Plecostomus

The Plec, Pleco or Plecostomus is a fish in the loricariidae (catfish) family. It comes in many diffrent specimens including, Golden Nugget, Zebra and Rhino. It is from South America and some specimens can get 3 feet long! They are very hardy fish which can stand temperatures from 0-30 Celsius but they prefer tropical temperatures from 23-27 Celsius. Also they will eat almost anything including algae. Which is why they are commonly kept in aquariums today. Despite their hardiness, if you want them at best they are not easy to care for. ph=6.5 Temperature=25 Celsius Food=They are omnivores so provide a varied diet, including, zuchini, meat and catfish pellets, etc. How many=Many aquarists say you can get more than one, but with my experience I prefer only getting one. Its best to have 20-50 gallons per pleco (depending on the specimen) Tank size=20 to 100 gallons (depending on the specimen). Tank region=Bottom and sides. Habitat=Provide a large aquarium with lots of caves, driftwood, plants, etc. For more information read my blog tomorrow.
Goodbye,
Birdman

Recent Activities

Two days ago Anette and Eric came over for lunch then Richard came over. When they left my mom went to the hair cutters and my grandparents went out for dinner. While my dad, Jesse and I stayed home to build the trampoline. When my mom and grandparents came back, I didn't know who my mom was with different hair and my grandparents said they saw fish for 99 cents. So, my grandpa took me to the store and we got 1 Pleco and 3 Zebra Danios for $7.19. I introduced them to my aquarium and my Purple Passion Danios were fighting with the Zebra Danios and the Lobster was fighting with the Pleco. Also, Jesse gave me his Crowntail Betta. By the next morning, the quarreling stoped. That evening Zack and Josh came over to race us on the ATV's. After a few laps around the field Noah and Lydia came over and we had lunch. Zack and I had a ketchup contest of who could have the most ketchup. Then we played the Wii and continued racing. We had lots of fun and soon my mom prepared a dessert. We all enjoyed it and we all did different things. Including playing our DS's, staring at my aquarium and holding my Hermit Crab. Then we went on YouTube. After that we gathered around the campfire and told stories. Soon everyone left and we went to bed. But the lobster wounded our Zebra Danio and it died.
Goodbye,
Birdman

Catching Up On Activities, etc.

My Aquarium
Hermy The Crab
Max
Max

Chipping Sparrow

Our Garden

Leah & Jesse

Fred & Leah

My Aquarium

Goodbye,

Birdman

Newborn Eggs

Today at 11:39am a pair of my Purple Passion Danios laid eggs. I put them into another tank with an air pump and some gravel and fairly warm water. They are so small I can barely see if the're reallly there! What do I do with nearly 400 Purple Passion Danio eggs?

More Fish

Today my mom, Jesse and I went to Wal-Mart to go grocery shopping but my mom also bought me 3 Purple Passion Danios and 1 Otocinclus. My tetras seem to be very territorial to the Otocinclus, causing him to sulk in the corners. If this continues over the next few days, I will consider returning the Otocinclus to Wal-Mart. Although they have not given to much of a warm welcome to the algae eater, all the fish seem to want to school with my Purple Passions. These danios are very fast and eat any leftover foods. While the alage eater, obviously...eats algae and does it very well. For any more news about how the fish react to eachother and more stuff, continue reading Nature with Birdman.
Goodbye

Orange Lobster?

As you know I bought a Blue Lobster about a month ago and mysterously he is turning or should I say completely orange. Anyone know what caused this?

Problems/Birding Trip/Hermit Crab

Problems
Thank you to the people who have offered me help about the aquarium. But I can't change all my tank water because where would I put my fish while I'm doing it? Also I can't reduce the number of fish I have because the guarantee is over and because I don't and can't get more aquariums. Oh well!

Birding Trip
Today I went birding with my dad at Columbia Lake. We saw my first female Belted Kingfisher for 2008 and my very first female Bullock's Oriole!

Hermit Crab
Yesterday I got a pet Hermit Crab. The cage includes a 4 liter terrarium, Sea Sponge, Water Dish, Food Dish, Coconut Hiding Place, Artificial Palm Tree and Sand. He is still getting familiar with his or her cage. I will post more information about him or her tomorrow. Any ideas on what to name him or her.
Goodbye,
Birdman

Upcoming Events

Jul.10th-Getting a pet Hermit Crab
11th-Vacation Bible Camp Ends
13th-Vacation Bilble Camp Barbeque
14th-Going Birding With Ruth
18th-Friends over for barbeque and bonfire
25th-Camping
26st-Church Barbeque
Aug.1st to 6th-New Brunswick Trip
16th-Family Barbeque Party
17th-Church Picnic
22nd-Camping
29th-Trip to Ottawa
Goodbye,
Birdman

