|
Created April 15, 1995 Copyright © 1995-2008 Keith Bergen
|
Pita's Fish Tank Page
Fish Tank History June 5, 2008The tomato clown is still alive. I am trying to get the tank to the right levels so that it won't kill off other fish. September 28, 2007The tomato clown is still alive. He seems lonely though. September 26, 2007The yellow Tang had started to look like he was having some fin problems. I put in some medicine every night for several nights (per the instructions on the medicine bottle). On 09/25, I woke up and he, the six-line wrasse, the blue damsel, and the marine beta were dead. The only fish left is the Tomato Clown. Not sure what got into the tank, but it was obviously devastating. June 28, 2007It's been a while since I updated. The small tank is now just a tank of water. I need to clean it out and put some new starter fish in there and be patient this time! The big tank is still doing well. March 11, 2007Both Green Chromis' were dead today. They were pretty badly damaged and had got themselves hidden really well in the live rock. I think that other fish were picking on them. March 7, 2007Bought two Percula Clown fish for the small tank.
February 19, 2007The Green Mandarin Dragon died on Saturday. He seemed to be eating just fine. He was pretty badly damaged, so I wonder if the other fish were picking on him. February 4, 2007The Chocolate Chip Star has died. It hadn't been doing well for some time, and would only come out from hiding rarely. It would eat when it came out, but not as often as before (once per week). Danielle and I went to a new fish store (Poseidon's Reef). They just started up recently, and have a nice store. They seem very knowledgeable too. So we got a Green Mandarin Dragon for the big tank. We got a Domino Damsel and a 3-Striped Damsel for the small tank. Here are pictures of the new Damsels, but I will have to take pictures of the Green Mandarin Dragon later.
February 3, 2007I bought a Lion air ornament. It is very cool and looks just like Maximus from the Gladiators!
January 24, 2007The new tank and the new starter fish.
January 23, 2007The Royal Gramma died. January 18, 2007A little while ago, Danielle noticed that the Royal Gramma isn't doing well. He has started hiding a lot and looked as though his breathing is labored.
I decided at this point that I would set up a hospital tank. It will serve two purposes. Incoming fish will be quarantined for a couple weeks, and any sick fish will be put in this tank while they are treated. I'll take some pictures. I went to The Fish Store and More even though I was only getting starter fish. Under the Wave wasn't open (Saturday at 1:30 pm and 2:30 pm). I also notice that the Under the Wave website is down. I wonder if they are going out of business. There were several customer complaint notes on the door. August 18, 2006It was a surprise tonight, but the Coral Beauty was dead in the treasure chest. July 8, 2006The Green Brittle Star hasn't been doing well for about a month. He's now dead. May 13, 2006Nothing new. The tank has been very stable. Danielle and I bought a Coral Beauty today. Danielle says that she is a she. I think she'll do good since she's pretty big. The only one that likes to bug new fish is the Yellow Tang.
Also, for fishcam fans, something has gone wrong with it. I'm still trying to fix it. December 21, 2005The Anemone got sucked up into one of my power heads last night, and it was way in there. Then along came the Starfish who proceeded to eat the Anemone. Anyhow, I had to throw out the power head and Anemone. The Anemone never did find a good place to stay in the tank. He kept moving around. December 5, 2005I repositioned the Anemone back to the left side of the tank. The Tomato Clown would not go near the right side of the tank. I had difficulty getting the Anemone to sit in place, but I found a shell for it to sit in. The Clown has made several attempts to dip into the Anemone, so I'm fairly certain that it will take to the Anemone. I couldn't resist taking some new pictures with my new camera!
December 3, 2005I got the Anemone. The fish all seem interested in it. I'm hoping that the Tomato Clown makes it home. I also got a new camera, so I took some new pictures.
November 22, 2005Barnacles was getting rid of their fish tank, so we went there and got all of the fish out. They will be adopted. The Tomato Clown got adopted by me! He seems to be doing very well in the tank. I think that if he survives, I will get him an Anemone.
October 31, 2005Somehow I managed to lose some of my entries. Anyhow, it has been pretty uneventful of late. The one bad thing that is happening is that Simba the Lion Fish is missing. He did this once before when he'd eaten a fish. I hope he's just hiding. If he dies, then this will be the first fish in a VERY long time. March 23, 2005The Flame Scallop started to shrink rapidly. It died this week. Also, the Buddha Cardinal died this week I suspect that the deaths are unrelated. I'm going to talk with Meg about it. March 6, 2005I went to visit Meg at her new work. It's a great place, but pretty far away from me. I bought some more live rock, a Buddha Cardinal and a Royal Gramma. They are pretty cool looking. Meg said that the new purple thing is a small purple anemone. Here's a few pictures. The Green Brittle Star is not doing so well. He's still moving and he seems to be okay, except that he isn't hiding like he usually does and isn't eating. I will keep trying with him.
