Float On

The fish/reptile blog of ponyonapony.

[modestmarimouse]

Hey guys, I’ve been inactive on here since I left tumblr but I could really use your help with my boy Andi.

I’ve been noticing this lump he has (it’s hard to get a good pic but it’s only on the right and it’s right in the center of his body) and that he’s been lethargic even for a long-finned fish..he seems to be having a lot of trouble swimming and I kept noticing him sitting vertical like you see in the second picture, near the surface of the water.

I’ve had fish with SBD and I’ve had fish with tumors but this doesn’t look like either of those…there’s no discoloration at all near the lump.

But because of the weird swimming issues I’ve been treating him for SBD/constipation for the past two days with fasting and Epsom salt and quarantining him (both take place in the blue jug on the right, he was getting treatment during that picture which is why the water is so low) He is currently staying in the quarantine in 2.5 gallons with 100% daily water changes, in a breeder box so he can rest and easily get to the top. He hasn’t made any poopies yet since I put him in QT yesterday so I’m wondering if I might be on the right track with this...

But what do you guys think? Am I on the right track? Any ideas what else might be going on?

(Background: Andi is around 2ish. He normally lives in a filtered, heated, cycled and stable 5g tank with weekly water changes and usually eats omega one pellets with occasional frozen blood worms or brine shrimp, fasting once a week.)

[modestmarimouse]

Wut r u doing

[modestmarimouse]

With everyone else officially happy in their new homes..my boy Verandi relaxes in his new setup. I have loved all of my fish and it was difficult to decide on one to keep when I had to make the decision to downsize. I decided on keeping Andi because he's been around the longest, I thought that fair. Now Andi has all of the plants I own..kind of a sad collection coming from a 20, a 10, and three 5s, but it looks good for one 5 anyway. And this tank has the best light for them anyway so hopefully they will thrive.

[modestmarimouse]

So everything cleared up with bringing my fish with me to where I live now, but now my family is going to be moving to another state and I’m going to be having some really drastic life changes and I need to downsize my fish and snails. I’m seeing if anyone local would like them, but since that’s unlikely, would anybody like any of these guys? I will ship them anywhere in the continental US as long as you live somewhere that’s not freezing or extremely hot during shipping. You can pay for just shipping, part of shipping, or none, I think there’s a decent understanding here that in most possible transactions both parties are young and broke (at least I am anyway) but since they’re my animals I will pay the shipping if you can’t. I already have the bags for them.

The first fish is Aurora. She is a very big girl, very spunky and super active. She is a really interactive and social fish and I feel that it makes up for her plainer appearance. She is full grown and will not change color. Aurora is used to being in an 8g tank because she’s short finned and so active, so I’d love to see her go into a 10g but 5g and up is okay. I don’t think less than 5 would suit her. Aurora is okay with snails, though she pokes at them a little bit. She lives with the nerites I have right now.

Second is Komid. Komid is a super active, angry little fish. He’s very entertaining to watch. He makes big, impressive bubble nests and he likes to guard them, storming around flaring at things. He will attack anything you put with him, so he is not a good candidate to live with snails or frogs or anything. He literally eats snails out of their shells, and since snails are not a healthy part of a betta’s diet, I wouldn’t encourage him. Due to his active nature, he should be housed in a home of at least 5g, his current home is a 5g. Komid is approximately 8-9 months old, I got him at a couple of weeks old in October 2014. Due to his age, he may still change color, but he hasn’t significantly changed in awhile so he also may stay the way he is.

Third is Vulnicura (Cura). He is likely around the same age as Komid and is very similar in personality. He is active and aggressive, but a little bit more shy and quiet than Komid. He also attacks snails and can not live with them. He is very active so I’d rather see him in a 5g+, but slightly smaller could be okay for him.. Due to his age, he may still change color and become more dominantly red or even get more colors, but I don’t know right now.

I also have two nerites like the one pictured, one is big and one is little. Not pictured, I have tons of MTS and a lot of red/pink rams. Both are mostly juveniles. You can have as many as you want.

With all of the fish I hope it’s understood that the requirements for their care are temperatures maintained around 78*, cycled filtered tanks, 5 gallons plus, with weekly water changes. They also all are used to eating Omega One Betta Buffet pellets. I love my fish so I really want them to be loved and cared for, and I know I won’t have the time needed for their care soon so I hope to find somebody who can give them what they need. Thanks guys!

[modestmarimouse]

Okay, so Komid is in his new home now and adoption is pending on Aurora and the snails. Now Cura just needs a home..is anybody interested? He’s a really neat, unique fish!

[modestmarimouse]

Adoption pending on Cura! That’s almost everyone.

