Simply Sick..These Wackos Ate Them!

  Here I am at 5a.m in the morning with a bad case of insomnia.So I was browsing around on my

laptop,searching for info about fishes and stuff when I came upon this website

http://www.thevorestore.com/index.php?main_page=index

  At first I had no clue what it was.I had initially Googled images of the most beautiful Bettas.One

picture caught my eye.At first glance it looked like a girl with a bug in her mouth.When I clicked on

it,this is what I saw

 It's a freaking Betta in her mouth!Apparently these young ladies think it's funny to torment these

beautiful fishes by swallowing them whole.Bettas,frogs,eels..you name it,they ate it!I have no idea

what runs through the heads of these people.Poor fishes.

A snapshot of the site

  Apparently people pay to watch this stuff.Freaky.On a lighter note,I also saw something about

Bettas that made me laugh.Say hello to the VAMPIRE BETTA! *drum roll please*

The author of the site even went through the trouble of listing out the details of the "vampire betta"

haha..

  Well if you haven't figured it out yet,no such betta exists.But still I think it's pretty funny :)

Salt : Simple And Effective For Cleaning Aquariums

  I read a lot admittedly.I've come across many essays and blogs debating the best thing to use for

cleaning your tank.Some suggestions make it seem as if the fish owner is trying to poison the fish.The

worst I ever heard is someone who recommended that you wash your tank with diluted bleach.No

disrespect to those who do this but I would simply never take that kind of risk with my fish.Bleach is

extremely hard to wash off and it's really poisonous.If you've ever washed your bathroom with

bleach,you will know that it releases some really terrible fumes that can make you really nauseous.

  I'm not condemning people who use bleach to clean their tanks.If done correctly and diluted with

enough water,it may be quite effective.My point though is,why take the risk?Furthermore,many of us

use tanks which are made out of acrylic or in layman terms,plastic tanks.Bleach can cause chemical

reactions when it comes in contact with acrylic.It can make your plastic tank hazy if not used

properly.And worse still,if you don't clean it thoroughly,it may just kill your fish.
 
  Currently I have two tanks.A glass one that is probably 7 or 8 gallons and a plastic 2+ gallon one.I

keep the glass one at home but I bring my plastic one with me when I study at college.As a

student,we aren't allowed to keep pets and frankly buying expensive cleaning agents is out of the

question.My solution is cheap and simple.Salt and hot water.

  A scientific experiment by Dr. Sarah Forgie, a specialist in pediatric infectious diseases(haha yeah I

know,it's dealing with kids and their diseases but it still involves bacteria so we can use this bit of info

here) discovered that using a saline solution properly can be as effective as using disinfectant wipes

when it comes to cleaning plastic.

  So don't look down on the humble pinch of salt.It won't harm your fish if any residue is left behind

on your aquarium.A bit of salt may be beneficial for your fish.Sometimes if I want to thoroughly

clean my tank and the gravel,I soak the tank in a warm saltwater solution.For the gravel I soak it in

hot water and salt and keep changing the water until the algae and dirt are totally removed.The algae

will die and fall off pretty quickly when the hot saltwater hits it.Don't be stingy with the salt.More is

better than less.Salt doesn't damage your tank or harm your fishes.If you want to be extra

careful,letting your tank get a little exposure to sun will kill off bacteria as well.Just be careful if

you're using a plastic tank,don't let it be under too direct sunlight for too long.You can leave rocks and

gravel under the hot sun though.Kill's off bacteria effectively.

The Sushi Jumps!

  Paul Toth's book, How To Entertain Your Betta, got me thinking. He said that he trained his Betta to

leap out of it's tank to get at the food dangling above him.

  So I thought,why not?After all Pete is an energetic lil guy with time to spare and a whole lot of

enthusiasm.So I wetted the ends of an old paintbrush and stuck bits of fish feed on the ends of the

bristles,letting the brush hover over the water.Needless to say Pete got the hint pretty quickly.

