Here We Go Again...

Once again,I come to you with horrible, terrible, depressing, negative news... A couple days ago, I noticed that I hadn't seen Tiberious in a while, which started to worry me. And, as you can guess, when a fish goes missing, they're probably dead. I wish I could tell you I found him hiding somewhere, but instead I found him lifeless, floating in the water. So yes, the adorable Tiberious is dead. I regret having to make so many sad announcements, and hope to deliver better news to you in the future. We'll miss his (or I guess 'her') sweet spirit.

I plugged in the new filter, and everything else is going great!

Last picture ever taken of Tiberious (one day before he disappeared, three days before he was found)

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.

An Awkward Discovery and a Burial at Last

The Fish Cemetery 

Sparta

Xerxes: A great grave for a great fish. (I don't pick favorites;) 

Constantine

The fat Tiberius

                       

As I went to take out the trash this afternoon, I noticed that the dirt around my fish cemetery was finally thawed. So, taking advantage of the opportunity, I grabbed the dead fish bodies from the freezer... (yes I know it's macabre, but don't they do it in real mortuaries?) So I finally buried the 3 Pachuses and Xerxes, and made a tombstone for Constantine and Sparta. The dirt was pretty much mud because of the melted ice but I could still dig deep enough, so at last they are laid to rest. As for some awkward discoveries (see title), I've found out that Tiberius is a GIRL. I know, I know, it's crazy. Well, I never bothered to try and figure out his- er- her gender because it's really hard to tell with corys. So how do I know? Well, I noticed that she had been getting really fat. I thought she had just been overeating, but just out of curiosity  I did some research. Turns out she's carrying eggs! Ahhhhh! But because there are no longer and males in my tank (*sniff sniff), it won't go any further than that. I also found out that Nefertiti and Akhenaten are married.... I think it must be more awkward for them than for me...... My tank is probably the happiest I've seen it since the summer with my new guppies! I've asked my sister if she can photograph them for me, because she has a professional camera. I want good pictures of them because they are so pretty, and the pictures that I took don't do them justice. So, expect some real nice, fancy pictures real soon!

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)

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.

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).

Decisions & Discoveries

I decided to put Aphrodite in the separator before I left on a short 3 day trip because she wouldn't stop nipping at the other fish- even Zeus! I got back and found the Zeus' badly nipped fin had regrown completely! So she's still in the separator and doing well. I'm hoping I can keep her in there until all the guppy's fins grow back too. The new guy is doing well, I still haven't decided on a name yet. I'm leaning towards Tiberious. I came up with more, now the top 4 are Tiberious, Hatchepsut, Socrates, and Nefertiti.  I also did some research about Pachus' disappearance. Appearantly this isn't uncommon. I've come to the conclusion that he died from bad water quality and Zeus ate his algae-covered corpse. It's reassuring to know that plecos only are known to eat corpses, not living fish. So the mystery of the missing Pachus is solved! More pictures of the new guy are above.

Introducing.....

Pachus 4

Just to give you an idea about his size...

Yes! The rumors are true! I bought two new fish this morning! After the recent disappearance of Pachus 2, Pachus 3 looked very lonely. So I bought him a friend: Pachus 4!! He is very long and skinny. The other fish is a gorgeous julii cory catfish, he is so small!!! Now Xerxes will have a friend! I have left the naming up to YOU (yes, YOU!) all you have to do is vote for your favorite name on the sidebar. I will at last give him a name in one week, so vote ASAP! If you are curious about what all of the names mean here's a "guide":

Homer:  An ancient Greek epic poet who is believed to have written the Lliad and the Odyssey, inspiring the invention of the Greek language

Romulus /Remis: Twin Brothers who are central characters in Rome's foundation myth. After being abandoned by their mother, a pack of wolves apparently found them and raised them. They wanted to found a city on Palantine hill. They fought over who would rule the city, which ended up with the death of Remis. Romulus then name the city after himself, Rome.

Achilles: A hero of the Trojan war

Hades: God of the underworld, brother of Zeus

Sparta: A city in Greece, famous for their military power

Pan: God of Shepards and Pastures

Apollo: God of the Sun

Athena: Goddess of War and Wisdom

Iris: Goddess of rainbows

Nike: Goddess of victory

My personal favorites for this fish in particular are Homer-Pan (Homer, Socrates, Romulus, Remis, Achilles, Hades, Sparta, and Pan) I also LOVE the name Tiberious for this fish in particular, but I thought of it after the poll was made. It just fits! If you like that name too, don't vote and I'll probably just name him Tiberious.