Happy Birthday, Blog!

Hey there everyone! Well, I logged on to blogspot and noticed that my last post (that I wrote a week or so ago) failed to publish. Yeah, so for the record, I'm not quite as lazy as it may seem. :) the purpose of this post is that along with all my other forgetfulness, I totally forgot that February 22nd was this blog's birthday AND the anniversary of when Aphrodite and Caligula joined my tank! It's been a fabulous two years of having this blog to record stuff, and even better to have a great (rebellious) fish like Aphrodite! Happy Birthday, Underwater Empire! 

:(

Well, Artemis died. She actually died on August 30th, but I have been lazy about posting to this blog as of late. She was a wonderful fish for the four days I had her. That morning was a terrible day for the Underwater Empire. I woke up in a hurry, late for school and found her dead. Not only that but somehow Messala had found a way into Aphrodite's confinement overnight..... locked in the monster's den. Messala ended up losing most of his tail from nipping, and has never been the same since, although his tail has grown back. In fact, him and Athena seem to be going on the downhill spiral and I'm quite sad. It rained at Artemis' funeral, which I found fitting. My tank has turned a goldish-brown with algae without Zeus' constant cleaning, which finally leads me to something positive..... I'm getting a new, small albino Pleco this weekend! He'll only grown to 4 in, so I will never have to sell him! I'll keep you posted as best I can.

Also, Artemis just happened to be the only one of my new fish that I didn't get a picture of..... :( ( I do, however have a not-graphic picture of her dead corpse if you want it, so leave an answer about if you do/don't want to see it in the comments..)

Claudius

Persephone

3/5 of the new Pachi!

Aphrodite is scared of Hippocrates..

Messala on the downhill spiral.

Messala on the downhill spiral...

Somehow she got out of confinement...

... and Hippocrates got in!

Life, Death, and Other Noteworthy Things

Well, I officially pronounced Socrates dead when I saw his operculum (see picture below) had fallen off... There's been a lot of death lately, and it's really bumming me out. Now I have just two guppies, one snail, a mixed fruit tetra, and a pleco.

I'll really miss Socrates, and I'm sure Hippocrates will too. As some of you may remember, Socrates came with my 20 gal. I remember being so happy when I first got him, watching him slide all around my tank. I knew he was old and it was his time to go, but nevertheless I'll miss him.

His shell had already begun to rot away by the time I could bury him. (Below is his final picture. I don't usually post the pictures I take of the corpses before I bury them, but this one isn't too graphic.)

(Sorry it's sideways... )

So, as some of you may know, I've been gone on a trip for the past few weeks to the Oregon coast. (Possibly why so many of my fish have been dying, though my neighbor has been feeding them,  I haven't been here to monitor them.) While I was there, I did many awesome things like going to the Aquarium and visiting the tide pools and beaches. One of the things I noticed by the seaside was the sea foam. You may be asking why sea foam was significant to me... let me tell you with this mini history lesson! It just so happens that in Greek Mythology, Aphrodite was born from the sea foam! Cool, huh?

At the aquarium

Some of the sea foam I saw in Oregon

Speaking of Aphrodite, once again she's nipping Athena's fins again! So she's back in confinement. :(

While I was on my trip, I had my neighbor, who also has a 20 gallon tank, feed them while I was gone. When I got back, I saw that the tank lights seemed to have burnt out. I was planning to replace them when I had the thought that she might not have known that my lights turn off automatically, so I manually turned them on and voila! They're up and running again! I don't know why I'm telling you this, but I got a laugh out of it.

It has also been one year since Poseidon died! It was actually one year on August 3rd, but I was still traveling then... We remember him as a fantastic fish who lived a long, happy life.

And speaking of a long happy life, Athena's one-year-in-my-tank birthday was on August 4th! HAPPY BIRTHDAY ATHENA! I'll throw a birthday party asap for her...
She has some magic immunity to sickness and injury. She has survived the black plague, countless nippings from Aphrodite, and other hard times that no other fish (except for Zeus) has made it through! Which also makes her the only fish (except Zeus) who has lived a full year in my tank! Athena is a wonderful fish with the biggest, most beautiful tail around! (I hope I'm not jinxing it..)

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All Sorts of Madness

A lot has happened recently in the Underwater Empire. Sadly, we have had a death. It came as a shock since we haven't had one in a while. RIP Trajan.

The rest is all to do with the snails. First of all, (as I have mentioned before...) both of them seem to have this magic superpower of floating. They'll be happily sliding across the bottom and then BLOOP! Air comes out of their shells and all of the sudden they go flying to the top. They float around for a while and then drop back down.... yeah... I know... weird, right? 

(Sorry for the lights reflecting on the glass..)

Secondly (Concerning snails...) It seems we have a rather scandalous situation on our hands....  Hippocrates has been somehow (I have absolutely no idea how he does it...) finding a way in the Aphrodite's separator. I take him out, but the next time I see him he's right back in! I haven't the slightest idea how he does it or how to deal with it. (Help in the comments??)  Are they in love or does Hippocrates just like the safety of the separator? 

(Well, if they are in love, Aphrodite doesn't seem to like Hippocrates much. She is always in the opposite corner with her regular shocked face.)

And lastly I would just like to quickly point out how much Hippocrates has grown since I got him.

