Various and sundry updates

Alas, my new tank plans are on hold until after Labor Day.

My A. versicolor (the blue tarantula, Aragog), is dead. Best theory going right now is that he had a bad molt and died. Apparently, Avicularia species occasionally kick the bucket for unknown reasons, too. We'll try another one, maybe next month.

The finches are out of quarantine, healthy as can be. Whatever illness they had has run its course; Milly and Oy were never ill at all, and are quite happy to be back in the bird room.

Freshwater setup, part 1

Since I'll be going through this soon one way or another, it's as good a time as any.

So you want a fish tank! Maybe it's for your bedroom, for relaxing. Maybe it's for your living room, to impress your guests. It could be for your kids. Whatever your motivation, there are some decisions you should make first.

One rule is easy enough; always get the largest tank you have room for, and can afford. This always catches people off guard, as it's a little counter-intuitive. The reasoning behind this is that the larger the volume of water, the slower any major chemistry changes will happen. For example, if a 3" long fish dies in a 10 gallon tank and you don't notice, there will significant effects -- ammonia will spike, and water may cloud. If the same fish died in a 55 gallon tank, there will still be some ammonia... but it may not even register on a test. Temperature can swing wildly, and quickly, in a small tank if a heater malfunctions or your power goes out, but in a larger tank the change will be slow enough that you can catch it in time.

Once you know what size tank you can manage, you need to know what fish appeal most to you. Do you want goldfish? Lots of tiny colorful fish? A few large fish? It's amazing the number of people who try to mix those last two -- keep in mind, almost any fish will eat anything tasty it can fit in its mouth, and this includes other fish. Even goldfish will occasionally take a shot at small minnows.

If you want goldfish, you'll get away without a heater, but you'll spend that money on a stronger filter. Goldfish are nasty little critters. A full grown one needs about 10 gallons to himself -- this means if you have a 55gallon tank, eventually you should only have about 5 of them. Yes, I'm serious. But don't they live in bowls? -- Sure, for a few weeks. A well-kept goldfish may live over 20 years. (Eyes pop out when I tell people that.)

If you're going for a few large tropical fish, you'll need the strong filter and heater. This includes most cichlids, and some of the semi-aggressive tropicals.

Filters -- the best filters are canister filters, but these are pricey. You can do just fine most of the time with a HOB (hang-on-back) filter; I like the Marineland brand ones, but your mileage may vary. I don't like undergravel filters, because they are difficult to clean and tend to trap all kinds of things under the plate. Whatever you buy, do yourself a favor and don't buy the very cheapest item. This is a one-time purchase, and with filters you end to get what you pay for.

Heaters -- get a submersible one rated for your size tank. Even better, get two smaller ones (instead of a 200 watt, two 100 watt ones). This reduces the chance of a catastrophic failure if a thermostat goes bad. (It's rare, but having your tank end up cooked is just depressing.)

Lighting is only important to you and to plants -- fish don't care. If you don't want live plants, the light that comes with the tank is fine. If you are planning on live plants, you'll want to buy the appropriate bulbs or even upgrade to a more powerful fixture.

Gravel is semi-optional. It looks nice, and provides a good home for bacteria (this is a GOOD thing). It's also hard to add later on, so now is the time. Decorations are entirely up to you. If you want the bubbly diver with his treasure chest and as many day-glo orange plants as you can wedge into your neon blue and purple gravel as possible, well, to each his own. The fish will need hiding places, but beyond that, they really don't care. (This is a generalization; some fish, such as african cichlids, will need many caves. Angelfish need lots of plants. Consult your salesperson if you know what kind of fish you want to keep.)

You'll need to walk out of the store with these items, as a minimum.

your large-as-possible tank
an appropriate stand (tanks are HEAVY)
lighting/lid
filter
heater*
gravel
decorations
chlorine-removing chemicals

Betta splendens

I may have a free* 55 gallon tank soon; as soon as that is verified, I'll begin a whole segment on setting up a freshwater tank.

For now, one of the easiest fish for beginners; the betta.

They're everywhere. Carried in every fish store, displayed in vases and bowls in offices and homes, and very often are just as mistreated as oscars. For a while, there was a company (or several), selling them as part of a kit; a vase, a fish, and a peace lily stuck on top. The line they gave their customers was that the betta fed off the roots of the plant, the plant absorbed the waste of the betta, thereby cleaning the water, and it was a perfect circle of life. No feeding or water changes required!

This is so wrong.

First, peace lilies are not aquatic. They can live a long time, maybe even a few months, in this arrangement, but they'll eventually run out of stored nutrients and die. The poor fish, being a carnivore and unequipped to eat anything like roots, also eventually starves to death, if the foul water doesn't kill it first. However, people bought the kits and even though the fad passed years ago, people still to this day believe that the system works. Why?

