Amy's furkids & more: 2011

[Byfuzzerabbit]

I know your fish need to get into that tank asap but let it cycle for at least 3 days. If your fish died this quickly check in then have ick or fin rot. Ick looks like grains of salt on the fish. Look closely because it's hard to see. Fin rot is well fin rot. if you see ick take out the carbon and only have ammonia chips. Add extra salt until you can get some ick guard plus or something. Also bring up your water temp to 90 F but do it slowly.

The baby guppies should be kept in a breeders net you can find them at petco or something. Mom will eat them double quick and they take several months to grow. Just crush fish fish flakes for them to eat. If you don't have a breeders new just put them in a cup for now unless you want to use them as food. Thats what I do with my fry.

If any more of your fish die I recommend flushing the rest of them unless you want to battle tooth and nail with ick. It's not expensive but it can take a few weeks to get rid of. Flushing live fish is painful to watch but it's just fish it's not like a $80 Discus that your throwing away.

 

[Jynxie]

I never had that big of a problem with ick.

When that made rounds in my tank only my ID shark and a couple of tetras got it. It also went away in a few days. (With medicine of course)

If you still have the fish in the bucket, make sure to keep doing small water changes through out the day in the bucket. You might also want to see if you can add the heater in the bucket too.

If you also haven't put them in the tank yet, and even if you have... Try and use your old filter on the new tank to bring some estiblished bacteria in. You should also use the water that you kept in the bucket from your old tank.

You might also want to use the same rocks and everything, to keep as much bacteria as you can.

I had to cycle a tank in... 8 hours once (I did everything above + taking water from my already estiblished tank)...
I was looking for a green spotted puffer for months, I had a tank set up but then I wasn't having any luck at finding the fish so I ended up taking the water out.... Next couple of weeks, of course I had found the puffer I was looking for. So I had to cycle that tank quick since other people were on the waiting list too and he couldn't hold it for me... He was in his bag for four hours ):
In the end, my cycled tank had perfect levels from day one... It was the one tank I never had a problem with LOL.

 

[undergunfire]

We already added the fish last night after the tank was set up. We have 2 filters on our tank....we took back the one that went with the Aqueon kit, but kept our 10 gal. filter. We also didn't rinse off the gravel or any of the plants.

The bucket that the fish were in was really cold - we didn't have a heater to heat it. So, I think the fish may have died from that. None of them appear to have Ick. I'm attached to my fish (thank goodness my favorite black skirt survived), so I'd have an insanely hard time flushing them alive. Besides, it would be me killing something...which I don't do.

The survivors are all doing well this morning...their color is back to being "vibrant" (well, dark black).

As for the baby guppies...we will just let things happen "naturally". I don't want them to be eaten, but I also don't really want more guppies.




Well, I am taking Sawyer to the vet to be neutered in just a few minutes. My vet is 45 minutes away. UGH. My truck also hasn't been running great (transmission?), so I'm worried about pushing it.

 

[MiniLopHop]

If you can find Stresszyme by API it is very helpful in cycling a new tank fast. It adds the good bacteria to the system. It also prevents/treats sludge if used long term. It breaks down the debris that collects in the gravel so it stays oxegenated and keeps the good bacteria.

Good luck to Sawyer!

 

[undergunfire]

We did add the Stresszyme stuff .


Sawyer is at the vet! I can pick him up around 2pm. It is only about 9:30am now! His empty cage is upsetting....I need my happy little bunny back .

 

[MiniLopHop]

Glad your fishies are off to a good start in the new tank.

Are you going to keep Sawyer then? Sounds like you are quite attached. It may be a long day, but he will be back to normal before you know it.

Every time I see pictures of your Tibi kitty it plucks at my heart strings. I had a cat that I would shave into a lion cut and he was chubby too, looks so similar. He passed from kidney failure July 7 will be 3 years. He was 18, and I had him my whole adult life. I don't think I will ever be done mourning his loss. He was my baby and I miss him every day. Give Tibi extra kisses for me.

 

[Nela]

I'm so sorry about your fishies and shrimp. I was hoping you had gotten to them in time and that they could all be saved. Fish are so fragile, they are amazing lil creatures.

I hope all went well with Sawyer's neuter ray:

 

[undergunfire]

Mr. Sawyer Boon is home from his neuter surgery and doing super well! He is already grooming and isn't groggy at all.

:biggrin:

 

[undergunfire]

Well, I just adopted out the foster rat girls! What a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders. I was starting to wonder if I'd even find them a home! The girl who took them has 3 other girl rats to "bond" them too. She seemed like a super cool girl. She even breeds bunnies. Unfortunately, though, she breeds NZ's for meat, then breeds Rhinelanders & English Spots for pets.

Now my living room has more space without the rat cage, woo!


Other news....

Eh...none, really.

I am a bit ticked off with Molly for chewing a 4"x4" hole in the carpet though. They haven't done any damage to my apartment, so I was really happy knowing I'd probably receive my full deposit back. I'm hoping we can get a piece of carpet to patch in and they won't notice it. Now I am just leery about letting them out of their cage...since it obviously was a sign of boredom (like they really play much anyway). I'm hoping to pick up a Maze Haven on May 7th at the Phoenix Pet Expo....hopefully that will entertain them for a while.

Sawyer is doing super well recovering from his neuter. He is a little goofball!

