The Fishbox

Current Tank Count: two 10 Gallon

The live fish: The dead fish:

1 Dwarf Gourami 5 Black Skirt Tetra

2 male Endler's Livebearers 2 Black Neon Tetra

2 pair Orange Sunrise Guppies 3 Pristella Tetra

1 pair Green Cobra Guppies 1 Blue Apple Snail (Dante)

1 African Dwarf Frog (Randal)

1 Apple Snail (Dante II)

1 adult Japanese Trapdoor Snail (Loki)

3 baby Japanese Trapdoor Snails (Banky, Holden, Bartleby)

The successful, cycled tank.

Second 10 Gallon, Cycled!!

The story:

So, once upon a time about 15 years ago, I had a 10 gallon fish tank that was quite successful with very little care. I would suction 75% of the water out of it once a month and replace it with tap water and it just went on and on and on. I had two goldfish I got at a school fair that lived for the duration of the tank - about 6 years. The other fish in residence varied, but were always some mix of black mollies, fancy guppies, neon tetra, and a plecostomus named Gilbert that I ended up giving away because he was indestructible. It was a great little fish tank with a few plants, a great undergravel filtration system and a small air pump. It went through bouts of ich, but all my fish always lived with a little medication that I remember being dark blue. Good, simple memories.

I had a job last year where we were able and encouraged to have aquariums in our cubicles because of a motivational program that had spawned more fancy guppies than the office could handle. I was given 3 day-old guppies during my first week and soon after I picked up a 5 gallon kit aquarium and the guppies did well. That was nifty and I enjoyed it, so I got the brilliant idea to resurrect the 10 gallon tank idea at home. I went and bought a new 10 gallon, hang-on-back filter and heater and all the necessary decor along with 2 black skirts and 2 black neon tetra. I went home and threw it all together; put the water in with the dechlorinator and thought to myself... that can't really be necessary, but I'll do it anyway. Then the deaths began. In the first week, I lost both black neons and started noticing that the black skirts had some raging ich, so off I went to buy de-ich stuff. Unfortunately, I'm very impulsive and ended up bringing home 3 pristellas, the frog and the snail. Adding fish to an already distressed tank is not the brightest idea, but I never said I was intelligent. Then I started looking around on the web for how to NOT kill my fish and I discovered:

www.aquariacentral.com and www.applesnail.net

The forums at Aquaira Central have been educating me fiercely and I have discovered that I am an idiot when it comes to aquariums. I'm trying desperately to recover. There should be a rehabilitation program for things like this. So, I bought a freshwater test kit and discovered that my fish were puffing because they had nitrate poisoning. I started changing the water 3 times a day, about 25% per change and adding a new dechlorinator that's supposed to help with nitrate reduction as well. We'll see how that goes and I will continue reading the forums. I feel so inadequate on the site, though, everyone else there has 55 gallon or 125 gallon tanks and keeps these massive oscars and the like. I'm just a little tetra girl!

So, now for the updates.

12/19 1 Pristella, 1 Black Skirt, Dante the Snail, Randal the Frog

The 1 black skirt tetra is showing a few little white spots. I am so angry that he has ich after I finally got the nitrates under control!! I've been doing 3 25% water changes every day and they are finally breathing slowly. Grrr...

12/21 And then there was one

Only Randal remains. I feel like a fish serial killer. Note for future ich outbreaks: ich medication kills snails.

Dec - Jan CYCLE!!!

Also got a second 10 gallon and began the cycle on it.

01/20 Randal the Indestructible African Dwarf Frog

Let this be a lesson to everyone - Do a fishless cycle on your new tanks!! Randal is doing fine and he continues to shed his skin on a regular schedule, which I find encouraging. I bought an undergravel filter for the tank - so now it's uber filtered and slightly aerated, better than before at any rate. Randal is going to be on his own for quite some time, but I don't think he minds being my baby. I continue to change 10% - 15% of the water daily.

01/25 The New Fish Arrive

I ordered fish from liveaquaria.com and they arrived today! I got:

1 Apple Snail (Dante II)

1 Japanese Trapdoor Snail (Loki)

1 Dwarf Gourami

2 Pair Orange Sunrise Guppies

1 Pair Green Cobra Guppies

2 Endlers Livebearers

And I spent the afternoon acclimating them to their new tank. Took a total of 2 hours, but I was extremely cautious. Too many fish for one 10 gallon, but keep in mind I have another 10 gallon almost through it's cycle and stable. I would never overstock a tank for more than a week.

01/27 Loki Has Babies!

I knew that Japanese Trapdoor Snails were livebearers, but I was shocked to look over and notice that Loki had a baby dangling from her! She twisted her mouth around and broke open the amniotic sac and let the baby fall to the gravel. A few hours later I found two more babies in the gravel, for a total of 3! Trapdoor snails are hermaphroditic, so if I keep one of the babies in the current tank and put the other two into the newly cycled tank, I should wind up with two breeding pairs. Babies are: Banky, Holden, and Bartleby

01/31 New Tank, Second 10 Gallon

Well, the water tests on the new tank have been consistent for the last 6 days, so in the pair of Green Cobra Guppies go. I went through another long acclimation process for them, to avoid any stress or shock. I also transferred one baby Japanese Trapdoor snail to the new tank by moving the piece of gravel it was attached to. I don't dare touch the baby snails themselves. I think I may also move one of the Endler's livebearers over to the new tank tomorrow, but that remains to be seen - I do like the two brightly colored males together.

New thought: I already have the live-birthing equipment to keep the fry safe from their mothers and fathers after birth; now I'm considering a small tank in which to raise those fry. The original thought was that my guppies would be pretty, but as they had fry the gourami and the parents would just eat them and have a more balanced diet; any fry that dove for the gravel or plants and survived would be a welcome addition to my tanks. Now I'm thinking I'll save the fry and after I can sex them, offer them to a local pet store because I've never seen Orange Sunrise Guppies around here. Maybe I'll get a little store credit out of it, but I don't expect to make any sort of profit.

Breathe in, breathe out, move on.