06/08/2008

My Family of Fish

The Main Tank with the Pregnant Fishes


Where the baby fishes and the non pregnant fishes are


Baby fishes are so small. They are micro micro mini. There are 6 in total inside!



In the past months, our little home aquarium has proved to be conducive enough for the fishes to breed. The first time more than a month ago, the fishes ate the fry that came out. I believe these are livebearers as I have never seen them hatch eggs nor any stuck on our plastic plants either.

In the next few times, the fry did not last enough either, although I separated it. Some died by the end of the day. Then 3 weeks ago, I managed to salvage one little baby that looked like few days old and probably had escaped itself from being eaten. It was hiding among the plastic plants and I scooped it out and place it on a separate tank. It is now about 3 weeks old!

Then to my surprise, a week ago, there were more little ones in the tank when we least expected it. There were about 30 little ones but many of them didn't survive except for 5 of them. The 5 new babies are now with the 3 weeks old fish and they are doing fine!

5 days ago, I decided to put the pregnant fishes in the main tank just in case. And the rest of them goes into the smaller tank until new babies are out. So now, I have become so busy with the fishes that started as Hubby's hobby, Kids' pets and now none of them want to have anything to do with fishes.. sigh..

9 comments:

Kikey Loo said...

we also have fish in my host family house, luckily i dun hav to taking care of them!! :P

Anonymous said...

hahaha... at the end, it will become your hobby soon :)

Jipunabor

Umbrella Rec said...

Good luck with your "babies". If you're lucky, you could be a grandma or even great grandma...or great great grandma one day :)

I am already a great great great great....grandpa to my swordtails...I have lost count of how many "greats" by now :)

Umbrella Rec said...

If I am not mistaken, it looks like you have 3 tanks now. You got the MTS disease real fast. MTS = Multiple Tanks Syndrome (it could mean Malaysian Trumpet Snail too). You're doing great. You can compete with my 7 tanks real soon...haha. Trust me, it's an addictive hobby if you don't mind about changing water. It always started with one tank of livebearers. Then, you will be curious about other species. Then plants. Then you get more and more tanks. Welcome to the World of Fish Keeping!!

Many of us got the disease not because we wanted it initially. I got the disease because my wife proposed a tank many years ago, but I am the one badly infected eventually (of course, I have the roots in this hobby since I was a kid)

Anonymous said...

umbrella rec ~ you could be right, you know.. i have been out sourcing for weeds and toys for these babies..sigh.. and i am looking at a second glass tank. i tot of getting those plasticky ones but those are just for temp housing. i want a proper glass tank so i can put them more on permananet basis..hahaha looks like the mts syndrome is apparent? with me luck then...

Umbrella Rec said...

Oops! With more detailed observation, I realised you have only 2 tanks. Not 3. :) Never mind, you still have plenty of time to upgrade :)

If you're not looking for a branded glass tank, it should be quite cheap. Even those made in China ones will last you at least 5 years or more if you don't move it around frequently - usually we don't move it often anyway. I use China made/local made ones as well. I don't go for those expensives ones by ADA or even Ocean Free. I am not brand concious as long as it's lasting. In PJ, you can get a 2 feet glass tank (15 US gallon or 40 litre) for about RM20. For 1 foot glass tank (maybe 7 US gallon or 20 litre), it's about RM15-18. The cheaper for bigger one. Sometimes I get free tanks from the rubbish dumping site of my apartment (people often throw them away when they give up on the hobby)....hehe. I am not kidding!

Once I found an abandoned tank, I called the orphanage to see whether the orphans want it. The lady who picked up the call asked me in return whether I wanted one :)

Anonymous said...

umbrella rec - hahaha you are observant. yes, there are only 2 glass tanks. the main one is where you see the fishes with the plastic weeds and the rectangle glass one is where the baby fishes are. the squarish smaller one is a makeshift from my ikea display vase..so its not a proper tank. but i've cleared that and put the fishes back to the main tank. the price you mention, they are so dirt cheap! my hubby spent close to S$100 for the somewhat less than 1 1/2 ft length miserable tank in ! it had those carbon filter tube at the top part and came with 'inbuilt filter i dunno what'.. but i hardly turn it on because i really don't know how the direction of the oxygen should be directed. one in one out or both out. i felt it certainly create a lot of chaos in the tanks. and i don't want the fishes to get suck in on one side. i turn it on for half a day when i clean the tank and place back the water plus 10% new water. you are such an expert in these area.

next time i go back malaysia i must go get cheap tanks back.

Umbrella Rec said...

S$100!! Wow! Your hubby is a big spender!! Haha...You could get a very good quality tank with that price in Malaysia. By the way, I don't trust Ocean Free's tank although it's branded (I'd rather trust a RM20 tank) because I heard of a number of cases which the tanks broke apart. If you're serious about this hobby, you won't regret for getting Eheim filter - HOB (Hang On The Back) or canister filter. They are noise free and very lasting (I am sure all of us hate the noise of air pump/filter). I heard they're cheaper in Singapore. For beginner, you can try their HOB. The China made one can never beat the German product (Eheim). I bought Eheim Liberty 2042 years ago for RM100.

If you come to PJ, I can always show you and your hubby the shop to get the RM20 tank. Actually I can let you spend the whole day in PJ visiting fish farm and fish shops..haha. Your daughter will like the fish farm. I heard JB has a number of fish farms too but I have never been there + not sure whether anyone can just walk in like the one in Subang/Shah Alam border.

Here are some forums that may help you:

Specialised in planted tank in case you decide to have one someday. Be warned that certain people may be rude even to newbies - http://www.my-mac.net

An American forum which is more friendly and helpful. Very good for beginners - http://www.aquaria.info/modules.php?op=modload&name=PNphpBB2&file=index

This is one good LFS (local fish shop) run by my friends - http://www.slipperylittlesuckers.com.my

Sorry for overfeeding you with too much info and trying to spread the disease to you ...haha

Constance Chan said...

umbrella rec - hahaha i think hubby bought the tank cos we were both ignorant about fish breeding and probably didn't know any better. we thought having everything in built was a good start. but i shall take your advise about getting the plain tanks in future.

thanks so much for all the helpful advice and forums you listed. shall check there for more tips and also probably howler at your blog should anything goes wrong..yea..

also thanks for offering the nice hospitality already. :P