The kitties have been picking on each other lately. I hate that I have two cats they don't really get along. Tibi is pretty independent and Juju is very much a "people-kitty". Oh well...we all have to suck it up.

All of our surviving fish are doing well. Though, I really miss my male betta. I want to get another one, but I'm worried he will pick on our other fish. We need more fish! Our tank is so bare and its depressing.

Fin and I have been really great. I'm still battling my anxiety issues lately. They went away for a long time and now they have come back.

We are getting a gym membership, so we can both be healthy. I've felt really crappy about myself lately...I just feel really fat - and now that the weather is nice enough for tank tops, I would like to feel like I look good in my clothes, not like a cow.

 

[Jynxie]

From all my fish experience...

My advice is...

Keep numbers in your tank down. It might look a little barren but it's so much easier to take care of as well as it's a happier place for your fishes.

I will never put the maximum number of fish in my tanks again. I had to clean gravel and everything once a week to keep the levels right.

 

[undergunfire]

Yeah, we don't want to add too many more fish. Its just super hard deciding what fish we want, since we like a variety of them. I'd like 2 more Black Skirts, to bring it up to 6 of them in our tank. Then possibly a male betta. I just feel bad for the guppy, since she lost her friends (the black neon tetras).

 

[MiniLopHop]

The nice thing about guppies is that they will school with any fish that is about the same size. They go well with many tetras and dinios.

 

[undergunfire]

Today a client was watching me use the Furminator on a kitty and commented about how much cats shed. I told her kitties shed more when stressed. Then I mentioned my bunnies and how they shed soooo much during a molt!

She then mention she was just on her way to get a NZW rabbit from the feed store for Easter.

UH OHHHHH!

Ugh...I had to be professional....I couldn't "attack" her. So, I bit my tongue and started educating her about rabbits. I told her about spaying and neutering (and how important is way due to temperament, health, etc), she asked questions about it. I told her about bunny proofing her house, toys, pellets, hay, etc.

She told me she was going to get two bunnies, but I'm 90% sure I talked her out of it. I told her that they could sex them wrong and she could end up with a male and a female...then have tons of bunnies before she even knows it. I also told her that if by chance she got two of the same sex, then once they hit "puberty" then they more then likely will start fighting and she will then need two cages....or have a seriously injured bunny. I really hope she listened to me on that part, but I think I scared her away from two.

I gave her my cell phone number and told her to call me anytime with questions. She said she will for sure be calling me...so I really hope she does.

I figured instead of preaching "NO LIVE EASTER BUNNIES! YOU SUCK!" to her, I decided to just educate her. Hopefully I did my part and she does hers. If I don't hear from her by Tuesday, then I'll pull her card at work and give her a call to see how the bunny is doing.

 

[irishbunny]

I think that is always the better approach, she probably would have gotten it anyway if you scolded her. At least now they have a better chance, and maybe she'll turn out to be a great bunny owner!

 

[JadeIcing]

I think you did the right thing.

 

[undergunfire]

Thanks, guys !



Samweenie says "Hoppy Easter"!

Today we are going to Finley's grandma's house to have lunch/dinner. I have never met his granny and am really nervous! I'm kind of shy, so hopefully its not awkward...haha.

My parents are in Phoenix today, but we might go and see them later. This is the first year that I haven't eaten with them on Easter!

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I'm getting super excited for the Phoenix Pet Expo that is on Saturday May 7th....
http://www.phoenixpetexpo.com/

Then we will be spending the night in a hotel and going to the Phoenix Zoo on Sunday....
http://www.phoenixzoo.org/default.aspx


I will be picking up a few things from Tranquility Trail for the bunnies while we are there, too. I've decided to get Molly and Morgan these....

Then this for Sawyer.....

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Finley has the day off tomorrow, so I'm thinking we might go to Out Of Africa for something different to do....
http://www.outofafricapark.com/

I've been there once before and it was really awesome - especially for photography. Finley has never been. And it is supposed to be 83 degrees F in Camp Verde tomorrow, so it will be a nice day...not too hot!

 

[MiniLopHop]

That's great you were able to educate. Hopefully she will do the right thing.

You could make the bun run with a folded box and zip ties. Then you can have the fun of decorating them yourself.

 

[undergunfire]

We had a REALLY good time at Out of Africa on Monday . I will have to upload the pictures and post them to my blog.

We are thinking about taking a trip to San Diego in a few months to go to the San Diego Zoo (and possibly Wild Animal Park). Finley has never been and he REALLY loves zoo's. For 3 nights in a hotel and the tickets to the San Diego Zoo, it will cost $350. Plus the cost of gas and food. So, we need to see if it is possible because we also are going to be taking a trip to Austin, TX this fall....then moving there this fall as well. It would just be cool to go to the SD Zoo before we are 30 hours away from it, since right now we are only about 7 hours away.

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So, last night I had fallen asleep on the couch while we were watching a movie. As usual, Molly and Morgan had their play time in the bedroom and Sawyer had his play time in the living room. Well, Finley had gotten up to go potty and when he came out of the bathroom he noticed the barrier that seperates M&M from Sawyer was knocked down. He said he frantically searched for Molly and found her and Sawyer SNUGGLING:shock: in Sawyer's cage. So....Molly cheated on Morgan last night . I'm glad they were snuggling and not fighting, though!

 

[JadeIcing]

Opps! Wow

 

[MiniLopHop]

Perhaps bond as a threesome?