Monday, February 2

The tiniest bit of progress ever seen

So my big goal this weekend was to spend an entire day working on Fantasy Sampler and then get to stitching on a round robin piece.

On the upside, I did finish designing the round robin piece I need to stitch.

On the downside, I fell into Assassin's Creed II again (that glorious time killer).

Lots of assassinations, not so much with the stitching.

Although I did get a lot of housework done - things cleaned, things cooked, locks changed (I installed one of those electronic keypad locks - both because I hate carrying a key, but also hate getting locked out and because we have a dog sitter coming over this weekend while we game), lots of clothing and shoes bagged up for donation, etc.

But here's poor Fantasy Sampler.  As of Thursday, I was sure I would finish off that lion by the end of the weekend (oops!).


I have a gaming convention coming up this week & weekend, so hopefully next Monday I'll get more done :)  (if I can keep myself from knifing Borgia spies in the back).

And in happier news - WE HAVE BABIES!





I'm only mildly sorry about the jumbo slightly-out-of-focus cameraphone pictures.   I didn't want to try too hard to get good pictures and spook the fish into something bad.

The little blueish-white fuzzy bits are German Blue Ram fry.
I have had two pairs of GBRs.  I bought them from a pretty reputable breeder from the internet (because the local place never had them).   These are fantastic, because they aren't any of the odd-bred strains, like the bubbles or lyre-tails.  They're not hormonally or anything injected, just fresh, happy, "wild type" Rams.

GBRs form very strong pair bonds and tend to mate for life - you'll actually see pairs acting as a unit much of the time.   They're the most docile of the cichlids, preferring community tanks and (most importantly to me) don't tear up or destroy plants.   They need lots of "dither" fish to stay happy (things like neons acting normally make them less stressed).  They're also very particular about their water, which can make some people crazy.   They can be very territorial (mostly to other pairs, especially males), so although my tank could fit 3 or maybe 4 pairs, I kept it at two.   I didn't really want to breed them, but I know they live better together.

The whole aquarium when I set it up - there has been some different plant growth since.
Hilariously - this is in the TV niche the homebuilders put above the fireplace.  Way better show than most tv!
My female ram guarding a clutch of eggs on the volcanic rock

This was their 4th or 5th clutch of eggs.  I kept getting excited when they would guard their eggs, but they never lasted.  It apparently takes a few clutches to get it right (so I've been reading), and I hadn't even realized this clutch had made it!    I love watching the parents guard their fry - it's quite adorable.   I have no idea if I'll be able to grow them up to size (I have a fish store willing to take them once they're about an inch long), but it's so fun!

My other female had died a few days ago, and I was a bit bummed, the male lost all of his color and was super stressed, but seems to have recovered.   I was pondering whether to get a couple of more females to see if he'd bond with them, but I was a bit hesitant.  Guess I don't need to purchase other fish now!

If they do grow successfully (you know, manage not to get eaten or sucked into filters or otherwise go to a soggy demise), I'll do my best to observe pairs and keep at least one pair.   I think I should still have plenty of space with my two pairs and an extra male.    I grew my previous two pairs from juveniles, so I'm super, super excited.    I have killer filtration (biological, especially) in my tank, so I think even with the overload of fish when they're still growing, I can keep the water clean enough with a bit of extra work.

Another bit of irony - some of my plants have melted due to the lack of nutrients (not enough fish waste), so hopefully this will help in the short term (I was thinking of getting more tetras... before fishapalooza 2015).

14 comments:

  1. Boo on not stitching...HOWEVER, YAY for tiny fishies! I could watch an aquarium for hours and hours and hours...how you don't is beyond me...but then Assassin's Creed could take my eyes off of that. I don't play the video games but I really do like watching and screaming out back seat driver instructions ha ha!

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    1. I love stitching and watching my partner play video games - "OH, did you see that!" "you should go do that!" HAHA

      As for the aquarium - we actually kind of do get entranced and watch for hours. At any given time you can watch one of us staring at the aquarium instead of the TV in front of us, or standing on the couch in front of the fireplace so we can get our noses closer ;)
      I think it's a huge stress reducer.

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  2. Sometimes gaming is more therapeutic than stitching. Haha! I love your fish tank!!!!!! Yay for the little baby fishes. :-)

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  3. Congrats on the babies! In the last apartment we had before our house we had a family room with a giant aquarium instead of a TV. Keep meaning to set it up here but there's not a good space with easy access to a sink.

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    1. The most challenging part of the aquarium is that it is so high up - it makes water change outs and some maintenance very interesting. Luckily I have timers for the lights and an automatic feeder, so most of it runs on its own :)

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  4. It's sad you didn't make much progress (but this close up sure DOES look pretty!), but as an avid gamer myself I full understand how difficult it can be to balance the two. Congrats on the fish babies!

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    1. Thanks!

      And I get really immersed in whatever I'm doing - so yay games! I have learned that with the new, big TV, I get some eyestrain after too long (at least with the sandbox, 3D movement), so that's taught me to break now and again :)

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  5. Yay, congrats on your new babies! I don't think we'd be able to keep any here as the cats would harass them to no end but I love visiting other aquarium owners to admire. :D

    Winter is always the perfect time to be gaming anyway. The TV and consoles add extra warmth, right?!

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    1. My dog has been utterly fascinated by lower aquariums (at friends' homes) in the past, so I'm sure she'd leave nose prints if it weren't quite so high ;)

      I like the idea that I'm warming the house with the console ;)

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  6. Yay for babies! I love that the aquarium is where the TV is "supposed" to go.

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    1. I can't believe it was Dave's idea! I have a 20gal at work that helps keep me sane, but the TV-Quarium is pretty much the best thing ever.
      I have an automatic timer for the lights and food, so it's rather low maintenance on that end. It's so heavily planted that I rarely worry about nitrates, so I only do a few water changes a year (usually in the spring/summer/fall to feed the garden towers ;) )

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  7. Congrats on the babies. We have a fish tank in the bookshop where I work. It's a big attraction for the children. Last year all the fish except one had died and we had to make the big decision to introduce some new ones and hope he didn't eat them!

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    1. I just restocked my tank at work - since I don't want to drive out of the way after work (there are no close fish stores), my older community fish had slowly died off. I was down to just a few, but got some guppies. That should keep the tank rolling for a long time ;)

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