first place. I gave him and the other bottom feeders two algae wafers and a quarter of a cucumber to celebrate. Every time I pass by the new big tank, I stop and stare at it in awe. It's so big! You can hardly see the grandness of it in a picture. My old 10 gallon sits dark, dirty, sad, and dead in my room. :( Well, with all the new space, I figure you'll be hearing about new fish very soon.

Mission accomplished!

The two tanks

Socrates feasting on a cucumber

The whole crew acclimating

Preparing to move Zeus

To see a video of Tiberious in the bubble curtain follow this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5VIgttRnhY&feature=plcp (Sorry about the bad video quality)

BIG NEWS! Tank Upgrade! New Snail!

Big news!! My birthday is tomorrow, and as a gift, my parents bought me a new 20 gallon tank! It came with a baby pleco and a yellow apple snail. I decided to donate the pleco to Petco, but willingly kept the snail. His name is Socrates, and he is very fun and interesting! As for the tank, my new 20 gal will replace my 10 gal, and I will be giving my 10 gal to my cousin. I also got a fancy pH tester!

This is the baby Pleco that I donated to Petco

New tank!

Socrates

Socrates

Fancy pH testing kit

Both tanks next to eachother

Clean tank!

I always feel so great when I see a bright, healthy, clean tank! I keep forgetting what pleasure a clean tank gives me because I always put cleaning it off. I finally got around to it today. Report: All the fish are doing well, as usual, but the pores on my air stone are getting clogged, therefore only half of it blows bubbles :(

Sound familiar?

It seems like all the news I've been giving you lately has been negative.... well here comes some more. One of our newest citizens, Hatchepsut, had gone missing. He disappeared a couple weeks ago, but I was in denial for awhile. He had always looked sickly, especially the night before he vanished. Some good news for your crying hearts-- Athena and Hades have bonded and continue to brighten my tank with their friendship, Aphrodite is over her nipping problem, Tiberious and Xerxes are still comrades, diligently keeping my tank spotless, Pachus is lonely with the recent loss of his companion, Pachus. Zeus continues to reign over the aquatic kingdom.

One year anniversary!!!

Today marks one year since I got my fish tank. Wow, has it really been a year? I remember my facination with them on the first day, I watched them for hours! Being busy with my Halloween festivities, I didn't have time to throw them much of a party, what would I have done anyways? I gave the tank some outer decorations and even sang 'Happy Birthday' to them thrice (you can imagine how ridiculous I looked). Well, it's been a wonderful year! I can't imagine my life without them!

Thinking back on those first days with the tank. How much it has progressed!!!

Welcome Hatchepsut & and Hades!!!

Welcome Hatchepsut & Hades, my two new male guppies!!! (Hat-chep-soot and Hay-dees) At first, Hades was going to be named Alcibiades or Peracles, but I kept forgetting how to pronounce his name and it just wasn't sticking. I renamed him Hades: god of the underworld in Greek Mythology, which I think is much more fitting considering his coloring. Well, they will surely make my take a happy one for the upcoming (on Wednesday) one year anniversary!!!

A Weakening Empire

There has been yet another death. The aquatic kingdom has been going through some devastating times. All the fish seem lonely now, for the only species that I have two of is the corys. The death which I mentioned was the death of Ahmen Ra. He too (like Tut) I deemed immortal, the thought of him dying never crossed my mind. He has always been a part of my tank. I did notice about a week ago that his spine had looked slightly curved, which I remember the same thing happened a little while before Sharkbait's death. Now only six fish are left in my tank, three are bottom feeders, the other three are normal swimming fish, three are part of my original tank, three are not. I hope to revive my sorrowful tank before the one year anniversary of its birth.

Grave news

Two new headstones have been added to my graveyard of dead fish. The first was one of the Pachuses, he looked as if he was attacked and was hardly recognizable. He was found on September 27, 2012. He will be missed. The second death was devastating, for it was my newest fish, Apollo. Athena guarded Apollo's body until I found her. She died on October 4th, 2012 and was finally buried today (10/6/12). Both of these deaths have effected the Aquatic Kingdom forever. May they rest in Peace.

Lots of news!

