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smashed the poor thing to death

One of my biggest peeves with lfs employees is how they net fish, or attempt to ]:|

Good luck with the baby. Here are a couple pics of fry approx the same age.

Guppy fry in center, platy fry on either side:



Platy fry on left, guppy on right:

[/font]

edit: Those pics were taken in April. The guppy turned out to be a black metallic male. One of the platies didn't make it The other is an orange & blue female mix. She is similar is size & coloring to my rams and hangs out with them [/font]

[span class="edited"][Edited by Theresa_M 2004-07-26 20:44][/span]

~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Okay! Pictures! Woo! Camera decided to focus properly (yay for flower power, i.e. macro mode ) and minus a race around the house to find the mysteriously missing USB cable, I got pictures.

Baby had to come out of his safety net so I could clean the five gallon (he'd get lost in all the plants in the five gallon, so he's still in the net), and was put into one of those cups they sell bettas in. The bigger type. Anyway, he was a bit miffed by the whole thing, and probably especially peeved at the big light that kept flashing at him.

Here's pics!
Another top view, to compare with the last shot:


Everybody, look left!


Everybody, look right!


Everywhere you look, I'm... standing in the spotlight!


Oh... wait... wrong animal. Maybe his name will be Simba. *giggles*

So... what do you think? Guppy? Molly? Platty? Other?[/font][/font][/font][/font]

Edit: Oh, right... for size comparison, that is a normal facecloth/washrag/whatever-you-want-to-call-it under the cup. :88)

[span class="edited"][Edited by kitten 2004-08-02 20:06][/span]

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Hmm... you think? I've never had egglayer fry so I have no idea what they would look like. O_o

At the (evil) LCS, they said that the only fish they ever have that has fry are guppies. *shrugs* I don't know that any eggs (assuming that any were laid) would have survived in their tanks. I can't remember what was in the fourth tank in this series of tanks, could possibly have been danios.

I think I still vote for livebearer fry of some sort. We'll see what people think when I get a pic, hmm?

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

He could be a Danio of some kind.

E.g Zebra or leopard.

Just a guess !

Even though their not livebearers.



[span class="edited"][Edited by 2004-08-02 14:34][/span]

He's filling out now, but still just doesn't look quite like a guppy, though I've never actually SEEN platty/molly/swordie fry, so maybe he's just different than my guppies. I'm not sure how the filtration system works at this store, but unless the two fry travelled through the filtration system, rather than through the circulation slots in the tank dividers, it can't be guppy. If they ARE guppy... then he had a rough time in the first few days of his life!

Maybe pictures today will help out the ID. It's a bit hard to see through the net, so maybe I'm just imagining things. *shrugs*

Edit: I can spell, really I can!

[span class="edited"][Edited by kitten 2004-08-02 09:31][/span]

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Kitten,

This is interesting ready your post about the lil guy.

We're all waiting to see what it turns out to be I'll take a guess now and say, "Molly"

from above, he doesnt look like platy/sword shape to me... he looks like a guppy.. but longer and skinnier.... Whatever he is, we will find out soon enough GO KITTEN!

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Day Eight (I think *counts on fingers* ):

I attempt not to spend TOO much time online over the weekends, so that's why there were no updates the past few days. Rest assured, though, Baby is alive and well.

In fact, he's much more active and adventurous and has finally figured out that he doesn't need to skulk along the netting and can venture out into the open areas of the net. I've found him exploring the little fake plant (which captures the liquid fry food) and he actually ate from the surface! I was so happy to see him actively searching out food. I've never seen him do that, so it's a step in the right direction.

He still doesn't quite resemble the guppy fry I've had, so I'm thinking non-guppy is correct. He's grown quite a bit over the past few days, so much so that I can actually see him move when I'm sitting on my bed (about ten feet away). Before he was so small that I couldn't see him unless I practically pressed my nose to the glass.

He's loosing the clearness of babyhood and starting to gain color (you can see his organs, I mean). He also seems to be growing a bit faster than the guppy babies. Whether or not this is true remains to be seen.

Today is tank cleaning day. I think. Assuming other things don't come up. *rolls eyes* Anyway, since it IS cleaning day, and I will have to take the breeding net out of the five gallon to clean it, I shall remove Baby to a container in which I can get a picture. Hopefully.

