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!

Mission Accomplished!

Socrates finally woke up from his three day nap, look at them-'father and son'!! (I guess I could say 'Brothers' but Socrates is so big and Hippocrates is so small....)

A Mystery Solved!!

At last I have solved the mystery of my snail's tentacle! I was just  doing some research when I came upon an article about it. It's called a siphon. Their purpose is to allow the snail to breathe air when submerged underwater. ...And I quote....
"Many species, particularly of the South-American genus Pomacea, have another another remarkable anatomical feathure: a breathing siphon. This organ, formed by a fold of the mantle cavity at the left side of the head, is barely visible when not in use. At times the snail needs to refresh the air inside the lung, the muscles in this fold contract and the fold changes into a flexible tube-like structure (siphon), which enables the snail to breathe air while staying submerged. Staying submerged provides the apple snail with a great advantage because they are very vulnerable to snail-eating birds at the surface." 
(Courtesy of http://www.applesnail.net/content/multi_languages/english.htm ) 
Fascinating, huh? Well, now I finally know what all this madness has been.

While we're talking about snails, I'd thought I'd mention how they're doing. Hippocrates and Socrates have hardly been interacting at all :(. Hippocrates has been very active, but Socrates has been VERY inactive. In fact, I would say he's dead, but he moves every once in a while. I looked it up to make sure he's not sick, and learned that it's completely normal for older snails to be inactive. So all is well.

Just so you know what I'm talking about...

Exciting news!!!

It is my pleasure to announce that I have gotten two new fish today! Their names are Augustus and Hippocrates. Augustus is a pinky-orangey guppy with white streaks on his tail, and Hippocrates is a itty-bitty baby yellow apple snail. The reason why I got another snail is because Socrates' shell is growing algae, and I saw at the fish store that the little snails were cleaning the bigger snail's shells. So I'm hoping they'll be dearest buddies. :)  (I even made their names rhyme!!) I'll add some pictures to this post soon!

What the Heck?

Okay, so I keep seeing Socrates with this weird tentacle/psuedopod thing, and (as you can probably guess), I am really confused as to what on Earth it might be or its purpose. He will often climb to a high place, and then it will emerge from under his shell and he'll wave it around. Then he'll pull it back in and climb back down.... I did a little research but didn't find much.If anybody has any idea as to what it might be (fish expert or not,,), please leave a comment below! :) :) 

And.... speaking of Socrates...... Zeus has been bullying him lately. If Socrates is on the gravel at night, he will suck on his shell, and I always have to scare him off with the net. Sometimes, silly Socrates will ctart to climb on to Zeus' face, and Zeus 'strikes' him (I didn't know how else to put it....)