[modestmarimouse]

dragondenaquaria neverfearlizzishere Anyone else I end up dealing with about my fish/snails I seem to be having trouble getting tumblr to send a message including my PayPal account, it's just saying they sent but not sending them. So anyway it is [email protected]

[neverfearlizzishere]

ponyonapony

[modestmarimouse]

He looks wonderful and content! I'm so glad. Thank you for giving him a wonderful home :)

[modestmarimouse]

Pretty gal Carmen again, looking like a frog from this angle lol

[modestmarimouse]

Caught Carmen eating her Day Gecko Food powder :)

[modestmarimouse]

[cc-da-wolf]

*Thunk*

[fw98]

renpai

[lathanos]

IT JUST LIKE TELEPORTED TO THE GLASS!!!! WHAT THE FUCK?!?!?!??

[modestmarimouse]

She's actually capable of moving even way faster than this. It's actually terrifying, because she's extremely flighty and incredibly fragile and can't be held or touched at all by human hands, so anytime I go in to change her water or feed her or clean or anything, I have to be completely on edge knowing that at any moment she might just decide to teleport out of her enclosure and she would be way too fast and way too delicate for me to ever catch.

With that in mind, imagine having to move her from one enclosure to another. I had to do that when I got her because the one she came in was unsuitable for her species. It involved locking myself in the bathroom with both cages and blocking the door cracks and trying lure her into a small box and nearly having a heart attack the entire time. Never again, man.

[the-cichlid-fairy-blog]

This is mostly a stupid pet peeve of mine but please for the love of god stop telling everyone to boil driftwood before they throw it in their tanks

there is only one time when boiling driftwood may be necessary, and if it’s you...

[modestmarimouse]

I don’t know where y’all are buying driftwood that doesn’t turn your tank water 100% solid brown to the point where you literally can’t see your fish anymore within 24 hours if you don’t boil the crap out of it but like sign me up.

[modestmarimouse]

Omfg I’m crying this is hilarious I can’t even believe it. Did they literally hire a child to run their customer relations? I think they did. Don’t go to the Portland Aquarium, guys. Their attitudes towards animal suffering and the concerned public are appalling. Don’t give people like this your money.

[housebatbetta]

Wow. So they deny that this happened.

And that the comments thread is FULL of abusive bs making a joke out of either the kid or the cat trying to eat the fish. The top rated comments are pretty indicative.

Thankfully one post that made it into the top five that calls out the fact that the bowl isn’t a suitable home! And further down, some very knowledgable folks make great commentary.

I guess Portland Aquarium just wasn’t paying attention.

Also could they not use ESL as an insult pls thx.

[monkshoodrevenge]

lanturnsandqwilfish I see your face in this, also this is horrid, file a formal complaint, you should not be treated like this by aquarium staff. They are a public entity and obviously need a desperate change in management if they let stuff like this fly.

[apetemoss]

Someone post their number, time for me to make some calls, I suggest that others do the same if able to. Clearly supervisors need to be talked to.  

[modestmarimouse]

503-303-4721 is the one on their website…Not sure if you would get through to anybody different though. God I sure hope so.

I have too much anxiety to call myself but I hope those who are braver than I am can call and post what happens!

[apetemoss]

EVERYONE LISTEN UP, I got in contact with Jeremy at portland aquarium. He WILL be looking up the emails that were sent to everyone by LARRY SMITH. He is one of the bosses of him and sounded displeased that he would be sending such rude emails. The actual aquarium has no control over marketing posts such as the contest post you see. HOWEVER, he is talking to his boss later today about making a post that addresses betta husbandry and trying to just make a message about how they don’t condone keeping fish in bowls. PLEASE if anyone else calls the number BE NICE AND TRY TO BE SOMEWHAT AGREEABLE. Some people when commenting on FB did go overboard.      

[modestmarimouse]

Just putting it out there everyone that they went ahead and proudly rewarded the winners with their abusive comments and have NOT shown any signs of any positive betta husbandry post at all since this incident, and I feel they’ve had plenty of time.

I’m highly suspicious that they just said they were going to do something about this and didn’t. You have to admit if you Google their name a lot of abusive stuff comes up.

[modestmarimouse]

One more update: I sent them a new email politely explaining the situation and requesting information about whether the post about betta husbandry will be made and it's been about two weeks since then so I can pretty safely say it's being ignored.

[modestmarimouse]

My boy Vulnicura is getting so red! :)

[bitternotbetter]

petsmart has their LED 5.5 kit on sale for $20!

[modestmarimouse]

I don't need another tank...I don't need another tank...

[savannahlemur]

No No No! 🙀 Don’t take your hands. I feel so comfy. 💕🐊

[johnthedragon]

HOW CAN SOMETHING BE THIS CUTE

[modestmarimouse]

Look at this snugglebunny omfg He is literally a puppy!

