New Guy/Girl

There was a big goofy goldfish at PetSmart that caught my eye a couple weeks ago.  I ALMOST bought him/her, but refrained myself from doing so.  Each time I visited, he/she was there, being buried alive by three other pushy orandas but determined to get food from me.  His/her face is the cutest.

This week was the GoldfishConnection auction.  I bid on a ryukin and a ranchu.  In the middle of the week, I thought about that goofy goldfish time and time again.  So I told myself, "If I get outbid, I will take it as a sign to get that fish."  Secretly, I wanted that to happen.

Today, I was outbid on both of them.  HA!

Love that orange, and his/her silver is interesting

The scales remind me of a sumi-e painting

SUUUPER underexposed but this face was what totally seduced me :O

I flippin love this guy already.  Can't wait for Vide and Phoebe to meet him/her in a few weeks!

New Home

First thing's first:  Vide and Phoebe are now in their new fully cycled 75 gallon!

Happy!

Sweet shy little Phoebe's turned into one greedy, pushy little piggy since their time in the tank... :O

If all goes well today...

Vide and Phoebe may be getting in their 75 gallon. :D

YAY! Cycled! No! NOOOOO!

So I've been cycling my 75 gallon on the floor for about 2 weeks now.  Within the last couple of days, both ammonia AND nitrites rached 0.  Which means the cycle is complete and after a big water change, the tank is ready for fish.  So I was all happy face.  Then I discovered I had planaria.  Still happy face with a side of annoyed face.

Today was the day I decided to move the 75 aaaaall the way across the house and onto its stand.  I could not siphon anything out, so I had to bail water--which wasn't very fun, but I got it done quite quickly.  The whole time, I'm trying my absolute darnedest to keep my baby nitrifying bacteria alive.  The filter had to be turned off, but I ran water through it to sort of mimic as if it was on.  It wasn't off for even an hour.

We transported the tank.  All was well.  I filled up the tank, got the filter running, and praaaayed that the cycle wasn't broken.  I put in a couple of drops of ammonia in the tank and checked about 4-5 hours later.  The ammonia readings were 0.5.  D':

Now, I probably tested it way too soon.  In the morning, I will find out if I did indeed kill my cycle.  What would happen then?  I'd have to start ALL over.  From scratch.

It sucks because this cycle was REALLY quick.  :(  And I wasted it.

At least the planaria have been reduced.  :O  If they come back yelling "Haaaaay!" I swear I'll.... do something.

Goldfish Measurements II

Today was Nano and everyone else's measurin' day.  Guess how long Nano is now...

1-7/8 inches!

Kinda creeped out seeing him with no tail D:

Another View

Almost another half inch since last month!  Looking at him in the tank, he doesn't seem that big, but Once I scooped him into the container, he looked much bigger.

Here are Vide and Phoebe.  Both look to be at least 2.5 inches.  Urgh!  I want them to be in their big tank already!

Vide, just shy of 2.5 inches. 

Made a mistake here; subtract all numbers by 1/2.  So she's really 2.5

Either way, SOMEONE grew! :D

It begins!

The cycling has begun!  We kind of have a weird plan for the tank while it's cycling, but it's going to work out in the end.  I hope.  hehehe

Crappy cell phone pic of the tank.  :D

So because the dresser that the 50 gallon has been sitting on is actually BOWING on the top, we're having to move the 75 gallon from there to the floor in a no-traffic area.  I've ordered a proper stand online, so we'll cycle the tank on the floor, wait till the stand comes, and when the cycle is over, we'll empty out the water, move the tank to the stand, refill it, and off we go!

This tank feels like a monster to me.  I get nervous just thinking about how much it weighs!  On the other hand, I get excited thinking about how happy it's going to make Vide, Phoebe, and the rest of their future siblings. :B :B :B

As of right now, I'm loading up the tank with ammonia.  (Which I FINALLY found at Johnny's True Value.  And it was the last bottle. D:)  It's annoying, testing the water a lot, but after tonight, it should just be daily tests and ammonia addingsesses.

I'm feeling a bit hopeful for a fast cycle, since the filter (should be) established.  The filter floss filled with the BB was literally falling apart, so I'm putting on new floss while keeping the old, dirty ones pinned behind them.  Anyway, should be interesting.  :O