I'm gonna be a Dad!!

[Space Dog]

Gee. Whooda thunk it? My very first aquarium and I get golden large sail Molly, who's pregnant!! She'd been barely swimming around and in the corner, by herself. Rarely moving around other areas of the tank. From what I read, it sounded like she might be sick. I suddenly noticed whilst looking for spots, etc.., that there was something in between her belly fins that didn't seem right.... I then saw a small skeleton. And then a head. Eyes. And tail fin! I laughed out loud...

At any rate, all things are not well in paradise. She has a white spot on her mouth, which might extend down the front of her face and "chest". From what I've read here and other places, could be a fungus.

I have a 20 gallon tank, filter, heater currently at 76 degrees and hopefully rising. A gravel bed consisting of rocks any where from smaller than pea sized, to pea sized, to about nickel sized. This I figured would allow egg bearing fish eggs to fall in between them and I would remove the fry as they began to swim.

I have a male betta, catfish, two plecos and an eel as well. All seem to be doing fine except for the golden eel. It's right gill was slightly red for a while, but is only barely detectably pink now. But, she's smooshed up against the tank and nestled in some rocks and doesn't move, except to raise her head an 1/8th of an inch when I look her in the eye. (Every time btw....)

At any rate, like I say, this is my very first tank and I'd appreciate any comments..... Yes, including those who might say I've chosen my community poorly....hehe..

Anyhow, tomorrow I'll try to get a picture of jr.... Or, is it normal for the newborn to remain attached for some period of time? Could she be having trouble giving birth???

 

[Masta_Cheef]

O_O

Your tank is crowded, or is going to be very soon. Plecos can get to like 15" if I'm not mistaken.

The plecos are going to have to go soon unless they're bristlenoses, and even then, 2 5" fish in a 20g tank with other tankmates.. The betta shouldn't be a problem, unless the eel enjoys nipping his fins. You should seriously consider upgrading to a larger tank sometime soon if you plan on keeping all of those inhabitants. A 75g would be pretty suitable for a short while if you still plan on keeping the plecs.

I always thought mollies were livebearers and bore several young at once; not just one. Maybe I'm wrong on that one, though.

Try to get some good fulltank shots and some specific ones of each individual animal. Good luck.

 

[Space Dog]

O_O

Your tank is crowded, or is going to be very soon. Plecos can get to like 15" if I'm not mistaken.

The plecos are going to have to go soon unless they're bristlenoses, and even then, 2 5" fish in a 20g tank with other tankmates.. The betta shouldn't be a problem, unless the eel enjoys nipping his fins. You should seriously consider upgrading to a larger tank sometime soon if you plan on keeping all of those inhabitants. A 75g would be pretty suitable for a short while if you still plan on keeping the plecs.

I always thought mollies were livebearers and bore several young at once; not just one. Maybe I'm wrong on that one, though.

Try to get some good fulltank shots and some specific ones of each individual animal. Good luck.

Thanks Masta. Yeah, I basically plan to take the Plecos and trade them with a pet shop for smaller when they get too large. I don't know how fast they grow. I agree a livebearer seem to bear them all out in one spurt, from what I recall. Can't find much info on the event it's self.... Thanks for replying....

 

[FroggyFox]

You should check out the livebearer forum and the FAQ that lotus wrote on Livebearers. Yes mollies are livebearers, and the young dont stay "attached" ever...so you could have an issue. They drop a few to over 30 babies at a time...depending on the size/age of the mother.

Welcome to MFT

 

[Space Dog]

You should check out the livebearer forum and the FAQ that lotus wrote on Livebearers. Yes mollies are livebearers, and the young dont stay "attached" ever...so you could have an issue. They drop a few to over 30 babies at a time...depending on the size/age of the mother.

Welcome to MFT

Thanks Froggy. Yeah, about an hour later I realized I must be looking at a parasite. Looked up some info and I think I'm ready for surgery.... I think I'll net her and put the tweezers on the bugger, with her still in the water. I'll then let her out of the net and she should pull out the pest herself. I hope. I tried removing it last night with my fingers, and she flopped around very strenuously and a table job doesn't seem likely. She's very strong. I figure a couple of flips out of her in the water, she'll tug free of that bug...

 

[Space Dog]

Well, as most of you probably know, she, was a he. I mistook his shooter for either a parasite or a troubled birth. However, I took him back to the store because of his fungus number one, and number two, it was getting red and probably infected. I replaced him with a brighter yellow female. At any rate, here are some pics you might enjoy....

This is the place

1. Catfish
2. Molly
3. "Batman" - Pleco
4. A flamin' red Betta
5. "The hermitage". (Not visible to the human eye, a golden eel and another pleco, inside the cavern....)

Notes on construction: Yes, it's all real driftwood, rocks and plants. The gravel was lain in three stages, as a "security measure" for the Eel, which of course failed miserably. You see, I woke up this morning and the tank was simply a cloud. So, I decided to start over. Cleaned the tank and seperated the gravel into nickle, pea and granular size. I laid the nickle first, then the pea, then the granular. The idea was that since the eel used the spaces between the nickle to burrow in and hide, I needed to have places to look for him and monitor his health. The pea and granular size made these spaces much less available to him, or so I thought. At first, I had a nicely "sealed" enviornment. The granules had everything tight. However, after laying in wood, rock and plants, this shifted some of the gravel and opened up areas for him to hide. Which he has taken great advantage. He's no where to be found. He was hiding with the other hermit, in the hermitage. He's gone now, leaving the hermit all by himself. Actually, his name is Grumpy....

