Introducing Pockets the Ryukin Fancy Goldfish

Last and by absolute no means least, is Pockets, my fancy goldfish (Carassius Auratus)

Pockets is an orange and white shortailed Ryukin, with a butterfly tail. He lives with Loki in my 120litre tank in my living room. He is slightly smaller than Loki (I'm not sure if this will always be the case) and therefore is the less dominant fish. Pockets loves to follow Loki EVERYWHERE! It is the cutest thing ever. Pockets is a boisterous little fish and I could sit and watch him for hours.

Because of his white face and red lips, Pockets was named such because he looks like a clown.

Happy Anniversary

Today is mine and my boyfriends anniversary. I love you with all my heart, Kirby. He is the best thing I could ever ask for and he puts up with all my crazy fish obsessions. In fact, he openly encourages it :)


This was one of his gifts to me...

(From left to right: Loki, Warrior, Me, Pockets [who'll be introduced in my next post] and Genie)

I wish I really could swim with my fish.


More of Kirby's art can be seen here at http://feloniusmonk.deviantart.com or http://Kirbish.tumblr.com

Introducing Loki the Ryukin Fancy Goldfish

And now it's the goldfish turn!


It's time to introduce Loki. He is a red and white ryukin fancy goldfish (Carassius Auratus) and he is my pride and joy. I love this little (but ever getting fatter) fish so much it's silly. He was given to me by Kirby for my birthday in May and it is all thanks to him that I have become stupidly into my fish keeping. At first Loki lived in a 30 litre tank, which I quickly began to learn wasn't big enough for a ryukin, most certainly not for the long run. Being about 2 inches (just body) in length when I first got him and learning that he could grow up to about 10-12 inches in length when he was fully grown.

Loki went through a couple of problems, the first one being as soon as I brought him home. He was unhappy, lethargic and I didn't think he would make it through the first week with me. This lead onto me dreaming nightmares of poor Loki for months. But after much research on the internet (and an added nutritional diet of peas) Loki pulled through and I began to learn of his wonderful personality. Then a few months later he got a parasite and in his attempt to re leave himself, scratched a huge gash in his side which removed 10 or so of his scales. I was really horrified at this and the poor thing was clearly miserable. However, with a dose of medication and with me spotting it so early, my Loki pulled through and after moving him into his new big tank the scales grew back within a few weeks - even quicker than I'd ever hoped or anticipated.

Loki still seems to get some bloating issues, as in the evenings sometimes he likes to spend a lot of time simply floating at the surface of the water, but with a careful diet, I pray that this will never develop into a full blown swim bladder problem. Unfortunately some fish are prone to such issues, but I am very glad that I am aware of it so that it can always be addressed properly in the future.

Male Betta Sharing a Tank

So with the arrival of Warrior, Genie now has to share his tank. The two are getting a long all right, and having them both together is simply emphasising their different personalities, and honestly, I don't think the two could be much more opposite.

Whilst Warrior rages, Genie flirts and whilst Genie dances, Warrior merely watches on in eerie stillness. Truly, that fish has freaked me out on more than one occasion.

Introducing Warrior the Siamese Fighting fish

He arrived safe and sound this morning!

This is Warrior, a black orchid crowntail siamese fighting fish (none of their names are easy on the tongue ^_^). He has settled in very well today in his half of Genie's tank. The divide is still standing (thank god) and I am very pleased it has, because Warrior is a monster! I knew Genie was slender, but I just figured this was because he is still relatively young, but Warrior is apparently about the same age and he absolutely dwarves him!

Warrior was initially going to be called Ink, but I simply had to change his name when I saw him. Though I simply feel he will always be affectionately referred to as 'The Monster'.

He was also extremely tough to photograph. Unlike Genie who is so brightly coloured and full of those beautiful frills (hence his name) the camera found it extremely difficult to focus due to him being so dark. Plus, the fact his fins are spiny meant there wasn't a large surface area for the light to shine through for the camera to pick up. But we managed at least a few fairly decent shots.

My Warrior, showing off his stuff with a flare for Genie. (Who consequently ignored him).

Dividing a Betta Tank

I am very excited today. Tomorrow I am getting another betta! He is going to be a crowntail, unlike Genie who is a halfmoon tail.


So this evening I have decided that I need to divide Genie's 30 litre tank into two. Genie will live on one side and my new crowntail will live on the other. How temporary this will be, I'm not sure. I have a larger 71 litre tank sitting in my kitchen which I will later divide into three compartments for three male siamese fighting fish. I expected this may have been cycled by now, but it appears to be doing very little cycling - a bad mix up of possibly killing my already grown healthy bacteria I had in an established filter when I put it in the new tank. A big thank you goes out my friend Mark for giving me this tank!


This was Genie's tank before it was divided...

I divided the tank using sheets of plastic that have small square holes in them. It's usually used for cross stitching or something, you can find it in most craft shops. The holes are useful to allow water flow seen as I only have a filter in one half of the tank and the heater in the other. Saves one side of the tank becoming stagnant. It's pretty stiff, but I strengthened it with spine bars used to hold pieces of paper together, usually for reports or something similar. I then slid the divide down the middle of the tank, burying it in the pebbles at the bottom (using extra against the base to support it more) and voilà  Each side is heavily planted to help the fish feel safe and to make it less likely for them to bother each other. Siamese fighting fish are, as their name suggests, fish that fight, and given half a chance fight each other to the death. Hopefully the mesh, and the cover in the tank, will be thick enough so that the two fish don't stress each other out and cause each other too much agitation. Lastly the water level is kept a few inches below the top of the divide because bettas can jump.


Only time will tell if the divider works out...


Here is the tank divided and ready for the new arrival tomorrow!...

Introducing Genie the Siamese Fighting Fish

This is Genie, a Siamese Fighting Fish (Betta Splenden). He is a turquoise and gold rosetail halfmoon (mouthful, I know) and is approximately 7 months old. He lives in a 30litre tank, planted only with silk plants and 3 marimo moss balls. 

He is an absolute delight.