The plant, as I mentioned, lives for quite a while before dying. The betta picks at the roots, sure, giving the impression that he's eating. And he may be, in fact, picking tiny microscopic bugs off the roots -- but it's not enough. All that's happening is a desperate fish looking for any kind of sustenance. Bettas, incidentally, take about a month to starve to death. And the "water cleaning" properties of the plant? A starving fish produces very little waste, and the waste he does produce isn't going to be visible for some time. Much later than the point in time when he dies. I'll also point out that ammonia is not particularly visible in a fish bowl.

Bettas need food. Betta food. High in protein, and daily. Peace lilies need soil, sun, water, fertilizer. The only member of this arrangement likely to be happy is the human, who believes he has purchased something that requires no maintenance at all.

They're fine in bowls -- really! What they need, though, is a weekly water change -- 50% is fine, but 100% is perfectly acceptable, as long as the temperature is kept constant. Use water conditioner. They need to be fed every day, betta pellets are perfectly acceptable, but the occasional bit of frozen or freeze-dried bloodworm is nice. Live plants are awesome, but buy real aquatic plants -- your betta will use it for a hiding/sleeping place, not food. You'll know you have it right when your betta builds bubble nests at the surface of the water. (This really freaks some people out, but it's a sign that he's healthy and keeping prepared in case a girl swims along!)

(Does that bubblenest mean I need to get him a girl? No. He will keep it ready just in case. If you plan to breed them, well, that's a whole other post. Let's just say, it's a lot of work and more trouble than it's worth, generally.)

Strange creatures....

My tank has developed a myriad of tiny critter colonies ranging from flatworms to feather dusters. We have copepods -- smaller than the period at the end of a sentence -- and amphipods, a little larger with barely visible legs. They eat microscopic algae and creatures, and they are a welcome sight.

There are tiny brown flatworms, which send some reefkeepers into a frenzy because there are species that eat corals... but these seem happy on my glass eating who-knows-what, and many species are harmless, so I'm not worried. There are worms that seem to live in the rock, unrolling themselves like a tiny sock when the lights go down, and other worms who have built a hard case about 1/4" long and extend near-invisible webs to trap food. (I found this out by watching the brine shrimp that the clownfish missed; some seemed to get stuck in spiderweb like strings, and a few hours later had been reeled in to the end of the tube.)

Tiny many-legged starfish about 1/8" long trawl through the rock. Scarlet red feather duster worms are spreading in the shadows, and one even hitches a ride on a hermit crab.

The only worrying inhabitants so far are the bristleworms.

Fortunately, this is not so much a problem for the tank as it is for me personally. I like bristleworms; they eat dead and dying animals, helping prevent ammonia spikes from rot. They generally stay hidden away, coming out at night to search for food. I once had one that was almost 2 feet long, and he never bothered anything that wasn't already on the way out. (His name was Grendel.) The only problem I have with them is that I'm allergic to the bristles; all it takes is me picking up a rock with one on the bottom, and I have blisters for the next two weeks. And now I'm seeing enough baby ones that I would estimate about a dozen or more are actually thriving in my tank.

I'll just have to resist the temptation to reach in the tank, which is probably best all around.

Mommy I want a hamster!

This little guy was named Dr Tran. (The name...well, it's a long story). He was a long hair syrian hamster, syrian hamsters being the larger ones most of us are familiar with. He was abandoned one day at the store by someone who didn't want him anymore, and I took him home. (Many of my animals' stories start this way.) He was a remarkably good hamster, never bit anyone, was laid back and friendly, and altogether misrepresented his species.

Don't get me wrong, I like hamsters. Some of them. But they are not good pets for most kids, or for many adults. Syrian hamsters are a little better than the dwarf varieties, but even so, many have startlingly nasty traits. For example, most hamsters when faced with a intruder will harass, kill, and EAT the enemy. It's very distressing to the human who added a second hamster as a "friend" for their "lonely" pet. (Hamsters are happier solitary, honest.) They'll also generally bite anyone or anything that wakes them up -- I can sympathize -- but this includes not only a predator about to eat them, but also your 6 year old trying to play with his pet. They are slow to tame, and regress quickly if not handled daily.

It's not all bad news. Maintenance is easy; fresh food and water daily and new bedding once a week keeps them happy. I also liked to add some enrichment when I changed the bedding out; stuff cotton and kleenex into the cardboard from toilet paper rolls with some treats embedded, tie a paper towel pouch of seeds to the top of the cage for them to work loose, that kind of thing. It's a safer way to make your hamster's life more interesting than "getting him a friend". And if you play with them daily, gently, they can be made very tame. Unfortunately, it only takes one bite to turn a child off to playing with his pet, and they quickly learn that biting gets them left alone, and start doing it even more.

A much better rodent, if your offspring demand one, would be a mouse or a rat. Yes, they have horrible reputations... but they are largely undeserved. Rats clean themselves like cats, can be potty trained, and enjoy human interaction and the company of their own littermates. During all of my time at the pet store, I was never once bitten by a rat, but I can't even count the number of times hamsters drew blood. They learn to recognize people, and will run to greet anyone they know as friendly. For a young child, a rat is pretty forgiving of being squeezed or dropped. Mice are much the same but much quicker and more delicate, making them more suitable for an older child.