[goldfishgalaxy]

Small reminder that this cute noodle is still looking for a home. Perls is a West African Lungfish(Protopterus annectens) who I rescued and he is looking for somewhere to spend the next 15+ years. These fish typically grow from 2.5-3ft in length with 2.5 and smaller being more common in captivity. WALs must also be housed alone due to their competitive nature and should not be housed with other fish or conspecifics.

An appropriate size for an adult WAL will be around 90-100gal but they are well paced growers and can be moved up in tank size as they mature. At Perls current size he would be fine in a 40gal Breeder for a decent while. Lungfish are very friendly and curious fish and are an absolute joy to own. If you’re interested in adopting Perls and can provide him with the home he needs don’t hesitate to send me a message.

[modestmarimouse]

Omfg I’m crying this is hilarious I can’t even believe it. Did they literally hire a child to run their customer relations? I think they did. Don’t go to the Portland Aquarium, guys. Their attitudes towards animal suffering and the concerned public are appalling. Don’t give people like this your money.

[housebatbetta]

Wow. So they deny that this happened.

And that the comments thread is FULL of abusive bs making a joke out of either the kid or the cat trying to eat the fish. The top rated comments are pretty indicative.

Thankfully one post that made it into the top five that calls out the fact that the bowl isn’t a suitable home! And further down, some very knowledgable folks make great commentary.

I guess Portland Aquarium just wasn’t paying attention.

Also could they not use ESL as an insult pls thx.

[monkshoodrevenge]

lanturnsandqwilfish I see your face in this, also this is horrid, file a formal complaint, you should not be treated like this by aquarium staff. They are a public entity and obviously need a desperate change in management if they let stuff like this fly.

[apetemoss]

Someone post their number, time for me to make some calls, I suggest that others do the same if able to. Clearly supervisors need to be talked to.  

[modestmarimouse]

503-303-4721 is the one on their website…Not sure if you would get through to anybody different though. God I sure hope so.

I have too much anxiety to call myself but I hope those who are braver than I am can call and post what happens!

[apetemoss]

EVERYONE LISTEN UP, I got in contact with Jeremy at portland aquarium. He WILL be looking up the emails that were sent to everyone by LARRY SMITH. He is one of the bosses of him and sounded displeased that he would be sending such rude emails. The actual aquarium has no control over marketing posts such as the contest post you see. HOWEVER, he is talking to his boss later today about making a post that addresses betta husbandry and trying to just make a message about how they don’t condone keeping fish in bowls. PLEASE if anyone else calls the number BE NICE AND TRY TO BE SOMEWHAT AGREEABLE. Some people when commenting on FB did go overboard.      

[modestmarimouse]

Just putting it out there everyone that they went ahead and proudly rewarded the winners with their abusive comments and have NOT shown any signs of any positive betta husbandry post at all since this incident, and I feel they've had plenty of time.

I'm highly suspicious that they just said they were going to do something about this and didn't. You have to admit if you Google their name a lot of abusive stuff comes up.

[followthebluebell]

Help Draco Beat Gout

alright, so long-time followers will be familiar with my bearded dragon, Draco, and his medical struggles.

For those who don’t know, here’s his story. About 6 months ago, I accepted an offer to petsit a 5 year old male bearded dragon as his owner was working two jobs on opposite sides of town.  When I got him, he hadn’t had fresh UV for YEARS and was suffering from gout and metabolic bone disease.  I worked with his then owner to correct his care and he blossomed.

After a few months (and no payment), I asked his owner what was going on and she said she didn’t want him anymore. 

So he became my very unexpected and expensive pet! I wouldn’t trade him for the world, though. He’s an incredibly sweet baby. I know there’s always lots of debate about exactly how much affection reptiles feel for people, but I genuinely believe he enjoys being held. His blackbeard goes away when he’s held and he brightens up beautifully!

With his calm disposition and very gentle tendencies, he’s made an ideal therapy animal. He’s made amazing strides in his treatment.

Unfortunately, this month my mother’s medical stopped covering her hospice bills. Because, of course, a bedbound and non-verbal woman is TOTALLY able to look after herself, amirite? With this unexpected development, I had to take out a pretty hefty credit bill for Draco’s care. 

I hate to ask for money, but I’m desperate.

Here’s his GoFundMe: here!

I’m also selling grapewood to help out my baby! Grapewood is excellent for dry, arid habitats. It’s NOT suitable for aquariums or very humid set-ups. This grapewood comes from an organic vineyard; it’s been treated with sulfur and pyrethrins, but has been soaked for days to let it all leech out. It will be stripped of bark and baked before being sent out, but please disinfect it when you get it.

I have many different sizes available.

If you want to buy grapewood, please e-mail me at [email protected]

Signal boosts are very appreciated too! 

Thank you!