atotf

[atotf]

Hello guys,

Letting people know that this account will be inactive for the foreseeable future. After 15 years of keeping fish, I've decided to leave the hobby until I have more time on my hands. The industry I'm in is full-time, and all the studios are a ways away from home, leaving me with next to no time to take care of my fish. I leave work early and get home late.

Right now I have a little tank running with Gilbert (my white dumbo betta) and my 6 cherry barbs. Scylla has passed, the ferocious little bean that is the star of my most reblogged post here. I will be caring for my remaining fish until they pass away. My 10 gallon and Spec have been torn down.

I will eventually come back to the hobby, as I do love taking care of fish and planted tanks. But it might be several years.

Thanks for all the likes, reblogs, and lovely comments you guys have left on my posts. Take care of yourselves and your family and friends during these worrying times, and don't horde food. Seriously.

Kai.

(this is Gilbert btw 😁)

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RIP Cthulhu.

Cthulhu passed away today.  I think it was his time.  Was gone all day yesterday, so I didn’t see him until this morning...And he was already pineconed and barely breathing.  He passed within an hour.  

He’s been with me since February 2016.  A PetSmart betta sold as a plain, pale veiltail that blossomed into a gorgeous red dalmatian halfmoon.  He was truly a gem, feisty and unafraid of anything that came up to his tank.  Always excited to see me, even when his swim bladder failed he would always come up to the edge of the tank to give the best wiggles he could manage.

Swim in peace, Cthulhu.  You were an amazing betta, and I’m glad I could have taken care of you.  Wherever you are now, I hope you get unending bloodworms.

[atotf]

Aquascaping: Artful but Harmful

Famous aquascaper Takashi Amano transformed simply planting aquariums with live aquatic plants into an art form, which has spawned an entire new sect of the aquarium hobby. While the aesthetic beauty of these works cannot be denied, are they really in the best interests of the fish housed in them?

Unfortunately, they are not. Very few fishes tolerate the open space that is common in many aquascaping styles, especially Amano’s signature “iwagumi” style, exemplified by the scapes pictured above. These set ups are exceptionally stressful for the fish they house. There is no where to hide to feel safe, so they must live in a state of constant stress. Stress that has significant harmful physiological effects on the fish. (Read more on stress in fishes here!)

You could argue that fish could be placed into these settings just to get that one perfect picture, and live out the rest of their lives in an appropriate aquarium. Unfortunately, that doesn’t tend to be the case. These are typically the long term homes of these animals, as it is common for aquascapers to view their fish not as pets or even really as live animals, but rather as accessories to compliment their plants.

This spirals into further harm to fishes when other hobbyists see these scapes and are inspired to try to create their own. Bettas are a very popular pet fish on tumblr, and they in particular should never be housed in an aquascape like those pictured above because they originate from densely planted areas and require that same dense cover to live long, healthy lives.

So while these tanks may be very pretty, they are really not good for fish. Please keep the needs of your fishes foremost in mind when you decorate your aquarium! You can aim to make something you will find aesthetically pleasing, but it must be appropriate for your fish as well. The health and comfort of your animals should always come before your sense of aesthetics!

(All images from the 2017 AGA Aquascaping competition. Picture sources: [1], [2], [3].)

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Started dosing carbonate almost every day and the duckweed in Scylla’s tank has just exploded.  Everything’s tinted green now no matter what I focus on :P

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The majestic monster-bean.  She is now two years and three months old!  Scylla was only about 8 weeks when I bought her, so it has been a pleasure watching her grow up.

Scylla is a locally-bred halfmoon metallic steel blue betta, with a partial mask.  She has copper genes.  The red you are seeing only appears when the light source is above or behind her, save for her pectoral fins - those have always been red.

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Short video of Scylla flaring - not a full flare, however.  She’s been out of the 10 gallon for two days.

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My little bean!

Scylla has returned to the Fluval Spec!  Previously, she was in my 10 gallon with 6 cherry barbs (which are now strangely shy with her out of their tank).  Her personality - forever curious, bold as a monster - has come back as well.  Ah, she’s my precious little monster. :)

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I’m still alive

Just finishing up my final projects for uni, and then I’ll start posting here a little more often.  Uni’s taking up almost all my spare time, and now there’s less than 2 weeks left but then all the projects UUUUUUUGHH

The 10 gallon has been doing well...And I’ve set up my old 2.5 gallon tanks again!  Including the Spec, and Scylla will be returning to it!  Cthulhu is currently occupying the other 2.5.  They’re both doing very well.

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Why you shouldn’t put goldfish in a bowl - WTF fun facts

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ace surface tension right there

one pic horror story

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Psa

Keeping fish is not ‘easy’

Keeping fish is not cheap

Keeping fish requires near daily maintenance, frequent hours of research and lots of vigilance.

Fish can live decades, they are not ‘throw away’ pets.