February 13, 2005The cow fish got some sort of an infection and I didn't catch it quick enough. He died last night. February 7, 2005I was looking in my live rock, and found a new thing. It goes in and out of the rock when things go by, but it's kind of like an Anemone. I will find out what it is. I've attached a couple of pictures. I also got another picture of the Marine Beta.
January 29, 2005I finally got a couple of good pictures of the Marine Beta. He comes out occasionally and is very cool looking! He and the rest of the fish are doing very well so far.
January 20, 2005I bought an Atlantic Cowfish and a Marine Beta as well as a couple new live rocks. They both seem to be doing well. The Cowfish has already eaten, and the Marine Beta is venturing out. The Marine Beta is a fish that hides a lot. If threatened, it has an eye looking thing on its tail. It turns that around in an effort to make the predator think it is a big eel.
January 4, 2005The other new Damsel went missing a couple days ago. I suspect it has died. I think that the Lion is eating them. They were on the small side. I can't find any bodies anywhere. I think I will have to buy new fish that are bigger. December 21, 2004One of the new Damsels went missing a couple days ago. I suspect it has died. The strange thing was the Lion went in hiding for a day or two as well. I couldn't find him. He came out of hiding yesterday. December 6, 2004I bought two more Damsels in an effort to keep something alive. As of December 10th, they are still alive.
December 4, 2004I noticed on Sunday that the Hawk fish was not eating. He continued this pattern until today when he was dead. Still don't know what's causing this tank problem. November 29, 2004On Wednesday (11/24) the Striped Damsels died. All else seems fine. I still have the one Yellow-tailed Blue damsel from the 4 fish purchase. Maybe the others were just weak or stressed out. November 20, 2004Thursday night (11/18), one of the Yellow-Tailed Blue Damsel's died. Then last night (11/19) one of the Striped Damsels died. I tested the water, and everything seems to be perfect. I can't seem to figure out what is going on. I also notice that a snail was dead too. I removed that from the tank. November 15, 2004I bought another piece of live rock. I rearranged the live rock (as you can see in the pictures). I also bought two Striped Damsels and two Yellow-Tailed Blue Damsels. They are a hearty fish and I think they may help me stabilize the tank. They also fill it out a bit. I will wait a bit and then see if I can get some more expensive fish.
November 12, 2004The Butterfly died last night. Not really sure why. Will need to check the water again. I did notice that the temperature has dropped a bit since the outside temperature has dropped. October 2, 2004I bought more live rock. I also FINALLY managed to get rid of the coral of death. I think that will help the tank a lot! The latest piece of liverock is very cool. It is actually an old piece of coral that has a bunch of stuff growing on it. The fish seem very happy with it. I've set it up with a cave as you can see in the picture.
September 27, 2004Meg and I (well, mostly Meg) decided that I need some live rock in my tank. I bought a hunk of it. Basically it is rock with stuff growing on it. It isn't cheap, but I will slowly buy more until I have enough to make a small mountain in the middle-back of the tank. We'll see how it looks. I'll take some pictures when I have more of it. September 25, 2004The Copperband Butterfly died last night :( He seemed to have been doing very well. The Tang had stopped chasing him. He seemed to be eating well too. He hid a lot, but for the most part seemed okay. September 14, 2004Today I got a Copperband Butterfly and a Pelewensis Butterfly. They are very cool. The yellow tang keeps chasing them though.
September 12, 2004The first fish (the Yellow Tailed Blue Damsel) died. Well, actually it disappeared. I think the bad coral piece killed it. This is the same coral that (I believe) took the purple fish and the striped fish. September 9, 2004We think the cowfish just got sucked up into the powerheads. Anyhow, I decided on a Chocolate Chip Starfish. It's pretty cool looking, and not as scary as the Green Brittle Starfish. (Danielle thinks it's scary).