A lot has been going on my my fish tank lately. For starters, I sold Caligula. I felt he was getting too big for my fish tank, and didn't really have a place anymore. I sold him to a fish keeper with a 250 gallon tank! I figure he'll be happier in his new home. After the recent disappearance of Eiosepa, Athena was looking awfully lonely, so I went to the pet store on Wednesday to get her a friend, but they were fresh out of guppies!!! They told me they would have more in by Friday, so I left with no guppy. I came back on Friday, and found that they only had female guppies! So they told me to come back on Saturday. I came back today and they still only had female guppies! I was determined to leave the store with a fish today, so I considered my options. I could buy a different fish, or I could just get a female guppy. I found an adorable Zebra Danio that I was almost about to buy, but then I thought of how lonely Athena was. I went back to the female guppies, and they were all pregnant! So yes, I did buy a pregnant female guppy. What an adventure this will be! I'm researching all about taking care of the fry, and I'm very nervous and excited. Her name is Apollo, she is mostly white, but her tail is yellow and looks like a sun. Meanwhile, my Sea Monkeys (Brine Shrimp) got some matching decorations of their own!

New Lights!!

My old hood

Old Lights

New hood!

New lights!

My best photo of Athena

Caligula

Probably the best picture I have of Xerxes

I got new lights! They are brighter, cooler and bluer. I never noticed just how dim, warm, and yellow my old ones were. I also got a new hood. After I cleaned the tank, I noticed more nips on Zeus, so Aphrodite was put back in jail... :(  To my great surprise, the next morning I found that she had escaped her cage! It was rather funny to see her happy smirk. It seems that she was so thin that she slipped through the tiny bars in the night! I felt a little guilty when I had to put her back in. Two or three days ago, I became increasingly worried aboiut Eiosepa. I can't find him anywhere! Sound familiar? Yep, the odds aren't looking good. I got better pictures of Athena last night! Enjoy the non-orangeness of them! Tiberius and Xerxes are becoming good friends. The coral has become a cute little home for them and they fit right in it! Tiberius is also becoming way more social, it's not uncommon to see him out and about anymore! And for some final sad news- I'm selling Caligula. I'm afraid he is getting to big, disruptive, and ugly. He doesn't have a place anymore. :( We'll miss him.

The good news and the bad news.....

Athena

The Orange Athena

In loving Memory of Tut

May he rest in Peace.

Best Friends Forever.

The Startling remains of My dear Posiden

Life in the ancient fish tank has been crazy since my last post. I have terrible terrible TERRIBLE news and some fantastic news. I suppose I'll go in chronological order. So I guess I'm starting with some good news. I finally named the new guy!!! I just started calling him Tiberious because it just felt right. He has been growing but is still much smaller than Xerxes. He adds so much to the tank. Next comes some dreadful and painful news. I have been avoiding posting for a whole week because my mind hasn't healed quite yet. There has been a death. I never thought it would happen...... Tutankhamen has passed. He has always been the everlasting life of the tank and now he is gone. I discovered him in the late hours of Sunday, July 29th and he was thereafter buried early the next morning. He will be missed deeply. My cousin and I had a beautiful funeral and burial service for him. Two days later I left for camp, leaving the maintenance/feeding to them for four days. I returned on Friday and everything was fine.... or so I thought. I noticed that Posiden was nowhere to be seen. I dismissed it, thinking he must have been hiding in a corner or something. Later that day, I noticed something floating around in the water. At first, it looked like a piece of algae or something. But as I looked closer I realized something very appalling. It was not algae, it was the remains of my dear Posiden. How could I tell? His bones were still visible. It was a truly horrid sight and with forever haunt my memory. I buried the small  chewed-up carcass next to his buddy, Tut. Over the next day, I noticed how lonely Eiosepa appeared without his chums. He kept trying to befriend the Pachus' and Ahmen-Ra, but he didn't really "fit in". This made me even more upset, so I brought him home a new friend! Introducing....... Athena: Goddess of wisdom and war! They were instant buddies! I was about to buy another one that was red, blue, orange, and yellow and then name it Hatchepsut, but I decided it was too soon. During all this time Aphrodite had been patiently waiting in her cage. I decided she had served enough "jail time" and let her free. She was very glad! Her "cell" was also filthy. Well, that's all I can fit in one post, so please enjoy my pictures! It was very stressful to photograph Athena. I finally got a perfect picute of her, but she turned orange!!! I just added most of my attempts (orange included).