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.

All is well

I just returned from my trip last night to find my fish tank just as I'd left it! (except for some evaporated water, of course) What a relief! It was a little bit dirtier, but nothing I can't fix, right? I'm also seriously considering purchasing another corydoras catfish, so please vote for your favorite name on the sidebar!!! Whichever name gets the most votes will be the name of the catfish!

Just to Catch you Up....

Sorry I haven't been keeping you up to date lately. The summer has kept me really busy! Pachus has literally disappeared! He's nowhere to be found. I've cleaned the tank several times since he went missing, and still no sign of him. During all of this time,  Tut has been ill. It started with his fins rotting away, and a large yellow-orange spot growing on his fin. Then he was surface resting. I tried to help him up with the net, but he would immediately sink back to the bottom. I began to fear that he would die, so I did some research. I considered various diseases that fit his symptoms, and came to the conclusion that it was a parasite. I treated him for a couple weeks and, gladly, he is swimming again! I truly hope he makes a full recovery soon! I haven't noticed any new nips from Aphrodite, but Poseidon and Sepa's fins are not growing back! I have been treating them with different medicines, and still no improvement. Well, I guess I'll just have to wait. I've made two or three water changes since my last post. During one of these changes, I accidentally bumped into Zeus with my gravel vacuum, and boy did I startle him! He leaped an inch or two out of the tank before splashing back in. It scared me! A different time, I was putting the decorations back in. I was picked up some gravel to move, and instead grabbed Xerxes for a whole three seconds! It was a shocking, yet almost delightful experience, but it doesn't seem to me that he enjoyed the experience. He totally spazzed out! I must say, it was rather amusing to watch him recover for the next five minutes. Speaking of decorations, I got   a whole box of freshwater supplies from my uncle, who is starting a saltwater aquarium. I'm covered for the next five years! He even has a large filter and gravel if I ever can afford to upgrade tanks! One of my lightbulbs burned out, so my tank is only half lit... I was about to replace it, but I decided to leave it for a week or two. I kind of like it that way. I just hope they don't turn into vampire fish!! Well, I'm about to leave on a two week vacation, so we'll see how my fish do. Don't worry we'll hire somebody to feed them. I be sure to write about it when I get back.

Be sure to check out all new pictures of the fish in the "Fish Name Photo Gallery" tab!

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, quite a lot has happened since my last post. I moved, so my fish tank is in a new spot! The fish corner didn't exactly work out because of room space. I put Aphrodite in "solitary confinement" for nipping fins. Now there is a huge tear in Eiosepa's fin! I bought some medicine that will help all of the guppies' fins grow back, I'm still treating them. After about five or six days, I finally let Aphrodite out, and boy was she glad! I was getting worried about her because while she as separated, she stopped eating and was surface resting all the time. She was fine once I let her out...but if she nips again, she's going right back in! I bought new fish food, and saved $4 at Petco!! I also put pictures of each of my fish on a digital picture frame! Now it run through a slide show of all their names and a picture of them. So fun! Well, I'll try to keep you updated.

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!