If you absolutely can't stand rats and mice (and some people just never will get over that reputation), guinea pigs are fine for even very young children. Most will never bite, but they require more upkeep than smaller rodents. You'll need to change their litter more often, as they are very messy, and give them a much larger cage. Nails need to be trimmed every couple of weeks, and long hair varieties need brushing. Their diet is trickier; they need extra vitamin C, so lots of fresh fruits and veggies are important. Personally, I don't care for them simply because of the extra maintenance, but they have sweet dispositions, and make a good pet for any age.

I'll also note that there are exceptions. Chinese dwarf hamsters are very sweet and rarely bite, they are fine pets. Robo hamsters are fast as lightning, but are also fairly docile. Individuals can always vary, too; always insist on handling any rodent before you take them home. Who knows, maybe you will find Dr Tran's long lost cousin and be very happy with them -- just beware, and consider less conventional pets as well.

Oscars

 

Once upon a time, I adopted two unwanted fish. They were albino long-finned oscars -- I hadn't previously even known such a thing existed. I knew about oscars...they get big, messy, eat everything... what I didn't know was what awesome fish they actually are.

The thing is, most people buy oscars for one of two reasons. A lot of people who came complaining to me at the fish store would say something like "They were so cute, but then they got big and started eating my other fish!". Sorry, that's kind of what they do -- and before you even start your next question, no, there's not much else you can keep with them. The other reason is actually kind of the opposite... the customer actually was looking for a fish that would eat other fish, because apparently that is cool.

They are cute when little. Like little aquatic puppies, they wiggle their way around the tank and make eyes at you so you'll go feed them. Then you feed them, they grow, and if you actually give them enough space, they make very interesting pets. They'll learn to recognize you as the bringer of food. They'll even sometimes try training you -- mine took to slamming the heater against the glass to get my attention (and food!). I've read other accounts of them splashing people, jumping to hit the tank lid, spitting rocks at the glass... etc.

If you actually want to keep them healthy and happy, though, you need a large tank from the start. 55 gallons will do as a minimum, but the larger you can go the better. They grow fast -- and no, they do NOT "grow to the size of the tank". I hate that particular myth. An oscar can go from 2" to 6" in a matter of weeks, and on to 12" within a year. Just buy a decent tank to begin with. You need a good filter; get one rated for the next tank size up, or two rated for your actual tank size. Lights are not a big deal, since you won't be keeping plants with oscars. Feel free to try, they think they are awesome chew toys. The lighting that comes with most tanks will do fine, and please turn it off at night, fish need sleep too. Get a heater; they like it warm, 78 to 80F.

Feeding is where people go horribly wrong again. They buy them feeder goldfish weekly and then complain that the water is cloudy. Eventually the oscars get sick, although whether it's from the insufficient diet or nasty water is up for debate. What they should be eating is a good quality pellet food (I like Hikari), with frozen food as a treat (krill, beefheart, shrimp). A few goldfish now and then won't kill them, unless you happen to get diseased feeder fish, which is not uncommon, but it shouldn't be their staple diet. I used to end up comparing goldfish to french fries. They are yummy, and your kids will eat them all day long, but if you never make them eat anything else, they'll get sick eventually. I got a lot of funny looks for that one, and the usual objection was that "my fish won't won't eat anything else." Yes, they will. You've spoiled them. Yes, fish can be spoiled. Make them wait a week and watch them gobble down pellets like popcorn. And please, don't brag to me that your oscar likes hot dogs or hamburger meat. It hurts my brain.

My guys ate Hikari pellets with shrimp and krill and the occasional goldfish or crawfish treat -- they were about a foot long each, and they lived to be almost 12 years old. I couldn't afford a tank larger than 55g; I had two filters rated for 55 and 75 running, and did water changes like mad. When one (Gabrielle) lost her eyesight at 11 years old, the other (Michael) protected her and nudged her towards the surface, and I fed her pellets and goldfish by hand. Michael would viciously attack anything that came near his poor blind mate, and when Gabrielle finally died, Michael stopped eating or doing much of anything. He died shortly thereafter.

So no... they are not "just fish." They are awesome fish, if you know what you're doing.

Ribbit

Before I left my job at the pet store to become a stay-at-home mom, I made one more purchase. I normally don't buy animals; I don't have any moral issue with it, I just find that the best pets are the ones that find me, not the other way around. However, in this case, I made an exception... we had a White's Dumpy Treefrog that I had grown fond of and I didn't want to leave him for just anyone to walk in and buy.

How do you grow fond of a frog? It was more like he was fond of me. I would go to feed him or clean his tank, he'd hop onto my arm and it would take 10-15 minutes and a helper to get him back off. And how could I resist those little cold amphibian eyes?

