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! 

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!

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.

Pachus gone missing? & What to do with dear old Aphrodite

I recently noticed that Pachus one has not been accompanied by his dear friend, Pachus 2. I looked everywhere, filter and all and he is nowhere to be seen. I'm hoping I'll find him when I clean my tank again. Hopefully alive instead of dead. Eiosepa's fins started to improve, but within the last few days have they gotten even worse than at first! I just don't know what to do!! I suppose I could put a fish muzzle on her, so she can't bite those tempting long fins. But I can't sell Aphrodite! I can't. I like her, and there would be a hole in the tank without her! Well, Caligula has gotten huge! I might even have to sell him eventually too!!! Or (which is the solution that I like better) I could buy a bigger tank. In my dreams. Advice is welcome. I hope to keep you posted!!!

WELL, it sure has been quite awhile since I've posted to you! Nothing huge has happened in my dear old fish tank, I continue to feed them and keep them healthy. Caligula is growing ever bigger by the second, and he is still competing with Zeus for the Pantheon. I checked out several books on freshwater aquariums at the library, and discovered many new thing, for example, did you know that predatory fish have eyes on top of their head, whereas non-predatory fish's eyes are on the sides? Pretty interesting. The one I found the most helpful and interesting had to be Aquarium Owner's Guide, by Gina Sandford. I noticed not too long ago that my filter's water flow was weak, so I took it out and found a bunch of gunk stuck in it! I clean it out and it worked fine. It has also come to my attention that I have not cleaned my tank since March 26th! All my fish must be dying! I was planning to clean it on May 2nd when we're moving to the new house, because I'll already be making a water change, but it still worried me. I cleaned out the filter again and added some fresh water, just to be safe. Speaking of moving to my new house, in my new room I plan to have a whole corner dedicated to fish!! I'll post pictures when it's all finished. I am getting really excited and have already started buying furniture to put in it, now I have a new stand for my tank! While I was doing this, I ran into this awesome Pleco plush: http://whittykitty.deviantart.com/art/Pleco-Plush-215110089, isn't that AWESOME?! I wish I had one! Too bad they're not for sale, but it's still really cool! Well, I'll keep you updated!

Zeus has lost interest? UPDATE!

I recently noticed that Zeus hasn't been going in his temple, and it's bothering me. After staring at it for a long time, I realized that Caligula was inside the temple, feasting on all the algae! No fair! Hopefully they'll work it out. I think Zeus should get the temple, and Caligula can stay in the the coral. Speaking of Caligula, he's growing ever fatter. By the way, does anybody know how to measure your fish? The guppies and tetras are always moving and wiggling about, and the catfish are always hiding, or at an angle that I can't measure them length! Is there some weird trick to it? I've been thinking about upgrading to a 40-55 gallon tank, but that would be a huge hassle and I don't know if I could handle it. I would have to save up the money, but for now it's on my wishlist and I'm sticking with my 10 gallon. That's pretty much all that's going on in my fish world, I'm going to enter a picture of Zeus into a pleco photo contest. Send him good luck!

Caligula is a fat boy!

The other night I was cleaning my fish tank, and as usual little Caligula came out, only this time he wasn't little.... He was alot fatter! At this rate, he'll be full grown by the summer!! I cleaned my fish tank, only this time I switched it around, now the coral is on the right, and the Pantheon on the left. I even took a sample of the water, algae, and waste. I looked at it under a microscope and though few, there were lots of unique microbes in it! Well, not much else is new. The picture doesn't show Caligula's size, but he's big! I'll post again later... bye!

Just to bring you up to date....

So, I decided to take Poseidon out of the separator. He started to surface rest and looked sickly. I knew that if he died, I didn't want him to die a sad death, I wanted him to be able to swim free. So, I let him out and... VOILA! All the sudden, he's acting like nothing ever happened. Maybe it was the possum treatment, maybe he was jealous that his friends were hanging out without him, maybe he was just stressed... I don't know. So, yeah. I'll need to clean the tank soon. It's getting dirty. The algae wafers are starting to be fought over between Zeus, Caligula, and Xerxes. Speaking of Caligula, he's becoming more social, I see him alot more often, mostly at night. He's still a little shy, though. Well, there's your update!

Victory!