Just because you can’t cuddle with them doesn’t mean they deserve any less than the best possible care.

Take the time to do your research and thoroughly prepare before rushing off to the pet store for ANY companion animal. No living thing deserves the agonizing, half life of improper care.

You’ll be rewarded with healthy, happy pets and many many years of enjoyable life together.

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They going for that modern look

aka stupid simplicity

so I’m watching an aquascape competition and there’s all these tanks that are super luscious forests with like big mossy rocks and depth and perspective and floating islands and there’s just. this one.

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Cthulhu’s an old man now.

Yesterday was Cthulhu’s gotcha day!  We celebrated with bloodworms.  I’ll try to get a picture of him tomorrow; no promises, as I’m very busy right now and will be away over the weekend.  

It’s been two years now since my sister picked him up at our local Petsmart, because she liked his colours - back then, he was a peachy shade, standing out from the dark reds and blues of the other bettas in their nasty, smelly little cups.  He was sold to me as a veiltail, which I did not care much about.  I just wanted a betta’s wonderful personality to watch for however long he might live.

Unlike my previous betta, Shruikan, Cthulhu has proven to be full of surprises.

A year had passed when I discovered that not only was he a red dalmatian (those classic red spots had been showing up on his fins), but he was also a full-blown halfmoon.

He has had his fins bitten to nubbins by tetras, has been in at least 4 tank setups, and has survived an overheating heater and then heater-less waters.  And honestly, I didn’t take good care of him his first year.

And until recently, has had no health problems.  Now he basically doesn’t have a working swim bladder.

But that issue, combined with his age of around 2.5 years old, has not hindered him in the slightest.  He continues to follow me around when I walk around my room, always thinks my finger is a tasty morsel, and thinks his reflection is his mortal enemy.  Nothing stops him from flaring and zipping around the tank when he sees the mirror, not even his inability to stay buoyant.

Honestly, I love him so much that I know I’m going to cry when he passes on.  When that happens, I obviously do not know.  He’s been such a joy and comfort these past two years, even more than Scylla, Gale, and Huanghun (the latter two have passed a while ago).  God has surely blessed me with a wonderful creature, and I am proud to be able to take care of him, as bumpy as that road was.

So happy late gotcha day, my precious boy.  I love you and hope to care for you long into the future.

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Same here, too.  My profile picture if of Huanghun, who didn’t last a year either.  He was an import betta, $25, and such a beautiful boy but he suddenly kicked the bucket a few months ago, and I don’t know why.

In contrast, I have two other bettas from 2016 that are still alive.  

Scylla is a locally-bred halfmoon female, I bought her for $9 when she was about 9 weeks old in April 2016.  I’ve had one health issue with her which was fixed quickly.  Besides that she’s my healthy, feisty little monster.

Cthulhu is even older, and he’s truly a survivor.  I got him as an adult from PetSmart almost 2 years ago now - February 7, 2016.  A low-quality betta who cost $6; a steal because he turned out to be a red dalmatian halfmoon.  He’s been through 4 tanks, power outages, extreme heat, getting most of his fins bitten off, and now permanent swim bladder problems, but he still begs for bloodworms, follows me around the room (not literally of course) and flares for the mirror.  And besides his swim bladder, he hasn’t had any other health issues.  I’m not kidding you.

Honestly, I’m fed up with the whole import betta thing, from my own experience and from seeing other’s issues with them.  The ‘crap’ bettas seem to last far longer and appear to be far healthier in general compared to their imported relatives.  This inbreeding and gene selection thingy is getting out of hand, and it needs to be controlled.  From what I’m seeing (and correct me if I’m wrong), ‘crap’ bettas are going through more of a natural selection process, where only the hardiest survive.  And the imports are selected for their form; not for longevity or soundness of health.

Do you feel satisfied with your import betta?

Neither bettas I had gotten that were imports lived over a year despite being kept in a cycled, planted, heated and regularly maintained tank. I spent $80 on Strika and purchased Zelda from an LFS that imported bettas for $40.

Tell me your stories about these high quality, high cost fish.

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Long time no post!  University takes up so much of my time now that my fish have been rather neglected.  And this blog.  Man, I suck at maintaining blogs.

This tank has been interesting. The only plant that’s really been doing well is that java fern.  It’s huge, the biggest one I’ve had to date - and over 5 years old now.  

The echinos in the back have gone to narrow leaves for whatever reason.  Started dosing daily about a week ago and already they’ve been exploding in growth.  Hopefully this will extend to the melange of other plants I have scattered in here.

Scylla’s still in here, and doing well, even with 6 cherry barbs.  She’ll be getting her own tank again soon.

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The 10-gallon gets sunshine every evening as the sun sets.

Just stocked it!  Scylla now has tankmates: 6 cherry barbs and 6 pygmy cories.

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the giant alien has summoned me I must go