Random thoughts - hobby related

[Dan_G_Calgary]

Q: How do you tell a couple of your black angels have paired off?
A: The other 8 in the 90 gal tank occupy about 10% of the space....

I love the look of these black angels, but man are they nasty to each other. I have them in my biggest tank (90 gal) and frankly it is too small for the 10 of them. A couple paired off last night so I moved them in to a 25 to see what comes of it. My luck it is two females and I have to mix and match em back in. We shall see. It will be nice though just to let a couple of them heal up. The 10 of them in the 90 is just a bad idea. They are constantly tearing each other up. Ripped fins, missing scales. Bleh. They are so pretty when they aren't fighting though.

Random thought 2:
My eldest daughter and her fiance' saw my fish room and decided they want to keep fish. They bought a 30 gal and 10 gal tank and have been stocking them with all the usual suspects. Couple of barbs, some kind of wierd transparent fish that you see around but that never interests me, and a few really nice angels.

Earlier this week my daughter sent me a text asking if I would judge her if she got some fancy guppies. I was kind of surprised by the question, so of course told her that she should get whatever fish interested her and to **** with what anyone thinks including her dad. Now I have nothing against guppies. There are several color variations that I have thought of getting in the past and running with.

But her comment made me realize that as we keep fish longer we tend to branch off in to different areas. I find a goodeid or J. Onca much more interesting than fancy guppys. I think it isn't snobbish really, just at a different place in the hobby. I told her as much too. That you have to work through the hobby and find the fish that you enjoy the most. Perhaps guppys will always be their interest or perhaps they will move on to other fish, and some day be as excited as I am about what appear at first glance to be very plain little minnows like desert pupfish.

Random thought 3: Bad ideas I've had recently. Hmmm. Where would these G. metallicus do well? oh. How about with these 15 very small white cloud minnows. I mean 13, no 7.... 4 survived. Ok. When did I forget that anything that fits in a fishies mouth is food?

[Ursus sapien]

...Ok. When did I forget that anything that fits in a fishies mouth is food?
It's like the bumblebee goby I bought the other day. I knew they were brackish, regardles of what the stores tell you. But I forgot, brought it home and ... oh, darn, now what? Someone is picking it up tomorrow for their brackish set up. I got lucky and found a new home for it, but, really, slap me up-side the head!
I've heard people say things like "s/he's forgotten more about X than most people will ever know". Now I understand what that means.

[CACAdmin]

Dan, you do realize that now that your daughter is into fishkeeping, she'll be picking your brain for info.:wink:

Glad you found a home for your bumblebee goby, Storm.

I've heard people say things like "s/he's forgotten more about X than most people will ever know". Now I understand what that means.
I've learned so much from others here on CAC over the years not only about fish I keep but about fish I might keep and even some I am unlikely to ever keep. My problem is remembering it all. Thank goodness for the Search feature, because I'll remember "somebody" posted "something" just can't recall the details. :spinny:

Random thought of the day: I'm asking myself why did I decide just before listing my fastest and hardest to net fish (Limia Tridens) for sale, to put them all in the deepest, most heavily planted, and most inaccessible tank. :rolleyes: Guess what I'm going to be spending my weekend doing (they're off to Pam on Monday)

[Dan_G_Calgary]

I'm still Dan.

[CACAdmin]

My apologies Dan. :Embarassing: I was typing quickly and have no idea why I typed 'Gary' instead of Dan :spinny: (I do know who you are... maybe senility is creeping in now that I've hit the 60 mark. :twitcy: or I could use the excuse that I try to type Dan_G_Calgary too fast and missed a whole bunch of letters :rolleyes: :laugh: . Anybody going to believe either of those excuses? Anybody? :nah: I didn't think so.:frown: )

And so I have corrected my previous post, typing v-e-r-y carefully this time.

[Pamelajo]

That is part of the hobby, interests change over the years and there are so many fish out there. I started out with guppies, platies etc. Then got into snails, rainbows and bristlesnoses(which I believe I will always keep). Getting back into rainbows again, as I have regretted giving up my first ones. For the last few years I have been into wild type livebearers and killies and now interested in the easier cichlids. Some are for show and may attempt to breed them one day. Others I bring into to work on BAP's

[Dan_G_Calgary]

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :spinny:

Actually I think this is the second time you have mistaken me for Gary. I like to think of it as a compliment, that you see similarities in our knowledge levels (NOT! HAHA!), but I suspect it is more because Gary and I have similarities in likes of fish. For example, the G. metallicus I mentioned is a fish that Gary is looking for extra males for right now.

In any case, no harm no foul. I just take it all in good fun!

Edit: woops! that is GaryinHamilton looking for the G. metallicus! LOL! I just did pretty much the same thing Jay!

[GaryofMontreal]

Yeah but there are two Garys - one in Hamilton looking for metallicus, and this one in Montreal. Before we know it, it's going to be like the old 'who's on first' skit...
I agree with the sentiments in Dan's posting though. It takes time to work through types of fish, and to find what really interests us in them. I have some ugly fish I could never convince people about the fun of fishkeeping with, but working with kids and aquariums at the high school, I get to see what excites new fishkeepers. It is fun to see it from both sides.
I'm really having fun with the kids' reaction to the hybrid platies and longfinned Bettas they picked out. We have a tank behind a glass wall in the school office, facing a big hall used by 1500 kids daily. I came in early last week and there was a little grade seven girl sitting cross-legged in front of it, looking up at the fish with a dreamy smile on her face. That was really nice to see.

[Dan_G_Calgary]

I came in early last week and there was a little grade seven girl sitting cross-legged in front of it, looking up at the fish with a dreamy smile on her face. That was really nice to see.

Yes. She shall be lured over to the dark side! (evil background music).

You reminded me of what drew me in to this hobby in the first place. in grade 7 the science teacher had a small tank, with a divider in it. On one side he had some guppies and on the other a jack dempsey. We came back to school one day and the Jack Dempsey had jumped over the divider and devoured the guppies! something about that just really caught my attention. My first fish was a female orange platy from Woolco. She gave birth after a couple days, and i was hooked on breeding! My first egg layer spawn was jewel cichlids. I remember watching in fascination as they chased all the community tank inhabitants away (including the fierce firemouth that had dominated till they decided to pair off and spawn) from their eggs.

[CACAdmin]

But her comment made me realize that as we keep fish longer we tend to branch off in to different areas.
We do but as Pam mentioned often wander back to keeping some of the originals we kept. I think our curiosity about various species leads us into various directions and yet we seldom lose interest in the ones that attracted us to the hobby in the first place. (after all they'll always have something to teach us). I have never regretted any of the fish/aquatic creatures I've kept. I have found each and every one fascinating.

Dan, do you think your daughter will eventually succumb to MTS like her father? :wink:

[vince0]

I totally agree with you on that Jay! After all my years of fish keeping (i do realize im only 24, but i still have 12+ years under my belt.) Im still keeping angels and attempting to have them raise their own fry. Also, the first cichlid (angels excluded) that i kept and unsuccessfully tried to spawn, were blue acara. And you know what, after 12+ years im getting them again finally. I got a line on some wild caught for a very fair price. And im giving them another go! The same can be said for swordtails, im not a huge live bearer fan, but theres just something about swordtails that continually make me want to have some. Thanks to Ann Marie, I now have some rio otapa swords that are good quality stock, and just stunning for a grey wild type fish :) Oh those rare prolific live bearers :P