I did most of the setup for him beforehand. My secondhand 15 gallon hex tank had been standing empty for several months, and it only needed a little modification. I filled it with a layer of gravel, then covered with a few inches of soil. A dollar-store plastic food container became a water dish -- if you make the top edge level with the soil, it really doesn't look half bad. With a piece of driftwood trailing down into it, most people won't even notice. A few decorations, a heater, and a fluorescent light later, froggy's new home only needed one more thing.

The aquarium hood and light, with its large openings for filtration, had to go. I went to Lowe's and bought some plastic eggcrate. (It's sturdy, somewhat heat-resistant, and the right size; each little square is only about 1/2" on a side. (Lowe's employee; "Oh, you mean a light diffusing panel!"... yeah.) With a little creativity involving a cardboard cutout, a permanent marker, and some wirecutters, I had a hexagonal section of this. Beautiful, I thought. I'm all set.

As it turns out, a 2" long, 1.25" wide frog can actually magically squeeze through a 1/2" square. Don't ask me how. It's some kind of wacky frog magic. The first time he went missing, I thought I must have left the top ajar. We found him in short order, and before the cats did, so no harm done. The second time it took us a few hours to find the little devil, turning the living room upside down in the process... and I was absolutely certain I had closed the lid securely.

Later that night, I found some bits of tulle (it's the very fine mesh you might see on a wedding veil) and actually attached it to my hexagonal eggcrate with needle and thread. It's not the prettiest aspect of the tank, but it keeps him contained.

Of course, if I had just bought a screen top tank in the first place... but we won't go there.

Babies!

While the bird situation is under control, and we wait for further developments, I thought I'd catch up on the reef tank.

It's doing quite well. I've put the lights on a timer (something I should have done ages ago), and almost all the nuisance algae is simply gone. The glass is clear, the sheets of cyano have vanished, and the only greenery is the stuff I've allowed to stay on the very scientific basis of "it looks cool." This is some chaetomorpha macroalgae, a tough, hard algae that grows fairly slowly, and some feathery caulerpa. Caulerpa can be a pest, but if you keep it trimmed it's containable.

The zooanthids are very happy -- they spend all day open. The leather has taken to budding off little frags (chunks) of itself, whether to repair some damage or reproduce, only it knows for sure. The first bit to let loose I missed, and it drifted away into the caves. The second time I was ready; I sliced it off with a sharp knife, macgyvered (is that a verb?) a little isolation chamber for it, and it attached within days. I ended up using one of the little plastic boxes baby food comes in; it was clear, clean, and easy to make some ventilation holes in.

When I took it out and put it the rock on the sand Monday night, I noticed that the first bit had drifted out of the caves in a desperate bid for life. It even had a few polyps extended hopefully towards the light. I reset my isolation chamber, and it's looking even healthier today. Soon I'll be looking for homes for all these frags, since a tank full of leathers would be a little boring!

Quarantine

Well, I returned from Ohio to find another dead finch - Nick, the white-breasted gouldian. I wasn't surprised since Mom (who was pet-sitting for me) had told me he was fluffy on Friday, and sitting on the bottom of the cage on Saturday.

So Saturday night around 11pm I was out on the back patio hosing down the spare cage in preparation for quarantining the finches.

When one bird in a group dies, you can chalk it up to bad luck. When a second dies within a few weeks, it's time to take serious action.

First thing to do is quarantine the birds that were in the same cage. In my case, I moved them to a bathroom that could be shut off from feline access. Heat is an issue, so I'll be moving a heat lamp in there asap over the cage. They'll be in there for about a month.

Second is cleaning, and I mean everything. All cage surfaces disinfected, all bowls, perches, etc... anything wooden or otherwise porous you just throw away. Plastic and metal can just be disinfected with the rest. Every nook and cranny must be cleaned, just in case. So out went all their perches and toys, and everything was viciously attacked with cleaning products. (Be sure to use bird-safe ones!)

Next we treat the birds, even though they look fine. Birds are experts at hiding illness, so never trust how they look. You can catch them and check for dirty vents, odd-colored poop, or weight loss, but in general, you're going to treat them anyway. I chose Marvel Aid, having had good luck with it while working at the pet store. It's an antibiotic solution that you use for their drinking water -- I suspect a bacterial infection.

If you have other birds it's time to consider them. I have Merlin the cockatiel and Starbuck the african grey in the same room. Repeat the cleaning process for the other birds, and then do anything possible to boost their own immune systems; add vitamins, feed more veggies, anything you can do. In my case, I bought some rather pricey vitamins to add to soft foods/veggies and put in their water.

So now all that's left is to have a birdie funeral, and hope the badness has been contained.... I'm crossing my fingers.

RIP little birdie

I went to feed and water all my birds last night and found the little blue finch ("Scout") dead in her water bowl. I don't know why birds often die in their water bowls. I guess they feel poorly and go to drink and just keel over....

I have a horrible suspicion that when I switched foods she may have only been eating one particular kind of seed from the old seed mix, and that was missing in the new mix. But that doesn't quite add up, because she was eating millet once I isolated her. She would also spaz out and sit on the ground and stagger around, though. Probably it was something else... and I'll never know what. The other finches are just fine, hopping around and singing and eating. The last time I saw her alive she was on the window side of her cage, sleeping in the sun. She looked happy.

