Pet photo album

[Chrissie]

Kuro, I have such an extra soft spot for gingers

Lol Sam, Patch really is taking after his mum

Lovely pics Alvo & Blakey

[kurotoshiro]

May 20, 2012 20:33:51 GMT Chrissie said:

Kuro, I have such an extra soft spot for gingers

Your reward for liking gingers is ... another picture of gingers!

[blakey]

May 20, 2012 20:03:38 GMT alvoram said:

Nice photos blakey, That angel is beautiful. Are they Tiger Barbs in the last picture? If they are, how are they with the Angels? Not nippy I guess, I see you have them in a decent sized group, which usually stops them nipping fins.

I need some bog wood for the plec, he'll need it as he grows, but I want some that's already been soaked long enough to prevent it leaching out too many tannins. The plan is to find the right piece, soak it for a few weeks, then start some java, or christmas moss off on it. But I really don't want the tannins that usually come with it. I could use Carbon in the filter, but that is thought to remove the nutrients that I'm dosing for the plants too, plus it only actually works for a few weeks, so needs replacing too often.

I know some types of bog wood soften your water, but I do hope it's not all types, because my other fish (Tetra aside) prefer the slightly harder water that my mains water currently provides. Gonna have to look into that, because if it is all wood, then bog wood is out of the question in my current tank, and I may have to move the plec over with the tetra, just so he can have some bog wood.

Oh dear Blakey, you've got me worried about finding some bog wood now, lol, not sure if I want to get some any more... Basically my choices are, find some that won't change the ph, find some that will change it very little, move the plec over with the tetra, or just don't get any.

BTW your water doesn't look too green, or brown, how did you get around the tannins, or have you just had it in there that long that it's stopped leaching tannins?

Yep, thems tiger barbs, nippy little buggas -would happily have a munch from the fins of any passing fish no matter how big it is I resolved that by putting a dozen of them in there and they spend so much time keeping each other in check that they leave the other fish alone
The bog wood does indeed leech tannins but if you leave it to soak for a couple of weeks in a container, changing the water every couple of days then the tannins will dissipate, I replace the wood annually. They soften the water but no where near enough to bother the fish that prefer a more brackish environment but they soften it enough to make a very comfortable home for an angel making an affable compromise.
Carbon will remove the tannins but WILL also strip out any treatments or medicines that you have in there so don't rely on it, just soak the tannins out first.
Bit concerned about you having a plec in a 4ft tank though, some of them can grow to a couple of feet long, which type is it?

[Deleted]

Cisco/Sisqo is gone We dropped him off at his amazing new house with 14 flatmates in a giant warehouse. Really miss him it was so sad as he was really nervous

[flipflop]

This obviously isn't my pet, but it loved my flipflops so much on holiday, that I had to take a photo of it.
I just Thought someone might like it.

Attachments:

[hissie]

Wow!! Seems we have a few budding David Baileys

Loving the pics of the gerbils. I had 4 of them, all called sergei as I couldn't tell the difference.

I'm surprised they have tried to eat their way out of the gerbil house.

[alvoram]

May 21, 2012 13:44:22 GMT blakey said:

Yep, thems tiger barbs, nippy little buggas -would happily have a munch from the fins of any passing fish no matter how big it is I resolved that by putting a dozen of them in there and they spend so much time keeping each other in check that they leave the other fish alone
The bog wood does indeed leech tannins but if you leave it to soak for a couple of weeks in a container, changing the water every couple of days then the tannins will dissipate, I replace the wood annually. They soften the water but no where near enough to bother the fish that prefer a more brackish environment but they soften it enough to make a very comfortable home for an angel making an affable compromise.
Carbon will remove the tannins but WILL also strip out any treatments or medicines that you have in there so don't rely on it, just soak the tannins out first.
Bit concerned about you having a plec in a 4ft tank though, some of them can grow to a couple of feet long, which type is it?

Haha, Don't worry, I'm quite funny when it comes to tanks sizes and people putting large fish in. It's the female Bristle Nose Pleco (Ancistrus spp) in the pictures, she'll grow to around 6 inches, (although I have heard 8 inches before, possibly the larger male) and she has the bottom of the tank to herself.

I guess you were worried it was a common or another L number. Have seen some commons in some really poor conditions, tanks that are far too small for them, but what really winds me up is when people say that they will "only grow to the size of their tanks." Well yes, in some cases they may only grow to their tanks, but that isn't natural, it's because being in a smaller tank can stunt their growth, causing harm to the pleco, Grrr >

BTW I have more Fry, I looked in the tank earlier, and wondered why the fry were all just lying there, on leaves, on the gravel. I watched for a while, then I noticed my older fry swimming around their usual spots, looking much bigger than these new ones. so I carried on watching and one by one all the new ones started swimming. I must have looked just after she'd given birth to them all. It surprised me as I thought they were born free swimming, by the time I'd found them last time they were all free swimming... Anyway, Long story short, all of the new fry I can see are now free swimming amongst the plants, not being bothered by the bigger fish surprisingly, so for now I'm going to leave them in, see how they do. I didn't like the fry trap I used on the last lot, had to pour tank water into it about 5 times a day to cause some surface agitation.

We should start a thread for fishy talk blakey...

[dogwalker3]

Liking all the new pics

[Scylla]

What a lovely butterfly, I wouldn't mind it for a pet

[nicky]

May 21, 2012 22:31:33 GMT @samv said:

Cisco/Sisqo is gone We dropped him off at his amazing new house with 14 flatmates in a giant warehouse. Really miss him it was so sad as he was really nervous

Awwwwwwww you're brave, i'd have been in tears.

[bel]

May 21, 2012 22:31:33 GMT @samv said:

Cisco/Sisqo is gone We dropped him off at his amazing new house with 14 flatmates in a giant warehouse. Really miss him it was so sad as he was really nervous

Aww im sure he will be fine, hope your ok

[Chrissie]

Thanks for the lovely reward Kuroto

Sam, I'm sure Cisco will be fine

Brilliant pic FlipFlop

[Queenie Bee]

May 21, 2012 13:07:00 GMT kurotoshiro said:

May 20, 2012 20:33:51 GMT Chrissie said:

Kuro, I have such an extra soft spot for gingers

Your reward for liking gingers is ... another picture of gingers!

gingers and blues are my favourite colour cats beautiful


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[Deleted]

Brutus has now gone

[Deleted]

There's Patch and Luxeon