At last! I have finally lured Caligula out from hiding... I just had to clean the tank! He even came out front and I go some great shots with him and Xerxes! He is super shy, though. So Zeus didn't eat him! Huzzah! It's so weird, Caligula is like a mix of Xerxes and Zeus... has the same color and pattern as Zeus, same size and has a similar attitude (except a little shyer). Not to mention that his mouth is almost a perfect mix! Oh, I'm SO happy! Zeus didn't eat him after all!! The two best shots are posted. Well, I'd might as well give you an update... as I said, I cleaned the fish tank. I even moved some stuff around and added a plant. Other than that, most hasn't changed... I used to be worried about Caligula... but it's OKAY! I also got some pH tester strips and treatment (thanks, mom!) I hope you enjoy the shots!

Inventory and fish suggestions and update

I didn't know what to post, so I decided to give you an inventory of all the fish stuff I own.

x1 10 gallon fish tank

x1 tropical fish flake food

x1 shrimp pellets

x1 algae wafers

x2 nets

x1 floating breeder/ aggressive or sick fish tank

x1 Heater

x1 thermometer

x1 Pantheon decor

x2 ancient Greek pillars

x1 live plant

x1 artificial coral

x2 artificial plants

- multiple colored gravel/ pebbles

x1 filter

x1 bubble curtain

x1 algae cleaning magnet

x1 package of live plant seeds

x1 ick treatment

x1 lifeguard medicine

x2 sponge/ scrubber

x1 gravel vacuum (hose and bucket)

x1 tank conditioner

- (fish)

Now, because that was a little boring, I'll give you my fish recommendations. A algae- eating fish is a really good thing to keep your tank clean. (Cory cat, pleco, lace catfish, Chinese algae eater....) I have three! Plecos and corys come in many pretty colors and designs!(like the zebra striped pleco in picture) Glofish help stop pollution:http://www.glofish.com/faq.asp, and the Guppy's fabulous design and color brighten up the tank!

Not much has happened recently... I attempted to feed Zeus broccoli, it stayed in the tank for two days... he might have eaten a little. I ended up just taking it out with the net because it was starting to get soggy and stink. Caligula must have either found a new hiding spot, or Zeus really did eat him. I hope not. But I did see him sticking his hiding in the Coral... oh no! And no, he is not under the thermometer or the coral (I lifted the whole coral out of the water.) So, yes. That's all for today, Folks!

I found Caligula!

What a smart fish. Turns out he was hiding under the thermometer! It makes sense, there is lots of algae, fairly dark, a good hiding place, and pretty much impossible to reach with a net! (bad for me...) The red circle in the picture shows where Caligula is hiding. I also took a super long fish photoshoot. (I'll add them ASAP) It's weird, recently my life has started to revolve around fish..... I need to get back to school!

Caligulaaaaa..... where are you?

Recently I have noticed that I not seen Caligula, (newest member of the tank) I know he's nocturnal and shy, but yesterday (his FIRST day) he would come out on occasion. I have not seen him ALL day! Out of curiousity, I lifted up the artificial coral that he usually hides under, but he was nowhere in sight. This worries me. I've checked everywhere! I hope to find him soon..... maybe Zeus ate him!

It all started.....

I never had a life long dream of having an aqaurium. It just happened. My dear fish came to me on October 31st, 2011. I sat for hours, watching them, until I could see which names fit their personality. The first fish were Zeus (Pleco), Xerxes (Albino Corydoras catfish), Tutankhamen (guppy), Napoleon (guppy), Hercules (glofish), Ahmen Ra (glofish), Sharkbait (glofish), and three neon tetras who are collectively known as Pachus. (they were really hard to tell apart.) by my birthday, I added many decorations which follow the mostly ancient theme (if you haven't noticed). Over the many months, I have lost, as well as gained new fish. Filters have broken, thermonmeters have cracked, but I'm still going. I have noticed all (well, almost all) the fish who have passed have been the ones without ancient names. I am now careful to name every new fish an ancient name, to prevent this curse from falling upon them. I suppose now is the best time to tell you who I have lost, and who is new. Pachus 1 was the first to die, then Napoleon, then Hercules, and then (last week) Sharkbait. I gained Posiden and Eiosepa (both guppies), and today I went out and welcomed two new (and quite exotic, for my tank) fish: Caligula and Aphrodite (lace catfish and mixed fruit tetra). They all make me soooooo happy and I want to give you more info ASAP, but I can't let it all out in one post! Notice the "photo gallary" tab above, if you want to put a face to the names.....