Update on Fish...

My tank with the nighttime blue light on! You can kind of see some of the white about 2 1/2 month old fish in the picture. Although they're kind of blurry and at the top is the breeder box with the babies in it. On the back wall is an oxygen tubing thing and also where the water comes down from the filter so that's why its kinda full of bubbles and not super clear to see.

Well I figured I need to update about my growing number of fish. As I was finishing my last blog about the camera tragedy I was planning to blog about my fish. Then I was thirsty so I decided to go get a drink. As I went towards the kitchen I realized the day light was still on the fish tank. So I leaned down and as I was reaching into the cabinet to turn off the light I noticed a small white something in the tank. I quickly identified it as a dead fry! I thought oh man someone is having babies again! But I have been watching my fish and none looked especially pregnant lately. Not even the silver molly anymore. But she had undergone some trauma recently. (I had some serious cloudy tank issues that are finally resolved and in that time trying to clear the water I put a pump in there hoping to help the circulation so that the filter could work better, I didn't realize that the pump was super power and she got sucked in, but survived) I then noticed over in another spot of the tank what looked like an underdeveloped egg. I knew it was true! There was a fish having underdeveloped babies! Or was miscarrying them! I didn't know which one it was. None looked "boxed" like they get before birth, the mickey mouse platies had been chilling in the bottom of the plants lately but they both looked extremely skinny to be having babies. The silver molly didn't look boxy by any means and she also had her anal fin out which I had read they bring in for birthing. So I had no clue who it was.

My mom had gone to bed not too long before so I went in to tell her someone was having babies! She got out of bed which i told her she didn't need to do.  So her and my dad (he has to be involved and "supervise" everything,but he doesn't usually help much) came out and they were kind watching the mickey's thinking it was one of them and I was still suspicious of silver molly. Then I saw it happen I saw a fry "pop" out of her and knew she was the one! So I got the breeder ready, got my net and actually fairly easily got her into it. I was surprised how easy it was considering the size of the tank and how she is kinda too big for that net. But I didn't really use the net but to guide her to where I could put the breeder up under her. Within a few seconds of "catching" her there was another egg sack in the bottom of the breeder. I knew I had my girl! I am not sure if the fry I saw her birth was alive or not but I can't really catch it in that big of a tank either way so it'll have to either survive (be tough little fry) on its own in the plants or will be defeated (if its even alive) So it will be interesting to see how many more babies we may end up with. But it looks like maybe she is stressed or ill or something since so far I have only seen egg sacks and a few dead fry from her. I don't know if she will have any viable babies.

In the meanwhile my other 38 babies are doing well. They are still fairly tiny. The ones that are about 2 months old are getting pretty big. They are not full size yet but they are growing. We still have the 8 white ones and only 2 of the black ones. The black ones are still reasonably smaller than the white ones but they're hanging tough! Only a couple of the white ones have spots on them. The babies are kinda grayish still but a few look like they may be spotted. Or will be anyway. Let me get my ghetto camera and get some recent pictures to post for ya! Ok so I got the camera and was taking some pictures when I noticed a fry. He was swimming! I was excited. But then I learned although I was hoping he would be tough I learned he was more of a dare devil. I saw him, and I saw him trying to get back to the safety of the plants then I saw him get eaten alive! Not even by one of the fully grown fish either! It was by one of the 2 month old ones! He was actually attacked simultaneously by 2 of them but only one got to enjoy the treat! I was taking some pictures and trying to get some comparison shots of the white ones with an adult one and the little black ones (who I will remind you are only 2 days younger than the white ones) next to the white ones. But they were not swimming cooperatively. So I will have to see what pictures I got that are worth posting. I also took some of the babies to show you their tiny-ness! As I was photographing I decided to check somewhere else for my Moms camera too. I found it so I made the switch! I would rather use her 8.2mp one than the ghetto 4mp one! :-) ooohh and I just discovered her battery does come out! It was kinda hidden! So I can purchase an extra one to have on hand! Woohoo! So I am uploading pictures to the computer now and then I will see the quality and if I got anything good to post! Oh so i should also mention that I added a pleco to the tank. (and algae eater) and in the bedroom goldfish tank I am down to just 4 survivors! So its still kinda too many for the 10gal tank but its better than 11!