What's all that stuff?

I've had a few friends ask me "what does [random equipment] do anyway?". Here are the basics, in a very simplified manner.

In my reef tank, I have a submersible heater, 4 powerheads, a skimmer, and a canister filter. The first is fairly self explanatory, but I'll point out that submersible heaters are better for several reasons than the old fashioned ones that sit at a specific water level. First, if the water level drops for some reason, the old ones can shatter when exposed -- they simply overheat. Even when they survive the drop in water level, just a splash of cool water will do them in. Another benefit is that you can place them in a more efficient area of the tank -- next to a high flow spot works well, so the heat is more evenly distributed. And let's not forget aesthetics; hiding ugly equipment makes all the difference in a display.

Powerheads are simply submersible pumps. They can run filters, but for my reef tank all they are there for is moving water. This prevents algae/cyanobacteria from taking over (once you find and eliminate all the dead zones!), and helps deliver food and nutrients to the tiny little filter feeding animals among the rock. Some corals need high flow, and some fish, like clownfish, will actually play in the currents.

The skimmer is what confuses those used to freshwater tanks. You can actually live without this piece of equipment, but it will make your life harder. It removes organic waste... and before your eyes glaze over, here's the easy example. Ever walk on the beach and see the nasty brown foam the waves leave there, especially on a windy or stormy day? Yeah. The skimmer removes that gunk from your tank. If you do enough water changes regularly, you can live without it, but it's a nice safety net for even the most conscientious of us. There are a few out there who worry that it will remove bad and good alike, and I see the point, but I certainly wouldn't tell a beginner to go without one. (There are many, many articles on the internet about skimmers. As I said, this is the short and quick version.)

The canister filter, in a tank with a ton of live rock and a protein skimmer, is probably overkill. I use it mainly for circulation, and for the ability to chuck some carbon or phosphate remover in if it becomes necessary. I could probably do quite well without it! In this kind of system, most of the filtration is actually done by the rock, which is why you shouldn't skimp on that particular purchase. (It is tempting when starting out... "It's just a pile of rock! I want fish!".)

One thing I did leave out at the beginning -- the lighting. There are a billion-ty articles about lighting out there. About the color temperature, the watts/gallon, or watts/inch depth, or the kind of bulb, etc. Many people much smarter than I have quite a lot to say on the subject. In the end, I chose power compact. It's relatively cheap, fine for most soft corals, and easy to find. To really get into the issue of lighting, though... that's a post for another day.

I was bad...

 

Well, I disregarded my own advice and plans on Wednesday; I bought my first fish, and it was indeed a maroon clownfish.

It was a moment of weakness. It all started when I packed the baby into the car and drove to Blue Planet -- one of the few saltwater stores on the south side of Atlanta. It's a small store, but all their fish and corals looked fantastic. The prices were higher than Keen Reef, but still reasonable on most items. The little one was fascinated by the shark tank, but strangely uninterested in the great dane behind the counter.

It was a choice between the maroon clown, a lawnmower blenny, a set of 3 damsels, or a little blue tang. I didn't want to spend the $60 on the tang for a "first fish" purchase, and didn't really have enough algae growth for the blenny. The damsels were tempting but then, well, you're stuck with damsels. Tiny little time-bombs set to go off the minute you shell out for the expensive fish that you fall in love with and they happen to decide to hate. So the clown it was.

He is very happy so far; he hasn't picked a home yet, but my money's on the leather coral. He is living up to his name and playing in powerhead currents and generally being cute.

I also did a 10% water change on Wednesday (before adding the clown), and the corals look very happy now. They were fine but the tests showed a slight increase in nitrate, so it was time. I'll be doing water changes at least every other week now, if not every week, based on testing.

Death comes knocking

One of my turbos died Saturday night. But the funny thing about having at least a partial ecosystem going is that death for one means a buffet for the rest. I found 5 hermit crabs cleaning up the remains Sunday morning, with the emerald crab hovering in the back hoping for a shot at an easy meal.

A lot of people, when they come upon the sight in my photo, immediately jump to the conclusion that the hermit crabs have slain a snail. They start pulling their hair out and gnashing their teeth, begin pulling every crab they can find out and tossing them in the trash.... Calm down people. This is why you bought a cleanup crew. Something happened to that snail but it wasn't death by hermit crab. Perhaps it was stressed from the transition to my tank. Maybe it was old, diseased, who knows?

I'm not saying there aren't bad critters that you do not want in your aquarium. It's just that anthropomorphizing doesn't help -- do your research and keep an eye on them before smiting. Even the guys you don't want in there are not "evil" or "bad"... they are just doing what they were born to do. They didn't get together and hatch an evil plot, they just went towards the smell of food. And some of the nastier looking ones are just fine despite your initial gut reaction.

After all, I didn't have to clean a thing.