WOW!

Business

Here's a random picture of Zeus. He's getting so long! 

Hello again! Last week, I asked you how long Aphrodite should be kept in the separator. Here were the results:

It was a tie! One of you said 1 week, the other said 2. This week the poll will be the same, but the only options will be 1 week or 2 weeks. :)

Either way, Aphrodite will have to stay in confinement. So, yes. I put her back in. This time I put some nice red gravel on the bottom for decoration (I couldn't put too many or it would sink). I hope her stay is more enjoyable this time.

Trajan's nipped fin has just gotten worse and worse since I let Aphrodite out after the water change, so putting her back in to let Trajan's fin heal is probably a good idea.

(Sorry it's so blurry) This is Trajan's fin.

 Oh yeah, a lot of people have been asking me lately if I still have Zeus. The answer is yes. I just keep putting off putting an ad on KSL (probably because I don't want to give him up...), but I am frustrated with him right now. You know how I rearranged my decor so there's only one plant in the coliseum? My reason for doing that is because he always looked squished back there (between the plants and coliseum). Now that there's ample space, he hardly ever goes back there! Ugh! Instead, he squishes himself into the plants. Maybe plecos just like being squished?

In addition to this week's weekly poll, I'll be having a name poll going on until the end of the year. After this week's poll, I won't have a new one every week (Summer and school will keep me busy...). This poll will have some fish names that I like and you can vote for your favorites! Next time I get a fish, I'll name it the highest voted one. If you don't know the meaning of the names, feel free to use the Wikipedia gadget on the sidebar! (I do reserve the right to pick a different name on the list if the fish's appearance doesn't work with the name... i.e: I won't name a bright yellow fish Nyx, because Nyx is the goddess of night.) I have also already reserved the names Titus and Chronos for if or when I get two pitbull plecos.... so I'll take those off the list.....


Well, I feel like I still need to update you on a zillion things, but that's all that comes to mind! :)

Happy Independance Day, everyone! Put any questions in a comment!

Lazy Me

Hello everyone! Recently, I have been putting off posting to this blog and cleaning my fish tank, but today is my catching up day. I got back from vacation and all was well in the Underwater Empire. Aphrodite is still in confinement, and just recently started eating her food (Finally!). I took some more pictures and got some pretty cool ones (I'll put them in the next post.). Anyways, my tank is really REALLY dirty right now, so I'll probably go and clean it right after I finish this post.... which means I'll probably post again after I finish....

Thank you to everyone who voted on last week's weekly poll, here are the results:

Looks like you guys chose the Disney theme! Cool!

Be sure to vote on this week's weekly poll, which is: How much longer should Aphrodite be in confinement?

(If for some reason the poll isn't working and you don't see your answer in the results, just comment your answer below...)

Happy Summer!

Nipping Nonsense - Aphrodite Up to Her Old Tricks

Well folks, Aphrodite is back into her old habits. Recently, she's been nipping the fins of Athena and Trajan. I put her in the seperater and she's already mad at me. How do I know? She won't eat her food. My plan is to keep her in there until the guppies' fins heal, but she may starve before then. If I let her out now, she'll probably keep nipping them, which will eventually cause my guppies' death (I know from experience...). Ahhhhh! What do I do?! Not only that, but I'm leaving on vacation next week, so I won't be able to moniter what's going on..... :-/

And thanks to those who voted on the weekly poll... keeps things interesting! I'm changing it tomorrow, so don't forget to vote next week?

  (oh yeah, sorry for the sucky picture..)

Sorry! Have some pictures...! :)

Hey guys, sorry about my recent lack of posts.  I'll probably start up again when school is out. Not much to report, except that the guppies have been getting small nips in their tails (likely from Aphrodite...) , I cleaned my tank (for the first time in a while..) and that I haven't sold Zeus yet... Meanwhile, enjoy some never-before-seen pictures!

Fish Cruelty- DYEing

As many of you know, my fish, Aphrodite, is a mixed fruit tetra. When I bought her, I was unaware of her shocking past. Her pink color was given to her by dye, a cruel, dangerous process, so she was originally a white skirt tetra. I regret ever taking part in such terribleness by buying her, but hope I have given her a better life by giving her a home in my tank.

If you want to read about dying fish, follow this link: http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/beginnerinfo/a/paintedfish.htm

(I should be posting a good picture of Augustus by tomorrow!)

Goodness me! How could I forget!!??

I have just had the realization that I have forgotten to celebrate this blog's one year anniversary! I'm terribly upset with myself, because I was really excited to have a party on Februrary 22nd. Well, it's too late now (I know, I know, I should say something like 'it's never too late' but in this case, I'm feeling pessimistic...) but anyways, yes. It happened on Feb. 22nd. It was also the anniversary of Aphrodite and Caligula's arrival. (got them same day I made blog) Caligula is now living happily in a 250 gallon tank (much more fitting to his size..) and Aphrodite continues to zoom around my tank. Yep. Happy birthday blog!

Highlights: New Photos!

Akhenaten

Aphrodite

Athena

Nefertiti

Messala

Tiberius

Tiberius again (I LOVE this one:)

So my sister finally did do a photo shoot of the fish, for which I am eternally grateful. These are some of my favorite portrait shots she did.

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).