  At first he kind of swam under the brush.After awhile,he started making these cute little movements

that looked a little like a sprinter getting ready to sprint and *plop* !! He made his first

jump!Triumphant,he jumped again and again.Now he can jump up to 2cm out of the water.One

day,we shall reach for the sky!Which is perhaps 5cm :)I included a video of Pete jumping for his

food,sorry if it's lopsided!

How To Entertain your Betta's By Paul Toth

  I was Googling Bettas today and I stumbled upon this gem of a book by Paul Toth

  For newbies this may come in handy on ways to entertain your Betta. Warning : You may look

ridiculous following some of the suggestions in this book.All in all though it was a really fun read!

  I like Paul's humorous writing style and the way he talks about his "Fishy Wishy." This book is all

about one mans determination to keep his Betta entertained and his constant struggle to convince his

wife that he has not gone insane over what she deems as "Just a Fish."

  The book is short and funny, you won't regret reading it :D Here's a link to the PDF version

http://www.google.com.my/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&ved=0CGEQFjAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww3.telus.net%2Fstarthere%2Fbettabook%2Fpdf%2FHowToEntertainYourBettaFish.pdf&ei=wh8BUOr8OMnNrQeEqJinBg&usg=AFQjCNHMLb7wlRwzhoWt496QfYu-AMSb3A

Happy reading!

Tribute To Bill

  I was painting this one a few days before Bill passed away.It's not a drawing of Bill yet somehow it's

eyes seem to capture the spirit and intensity that Bill had.Love you Billy boy :)

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Tropical Fish and Temperature

 

  I'm not an expert when it comes to fishes.To be very honest,most of my knowledge of fish rearing

stems from much trial and error and a whole lot of them were erroneous as I kept fishes mostly when

I was a young kid up to my teens.

  Here's one thing though that is really important when you're keeping tropical fish :water

temperature.

  Recently,I lost my beloved fighting fish Bill and his mate Dottie.Previously,my dad and I thought

that Dottie had brought a disease with her from the shop we bought her in.Turns out we were wrong.

  Dottie developed white spots in the span of less than a day when she showed no previous symptoms

of being ill.Bill on the other hand didn't have any visible white spots but then again I could be

mistaken because he is rather white.

  After seeking the opinions of some serious fish enthusiasts,we came up with what may be the

answer to their sudden and weird deaths : low water temperatures.

  I live in Malaysia,the land of eternal summer so you may be wondering what business does this

woman have with low water temp.Well I made a bad call in two areas.

  Firstly,I kept my aquariums in my bedroom. Usually bedrooms are not the ideal place to have

tanks.Why?Because you might just place them in a place where there is hardly any sunlight or in

some dark and hidden corner.My room was pretty sunny though but it was still a mistake to keep the

fishes in my room,bring me to my second point.

  In my room there was an air-conditioner.And I used it occasionally.Bad move.Tropical fish are just

what they are,tropical.You can't put an Eskimo in the desert or a Bedouin in the

Alaska.Likewise,tropical fish need warm temperatures to thrive.The lower the temperature,the

weaker their immune system gets.This makes them susceptible to all kinds of diseases and death.A

friend of my fathers and who is a real fish enthusiast,kept a whole school of

cardinals.Overnight,nearly the whole school was wiped out.The culprit?Them blasted AC's.
 
  From what I've read,some sites recommend that you keep your tank at 70 to 80 degrees F or 21 to

26.6 degrees C.Still 70 degrees F is a lil chilly.To be safe I would recommend a temperature of 82.4

degrees F / 28 degrees C and above.Still, check out the real experts if you're worried.I'm an amateur.

  If you live in a tropical country,you don't have much of a problem then.Just make sure the tank is

somewhere warm,not necessarily somewhere in direct sunlight.You may end up with a whole tank of

boiled fish and a unstoppable mess of algae to deal with.If you have planst that need sunlight

though,keep your tank somewhere that is sunny but not directly so,for example next to a window.If

you live somewhere that has the four seasons,just make sure you have a heater for your tank or place

your tank near the heater.I don't really recommend putting it directly on the heater though.If you have

a glass tank,it might crack or cook your fish.Oh,and if you live in the Artic region,you're just gona get

frozen fish.