More critters!

Wednesday I added yet more life to the reef tank!

I had heard good things about Keen Reef so I packed up the little one and headed out. I had a mission; more cleanup crew. I succeeded, in that I ended up with more snails. Astrea snails were cheap so I got a dozen -- I had ordered some with my original crew but they don't ship very well in my experience. The original set never really moved much, but these guys are happily chewing up bits of algae. I also got 5 more mexican turbo snails. (I love mexican turbos; they are eating machines!)

I didn't mean to get anything else, but the coral frags were just too tempting. I ended up with a tiny little bunch of zooanthids and a little acropora frag. They seem to be pretty happy. There were both red and green polyps on the zooanthid rock... the green ones are open all the time, but the red seem to only open in the evenings. The acropora (which I have never kept before) is also looking very healthy. Hopefully they will grow and justify my impulse buy.

The algae is fading fast, and either next week or the following one, I'm going to head out with an even more ambitious mission; to find my first fish.

(For anyone who read the last entry and is wondering, the little blue finch is still with us, but still looking scruffy and sleepy. She is eating, though, always a good sign.)

My little blue friend....

Across the way from the tarantulas lives my little finch family. They are getting a little cramped nowadays; I started with one rescue, bought her a friend, had some babies, gave some babies away, rescued one more. It's a family in constant turmoil.

I didn't like finches for a long time. I didn't really see the point in keeping what I considered to be a rather dimwitted, tiny, wild bird. You can't hold them. They don't generally consider you to be a friend. Reach in their cage to feed them and they dart about as if it's the end of the world and you are the fourth horseman. Panic! Mayhem!

Then I met Milly. She was my first finch. The pet store I worked at couldn't sell her because she was chronically bald. After several vet visits and a few months of medicating her in the back room and pumping her full of vitamins, the management gave up and gave her to me. I promptly went online, discovered lady gouldian finches need iodine, ordered some, and after a few months of dosing she looked like new. This satisfied me that she didn't have some horrible finch disease, so when the next bird fair rolled around we went and found her a companion, Vash. They set about laying eggs in the fancy box I also bought for them, until tragedy struck.

A visiting cat managed to knock down the entire cage somehow, and Vash was fatally injured by the time we found him. Milly was shaken but recovered. She's a tough little girl, and there was some evidence Vash may have valiantly led the cats away from his fallen nest and girlfiend. Rest in peace little guy.

We learned much from this, not the least of which was that no matter how sedate and trustworthy we deem our own feline companions to be, to never take that for granted. Certainly not with a visiting kitty. It wasn't her fault. She did what cats do.

At any rate, at the next bird fair we found her a new friend. Gouldians come in several color morphs, the most common being red head/green back/yellow belly/purple breast. This guy had a white breast instead. Apparently Milly found this suitable enough and within a few months they were sitting on eggs again.

The important thing with gouldians when they have eggs is not to disturb them. What happens if you disturb them? They in turn do disturbing things, such as flinging the little hatchlings out of the nest and leaving them to die. So for the next month I did nothing but change food and water and fight the urge to peek in the box. I admit I lost this fight a few times, but on the whole I behaved, and my reward was eventually 3 little green-gray fledgelings. After they went through their first molt (a tricky time in life; some don't make it), I kept one (his name is Oy), and gave two away to a friend.

So finally we make it to the point of this post; I have 3 lady gouldian finches, and 1 more that I acquired along the way. She's a little cordon blue that I adopted because she, too, was balding. She is smaller than the gouldians, but also faster. She was doing just fine until events conspired against her.

First, the local pet store was out of their usual seed -- they like a lot of white millet, and the only stuff they had was full of the black nyjer/thistle seed. Second, Oy has only recently gained quite a bit of confidence and taken to chasing her on occasion. I noticed today while handing out the millet that she was a little fluffy, and was actually leaning against Milly -- Milly normally is not tolerant of this kind of behavior. I caught the little blue girl (alas I have never found the right name for her), and she was far lighter than she should be.

When you weigh so little to begin with, any weight loss is bad.

She also tends to fluff up and sleep more than she should. This is cause for alarm in any bird. Fluffy and lethargic is red alert time.

She is now isolated in her own cage with lots of food and millet, my current theory being that she hasn't managed to get enough food what with this new mix and Oy being such a little pain. She'll get some extra vitamins and care, and maybe her own home permanently.

I hope I haven't caught it too late, but often by the time a finch is visibly not well, they are really on death's door. I did see her eating millet, so I will stay positive.

And if you're wondering, Oy is named for the part of the spectrum he represents -- somehow, out of my normal color female and white-breasted male, he is an orange-headed male. He's gorgeous. rOYgbiv :)

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The cyano is clearing out! It tends to go as quickly as it came. I consider it just another part of cycling – next I'm sure I'll start seeing some bubble and possibly hair algae. If you can't stand the sight of algae, aquariums are not for you. It's just a fact of life. You will at some point have some algae, even if you go freshwater, although it is easier to solve in many freshwater tanks.