The hermitage

Not a great picture, but I ran out of time.. He's in there, believe me. If you think you see him, he only wishes he was that large and fierce looking. What you see, is mere light and shadow. In truth, he was sleeping on the Eel, who minutes later vanished into thin water..... At any rate, yes. It's quite a dive. But then, hermits aren't known for going posh, are they???

The Bat Cave...

And on that note, perhaps Grumpy could take some lessons from Batman. He's usually found hanging on the roof of the cave. Now, this is true luxury, eh?

Well, thanks for stopping in and wish me clear water in the mornin....

 

[Chazwick]

You have a nice little tank Space Dog - well decorated!
You should send it into the 'rate my tank' section of the website, see what other people think ... I, too, agree that your tank will be crowded in the near future.. perhaps you could look out for a cheap, bigger tank (even if your not going to set it up yet... there could be some bargains out there!) instead of giving your fish away?

 

[Space Dog]

Thanks Chazwick... Well, I'm not going to have much choice in the matter. I don't have room for a tank that will house 3 plecos, a catfish, an eel, (If I can find him), etc., at adult size. I really don't mind giving them away, or even trading with a local aquarist shop. And Chaz, please. The engineering behind the tank goes far beyond "decoration".... First of all, it's an aquatic sculpture. It's supposed to resemble a shipwreck. Thirdly, it's scientifically engineered so as to provide habitat. Ie, food and lodging for the residents. Number one, there are numerous hiding places for different fish preferrences. Two, the driftwood provides a nutritional supplement for the plecos. Three, each type of fish has a preferrence for the surroundings in which it locates food. Some can locate it anywhere. Some need it in a clear area, such as on top of the bat cave. Some of course are surface eaters. Or, all three. This, keeps the fish looking all over the tank for food.

Frankly Chaz, I'm a little insulted. I'll bet you thought I was just some mindless 'merikin, just dropping stuff in willy nilly...

 

[Masta_Cheef]

Pretty nice.. could you get a few better shots of your inhabitants? I really do like your tank, but the pics were kinda.. eh, although I know how it is. I take like 50-60 pictures and go through like 8 batteries to even get like 4-5 decent pictures. If you have the patience, you really should just take the effort to get some really good shots. I think everyone that posts good pics goes through the same experience.

 

[Chazwick]

LOL - I wasn't making any accusation that your tank wasn't well done.. as for most of what you said - i didn't really input it, frankly, all i was saying was that your tank was nice.. and now you're saying your offended?

edited by moderator

 

[R0UNDEYEZ]

I think it was a joke Chaz..

 

[Space Dog]

I think it was a joke Chaz..

Actually, I was trying to get a discussion going about how the Brit's are still ticked off about losing the revolutionary war. All because brits thought we were rather dull and unsophisticated and even if we won the war, wouldn't be able to sustain a sufficiently civilized state of affairs to maintain a government. Oh well....

I'm just proud to be amongst those 'merikins who can thumb their noses at them, yet once again with artistic and scientific marvels of our modern age. Which wouldn't be so modern had we remained under crown rule. Hells bells, they'd have looked at Edison's light bulb and comented at what a quaint little "decoration" it was, when the truth is the damned thing revolutionized the world.

Speaking of modern marvels, it seems my security measures have finally proven themselves out. The eel, has appeared... And is swimming contentedly about with the other fishoids. He hasn't eaten yet, that I can tell. The others respond to food being put out for them. Except of course for grumpy.

Now. Here's a pic of him and someone please tell me if the red markings on him appear to be normal. I don't recall seeing them on the other fish in the store. He seems healthy, but I'd like reassurance if someone out there is familiar with golden eels....

Thanks everyone for you comments and tolerance of my sense of humor as well.... Will get close ups of the residents soon....

 

[Masta_Cheef]

Now children..

 

[Chazwick]

Space Dog..

Edited by Moderator

 

[ashleigh]

Chaz watch the language.
And space dog I'm not sure how this figures into your "scientific engineering" but at least one of those plants is terrestrial.

 

[vinodhv]

wow.


as for the eel, i believe he's fine.

 

[Chazwick]

You can't say he didn't ask for it.

 

[ashleigh]

Not the point though. If you are uncomfortable or unhappy with something you take it to PM or to a moderator. No language.


About the eel- on an unrelated note- what are you feeding him? And the plecos?

 

[ashleigh]

It was a bizzarre post, I'm not sure what would prompt an adult to feel the need to "thumb his nose" at a 12 year old British girl because of the revolutionary war, but that doesn't mean you should reduce yourself to foul language on a family forum. Someone should act adult. And he might be kidding.

I was concerned about your post on when you thought you had a parasite though- if your fish did in fact have parasites, the thing to do would not be pull them out with tweezers. You would administer medicine. Maybe that was a joke too, I really have no idea.

 

[Chazwick]

If he is, he has an odd sense of humour... hmm - and i'm 14