Yep, you guys FINALLY get to see pictures of my fish! How happy are you? Aren't you so excited I stopped putting it off?!? Good!
First of all, though, an update! I have decided upon a name for my blue acara after much consideration. Her name shall be Alaska. I think of cool deep blue water when I hear the name, so Alaska it is! Speaking of Alaska, she's really come out of her shell since she came home with me. She has tons of personality and is always, what I call, 'bull-dogging' in front of the tank demanding to e fed and interacted with. Last night was the first time she took food out from my fingers and it was pretty neat. Glad she trusts me so much! Also, she's already grown to be the biggest fish in the tank, topping out at just under 4 inches, it looks like. She was roughly 3 when I got her! The little fatty fish!
On to the pictures!
This is Alaska being photobombed by one of the female platy, Candy
This is Alaska being photobombed by my male Krib, Carter.
...At this point I don't think its Alaska being photobombed. I think Alaska is the Photobomber. Anyways, Alaska pictured with my male Dolores hybrid swordtail and is panda platy girlfriend. Alexandro and Lush respectively.
Finally! A picture without that nosy blue acara! This is my female Krib cichlid, Shirea. See that organish brown blur directly under her? Thats a mass of fry from a very recent breeding. I'm a grandma! At this stage they look like tiny orange sperm monsters.
Their tank!
This is my snoody male betta, Katana.
and his tank, taken right after a water change so there's stuff in the water that hasn't settled.
Thats all for now folks! I'll get pictures up of the 29 gallon when I get them, its looking pretty bare.
Sorry for the lack of updates. I've been getting to bed earlier and when not asleep at a reasonable time I've been battling a wisdom tooth making itself known. :( But, I'm back and will try to be more active!
So, I ordered a Blue Acara from our local Pet Supplies Plus and my little acara came in last Thursday. At first she was pretty stress strip'd and dull colored, but here it is a week later and she's simply gorgeous. So far she's been extremely bold and is constantly begging for food and just generally being a show off. My bf and I will both being looking at the tank and the whole time she's displaying and watching us, as close to the glass as she can get. I love it.
The only other thing really going on is that I moved my two Krib cichlids from the 29 gallon to the 30 gallon. My heater literally exploded and caught fire.. sssoo.. Yeah. Tropicals had to be moved to a tropical tank while I left my coldwater loving gold-barbs in the 29 gallon. After removing my pairs.. I've started to notice some Krib fry making themself known. So far we've seen three and they are about 1/4 to 1/2 an inch long. I'm going to try catching them and moving them to the betta/fry tank because its nice and heated. I'm honestly thinking of making my 30 gallon a cichlid-only tank with a pair of rams and a pair of cockatoo cichlids.. Not sure yet, though.
I WILL get pictures up VERY soon! My blue acara is proving to be very camera shy so its super hard to snap a good picture.
I never did explain just what a Port Acara is and now I feel mildly silly.
The Port Acara is a mid-sized cichlid, growing upwards of 6 inches on a good day, hailing from South America. Unlike many of the other larger cichlids (and some smaller) they are pretty peaceful fish and can be kept with most other species with little to no problem. Their size and temperament have deemed them (or rather 'it' since i plan to get only 1) a great candidate for my 30 gallon tank(which is the absolute minimum for a single Portie). They also do not have any strict water specifications and can enjoy a broad range of pH and water hardness, unlike the African cichlids that really enjoy higher pH and more alkaline water (achieved through crushed coral, normally, unless you naturally have high pH and alkaline water).
They are very easy breeders, but are considered to be a drab looking fish and not ordered by most pet stores. This is where I'm really having the problem, just finding someone who sells them. Their cousin the Blue Acara is vastly more easily found and I may have to just settle on one of these fellows. While their cousin is indeed more vibrant and even shares the exact same living conditions, I just fell in love with the Portie's attitude. They are very can-do and in-your-face, not afraid to charge the hapless arm while you're rearranging tank decor. I like bull-dog fish. I've heard the Blue Acara is a bit more relaxed and thus not as appealing to me.
Anyways, I'm 'borrowing' some images from google to show you guys the fish I'm talking about. The Port Acara:
and it's cousin the vibrant, but more shy, Blue Acara.
I think this might even be my very first 'Fish of the Week'!
Hello, hello, hello! Thanks for sticking around long enough to read my second post! I'll keep it short and sweet.
I refined the edges of my blog and did a bit of polishing, how are you liking the new look? I think it's pretty snazzy, if I do say so myself. Now that my redecorating is out of the way, the new posts will be fish related, hopefully.
I already have several helpful people donating me a few pictures to use in and around the blog, both fish and inverts so its pretty neat. Maybe I'll start a 'fish of the week' and a 'invert of the week', shall be super exciting!
Last thing I wanted to post is not to expect blogs every day. Its not that I DON'T have the time, its that I have terrible time management skills so I tend to waste a great deal of time. I'm also pretty insecure with my writing (not that a blog is anything special) and.. to be frank.. I'm lazy. Very lazy. Get-someone-else-to-change-the-channel-even-though-the-remote-is-a-foot-away-lazy. Glad that's clear.
In the mean time, while I work on getting this blog fleshed out, enjoy this stunning picture of Shiro, a Lionhead Goldfish. Picture provided by Dakotak. Thank you for letting me steal this. <3
Until next time, fare thee well.
An amazing friend of mine has been pushing me to start a blog about my misadventures in fish keeping, so for his, and hopefully your, enjoyment I have decided to dive headfirst into this blog. Lets see if it actually goes anywhere, shall we?
A bit about myself to start off, I suppose. My name is Ana and I like fish. I have three tanks at the moment and would most likely have bigger and better if space and funds would allow... but alas! My smallest tank and my currant baby is a 10 gallon with a male halfmoon betta fish and a dozen or so sunset platy fry. I'm naughty and currently have no filter and may never add one. I use a mix of black gravel and flourite substrate with live water wisteria under twin 25watt plant bulbs. Let me tell you, these water wisteria are digging the super strong light and have grown 3+ inches in the last week and a half it seems. My next tank, since I randomly decided to go from smallest to largest, is a 29 gallon with a pair of Krib cichlids and a shoal of gold barbs (I can never keep the fifth alive!). I use flourite in this tank as well and have water wisteria, lace java fern, amazon swords (barely holding on, might I add) and a lonely moss ball. I have a standard cruddy hood light that puts off very poor amounts of light and an aquaclear filter which I adore. Lastly is my largest tank at 30 gallons. A trio of platy fish (Well, the male is a swordtail but its close enough..) and cory catfish make up the backbone of this tank. I have it planted once again with water wisteria (It grows like a weed! Have to keep moving it around!) and a few money wort struggling to survive.Sand substrate, standard lighting, and a Hagen Fluval canister filter.
There you have it, my tanks. My babies after my human baby. I think really its Daughter > Fish > Dog > Cats > Food > Boy Friend, but we wont tell him that. (I kid, but will not release the true order!)
So, besides bragging about my own tanks I'm creating this blog for several reasons. I'm on the hunt for a fish that is turning out to be very elusive, despite its bunny-like reproduction. I've checked many websites, several cichlid breeders and have come out empty handed. I'm talking, specifically about the Port Acara, Red Port Acara, Black Acara, or Cichlasoma Portalegrens. I generally just use 'Port Acara' since its simple and to the point. Besides this being a 'progess' blog for my hunt along the way I will be posting random bits and pieces about my tanks, equipment reviews/information from friends and myself, random fish care/dispelling myths, and a 'fish of the week' section. I have lots of ideas in store so bare with me! I will get picture up when I can, so hold tight.
Thanks for reading ladies and gents!