  So I thought I might give you some examples of tropical fishes if you have no clue what they

are.These are fishes grouped together by their genus

- Characins(All types of Tetras,Silver Dollars)
- Catfish
- Cichlids
- Labyrinths(Bettas,Gouramis)
- Livebearers(Guppies,Mollies,Swordtails)

  These are just a few groups of fish,there are hundreds of tropical fishes out there.Keep yer fishies

happy!

More Than Just A Fish

  Everyone has someone or something that has entered their lives at a critical point where hope

 seemed impossible and pain the only emotion left to feel. In my case, God sent me Bill.

  I never did mentioned why I decided to get Bill. After all, there was a hiatus of quite a few years

since I last kept fishes.

  It was my first year in university and I was really happy that I had been accepted into a government

university.My studies were going well and my boyfriend was living a train ride away. Life seemed

perfect.Then everything crashed because my Indian boyfriend decided that he didn't want me

anymore because he was superstitious and listened to the advice his mother gave him.She had seeked

the services of a medium who said he would never marry a Chinese girl.So he dumped me.That

turned my life upside down and it happened near my 1st semesters final exams.I did not study and I

thank God my parents were there for me everyday through skype and calls.God was good to me and I

passed with excellent results.

  When I started my 2nd semester I got Bill because i was lonesome. He was so energetic even

though there was no space for him to move in that tiny container they kept him in and he was

beautiful. And best of all, he reacted well towards me. I upgraded him to a two gallon tank and kept

him illegally in my dorm room.Everyday he was there to greet me when I woke up in the morning by

bouncing up and down energetically and following the movement of my finger and hands.I loved

him, and bonded with him somehow unlike the other fishes I had kept.I would buy R.O water instead

of using tap water when I wanted to change his water and bought him different kinds of fishfood,and

also caught him his favorite mosquitoes.At night if I studies till early in the morning,he'd look at me

and my books and watch me study.I'd play peek-a-boo with him behind my books.And I would cover

the top of his tank with a book to keep the light from entering his tank at night if I was studying.He

was always active,and when he saw me coming back from classes,he'd start swimming like a

maniac.He was sweet.

  He was there when I was dumped a second time by the guy and when he tried to get at me the third

time.Bill was there.The days where I felt so alone and had no one to talk to.He swam for me,nibbled

my fingers and flared his gills at me.He was my best friend.

  I do believe that the Father sent him to me in the times when I needed a friend the most.And now

when I'm better and strong again,he went away.For that short time when Bill was with me,so many

people came to know and love his crazy personality.My dad,my friends and even my mom who

doesn't like me keeping fish,came to love him.She once took a three hour drive to make sure Bill

wasn't badly shaken in the car,when the drive in reality took 2 hours!Bill,will be missed by so many

people,especially me.He was my guardian angel :) I love you Bill

Bill I am so sorry

  I killed my lil Bill!Oh God I can't believe he's gone.He's still lying there at the bottom of his tank and here I am crying my eyes out because he will never swim up to me again or bite my finger. Oh Bill I am so sorry! I sorry sorry sorry! I loved you so much

Praying For Bill And Dottie

  I don't know how I could have been so dumb. Now Bill is deathly sick and Dottie has white spots. I

should have quarantined Dottie the first day I bought her to check for diseases and such,but no I was

brash and stupid. Now Bill, that feisty lil guy who has been with me through some really hard times,

is paying for it.

  I woke up to see him hyperventilating and upside down with his tail up. He had seemed fatigued for

a week or so and I thought it was because he was over excited over Dottie. Only when I saw Bill in

such a state and separated Dottie to let him have a rest did I noticed she was peppered with white

spot. I had not noticed before because in the big tank,Dottie hid mostly behind plants. Still,I blame

myself for being such an ass.
 