This first picture in the bottom right corner is one of the 2 little black fish.

This is a black one swimming slightly behind the white one who is about 2 days older.

Here is the full size adult dalmation molly swimming behind the approx 2 week old babies. It may be hard to tell but they are quite a bit bigger than their birth size!

A minor tragedy

  Well I am a photographer. Ok not professionally and maybe not always that good at it. But I love to take pictures. I love to have pictures on my walls and to remember fun times with friends and family through those pictures. I love to photograph nature (flowers, birds, sunsets, the waves at the beach etc) IO also for some reason love to photograph flags blowing in the wind! I will stop the car in random locations because something looks fun to stand by, or for a funny sign. I have my camera with me constantly and extra batteries just in case! I don't leave home without it! I love to take pictures!
   Well on Thurs afternoon my nephew was not being very nice. He was not listening and was not behaving. I was trying to punish him. He did not like that. Well then my dad said he was going to "veto" my punishing him because he was crying and screaming. At that point I had put him into the crib, which he likely could've crawled out of. I had tried to go into the room and see if he was ready to talk about having been in trouble and he blew me off, so I left him there. Anyway like I said my dad disagreed with my handling of the punishment. It escalated (not going to go into all the details) but I got pretty upset, took my nephew out of the crib put on some shoes grabbed my purse and keys and left the house. I was in tears and not in any mood to go back home. I drove around the corner and parked in the church parking lot. I shed some tears, said a prayer and just kinda sat there for awhile. I wasn't sure whether I wanted to go to the park and read scriptures. If I wanted to call a friend to hang out or what my plan was going to be. I knew though that I was not going home any time soon. Finally I decided to go to the beach. I texted a friend who was going to be off work soon and invited her to join me. She said yes. So I picked her up and we were on the road. It was nice to have someone to talk to who wasn't going to judge me or hold any contempt against my dad either. I needed some simple support and that she gave! It was nice! So we drove, taking various routes just for fun and not really sure where we wanted to get dinner we just kinda drove around. We ate than went to a spot to park. By this time it was almost sunset. We walked down to the water and took some pictures. When it started getting closer to the setting of the sun we sat and watched. We watched the birds flying and joked about them dive-bombing into the water. After the sun was gone and it started getting colder we decided we should go. As we excited the sand and got back into the parking lot area my feet were uncomfortable so I wanted to put on my shoes. I had them in my hand and dropped them. Well in the meanwhile I managed to drop my camera too! I picked it up dusted it off and put it into my pocket.
     Later as I was wanting to take a picture of something in a store we were in my camera lens wouldn't open when I turned it on. I was thinking it was the battery as it would do that sometimes when the batteries were low. I changed the battery pack and it still wouldn't work. Nor with a third pack. I was kind of bummed! Although at the time I didn't think about the fact I had dropped my camera in the parking lot! It wasn't until a few days later that I remembered that little detail! After I had recharged the battery packs and it still wouldn't open. The light would come on and it would start to go but not completely open or turn on! I tried brand new batteries and it still wouldn't work! SO I went for several days without a camera! I tried to grab it a few times too then sadly remembered its tragic end! The worst part is I knew it was getting temperamental but I knew I couldn't afford to replace it yet so I was waiting. I also had told my friend that evening at the beach that once I did replace it she could have it. She has no camera so even a temperamental one is better than none at all. Now I cannot still pass it on!
     So tragically I still cannot afford a replacement yet. :-( I wasn't sure what I was going to do. My mom offered to let me use hers but then I reminded her I keep mine with me at all times and she might need it from time to time. So its nice knowing when I have something specific I can use hers but I still need one for myself! I then had a thought. When I got this particular camera it was an upgrade for an older camera. I still have that camera in storage. So the other day I went and retrieved the old camera. Hoping it would still work.
  It does. Its definitely older. Its only a 4 mega pixel instead of my 12mp! Instead of the 2.7" display screen or whatever size it is, its only got like a tiny 1inch screen or so. Maybe 1.5 its small none the less! There is not a 5xoptical and 5x digital zoom. But it does zoom a little bit. Oh and it weighs twice as much and is pretty clunky! Its kinda ghetto camera! But it works! So I am thankful for that! At least it doesn't require film still! :-) I was telling my mom how ghetto it is. She offered to let me use hers and leave that one here for her to use since she has her phone camera and doesn't take as many pictures as I do. Than I can use hers until we get me a replacement. But I am not sure where her camera is to switch them out. Maybe once I find it I will do that though! It will be nice to have a decent camera to use again! Hers doesn't have replaceable batteries though. Once it's low I have to charge the camera itself. So that's the only bummer part! I will never know how long it will last!