September 7, 2004Sunday, the Cow fish died. We really liked that one. Meg can't figure out what's wrong with it. Maybe it's just coincidence. They will be getting new fish on Friday, so I'll get my water tested and then go from there. August 28, 2004The Sebae Anemone died. It really wasn't happy for some reason. The water is okay. August 15, 2004Last night, the clown fish died (Shakes the clown according to Danielle). I took him back to Meg, and she said that everything is good with the tank, so I'll just keep watching for a new clown starting Wednesday (after the new shipment). RIP Shakes. August 14, 2004No update. Just took some general pictures.
August 12, 2004I added a Percula Clown as well as a Sebae Anemone. they were a pair in the store, so I'm hoping they will take care of each other. These were not as expensive as the last pair that I bought, so let's hope!
July 27, 2004I bought an Atlantic Cowfish, which is similar to a box fish, and is also of the puffer family. It is very cool. The other fish seem to be trying to thwap it with their tails, but I think they'll give up soon.
July 14, 2004The Dwarf Lion finally came out of hiding enough for me to capture these picutres.
July 9, 2004I used my credit to get a Dwarf Lion. He's very cool looking. Since it was a credit, and thus free, I decided to get a Flame Scallop too. He too looks very cool. The tank seems to be doing fine now (knock on wood). I will probably stop for a couple of weeks and let it just settle out. I have a nice number of inhabitants now. The Flame Scallop pictures are below. The Dwarf Lion still eludes my camera. I think the Purple Pseudochromis has died. It is certainly MIA and presumed dead.
July 7, 2004I decided to get a couple of less expensive fish to see how they do. I got a Purple Pseudochromis and a Sixline Wrasse. They are pretty cool looking.
July 6, 2004So, I bought a new fish on Saturday. It was a very cool looking lion fish. Unfortunately, it seemed to die right away. I took it to the store, and they are giving me credit for it, but it made me start to worry about the tank again. Anyhow, the other fish were okay until this morning (Tuesday). The striped damsel was dead in the bottom of the tank. Anyhow, I'll take in a sample of water tomorrow, and see what Meg says. The damsel did have a small amount of damage under its right eye, so maybe it injured itself in the coral. I might get a few new damsels as they are usually 3 for $12. That may help me to see if the tank is good. June 30, 2004Well, I went to Under the Wave and decided on a Yellow Tang! I'd always wanted one and it is fairly hearty and looks so good! They are going to have a sale this weekend, so I'll wait until then for some more fish. I guess I should have cleaned the tank glass first.
June 8, 2004I finished the second round of Ich medicine. Now I need to wait 3 weeks. I figure I can buy fish again on June 26 provided there are no more problems. The fish seem to be doing fine. June 2, 2004John Wayne Gacy died last night. Now there are three fish left. The rest seem okay, so we'll see. I continue with the Ich medicine. May 31, 2004John Wayne Gacy has Ich. This is driving me crazy. Anyhow, I went to Under the Wave to see Meg, and she suggested a dip which consists of 3 parts fresh water to 1 part salt water. The idea behind that is the disease can't survive the fresh water but the fish can. Once the Ich has left the fish, then it will survive long enough for the Ich medicine to work. He's dipping now, and doesn't seem to mind it. I'm supposed to do it for an hour, and then put him back in the tank. Hopefully he will be okay. I have to use the Ich medicine again for another 5 days. Friday should be my last day. Then another three weeks before I can get more fish. May 29, 2004I think that one of the striped damsels has died. The one that was injured has disappeared. Anyhow, I've finished with the bio starter as well as the Ich medicine. Now I have to wait 3 weeks until I can buy new fish. May 22, 2004The Domino Damsel, and the Flame Angel (Truman Capote) died last night. This morning, the remaining fish look okay, but there may be a snail or two that are dead. May 21, 2004If it isn't one thing, it's another. My fish have now gotten Ich. I put in the Ick medicine, and but it lowered my PH. I tested it, but evidently, it lowered it over night or something. Meg said that Ich usually comes from drastic changes in temperature. I'm going to change the water flow to more evenly distribute the tank water. Nonetheless, the Singapore Angel died overnight. The Coral Beauty was on it's last legs this morning. I took him out, and put him into a colander at the top of the tank. This created a mini-tank for him within the existing tank. This way he won't be bothered by the other fish. Unfortunately he didn't survive the day though. The Ich medicine should be done by Tuesday. I am still adding the bacteria starter daily to build up the bacteria in the new filter. This should also be done by Tuesday. This part seems to be going very well. May 18, 2004I had a major problem with the Marineland Magnum 350 Deluxe canister filter. It kept stopping, and I found that I was using the "polishing" filter to daily instead of the daily filter. This kept the tank REAL clean, but I found