Know Whats In Drains?Fish!

  Now that I think of it,it's been a really long time since I updated this thing.So I decided to take a break from reading and start talking bout fishes.I Want A Wife by Judy Brady is a really good read.In her words "My God,who wouldn't want a wife?". I would mind having one. Clean house, food on the table, a sympathetic shoulder to lean on...

And back to the topic on hand

  I've been back on campus for 2 weeks. Two days before I came back I made a rather pleasant discovery. The drain the runs just outside the wall of my house, is teeming with small fish.And tadpoles. And worms. And a whole lot of dog poop. Not to mention a monitor lizard or two.

  It's actually rather shallow with only an inch or two of water at some places.The deep end opens up into a foot high tunnel that goes into pitch black darkness.

  Anyway, it has plenty of wild guppies in it and I have been yearning to catch some for quite awhile. I kept hundreds of them as a kid and it was a wonderful experience. They're not as colorful as commercialized guppies but I like their random streaks and spots. And they have more personality. More aggressive and energetic. They're much smaller too, growing up to maybe 2cms in length. Females can get much bigger though.

  My 12 year old sis and I grabbed a bucket and went down the drain. It smelled soo...well it wasn't that bad. The water was pretty clear surprisingly and those little buggers were hard to catch. In the end we caught a few babies, around 4 fully grown males and 3 juvenile females. One of the males had only one eye,the other was probably bitten off by another male and had a golden sort of membrane covering it.

  What I like about the males are the way they show off their dominance to other males. The sort of bend their bodies in an angle and quiver. Their colors become vibrant in mere seconds! Those guppies in shops may have really colorful and whimsical patterns but they lack character and vitality. And, they have really dull looks on their faces. No disrespect to guppy owners though.

Here's a rather blurry(I don't have a cam) video of what the males look like

  These wild guppies are really tough cookies. They can survive in harsh conditions. No kidding. I've lost count of how many times we've dumped stuff into those drains and the city council has fogged up our area tons of times trying to eliminate those pesky dengue carrying mosquitoes. Yet these funny lil creatures survive and thrive.

  To show you how resilient these little guys are, let me tell you about what happened when I got them a tank of their own.For a week or so they were swimming in a plastic basin till I came back from university on the weekend.I bought them a roughly two gallon tank.I wanted them to have as luxurious life as they could since I was gona keep em prisoner for the rest of their lives so I bought the a plant and a filter so they could have a nice current like they were used to in the drains.The tanks wasn't very big so I got a really tiny pump for them.It was smaller than my palm and was one of those made in China submersible ones.Cost me only RM12.

  After I had gotten the pump adjusted and running I noticed something weird.The fishes were all twitching,or lying motionless at the top of the tanks.They were moving really weird.Turns out the submersible pump was electrifying them.The four tetras in the same tank all died.A female guppy struggled for awhile and so did two babies.One lil fella showed real spunk.He struggled then laid still as if dead.When I checked on him half an hour later,he was swimming upside down.Sadly the next day,he died as well.

  I felt really bad for killing them unintentionally.I've sworn off submersible pumps,especially those made in China.But as you can see,these guys are really made of steel.They're doing really well and I'm looking forward to see them the next time I go home.

Zebrafish & Glo Fish.Difference?

  Ah it's really been awhile since I've updated this thing.I blame the holidays and a gradual rotting of

my brains. Not to mention the blubber growing on my butt that's weighing me down :)

  Anyways,I wanted to write about the difference between Zebrafish and Glo Fish.This issue may

have been confusing to some so to clarify let me show you some pics of them

Zebrafish

                          

Glo Fish

  Okay,now that you have an idea of what they look like,let me try and explain the difference

between the two. There isn't much of a difference actually. Zebrafish are tropical freshwater fish that

were originally sourced from India and Bangladesh and surrounding countries. You may also hear

them called Zebra Danios and Danio.They are actually part of the minnow family, Cyprinidae and

are scientifically labelled as Danio Rerio,derived from the word Dhani meaning rice fields in the

Bengali language if I'm not mistaken.They were found in rice paddies,rives,drains and

ponds,basically places with slow moving or no currents. They are known to be very graceful with

long and wavy fins,which may be why they are a popular type of aquarium fish. Zebrafish have

horizontal stripes along their body,tails and fins. Supposedly male zebrafish have gold and blue

stripes whilst females have silver and blue strips with a more prominent white underbelly.
 
  Now for Glo Fish.Basically Glo Fish are zebrafish which have been genetically engineered.They

were supposedly created to monitor pollution in water by glowing in the presence of certain

environmental toxins.The first Glo Fish was created in the National University of Singapore by

injecting the Zebrafish embryos with a green fluorescent protein (GFP) derived from jellyfish

genes.The results were green zebrafish that glowed under white light and ultraviolet light.Later,red

Glo Fish were created using genes from coral,and these were followed by yellow,purple and

blue.These "Glo Fish" were a great hit with aquarists and were at first sold at rather exorbitant prices

but later became so common that they were sold at a mere few dollars a fish.As you can see in the

picture they have given the fishes some really flashy names but in reality they're just zebrafish.They

do however, pass on the fluorescent genes to their offspring.
 
  I kept a pair of these red Glo Fish as a teen and they're pretty hardy.Both of them lived for nearly

two years,one of them with the absence of his left gill cover.In fact he was the most active among the

two and outlived his partner.These lil fellas are a joy to watch and easy to care for.Basically like
 
guppies just perhaps a lil more active :) You won't regret keeping them but I do hope no one uses

them to feed Arowanas or some other bigger fish,after all they're really too beautiful to be live food.

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 :)