Ok update on the camera situation.... I found my mom's camera and decided to make the switch. Then as I was hooking it up to upload the pictures to the computer I found the battery in it! It does come out which means I can buy a replacement and have an extra one to take with me! Woohoo! Maybe I won't have to replace my camera so soon after all! Hers is an 8.2 mp which is better than the 4mp ghetto one! and its tiny with a decent size screen for viewing/editing etc! Yeah! Thanks Mom! I will have to tell her I made the switch!

CMH

GOOD NEWS!!! I got a job! A little over a month ago my friend Laura called me, she was at work in Ventura and one of her regular customers "G" was there. He asked her if she knew anyone who might be interested in working on-call status in the hospital to admit patients. She called me. I said definitely. She told me she would have him call me, but instead she called me back about 10 min later and told me I had an interview the next morning! Woohoo! So I went to the interview that Fri morning. It went really well and "G" told me that Patsy would call me Mon morning and likely do a phone interview and that he was sure she would like me and would start the paperwork for me to be hired. So Mon rolled around and I didn't get a call, but then on Mon night I had a couple girls over and we were watching a movie and just hanging out. Laura stopped by to pick something up and she asked me if I heard anything. I told her no that they said Patsy would call but I hadn't gotten called yet. She told me G had been back into the restaurant and told her I got the job. So I continued waiting for the call. Finally on Fri afternoon I got a call from Human resources and was asked to come in and fill out new hire paperwork. Then I had to wait 3 days for a "background check" and after that I had to do blood work and a urine test and a TB test etc. SO I did all that.
 I started last week. There is another girl who started the same day as I did. Her name is Raegina. She is also going to be on-call status and she told me how hard it was to be hired and how she had several interviews and all kinds of stuff. I felt kinda bad saying I only had one and hadn't even applied yet when I did that interview.
  So for the job we are doing ER admitting, front desk admitting (surgeries, labor and delivery etc) lab admitting, and will also be in the PBX, which is the hospital phone operator. We also collect money for bills and co-pays etc.  So far I have done the front office admitting, the PBX and just observed for a few hours in the ER last week. Rae has done ER mostly and observed a little in PBX and up front.  I love it so far! I really hope things go well enough and that they like me and decide to make me more permanent. So that way I know I will get more hours as well as benefits! But I don't want to go into it too much ! But I really do love the job so far! I still really miss being on the ambulance but maybe I will eventually be able to go into the ER as an EMT and work there...we shall see what time will bring! Anyway I am so happy! I got my first paycheck today! It was nice! I have to pay bills now, give some to my mom and I bought some scrubs for work. We can wear scrubs but unfortunately they can only be solid blue. I don't get to have fun with the designs...oh well at least I will be comfy when working!

More Mouths to Feed

Here is a fish story update~ So a month ago I had some fish... and as you know my fish had some fish.... well I don't remember if I updated it then but 2 days later my fish had some more fish. I think it was 7 or 8 more to be exact. So I had a bunch of fish.... I started looking online to find a bigger fish tank since that many babies (aka fry) once fully grown in addition to the fish I already had would completely overcrowd my 10gal fish tank.  Eventually I found one that I managed to be the first person to respond for and got a 45gall hexagon tank with lights and a stand for FREE!!! It was perfect, it also came with an air pump and timers for the lights and a spare bulb (it had 2 blue bulbs and one big white one, the spare is another blue one) and I didn't see it at first but it had a heater too. It was originally by the previous owners used for saltwater. I cleaned it out really good and it sat for what seemed like forever and about 2 weeks ago I set it up. Then we got some gravel and a couple decorations as well as a new filter for it. I set it to go and got it all done and ready and let it cycle for a couple days. Then last weekend I moved the fish that had survived into it. Well mostly. I moved a total of 11 babies, 8 of which were white a couple have started showing some spots on them, these were 8 of the fry from the first day half of which looked gray in the beginning. Then there were 4 smaller black colored ones which were from the 2 days later as well. They were (and still are) a lot smaller than the white ones even though they are only 2 days younger. I also moved the 2 Mickey Mouse Platy, One of the Dalmatian Molly, and the silver molly. (Of the original 8 fish I had, the 2 black mollies had died by this time, as well as one silver molly) the second Dalmatian was looking more and more pregnant each day and since I knew I would have to separate her and the babies anyway I didn't want to put her in the huge tank.  So what I did was put her into the small 1 gal tank so she could give birth there and put the sole goldfish survivor back into the 10gal so he would have room to move around since he has grown quite a bit as well.