  My dad just jumped into the car and rushed to a shop to get white spot medicine for them at 9p.m.

Thanks Pap. I prayed for Bill and Dottie and I hope they recover. Bill is so precious to me. Now I can

only hope and wait. Whatever happens will be in God's hands and I trust that He knows best. God

cares for little fishes too

Raising Brine Shrimp

  As a kid, my father loved to let us explore and find out about nature and all things related. He would

 tell us how he jumped into monsoon drains as a kid, made elaborate traps to catch birds and also his

fascination with "sea monkeys."

                                                                     "Sea Monkeys"

  I bet if you got to a Toys 'R' Us or any major toyshop,you might come across a brightly packaged

  item with a fancy container labelled "sea monkeys" which in reality are actually brine shrimp or

 artemia. Fish breeders hatch brine shrimp to serve as food for their fish and their fry as they are

 really tiny,suitable for fish fry and are highly nutritious.

  Brine shrimp can only survive in salt water or sea water. Earlier on I purchased a bottle so artemia

eggs from a petshop for RM19.90 a bottle,pricey for such a small bottle but it has zillions of tiny

eggs in them.

  All you need to hatch your eggs is a container,brine shrimp eggs and salt water (if it tastes salty like

seawater then it's good enough). Depending on how much brine shrimp you want to produce,sprinkle

the eggs gently with a spoon unto the water. The eggs will float on the surface but a lot of them will

sink too.

  Many people think it's necessary to add a filter for it to hatch but it really isn't necessary. In fact I

don't recommend one as it will just stir up the eggs.Now all you have to do is wait for a day or so and

the eggs ought to hatch. At first there will be no change to the eggs but after awhile you can see the

egg with a sack that looks like a teardrop hanging below it. Oh by the way the eggs are called cysts.

The eggs with these sacs are the ones that will hatch in a few hours. Try not to shake the container.

  After a day you will see these really tiny things swimming around in a jerky sort of ballet. They can

grow to around a centimeter long and when they do, they are really a joy to look at. Like translucent

angels floating and dancing in the water.

 Newly hatched artemia/ brine shrimp

                                                                 Adult brine shrimp

  If you want to keep your artemia instead of using them as fish food for your fishes, you have to feed

them. Some sites I've read recommend some really weird stuff like feeding them milk powder, egg

yolk and things like that. I have a much simpler solution. In their natural environment, the brine

shrimp feed on planktonic  algae, so the nearest thing I could think of is crushing green leaves of

edible plants with a little salt water and feeding them the juice and a little of the mashed up pulp.Not

too little but not too much as to cloud up the water. These has worked for me in the past and my

brine shrimp grew up to have offspring of their own. Just make sure the water is clean and if you

want to feed the brine shrimp to the fishes,it's best to feed it to the fish as soon as they are hatched or

soon after.They are most nutritious and easy to eat before they have developed their hard outer layers.


Sounds easy eh/It is :) Here's a video of what they look like after they hatch, just to give you an idea

of how minute they are

The Mega Pet Shop..it's HUGE!

  Today, my dad brought my sis and I to this HUGE pet shop. It's a whole warehouse converted into a

pet shop, selling mostly fish and other pets. I really love this place because every time I go there ,

there are really interesting fish or something. They have tiny white mice, sugar gliders, naked mole

rats, rabbits, an array of lizards, squirrels, snakes and birds. They even have a huge raccoon and a

weird little monkey that will urinate on your shoes if you get too close. The only thing I hate about

the shop is that some of the cages are inappropriate for the animals. The poor raccoon has been there

for over a year and it's in a metal cage with bars and it doesn't have a flat surface to step on.It's foot

must really hurt. Poor guy..we're thinking of reporting

  He's really sweet. If you walk pass him, he'll try to grab you. He grabbed my sister's shoe and

wouldn't let go.I wish they would cover the bars on the bottom of the cage with a plank or something.