Aquarium in Low Conditions

Unfortunately my aquarium is encountering some even more serious problems. It has levels of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate which is very bad. Ammonia is fish waste but I think nitrite and nitrate is a harmful chemical. Anyway, any level of ammonia and/or nitrite can be lethal to the fish. I have tried many solutions for curing this but none of them worked, in fact its getting even higher levels. Maybe I used the wrong solution, maybe I overcrowded the tank, I don't know. All I do know is I think this caused some of my fish to have fin rot and I can't find a proper solution for it. Only to add on to the problems, my pH level is 8.2 and every week it gets higher by 1.2. So in just one week my fish developed fin rot, it has moderate levels of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and my pH is 8.2! It should be 7. Again, any help is needed and would be greatly appreciated. So, whether your a novice or pro at the hobby I ask you for help with this.
Goodbye,
Birdman

Pregnant Fish

My plan for breeding is working out perfectly, the fish I plan to breed is showing signs that in "breeding mode" and as soon as she develops a dark gravid spot near her vent. I can put her in the breeding trap. I would suspect her to be more territorial and quiet, although shes even territorial to her own mate. But with good news comes bad news, several of my fish are showings symptoms of "fin rot" which can erode the fins into the fish's body causing death. It is a very serious disease and not even PetSmart, Big Al's or Wal-Mart has a cure for it. So I could lose four of my fish! Very unfortunately the pregnant fish's mate is showing symptoms of this disease. So if that fish dies, it will cause both the female and their young to die. So altogether I could lose 5 adult swordtails and hundreds of fry swordtails!!! Unless I can find the cure for this, I could lose all of my fish because its contagious! So if anyone who's reading this blog can give me another way to cure this deadly disease, please do. I don't want to lose all my fish.

Goodbye,

Birdman

The Charles J. Whitney Nature Interpretation Trail

I have many other pictures of this trip from Cedar Waxwings to unidentified birds but there is some problems with the computer so I am unable to download them. Although it was a fairly short trip, I still had fun with my dad...Excuse me a moment

Max get of the rocking chair!

"It's his favourite chair to sleep on although he sheds like CRAZY so I don't let him on it"

"He won't get off, oh well back to our morning trip story"

Well, where was I. Oh ya, it was kinda short so expect the story to be short. My dad and I woke up at 6:30 and got in the Volkswagen. First we went to Tim Horton's, my dad had a X-Large cup of coffee and I had 10 Sour Cream Glazed Timbits. By the time we were finished eating our breakfast it was 7 o'clock so that limited our time for birding. First we drove in at the trail and started walking, we saw a large pond full of mosquito's and lily pads. We talked about how mosquito larvae would make a good supplement fish food. Then we moved on to the meadow and saw goldfinches, etc. Then the boardwalk which lead into a semi-dead woods. This had cedar waxwings, herons etc. On the way back we saw Mallards and an unrecognizable bird which was soon scared away by bicycle riders. So we could not gather any valuable information from the bird. But I got one poor picture of it but I'm unable to download it due to computer problems.

Goodbye,

Birdman

My Pets

My Aquarium
My Terrarium
My Little Crab Shack
My Dog
My Aquarium has been setup for two weeks and currently has 6 Columbian Tetras, 6 Red Swordtails, 2 Mystery Snails and 1 Blue Lobster. I look after this by:

Daily: Turn lights on for 12 hrs.

Check temperature

Feed fish flakes and lobster pellets

Check that all fish and invertebrates are present and healthy

Weekly: Wipe algae off front glass

Test aquarium water

Change 10% of the water

Feed plants plant food and fish bloodworms

Monthly: Maintain and replace carbon in filter

Clean hood and light tubes

Vacuum gravel

Prune plants

My terrarium has been setup for three weeks and currently has 3 Garden Snails. I look after this by:

Daily: Mist cage

Feed

Monthly: Change substrate

My little crab shack has been setup for one week and will be getting a hermit crab.

When I get the crab I will look after it by:

Daily: Mist crab

Feed and change water

Interact

Weekly: Bath crab

Monthly: Change substrate

My dog has been with me for a year and 5 months. I look after him by:

Daily: Feed and give water

Walk

Brush

Weekly: Clean face and ears

Monthly: Go to PetSmart and get them to groom him

Buy Max a new toy

Goodbye,

Birdman

Catching Up

Lately we have been doing some exciting things:
We moved
I have a new aquarium set up
We went to Niagra Falls and bingemans park on canada day
Soon to come:
I will be breeding the fish I have
We might be getting another pug
Making new friends