New additions to the family

My Fish Tank Saga
By Rachelle Carroll




So, as you all know (or may not know) for Christmas last year I got a 20 gallon fish tank which I love!!! I started with my Beta whose name is Burtus. Then I got Zippy (zebra danio) and Tangy (red wag). Next I got Benjy (African frog) but he died shortly after I got him. Next I got Bubba (black balloon belly molly) and Calypso (electric green danio) and Sunny (orange burst danio). Then my problems started. First Tangy started to get sick. I kept checking the water and I could not get the ammonia levels to stabilize. Tangy died. Then, Calypso started going crazy, like swimming erratically and diving head first into the rocks, she died, shortly followed by Sunny and Zippy. At this point I was at a loss of what to do. I tried to stabilize with what I had and for a while I thought things were getting better. I was having an algae problem so I purchased an algae eater and named him Gus Gus......long story short, for the past two months I have had only one fish, Burtus my beta. (I apparently can't keep things alive, I also failed at a bonsai plant and bamboo and those are supposed to be easy!) By the way, betas are awesome and have a crazy will to live......needless to say its been a big empty fish tank and crazy for one fish.



So fast forward to two weeks ago, I finally decided I was ready for new fish. I purchased a balloon belly molly that is black and gold, her name is Goldie. Here's a couple pictures of her.



We also got another fish, which was Sean's first fish, he was a dalmatian molly named Sebastian......I say was because yesterday I went to feed them dinner and found him dead. I was so distraught thinking here we go again. Luckily Sean is good to take care of this for me since I cry every time (seriously, I cry).

So anyway, today we had some friends over to watch a movie and while Sean was helping Michael get a drill he was going to borrow, Stacie and I were chatting in the kitchen just looking at the tank. I saw a flake moving at the back of the tank.....and then it started swimming up....odd. I started looking closer and, well, it was a baby fish. A baby dalmatian molly to be exact. Apparently, Sebastian was actually a Sabrina and was also a live bearing fish. I called Sean and we all sat there staring at the fish. Now, what to do.

Let me back track to a week ago, my beta Burtus was not having a good time sharing the tank and started nipping at Goldie's tail, so I had to isolate him. I had this net contraption, which incidentally is used for baby breeding, but I put Burtus in there. So, now that I needed it, I moved Burtus to a fish bowl, Sean and I rounded up the babies, and Goldie is now Queen of the tank.



All in all we counted 12 fish. TWELVE baby fish!! It is insane.


We did some research (all the research to be exact) and it turns out that first, it is common for the mother to die due to child birth, so this one I didn't kill (yea me!) and second, we can feed them crushed fish flakes and peeled peas, cucumbers, or romaine lettuce. We will see how many survive!!


Any suggestions for names?