  On a lighter note, check these cheerful bunch of fishies out. I used to keep pairs of these yellow guys

 and they are super active! And territorial too but great fun to keep :)

  These are Electric Yellow Cichlids or Labidochromis caeruleus. As you can tell by now,  it's part of the Cichlid family.

  I also saw other varieties of Cichlids in the shop. I really love their bright colors and the way they

zip around like bullets

Malawi Golden Cichlids(Pseudotropheus Auratus)

I think these are Buttikoferi Cichlids, some people call them Zebra Tilapia but I'm not very sure.Still

they're kinda cute eh?

  The Blue Jack Dempsey or Electric Blue Jack Dempsey. These are just babies and are about a few weeks old. They can grow up to 8 or 10 inches long so don't but them if you don't have enough space for them. Here's a nice bit of trivia..this little fish was named after this guy

 

Jack Dempsey the heavyweight boxer

I really have no idea what these are, maybe some kind of paddlefish?

Can you spot the sturgeon?

The armoured bichir/banded bichir or polypterus delhezi from the Congo

Here's the weirdest thing I saw though.Not because it's rare but what the hell is it doing in a

tank?!Supposedly it's a salmon,according to the label on the tank but I doubt it

Wonder what it is though..

These are, according to the label, hypopomus arlydi but don't think that's even a real name. No idea

what they are but they sure cost a bomb, RM38 a fish

One of the tanks with artificial coral :)

Bill and Dottie : The Penthouse Aquarium

  I finally upgraded Bill and Dottie to a bigger tank! After the incident with the leaky tank and the eggs that didn't hatch,my dad and I went to this quaint old fish shop and bought this tank for RM26. Surprisingly my mom didn't kill me for getting more fish stuff :)
  I really like the old shop where I bought the stuff. It's really tiny, the size of a small room and with old glass aquariums but its really clean and the old man that sells it is nice. Every time I pay a visit there with my dad there's something new to see.This time there were some kind of newts.I wish I could have one.They look so cute and are pretty laid back. These two kinda remind me of two bachelors in their bachelor pad

  I also saw some really nice ram cichlid. I used to keep a pair of these a few years back and they have these really brilliant colors and opaque spots and fins, seriously pretty. The water here is kinda blue though coz I think a fish caught the white spot disease and the shop owners son put the blue colored medicine into the water

If I'm not mistaken these are ram cichlids  or mikrogeophagus ramirezi. I didn't really have a good look at them so I can't be very sure. But here's a clearer pic of it which I shamelessly googled.You can see how brilliant their colors are

  Beautiful aren't they?This one is a male, you can identify it by it's dorsal fin which is slightly longer and darker colored at the front,usually blackish. Oh I wish I had a million tanks and the strength,space and time to care for them all.Gah
  Besides fish I also collect really old books. I went to a missionary school throughout my schooling years,which is SMK Convent.They had these really old books that the missionaries brought over but the school threw alot of them into an old closed off water closet or something and tehre were like mountains of them which is were I found this gem of a book written by Dr Herbert R Axelrod and William Vorderwinkler.

             Encyclopedia of Tropical Fishes( With Special Emphasis on Techniques of Breeding)

   And yeah that Ju-On wanabe behind the book is me.I can be a lil nerdy so..yeah. This book was published in 1965 so you can guess how old it is.But it's contents are still relevant.Back then rivers and streams were unpolluted and I guess catching fish was more fun. Nowadays people just go to aquariums.

I

Most of the pages are in black and white with pictures and labelled descriptions of aquatic plants,fish and the different kinds of food suitable for fish ranging from infusoria to brine shrimp.

The book also has colored pictures at the back,pretty high tech for those times :)

  Ah, I just realized I have to go down for dinner, my dad just came up. Oh the bliss of being home after exams! Once again I can't resist but to post another pic of the happy couple

Live long and prosper Bill and Dottie!