Moving Strategy.

I moved the albino female that I'd put in the 10 gallon tank over to the 36 gallon tank. I kept her in a holding cell until it was around 2 in the morning and all the fish were asleep.

I had concerns of her being eaten alive, she's not very smart.

This morning I came downstairs around 11 AM and she was just fine. She's keeping to herself in the upper regions of the tank, her fins are fine, she's fine. The other females don't seem to have any interest in her -- this is good.

I moved the other albino female that had been in the holding cell in the 12 gallon tank (she had been beaten up pretty bad) into the 10 gallon tank. I'm giving her a bit of time to finish healing and then I'll move her over to the 36 gallon tank, too.

The third albino female is hiding up in the corner of the 12 gallon tank, away from the albino male. I don't think he'll breed with her. He only appears to be interested in beating the crap out of her. So, i'll likely end up moving her over to the 36 gallon tank, too. Leaving Mr. White all by himself.

Not sure what I'm gonna do as far as breeding fish goes. I may take the fish store owner up on his offer of finding another Mr. Blue as it appears that the females have no interest whatsoever in breeding with the albino male.

(sigh)

But, I'm glad they seem to be okay in the big tank.

10 seconds?

Someone once told me that fish have 10 second memories. I don't know if I believe that or not, but it kind of makes sense because how bored would YOU be if you floated around in a tank that you've seen all day, every day. And night, too.

If that's the case, then their behaviors all learned or are genetic. Which, I guess, would also make sense. I read somewhere (specific to mouthbrooding cichlids) that if the mom of the particular fish was allowed to hold her babies until she released them (instead of being stripped of them) then that particular fish will also hold her babies properly and won't eat them. Again, I don't know if that's true or not, as my fish were allowed to hold their babies until they released them.

I watch these albino females and I wish I could get them to breed. I think it would be neat to watch them hold their babies because they are so translucent I could probably watch the little ones develop in their throats. I think it would be amazing. It doesn't look as if that will be happening anytime soon though.

The white female I separated into the 10 gallon tank is doing well. She seems curious about what's going on outside her tank. She doesn't hide like Mr. Blue used to, she'll follow me around (inside her tank) and watch me wash dishes or whatever. It's kind of nice. Once I move her to the big tank, I wonder if the next fish I put in there will do that?

Strategy.

The albino female who got smooshed (mentioned in the last post) was released after 24 hours of observing. She seemed to be fine.

After I released her, though, she spent most of her time in a downward position in the corner of the tank, making herself as small as possible, not even swimming out to eat but grabbing like an eel any pieces of food that floated by her. She who had been fighting to get out of the isolation cell was now taking up less room than what that protection afforded her.

I decided to put her in the 10 gallon tank that I set up in the place where Mr. Blue's tank and Mr. White's tanks used to be. I know it's not Mr. Blue's tank, but emotionally I was a little shaky. The 10 gallon tank has stood empty since I set it up. I moved her over and watched her closely. She acclimated just fine. Intellectually, I knew she would. She's been in there for two days now and seems happy.

My goal is to grow her just a bit larger, let her fins heal and then move her over to the 36 gallon tank. Next I'll move the other female who's in the isolation cell in the 12 gallon tank over to the 10 gallon by herself and then move her over to the 36 gallon.

I'll give Mr. White a chance to breed with just the one white female. He doesn't seem to be inclined toward that, though. At this point, I'm kind of stumped as far as breeding strategy goes. After Mr. Blue died at the fish store, my friend (the owner) offered when I was ready to help me find and buy me another Mr. Blue. I'm starting to consider taking him up on that offer.

Protection...

On Thursday night, I moved the grey female out of the 12 gallon tank and put her back in the 36 gallon tank. It was apparent that she would not be breeding with Mr. White and, instead, was stirring up the tank. Based on Mr. White's behavior, he kept thinking that the smallest white female was in heat. So he would follow her around doing his mating shimmy, instead of the grey female. Talk about confused.

Anyway, I moved her over, acclimated her to the tank by leaving her in her isolation cell, and then released her after the house and tanks had been dark for a couple hours. She's doing fine.

Today, I noticed one of the white females is pretty much missing her tail fin. So I separated her into the holding cell until that grows back. A couple hours after I did that, I heard a ruckus in the tank, so I quickly glanced over and one of the other white females had gotten herself stuck between the holding cell and the side of the tank. I don't know how she got in that spot, there's really not room. She was quite panicked and finally just gave up trying to get free, her upper half was out of the water.

I moved quickly, but not too fast, I didn't want to make her panic more. I lifted the lid of the tank and moved the holding cell away from the side of the tank. She swam free and tried to rest on one of the plants. She was holding one of her side fins clamped against her side. I also started noticing some red discoloration around her fins and gills. I finally captured her and put her inside the isolation cell, too, with a divider in the middle so she and the other female in isolation don't start fighting.

After observing her, I think she's just a little bruised, she doesn't appear to be hemorraghing. She's swimming and eating just fine, better than the female with the missing tail fin. She actually appears to be quite annoyed at being so restrained. I'll release her tomorrow night, though, after a 24 hour observation period.

These two pictures (below) are of the female with the missing tail fin. Poor thing. The first picture is a bit blurry, but that is how she is sitting most of the time. So defeated and sad. Or so you would think. The second picture was taken when one of the other females swam by and she perked up her dorsal fin as a challenge. She has, quite literally, had her butt beaten and there she is ready to fight some more.

Sheez, do they never take a break???