that it also locked up a lot. Well, on Sunday, I was unable to get it going. I finally took Monday off and went back and forth to various fish stores when I wound up buying a new EHeim at Under the Wave. This is the top-of-the-line in canister filters. It simulates a Wet/Dry filter but in a canister. Anyhow, I wasn't able to get it going either. Then I wound up getting Meg to come over and fix it. It turned out that it may have been a combination of the hoses that I had. Nonetheless, I didn't like the Magnum at all. The charcoal filter was a pain to deal with. The EHeim is more expensive, but well worth the money. It's almost silent too! May 16, 2004I checked with Meg at Under the Wave, and she said that it is fairly natural for Truman Capote to chase the Coral Beauty since they are both in the same family the Pygmy Angel. I will keep an eye on them and if it gets worse, I will have to bring back the Coral Beauty. I did buy an extra food clip so that they don't have to eat off the same clip. That should help some. It's on the other side of the tank. Danielle and Rebecca think that Truman Capote is chasing the Coral Beauty because it is a young boy, and that's what he does. I prefer not to talk about that!!! May 15, 2004Under the Wave had a 15% off fish sale, so I bought two new fish. They are both of the Angel family. One is a Singapore Angel and the other is a Coral Beauty Angel. Here's the best pictures I could get of them. The Coral Beauty Angel (the purple one) keeps getting chased by the Flame Angel (which Danielle has decided to name Truman Capote because of the "Flame" part). I hope that they learn to live together properly. I will talk with Meg at Under the Wave and ask her for any suggestions.
April 19, 2004The fish tank is back to normal now. All of the levels seem to be good. Looks like the Bio Starter did the trick! I'm going to hold off on new fish until some time in May ... just to make certain. April 17, 2004The Anemone died. I think it has to do with the way that I am cleaning the new coral. I've spiked the ammonia somewhat. It is just above the "safe" level, and now into "stress". I've been adding bio starter to try and break down the ammonia. I suspect it is chlorine bleach that is really causing the spike. I may have to do a water change. Nonetheless, the remainder of the fish seem fine. They are eating well. I will get another anemone when the tank stabilizes. John Wayne Gacy really liked the anemone. The tank looks wonderful. There is a reasonable amount of algae and it is pretty clean. April 11, 2004Danielle has decided that since the John Wayne Gacy uses the Anemone as his home, and since the Anemone can move around from place to place, the Anemone is now referred to as the Trailer. This is some pictures of me feeding the Trailer a shrimp. It's really quite cool to watch.
Yesterday, Danielle helped me change out the water. You have to change out 1/4 to 1/3 of the water about every month. It was quite a task being that it was the first time. The fish were kind of freaking out because they didn't know what was going on. Anyhow, it wasn't too bad, but I thought I'd killed the Anemone. This morning, however he was looking a lot better. I changed the tank landscape a bit. My friend Terry at Barnacles gave me a huge amount of coral. I've got so much coral now, that I can swap out every so often. That will help to keep it clean. This is the seascape now.
April 8, 2004Danielle came over today to watch Pita's fish for a while. She decided that the Clown Fish is named John Wayne Gacy because of the clown thing. Yes, that's her sense of humor. She hasn't named many others, but the striped Damsels are Linesmen. The Anemone is doing really well, as are all the fish. I was a bit concerned about the Anemone but it turns out that they sleep, and when they awaken, they are not so good looking. Danielle thinks that he looks like a used condom, but I don't remember what those look like. I did put in a new shell. It's one that I had back home ever since I was a little kid. I washed it up, and it looks cool in the tank. I am going to try and build an acrylic pedestal thing that I can put in as a shelf. Maybe I'll look for that stuff this weekend if I get time.
April 5, 2004I had the day off, so what better to do but get a new fish! I got a Gold Stripe Maroon Clown fish ($60) and a very rare Rose Anemone ($99 on sale). Now we'll see if I can keep them alive! I found out why I have so much algae. I need to do a water change-out. That will be my next major task. I'll let the new beings become acclimatized. As you can see, the Anemone is still trying to move around and find its home.
March 30, 2004Went to visit my friends Jeff and Gayla. Jeff had some more coral for me. I put one piece in now, but I really have some arranging to do. I also talked with Dad, and he is going to bring me the conch shell that I've had for years. I'll update the pictures when I redo the tank. That probably won't happen until sometime next week. If you look closely, there is now a treasure chest in there. It has air bubbles. I had to get one because years ago, my parents wouldn't let me get one because they thought it was too tacky! Plus they are cool! Also, notice the Flame Angel enjoying the food in the clip on the side.