I'm trying to figure out how one removes a baby from a breeding net without injuring them. When I had just gotten him, he was tiny and was easily captured with my favorite multipurpose tool: the turkey baster. He's probably more than doubled in size since then. I'd fear injuring him at this point if I tried that again.

I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that if he's made it this far, that means I'll get to see him grow up all big and strong. I'm excited to see what he'll turn out to be. And rest assured, you WILL be informed when I figure out what he is. In fact, someone will probably have to ID him for me, as I have no experience with livebearers besides my guppies. (Well, my sister just got mollies, but they're full grown. )

I'll hopefully update tonight or tomorrow with pictures for y'all. Yay for digicams.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Please keep posting this is very interesting. ANd please tell me when you figure out what it is.

[span class="edited"][Edited by 2004-07-31 19:12][/span]

Day Five (cont):

I came home to find tiny baby guppies huddling between the glass and the side of the baby's net. Much as I'd adore to keep each and every baby born, I simply don't have the room for it. I removed the baby (net and all) to my five gallon tank which was currently running empty. The danios probably enjoyed a fine meal *cringe* and now Baby is easier to see in the much brighter lighting of the five gallon. (Screw in fluorescent bulbs which give it more lighting that the ten gallon.)

The good news is that baby is becoming more active. He was moving around quite happily and even figured out that he can swim along the bottom of the net, not just around the plastic edging. He was also figuring out the vertical part of swimming, as he was exploring the sides of the net as well. Still haven't seen him come to the surface, but he's figuring things out slowly.

I added a small fake plant to his net, the same one that I used for the guppy babies when they inhabited the breeding net, actually. It serves the dual purpose of providing a bit of shelter and catching the liquid fry food before it drips out the bottom of the net.

He is noticeably bigger than when I got him. He's starting to fill out and you can begin to see the colors of his internal organs, instead of just two eyes and a clear tail.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Day Five:

Last night, I noticed that the lil guy was actually getting over his bottom-feeder habits and was scooting along the sides of the net, too. He still hasn't ventured into the big bad wide open of the center of his netted space, but he's getting there. He's still not coming to the surface to eat, but it's better.

There's nothing in the net with him and I'm thinking I should add something. With my guppy fry, I first had hornwort in there, and then a small fake plant. Perhaps that would make him feel more secure and make him abandon skulking at the bottom corner of the net. *nods sagely*

The net is often hard to see through and I wish it was clearer so that the already hard-to-find baby would be easier to see.

Still no idea of what kind of fish this is. From the top, he looks like every other guppy baby I've seen (that being two eyes and a tail ), but from the side, he doesn't look the same. Of course, I haven't really seen him clearly from the side since the LFS. The net distorts the shape of him until I just see his little indistinct form moving around.

He's not as active as the guppy babies I've raised. Or, at least, he's not when I'm there to watch. Perhaps he is more active when I'm at work. I'll have to watch him this weekend and perhaps get better pictures of him. If I get decent pictures of him, anyone think they might take a stab at identifying the species? Can you distinguish livebearer fry at this early stage?

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Day Four:

Still alive and kicking. I've noticed that he spends most of his time at the bottom of the breeding net. In fact, it's almost impossible to see him at times. I was worried that he wasn't getting anything to eat because he doesn't come to the surface at all (or, I've never seen him do so).

This morning, I put some of the First Bites powder and mixed it with tank water in a cup to sink it. I then added it to the net, trying to get it to sink to the plastic edge of the net so that he could pick at it. Yay... he ate!

I'm intrigued... none of my guppy fry spent this much time at the bottom and after a few days, they figured out to come to the surface for food. Is it possible that this tiny guy learned to stay at the bottom by observing the cories, which were the only fish he was in the tank with at the LCS? Or is it because the plastic breeder box he was in held fallen food at the bottom, unlike my net breeder? Interesting thoughts... Either way, I hope he figures out to come to the surface soon.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Day Three:

Well, the little guy has survived two nights in my tank (which was probably quite a shock after the dirty water he was in) and seems okay. It's a bit hard to see him in the breeding net, but I got a couple pictures from above. Again, I don't promise much, as the camera doesn't like to focus on such small things.




