worst fish owner EVER

[Gabrielle_AnimalLuver]

So, I think I need an award for fish fail.

My dad walks in, and asks something about the fish, I'm like, look I got more babies, so I turn on the light. Now, most days I'm out so early I don't bother turning on their light. I should really get a timer for it. Anyways, he's like, where's the third adult. I'm like, ugh, hiding somewhere, maybe giving birth. But then I realize that's what I thought last time I didn't see her, so now I start looking for her. What I found was a corpse, that looked, either rotten, or eaten. eek The worst part is, I have no idea how long she's been dead, WHY (all my other fish are doing great, including the babies) and she's been either rotting there or been eaten while I went about my day. Like, OMG was she there the last time I cleaned the tank!!!?
crying  

[imderanged]

Aw sorry for your loss. crying I can't recall if you said what kind of fish...since you said she might have been giving birth, I assume some sort of live-bearer, like guppies or mollies? Sometimes they just die from complication in labor. I have read that aquarium salt helps with this and I had good luck using it for my live-bearers.

Gabrielle_AnimalLuver

So, I think I need an award for fish fail.

My dad walks in, and asks something about the fish, I'm like, look I got more babies, so I turn on the light. Now, most days I'm out so early I don't bother turning on their light. I should really get a timer for it. Anyways, he's like, where's the third adult. I'm like, ugh, hiding somewhere, maybe giving birth. But then I realize that's what I thought last time I didn't see her, so now I start looking for her. What I found was a corpse, that looked, either rotten, or eaten. eek The worst part is, I have no idea how long she's been dead, WHY (all my other fish are doing great, including the babies) and she's been either rotting there or been eaten while I went about my day. Like, OMG was she there the last time I cleaned the tank!!!?
crying

 

[Cowgirl-with-heart]

don't feel too bad, it is not unusual for them to go missing for a day or two, so it wouldn't set you off, and they are like piranha, they will eat them in a day or so, she might have been old, you never know!!! it's not like you were knowingly neglecting them, and avoiding them!!  

[Gabrielle_AnimalLuver]

She was a hawaiian platie. I'm not sure if she was pregnant, but she has been before, and usually they tend to hide and not swim around much or at all right around that time. I have a new set of babies too, so I THINK they're hers. Which would put her TOD at like, 1-2 weeks ago. There's even less left today, and despite having turned off the filter and air stone cause I had a horrible headache, the carcass is moved. So I think the fry might have been poking at it, as well as regular decomposition. The adults have nipped my betta's fins, and the fry have eaten my plants, but I didn't think they would EAT a dead sibling.

My last adult female looks possibly pregnant. The male seems...well either he shrunk, or the female got bigger, it really seems like both. But his dorsal fin seems a bit shredded too.

I'd eventually like to open the tank up and not have to divide it, so, I'm going to keep selling or giving away the babies. The platies have been fun, but I'm not going to try to restock. I dunno what I'll do when my adults are gone though, cause a 15G seems like it would be bear with just a betta.  

[Akari_32]

Male Endlers are always fun =3 They're usually sold as feeder guppies down here. Though, if you contact Nilla, I'm sure she'll share some of the Endlers I gave her LOL They're poppin' out babies all over the place, last I heard XD

Don't worry too much about the dead fish. Stuff happens. I once lost my prized Guppy when I went to Relay for Life (ironically enough) for the weekend, and then came home and slept the next day with out checking on the fish, like I usually did. Poor dude got his hue tail stuck in the filter sad  

[Gabrielle_AnimalLuver]

Like...ship me some??

Those might be fun lol, but I'm sure I have some time left, I've only had these fish like 6 months. Granted I don't know their age but they're suppose to live 3yrs aren't they?  

[Vanilla eXee]

Yeah, I can send you some as long as it's legal to ship them from the US to Canada, if not then we'd have to hook up on one of your trips to the states somehow! It might be a while though, most of the babies end up female, so I only have a few males. Like out of about 30 fish, I have maybe 5 adult males DX I think it's because in order to keep the population up, females are needed more than males, so there's a higher ratio of f:m in the drops. I can do a decent job of sexing the younger ones, but it's not 100%.