   It had been the 28 days since the previous births and so I was expecting the Dalmatian to give birth any time. (Most of the websites I have looked at said about every 28 days they would give birth once they were pregnant because they are live bearers they could only incubate so many eggs at a time and would continue to give birth for about 5 or 6 months from one pregnancy) She didn't. But I started to notice her side was looking funny and stuff and begin to think she might be sick. So then I was worried. I was doing all that I could to try and get her to feel better and to have her babies.

     Well 2 days ago on the 5th in the evening after I got home from work I noticed extra goldfish in the tank in my room. I said Mom I think my goldfish multiplied... She told me that Jennifer and joey brought over 10 goldfish because they were on sale 5/ $1.00(they are the feeder fish, so technically the same ones I got before anyway) so they bought 10. My mom said "what the heck are we going to do with these?" and they said put them in the tank and she told them she didn't think they could go in the big tank with those fish (which they can't because they like different temperatures of water and a few other reasons) so now I have an overcrowded 10gal tank again. Then as we were getting ready to eat dinner my sister Deann said "did the other fish have babies yet?" and I was like "I haven't checked" and so I did and sure enough there were fry!!! So everyone comes running into the bathroom (where the 1g was temporarily set up) to see. I counted about 18 in the plant area and Rhonda counted about 4 or 5 near the heater. Then my mom said "I think I just saw her have another one" so we left her alone to do her thing.... Well later because I knew she had seemed sick and didn't want them all affected I figured I should move the babies. Plus I hadn't thought ahead enough and realised I should've left her and the goldfish where they were (her in the 10g and him in the 1g) because the babies have to grow and there isn't a decent filter in the small tank and there wouldn't be much room. So I decided I needed to move the babies. So that night I carefully fished out all the babies with the net to put them into the bigger tank. I put them into the breeder box thing in the same water in a baggie and put it into the other tank so the temperature could acclimate. Then transferred them without transferring the water (since it was contaminated from sick momma) I put 39 fry in the box and had found 4 or 5 dead ones that went to the trash! So I gained 49 new fish in one day!!!!! Can you believe it?!! Craziness!
     Yesterday momma died! :-( its sad but I have plenty of fry to remember her by! I also lost one goldfish. Then today I lost 2 more goldfish. But since they were inexpensive and I had too many anyway I am not worried about it.

So here are some current new fish pictures! Don't mind the cloudy water, I am planning on doing a partial water change tomorrow afternoon to help with that. I also I think may need to go get some more chemicals for the water. The pictures are not the greatest because photographing through the aquarium and into water doesn't seem to be a good setting for my camera.... but here they are... oh and don't worry about the stuff at the bottom of the breeder box it's ok, it kinda food stuff they haven't really eaten but I found with the other guys as they got bigger they chose to finish what they hadn't eaten before if it didn't filter its way out the sides.

So anyways that is my latest fishy story! Wowzers! If I knew I was going to end up with so many I might not have bought the ones i did! As I realized she was pregnant and still pregnant etc and started reading about it more online I realized this is pretty common with Molly, Platy and Guppy fish all tropical fish. I never had this problem when we had tropical fish before but maybe i just wasn't observant enough than and the fry got attacked? Who knows! Anyway I hope you've enjoyed my story and maybe someday you can see my fish live if you come over. But don't ask me to name them because even if I did I probably couldn't tell you who was who or remember all the names! :-)