March 28, 2004I took some more pictures. I also bought some frozen brine shrimp pellets. The fish go nuts over them, and they are real easy. They are individually wrapped and pop out of a foil packet. They melt in seconds and the food is everywhere so the fish don't fight over it. I also installed a new timer for the lights. If you look closely at the last picture, you can see it mounted in the top. I set the timer into the unit, and it looks real good. I also bought a new fish. The new fish is my first real expensive fish ($60). It's a Flame Angel.
March 26, 2004I went to Under the Wave and got a Green Brittle Star to clean up the bottom of the tank. It is a very cool looking Star Fish! The new fish is still doing well as are the old fish. I will try and get a picture of it, but it's a night crawler, and goes into hiding during the day. March 24, 2004I just got the stuff from Big Al's online. The new light is great!. The bubble wall is going good. I need to figure out how to turn it down a bit though. After work, I went to Under the Wave and got some snails to clean the tank and another fish!! The snails are Turbo Grazers and the fish is a Spotted (or Freckled) Hawk. I wanted to get more expensive fish but thought I should wait until the tank gets more stable. I also got a new rock for the fish to play in.
March 18, 2004I'm now returning the dual-light hood and bulb. I've ordered another one from Big Al's online. I installed the powerhead today, and the fish seem to like it. It really has a good current going in the top of the tank. March 11, 2004I'm so damned impatient! I just ordered a dual light hood, and another bulb. The idea there is to put a blue bulb and daylight bulb together in the tank. The daylight bulb is for the fish, and the blue light bulb will be for live coral. In addition, I got a power-head to improve circulation in the tank, a net, and a specific gravity hydrometer (tests salt water). I'll update when I get the stuff. It is very inexpensive when you order it online from Petsmart.Com. March 10, 2004I was talking with my friend Jeff, and he said that he had some coral for me. So now I've added the coral. At first, the fish store folks said not to add anything while the tank was cycling, but I talked with others, and they said that the fish need something to hide in. So I got coral now ... Freebie. Nada. Zip. Zilch! Immediately, the remaining blue Damsel made one of the coral pieces home. The others look to be happy to have something in the tank to hide in. I also bought some blue wrapping paper for the background. It looks much better.
March 8, 2004Well, last night I noticed that one particular fish was picking on the others. The other two were not eating either. I kind of suspected that they wouldn't make it. They didn't. I woke this morning to 2 dead fish. I went to the store, and I am doing what I'm supposed to be doing. He did suggest some bio starter. It basically adds the bacteria instantly. I have added that, and am still monitoring the water. I think I will take in a sample of the water tomorrow and have them look at it. Nonetheless, I bought 3 more fish. 2 are tiger striped damsels, and one is a domino damsel. They are doing well, and I hope they all live. I've got new pictures.
March 7, 2004I am very impatient. I went to take Pita to Petsmart to get her nails done, and I had to get something for the fish. I am going to put up the bubble wall soon, so I bought an Air Pump and tubing. I also looked for something to use as the background. I'll get something this week and post some new pictures. I also started the counter at the bottom of the page. That is when my tank should be done cycling and I can add coral and fish! March 3, 2004I got my starter fish (3 Yellow-tailed Damsels). They are blue and have yellow tails (go figure). Their main intent is to cycle the tank. That is a waste process that will take the next 6 weeks. I can't really add anything else to the tank until it has cycled. Anyhow, they became acclimated quite quickly. I fed them a little bit and a couple of them even ate! Now Pita is trying to figure out how she can play with them.
March 2, 2004I bought a light bulb. I checked the PH, and it's a bit high. I put in more stabilizer. I'll check again tomorrow.
March 1, 2004I bought sand and a PH balance kit. I also bought a thermometer. I just need a light, and I will be able to put starter fish in. I just need to insure that my PH is stable.
February 22, 2004Okay, I acquired a new fish tank, so I've been setting it up. This is my fish tank page. First, it was just setting it up with water and salt. I've decided on a salt water (marine) aquarium. First obstacle was that the pump that came with it was broken (seized). So here's where we are so far.
Thanks to Danielle, Gayla and Jeff, and Barnacles! Countdown applet used with Permission Gerd-Andreas Tiede Copyright (c) 1996,1997 Gerd-Andreas Tiede All Rights Reserved. |
