Shrapnel! The blog splits.
The posts that didn't really relate to the big trip have moved here. I might actually do a bit of a cleanup and kill loads of stuff. Everything is on Facebook these days, too....
Anyway... twowheelswhirled.blogspot.com is just the trip and the other "stuff" is here in my stuff blog :)
Oh...just to bring you all up to speed:
* Angemon had a big cycling accident - a hit and run - and spent 8 months with a plate in her shoulder. It could have been far worse so we are not unhappy.
* We left London for Edinburgh.
The fish...I still have the minnows. The reef went through major changes...they got a bigger tank, we got more fish, the tank cracked and we had to get a new tank in a hurry (expensive!). We got some new fish, chemical crash in the tank and loads of my fish died (honestly, probably the beginning of the end for me as a reef-keeper, it was so sad and I was so helpless to prevent it), we rebuilt and stabilized.
Then we decided to move north. The reef just couldn't make that trip in the middle of January - we couldn't keep them warm enough and stress free for that long of a drive. Maboo took my babies and I know they went to a good home :)
We now have dogs (I have to have something to look after :) and spend loads of time in the outdoors :)
Friday, 27 January 2012
Tuesday, 17 February 2009
Monday, 16 February 2009
The tank is full!
Yestderday we made a home for the last soul in the tank - meet Pepe the Tailspot Blenny :)
Last week when I was picking up Pedro I had asked my fish guy to see if he could get one of these little guys - we have pretty much decided that O is going to be a single clownfish. When I went into the shop on Sunday to collect the weekly water there was one in one of the display tanks! It was really cute, too. Three had arrived but this one was the most well adjusted - lounging on the rock, eating, swimming around...a happy fish :) Since it was Sunday and I had plenty of time to acclimatize him I decided to get him and not wait (who knows what my week was going to be like). So I spent a couple of hours keeping him warm and slowing putting my tank water into the bucket....if it was acclimatization that contributed to Antigone's demise then I was going to be ultra careful! So I plopped him in the tank and he promptly disappeared. I would have to wait for him to poke his head out - these guys live in the rock.
So off I went to the grocery store while A made her way home from the British Museum and when I got back she said she had spotted him and he was so cute! And he was swimming around!!!! Wow, that was fast. He was out playing with O :)
This morning though, we couldn't find him! Troy (the Trochus snail) was parked in the doorway to Pepe's last seen location when we shut the lights out the night before. Stress! You can imagine, I do not want to lose another life in my tank! Pepe had been in great spirits the night before- out, eating, happy, etc. No idea what happened to him. I found him vertical, hiding behind the algae scrubber with his white stress markings out and vibrant! I kicked Troy off his hole and he swam back to the rock and just sat there, breathing heavy. I fed some cyclops and put a piece of nori in the tank and just let him rest. In a half hour or so he was moving a bit more, snatching at food that floated by, and by the time I went to work he was out and swimming a little. A's reports from home today (she is fighting a cold and working on her latest essay) are very good - Pepe is out and about and showing O how to eat algae off the back wall and he has made a visit to Pedro to get himself cleaned up :)
Let's hope everyone is happy now - Otello has new friends and he is a much happier guy (swimming like th epuppy he is :) and Pedro is keeping Minty in his place and Pepe is looking pretty happy, too :)
Later!
Yestderday we made a home for the last soul in the tank - meet Pepe the Tailspot Blenny :)
Last week when I was picking up Pedro I had asked my fish guy to see if he could get one of these little guys - we have pretty much decided that O is going to be a single clownfish. When I went into the shop on Sunday to collect the weekly water there was one in one of the display tanks! It was really cute, too. Three had arrived but this one was the most well adjusted - lounging on the rock, eating, swimming around...a happy fish :) Since it was Sunday and I had plenty of time to acclimatize him I decided to get him and not wait (who knows what my week was going to be like). So I spent a couple of hours keeping him warm and slowing putting my tank water into the bucket....if it was acclimatization that contributed to Antigone's demise then I was going to be ultra careful! So I plopped him in the tank and he promptly disappeared. I would have to wait for him to poke his head out - these guys live in the rock.
So off I went to the grocery store while A made her way home from the British Museum and when I got back she said she had spotted him and he was so cute! And he was swimming around!!!! Wow, that was fast. He was out playing with O :)
This morning though, we couldn't find him! Troy (the Trochus snail) was parked in the doorway to Pepe's last seen location when we shut the lights out the night before. Stress! You can imagine, I do not want to lose another life in my tank! Pepe had been in great spirits the night before- out, eating, happy, etc. No idea what happened to him. I found him vertical, hiding behind the algae scrubber with his white stress markings out and vibrant! I kicked Troy off his hole and he swam back to the rock and just sat there, breathing heavy. I fed some cyclops and put a piece of nori in the tank and just let him rest. In a half hour or so he was moving a bit more, snatching at food that floated by, and by the time I went to work he was out and swimming a little. A's reports from home today (she is fighting a cold and working on her latest essay) are very good - Pepe is out and about and showing O how to eat algae off the back wall and he has made a visit to Pedro to get himself cleaned up :)
Let's hope everyone is happy now - Otello has new friends and he is a much happier guy (swimming like th epuppy he is :) and Pedro is keeping Minty in his place and Pepe is looking pretty happy, too :)
Later!
Thursday, 12 February 2009
Pedro has arrived!!!!!
Last night we introduced a new cleaner shrimp to the tank. Hopefully more successfully than introducing a new clownfish :( Pedro survived the acclimatization and the night and seems to be pretty happy. Otello is very happy that there is again someone that wants to tickle his tummy - you can see the change in his behaviour :) I think that Otello misses Jack more than he misses Penelope. Jack was a real character and I hope Pedro grows into his own - he is pretty small and his antennae are not as long as Jack's, but then Jack was pretty small when I got him and he had to grow, too.