Livebearers die easily. That's probably why they have so many babies. I think normal lifespan for most is 1-2 years? I wouldn't worry too much about it, just be cautious and keep an eye on everyone else for signs of illness. Also, what I do whenever I find a dead fish is to remove the dead one and do a large water change, just in case. You can also test the water to make sure everything is ok.  

[Akari_32]

Well poop! I always forget you live in Canada, Gabby! D= Theres all kinds of rules and restrictions and I think you have to pay more...

Nilla, the sex of the fry are actually determined by temp, it seems. You've got the perfect temp for the perfect ratio of males to females, lucky! When I used to breed Guppies, I'd get mostly males D=  

[Vanilla eXee]

Akari_32

Well poop! I always forget you live in Canada, Gabby! D= Theres all kinds of rules and restrictions and I think you have to pay more...

Nilla, the sex of the fry are actually determined by temp, it seems. You've got the perfect temp for the perfect ratio of males to females, lucky! When I used to breed Guppies, I'd get mostly males D=

I've seen people on fish forums from the states send stuff to people in Canada, so it can be done, I'll just need to look into it a bit and see how much more expensive it'll be and if I need a permit or anything. That's if Gabby even wants Endler's, we're sitting here filling up here tank for her LOL.

Wow, I knew some reptiles were like that but I didn't knopw the temp affected fish like that! My water is a bit cooler than I would like it to be honest. I have two heaters in there, one is like 2 years old, and the other is around 6 months old, both set to 82F and yet my water is probably in the lower 70s. I need to replace my heaters AND my thermometer mad Whoever first said it was an expensive hobby was right!  

[Akari_32]

Vanilla eXee

.... Whoever first said it was an expensive hobby was right!

And who ever said it was easy was a liar!

rofl  

[Vanilla eXee]

Akari_32

Vanilla eXee

.... Whoever first said it was an expensive hobby was right!

And who ever said it was easy was a liar!

rofl

Well, I did some googling. You need to pay like a $50 customs fee to ship live fish across the border 0_0 Sorry Gabs crying [ Apparently it was easier and cheaper befopre 9/11 but now the US is all "oh hell naw, freedom, what is that?"  

[Akari_32]

Vanilla eXee

Akari_32

Vanilla eXee

.... Whoever first said it was an expensive hobby was right!

And who ever said it was easy was a liar!

rofl

Well, I did some googling. You need to pay like a $50 customs fee to ship live fish across the border 0_0 Sorry Gabs crying [ Apparently it was easier and cheaper befopre 9/11 but now the US is all "oh hell naw, freedom, what is that?"

That sucks... Sorry Gabs!

On the Endler note, though, PetSmarts down here in Florida cary Cobra Endlers, which are really gorgeous Endler/Guppy hybrids. I bet they could get some for you up there =3  

[Gabrielle_AnimalLuver]

I'm sure I can find endlers somewhere. But I don't need to think about it for a bit. I still have 2 adult platies taking up most of the room in my tank.Plus a whole bunch of babies to find homes for.  

[Akari_32]

Gabrielle_AnimalLuver

I'm sure I can find endlers somewhere. But I don't need to think about it for a bit. I still have 2 adult platies taking up most of the room in my tank.Plus a whole bunch of babies to find homes for.

Its a love-hate relationship with livebearers, isn't it? XD  

[Gabrielle_AnimalLuver]

I have some actual good news regarding my tank. Shy is out confused

Normally he's in his cave, tucked in and like upside down so I can't possibly see him, or under the driftwood. He goes from one hide to another, and flips out if he realizes you can see him.

Well, I've been trying to get my light on every day since the disapearance of that platie to better monitor everyone and SHY has suddenly discovered he can cling to walls. So he's now spending most of his time behind the filter.

Granted the filter has been off a few days now (It was making super annoying sounds after the last water change and I haven't had the patience to fix it yet) so maybe when the filter is running he won't want to be on the tank wall anymore. In which case, maybe I could put in on the other side of the tank and he'd still have the heater to hide behind.

Zuko is often enjoying his betta log and also likes to chill in Shy's cave. He doesn't mind living with the babie platties and has enough confidence to not let them push him around. He's a big fish in a little pond lol.

I still can't decide if I should keep one baby. Cause I think it's neat that it was born in this very tank. But if I home them all, then when my last two adults go I can open up the tank. Course, that could be another year or even two.