I also have hundreds (thousands?) of tiny copepods and amphipods beginning to swarm my glass. I'm sure they are all over the rock, but you can't really see them there. These are tiny critters that come in with rock and munch on algae and other microfauna. They are a very positive sign that the tank is healthy and progressing.

When I added the last few rocks from the old 35 gallon, I also discovered several red and brown feather dusters, a few tiny clams, and some tiny starfish all alive and well. There was a bristleworm in one of the rocks, luckily I didn't grab him... I am very allergic to their bristles. If you so much as brush against one of these they release their bristles, which embed themselves in skin. I usually don't notice until I go to wash my hands, and notice the fuzz. (This is most often followed by a stream of cursing and a frantic search for some vinegar to dissolve them.) I remove as many as I can with vinegar and tape, but the area itches like mad for a few days and tiny blisters eventually form. You would think I'd really hate the little guys, but I have a soft spot for them. They generally keep to themselves and eat only the dead and dying. I once had one that was nearly half an inch thick and as long as my tank (at least 20”). I named him Grendel and we developed a truce – I wouldn't touch him, and he wouldn't send me into anaphylactic shock.. As far as I know Grendel is alive and well in another hobbyists tank now.

While we wait for the algae to die....

I also have living happily beside my computer two tarantula spiderlings (baby tarantulas). They are a new thing for me; I've avoided most things that could bite or sting me. These are not for playing with, though, they are more of an experiment. At the moment they are tiny; the larger Chilean Rose (Shelob) is only an inch when she's relaxed, and the Avicularia versicolor (Aragog) is even smaller – a mere half inch.

I did my research. I wanted one of the more docile species. Some are downright aggressive, and while I don't plan on handling the creature, you never know when you may need to in an emergency. Some spiders bite, some run like mad and escape easily, and some kick hairs. Tiny little urticating hairs – barbed hairs that apparently some can actually fling at any perceived threat. That's what scares me most, considering my allergic reactions to bristleworms and similar beasties. After many hours on the internet, I decided on the Chilean Rose, and decided to get one as a spiderling and watch it grow.

Of course, the place I ordered from (Swift's) would have to have a special... free tarantula with every order. So heck, why not... I found a pretty one that had no “danger, aggressive” label and got him too. I neglected to research this one as much as my initial choice.

Mistake.

When they arrived I carefully arranged my containers, and gingerly unwrapped the packing material...3 little containers, one with crickets, and two with wadded up paper towels. Ok. No problem. I took a deep breath, wondered why I'd decided on tarantulas, and opened the first one. I even put the paper towel in the container for the unwrapping, just in case. This happened to be Shelob, the Chilean Rose. She politely stepped out of the paper towel and sat rock still as I slapped the lid on. Well, I thought, that was easy. Next! Now I'm a pro! Same drill, I carefully unwrap the paper towel... and Aragog is off like a shot across the kitchen counter. Visions of future giant spiders draining my blood while I hang from the attic rafters in a deadly cocoon fill my mind, but after much panic and mayhem I catch the little devil.

So what's the moral of this story? Do your research. If I had, I would have known that A. versicolor, while a fairly docile spider, more likely to not bite than bite, is also an arboreal species. Meaning, actually, that they are far more likely to run like crazy and climb anything in reach than bite.

At least there's a happy ending, so far. They are both pretty well-behaved now that they have settled in, and they eat their crickets and sit around looking menacing, which is pretty much all tarantulas seem to do. I assume they are happy, they build elaborate webs and defend them. And no one has bitten me or kicked any hairs in my eyes, so the truce holds, for now.

We are nearing the end of the era of algae! Already the mexican turbos are able to cut huge swaths clean daily. The skimmer is going nuts producing nasty thick brown skimmate, and the cyano is peeling off surfaces and making a desperate bid for life by heading for the surface, where I promptly remove it with a net.

Next month should work out just fine for adding the next batch of life. I want to find a good local store for this one, I think. Last time I used liveaquaria.com, since a build-your-own package shipped free if you ordered more than $60 worth of creepy crawlies. The selection on that package is limited, however, and I want some more interesting life-forms this time around. Not that my snails and crabs and starfish aren't interesting... just very mundane.

I'll probably end up with a couple of shrimp, more snails (I can't get enough mexican turbos), and possibly a small fighting conch.

The next decision is what fish I'll end up with. I know I want a maroon clown, but I intend to add him last, since they are territorial. Clowns are actually damselfish pretending to be cute... then you move in with them and they start beating you when dinner is late. I'm on to them, though, they get whatever space is left after my more reasonable inhabitants settle in.

Water quality remains stable -- last test revealed only a very slight nitrate reading, which is complicated by the fact that although the liquid does turn an appropriate color shade, it's always darker or lighter than the comparison card shade. This drives me up the wall. One day I will shell out the money to try some other brands of testing supplies.