Say hello to Pedro:
Here is another pic of the illustrious Bonita making a pig of herself :)
And this is my desktop at work...it's cold and I am thinking of penguins :)
Catch you later!
-K
Last night we introduced a new cleaner shrimp to the tank. Hopefully more successfully than introducing a new clownfish :( Pedro survived the acclimatization and the night and seems to be pretty happy. Otello is very happy that there is again someone that wants to tickle his tummy - you can see the change in his behaviour :) I think that Otello misses Jack more than he misses Penelope. Jack was a real character and I hope Pedro grows into his own - he is pretty small and his antennae are not as long as Jack's, but then Jack was pretty small when I got him and he had to grow, too.
Say hello to Pedro:
Here is another pic of the illustrious Bonita making a pig of herself :)
And this is my desktop at work...it's cold and I am thinking of penguins :)
Catch you later!
-K
Friday, 6 February 2009
Sad news....RIP Antigone.
She developed some buoyancy problems yesterday and though she was doing ok at 3am she didn't see the sunrise. She was looking good for the first couple of days. Maybe a little stressed, but then Otello was a bit on the pushy side.....who knows. Otello is still good as ever :) And the tank looks lovely! Maybe it's best to just have the one fish... I still love my reef and Otello is a great fish :)
Soon we will get a new cleaner shrimp to replace Jack - the new one will be Pedro :) They just got a shipment of them in to the shop and the tank parameters are looking very good (with my daily or every other day water changes) so I think he will be fine. Diana is eating well now that I didn't just try to tempt her with brine shrimp (she loves the cyclopeze :) and she is small, so there is not too much food in the tank.
It's all good :)
Later!
-K
She developed some buoyancy problems yesterday and though she was doing ok at 3am she didn't see the sunrise. She was looking good for the first couple of days. Maybe a little stressed, but then Otello was a bit on the pushy side.....who knows. Otello is still good as ever :) And the tank looks lovely! Maybe it's best to just have the one fish... I still love my reef and Otello is a great fish :)
Soon we will get a new cleaner shrimp to replace Jack - the new one will be Pedro :) They just got a shipment of them in to the shop and the tank parameters are looking very good (with my daily or every other day water changes) so I think he will be fine. Diana is eating well now that I didn't just try to tempt her with brine shrimp (she loves the cyclopeze :) and she is small, so there is not too much food in the tank.
It's all good :)
Later!
-K
Wednesday, 4 February 2009
And let's have a warm welcome for Antigone!!!!
Last night I collected her from the LFS, wrapped her in my fleece jacket (it's very cold here) and pedalled home - her ride was smoother than smooth peanut butter! We acclimatized her to the temp and water and then introduced her to Otello and sat back to watch them get to know each other. Antigone was hyper!
It was tense for us. We begged Otello to be gentle and nice but they do have to establish a pecking order and that is never pretty. They started to mellow out a couple of hours later and we were ready to head to bed but when we shut the lights in the flat off it got really dark (the lights were off in the tank from the introduction) and Otello became really pushy - we were worried for Antigone with so much stress for her. A had the brilliant idea to put the moon lights on and the blue glow calmed them down immediately so we left it on and went to bed.
I woke up and checked on them at about 1am and they were both swimming together in the corner where Otello usually sleeps - they looked very happy :) I shut the blue light off and watched them in the dark for a little while to make sure that they were getting along and then I went back to bed. A woke up 5ish and checked on them and they were still together in the sleeping corner - excellent!
When I got up I turned the low light on in the tank and checked Antigone for damage...she was looking fine :) And they were swimming together happily and Otello was not being a bully. Antigone does do the shake for Otello, so they have established their order. Woohoo! We thought it would be ok - Antigone is about a quarter to a third the mass of Otello - she looks tiny compared to Otello.
Here is your first look at her - she is a black clownfish and her face is a bit more orange than Otello's.
Here they are together (Otello in the front and Antigone in the back - you can tell by the orange faces, if not the size):
Last night I collected her from the LFS, wrapped her in my fleece jacket (it's very cold here) and pedalled home - her ride was smoother than smooth peanut butter! We acclimatized her to the temp and water and then introduced her to Otello and sat back to watch them get to know each other. Antigone was hyper!
It was tense for us. We begged Otello to be gentle and nice but they do have to establish a pecking order and that is never pretty. They started to mellow out a couple of hours later and we were ready to head to bed but when we shut the lights in the flat off it got really dark (the lights were off in the tank from the introduction) and Otello became really pushy - we were worried for Antigone with so much stress for her. A had the brilliant idea to put the moon lights on and the blue glow calmed them down immediately so we left it on and went to bed.
I woke up and checked on them at about 1am and they were both swimming together in the corner where Otello usually sleeps - they looked very happy :) I shut the blue light off and watched them in the dark for a little while to make sure that they were getting along and then I went back to bed. A woke up 5ish and checked on them and they were still together in the sleeping corner - excellent!
When I got up I turned the low light on in the tank and checked Antigone for damage...she was looking fine :) And they were swimming together happily and Otello was not being a bully. Antigone does do the shake for Otello, so they have established their order. Woohoo! We thought it would be ok - Antigone is about a quarter to a third the mass of Otello - she looks tiny compared to Otello.
Here is your first look at her - she is a black clownfish and her face is a bit more orange than Otello's.
Here they are together (Otello in the front and Antigone in the back - you can tell by the orange faces, if not the size):
Monday, 2 February 2009
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