As you can tell, the camera decided to focus more on the net than the baby. About all you can tell about him is his size. *shrugs* Perhaps I can coax him out to a more picture-friendly container.

I shall keep you updated. [/font][/font]

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

PLease keep us updated. YOu might have to make a new thread because this one will be preety far on down there. But please keep us up dated. ANd an applause from me for saving the poor thing. I will be praying for him/her.

Well, he was still alive this morning. I fed a drop of the liquid fry food which he seemed passably interested in and left a tiny bit of first bites for him to pick at over the course of the day. (I swear, that stuff NEVER sinks.)

I'll see if I can get pictures, but my digicam often refuses to focus on something that small and I'd have to take him out of the breeding net to get a decent pic. I'll see what I can do.

I'm excited to see what he turns out to be. Even if he IS a guppy, hopefully he's not the same yellow and black of the ones I have.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Nice one Kitten, plz keep us updated, I really wanna know what kind of fish (fry) it is. P.S could you possibly get pics of it.

Bye !

Yeah, I've seen my PetSmart save fry, too. My Petco doesn't normally have fry, or at least, I never see any there. This chain store, though... grr... I never buy fish from them because their tanks are always blah. I really can't say anything good about their fish at all. Which is why I had to save this lil guy. *nods sagely*

Wish I could have saved his buddy, too, but I guess it wasn't to be. Not that I NEED another fish in my fry-stuffed ten gallon. Eh... one more tiny fish can't possibly add THAT much to the bioload. Heh. I need more tanks.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Poor little thing... and kudos to you for saving him!! My local Petsmart does a really good job with fry... they took one of their normal tanks and put a sign on it "Nursery Tank-Not For Sale"... I asked the employee there about it and he said whenever they see fry (guppy, platy, or molly) they net them out and put them in the Nursery so that hopefully they will make it. He seemed quite fatherly about them and knowledgable about livebearer care as well. Anyhow, good luck with your little guy.

-Beth

*nods!* Idiot employees! I was sitting there like, dammit, I could scoop the fry up with a FINGERNAIL before you'll get it out of there! Besides the fact that the net he was using was FAR too big for the job at hand. *sigh*

*peers at pics* Well, as of right now, he's little more than two eyes and a tail, so we'll see how he develops. He just doesn't quite look like guppies do at that newborn stage. Or... at least... not like MY guppies looked. *shrugs* Poor little guy... I'm hoping it's not another guppy... I've got lots of those. Maybe I'll be lucky and it will turn out to be one of the others I suggested.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

...Of some kind. I went to a LCS this evening to pick up some supplies. I won't say WHICH LCS, because I'm going to get peeved and prolly say bad things about them. *innocent look*

I happened to look in the fish tanks (though I NEVER buy fish from them) and saw they had a small container with two fry swimming in it. The breeder box was hooked over the edge of the tank with cories.

I asked one employee what they were, but he didn't know anything about fish, the other employee he called over tried to tell me they were cory fry. Umm... no, definitely not. Not the right body shape at ALL. Plus, I doubt eggs would survive in their tanks.

The tank setup is such that four small tanks are connected and there's slots between each tank to allow water circulation. Now, in that row of four, there were both mollies and platties, so I think this little guy is one of those. He DID have a buddy, but the moron who fished him out of the DISGUSTINGLY dirty breeder box smashed the poor thing to death. ]:|

So, I've got a freebie fry of unknown type. The manager tried to tell me it was a guppy. The guppies weren't even in that set of tanks, and the fry looks too elongated for guppy fry (either that or he's really thin for his size). I've GOT guppy fry and he doesn't really look much like they did when newborn. I think he's only a few days old at most, I didn't ask. If he's any older, then he's growing a lot slower than my guppies. Entirely possible, considering the condition of the water in his box. And I think they were trying to feed the tiny things flake food... whole flakes, not crushed. I've tried First Bites and a liquid fry food, but he doesn't seem interested yet.

I figured he'd certainly die in the conditions he was in, better that I try to save him rather than leave him there! Assuming he survives, how/when will I be able to tell what type of fish he is? I truly don't think he's a guppy, though I suppose anything's possible. Here's to the survival of the little guy!

[span class="edited"][Edited by kitten 2004-08-02 20:02][/span]

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~