One awesome thing (really, the only awesome thing) about being on a very limited budget is that it does force you to take your time. Otherwise, the temptation to buy new life too soon is just far too great -- even those "experts" who tell you not to do it fall into the trap themselves. If anyone ever tells you they've never added animals too soon, they lie.

Ah, the era of algae

Well, all new tanks go through it. I'm talking about the cyanobacteria/algae bloom stage... and it isn't pretty. Right now most of my sand is covered in cyano, which forms as a slimy blue/green sheet. All you can do is siphon it out here and there, and wait. Patience is a virtue, and in this hobby, a necessity.

Luckily, most of my initial crew are alive and well. Have I mentioned how much I love Mexican Turbo snails? Because I really do. They clean glass all day long... unlike astreas, which always seem to be taking a nap. My water readings are all within range, although a slight nitrate reading means it's water change time again.

Next month if all goes well, I'll be adding round two of inverts and possibly the first fish!

Building the foundation

With all my equipment in place and running, I was feeling pretty silly about not having any money for live rock. I soon became quite emo, and admit to letting things slide a bit because Woe Was I.

Well luckily, a few weeks later, the live rock fairy twinkied in and brought me some fully cured rock! Ok, he would object to being called a fairy, most likely, but you get the idea. This was a good 50-70lbs of live rock from an established and healthy system that was being torn down. Not the magical straight-from-ocean experience, but a stable one and one that will result in adding more life sooner.

I picked the bits I liked and let it sit for a few weeks. When my water tests kept coming up nicely (not even an ammonia spike to speak of!), I added the bits from my old tank that I wanted to keep, including the leather coral, and remaining snails/hermits. At this point I had the fasted ammonia spike in history, and then everything settled back down again. When all was well a couple of weeks later I ordered my first batch of cleanup crew.

At this point, I should stress that I went this fast only due to the fact that all my rock was cured, from other established tanks. I had no significant die-off on this rock -- that is the only reason I could add anything living so soon. Had I ordered fresh live rock, I would have waited another month at MINIMUM. Even so, I did water tests every other day just to be safe!

Last tuesday, my initial cleanup crew arrived. This is what I now have living in my tank, one week later.

6 astrea snails
6 mexican turbo snails
6 nassarius snails
6 cerith snails
5 blueleg hermits
5 redleg hermits
1 serpent star

and my original 1 astrea, 1 blue hermit, and the leather coral.

All is well -- slight nitrate reading today, but the skimmer is going nuts and soon it will be water change time again.

My current project; a 55 gallon reef tank. The plan is eventually to have several soft corals, various invertebrates, and a few fish. I have worked for quite a while and on a very limited budget to make this project happen, and it's finally coming together.

I originally decided to start this tank when my two 11 year old oscars died. They had been in the 55 gallon since I obtained them at 4”-5” each from someone who had kept them with jack dempseys and other large aggressive south american cichlids; of course they were getting harassed constantly and were quite banged up when I got them. I nursed them back to health and they grew to 10” and 12”, and were very personable and healthy fish, despite being stuck in the 55 gallon. They died about 2 years ago, and the tank sat empty for a few months while I considered my options.

A reef tank is a considerable investment; you need decent lighting for corals, a protein skimmer, heater, (or chiller, depending!), test kits, powerheads for water circulation...and that's before you even get to the live rock, which is often the most expensive part of the whole deal. Having done a 20 gallon and then a 35 gallon, I knew that this kind of project generally ends up costing quite a bit more than anyone estimates when they start it. My 20 gallon easily cost me about $400 before I added any animals at all, and that was cheap. I used a power compact retrofit and cannibalized an old fluorescent light hood (which was admittedly a fire hazard by the time I was done with it), and Southdown playsand (which works if you get the right kind, but it's hard to find). Had I done it with all storebought materials, it would have been about $500.

As an aside... I have run into a few people over the years who say to beginners inquiring about expense; “If you are worried about cost, you shouldn't be thinking about a reef tank.” I find this mean-spirited, and not a little snobbish. Even on a limited budget, with dedication and research, you can have a small reef tank at a reasonable price. Nano tanks (those under 30gallons) are no longer taboo; they simply require patience, willpower, and dedication.

So I went about it slowly. I cleaned the old 55 gallon out. I've had it for over 15 years; it's never had any copper based medications used in it, which is a concern. Even trace amounts can poison your invertebrates, so They say. I checked the seals, they all seemed good. Over time they can become brittle or get worked loose, so it's a good thing to check them now and again. I set it up in its new place along a living room wall, and waited. Gradually, over the course of almost a full year, I gathered equipment.

And this is what I ended up with.

55 gallon all-glass aquarium (ok, I had that already)

black wooden cabinet stand (yes, this too)

Rena Filstar XP3 canister filter (a gift)

240watt power compact lighting with moonlight LED (a gift)

Octopus BH-350 protein skimmer

4 additional powerheads for circulation

1 200watt submersible heater

3 bags of aragonite sand (alas, I was unable to find southdown)

1 huge canister of salt mix.

Bake in oven at 400F until golden brown :)