Still working on my rack. It is all built but still being modified and tweaked. :) I did decide I want solid shelves on it to accommodate my slightly odd shaped tanks. And I am still working on working out the lighting.
My fish from the show are all doing great, except that I did lose one of the HB yellow males. The other two are doing wonderfully though they seem to be freaked out by girls. Once I get my rack set up I will put both in with a few girls and maybe the fact that they have competition will get them going.
I am still trying to decide what strains to keep and which to part with. I do want to focus on my Blue/Green Snakeskins and my Red Snakeskins. Blue Grass are staying for sure, as are full reds. And I would like to work on a line of full deep yellows, so I am keeping a few Micariff, the HB yellows, and I just bought a pair of Yellow Deltas that will be arriving next week. Plus I have the Hybrid Endler project and the Speartails. That means that I will probably part with the Solid Blue Snakeskins. They are nice hefty fish, from several well known lines, but I just don't care for the color. Bubble was the exception and I will keep her daughters till I can tell if any will end up like her. If they do I will breed them to my Blue Snakeskins.
With all these projects going I really should cut down a bit more but gosh I just love them. lol We will see this fall which ones have done well for me and which will go.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Building a rack!
OK the time has come. I MUST build a rack. I found some plans at livebearers.org and have modified them to fit my needs. My space is only 36" wide so I had to shorten it. Here are my plans and instructions. I hope to add progress photos as I go to get some of you, who may not be so inclined towards carpentry, to give it a try!
The supply list for mine includes only 8 2"x4"x8' boards and approx 70 3" galvanized exterior screws.
The cut boards are labeled on the drawing. Their lengths are listed below. Now I only have a 36" wide space to use so I will not be able to fit 3 ten gallon tanks on the lower two shelves. If you want to make yours hold 3 tens on each shelf, extend boards A and E two inches longer. This will give you a tiny bit of space between each tank as well. Alternately you could put fifteen gallon talls on the top shelf just as easily as tens. I don't really care for the added height though.
A - 33" need 6
B - 48' need 4
C - 16.5" need 8
D - 4.5" need 4
E - 30" need 3
F - 21" need 6
When cutting the boards, figure out the best use of each 8' board so that you do not have much waste. Here is how I will cut mine. Yours may need to be different depending on if you have spare boards laying around or if you choose to extend the rack the extra 2" wide. You will need to be precise. If this is your first project, it may be wise to purchase or find an extra board or two just in case.
2 - cut in half for two 48" boards each
3 - cut two at 33" and the last piece will be 30"
2 - cut four at 16.5", two at 4.5", and the last will be 21"
1 - cut four at 21" and put that last 12" piece away and save it for a future project.
The supply list for mine includes only 8 2"x4"x8' boards and approx 70 3" galvanized exterior screws. The cut boards are labeled on the drawing. Their lengths are listed below. Now I only have a 36" wide space to use so I will not be able to fit 3 ten gallon tanks on the lower two shelves. If you want to make yours hold 3 tens on each shelf, extend boards A and E two inches longer. This will give you a tiny bit of space between each tank as well. Alternately you could put fifteen gallon talls on the top shelf just as easily as tens. I don't really care for the added height though.
A - 33" need 6
B - 48' need 4
C - 16.5" need 8
D - 4.5" need 4
E - 30" need 3
F - 21" need 6
When cutting the boards, figure out the best use of each 8' board so that you do not have much waste. Here is how I will cut mine. Yours may need to be different depending on if you have spare boards laying around or if you choose to extend the rack the extra 2" wide. You will need to be precise. If this is your first project, it may be wise to purchase or find an extra board or two just in case.
2 - cut in half for two 48" boards each
3 - cut two at 33" and the last piece will be 30"
2 - cut four at 16.5", two at 4.5", and the last will be 21"
1 - cut four at 21" and put that last 12" piece away and save it for a future project.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Lost my Bubble
Alas death finally over took my dear Bubble, and she is now helping my Dalias grow. I am glad I have many of her offspring, but it is just not going to be the same. Hopefully some of them grow up to have her incredible blue tail. below is a snap shot of the young female tank. Can you tell which of the three pictured is Bubble's daughter??
And if the pattern continues as it has.. I should be expecting fry in the next few days. It seems every time I have a tragedy of this sort, within a few days there are new fry to ease the loss. Those Solid Snake girls from frank Falcone are starting to square off, and that new red female was so cranky I had to put her in her own 5 gallon bucket. So we will see.
Back from the Michigan Guppy Breeders show!
I had a GREAT time! Wow. The fish and people were amazing. I got to meet Laura Barrasso and chit chat with her. She brought me some beautiful fish! A trio of Gold Snakeskins, and 3 of her HB Blues. We are hoping the HB Blues are a trio. The male she brought with them did not make the trip. Fingers crossed for one to be a male! I took a painting for her that I did of one of her beautiful Lace Snakeskin males, and about 10-12 of my Red Snakeskin fry. Hopefully she likes them, and can work with them. I will post pics of the fish I got from her later today hopefully.
I got to meet so many other wonderful Guppy loving people at the show I don't know if I can remember them all. They sure seem like a fun light hearted bunch. :) I look forward to getting to know them better at the meetings.
The judging got off to a late start due to a computer issue but Saturday was a good day of learning. I shadowed the judges as much as I could to absorb any tidbits of knowledge that I could. My oldest daughter, Katlynn, also came to the show and shadowed the judges as they went through. I learned so much! I am so glad I came prior to showing any of my own fish. Now I have a much better idea of what to look for in a show fish. I need to order the IFGA judging guide now so I can get it solidified in my head better.
Ok now for the auction.. I had a great time there too! I am glad I signed up as a cash bidder, and had a limit of the cash I brought or I could have spent quite a bit! I spent about $60 and got a pair of Gary Mousseau's HB Yellows (gorgeous!!), a Red female (1st place novice female), 3 baby Cory cats for my daughters tank, a bunch of plants, and a giant can of color flake food.
After the auction we stayed a little while to help debench fish, and dump tanks. During this we helped pull Gary's fish and found that there had been a slight mix up in which fish were auctioned. He ended up giving us the HB Yellow male that was supposed to be auctioned as well as one from his 1st place HB Yellow male tank entry (as it's tank mate had died)! How cool is that!? I am so thrilled. I just love these fish!
I did not get as many photos as I had wanted to. By the time the judging was coming to a close it was so late and my feet were killing me. I decided to wait till Sunday morning to do pics and ended up getting there after many people had debenched. Here is the album of photos: Enjoy!
I got to meet so many other wonderful Guppy loving people at the show I don't know if I can remember them all. They sure seem like a fun light hearted bunch. :) I look forward to getting to know them better at the meetings.
The judging got off to a late start due to a computer issue but Saturday was a good day of learning. I shadowed the judges as much as I could to absorb any tidbits of knowledge that I could. My oldest daughter, Katlynn, also came to the show and shadowed the judges as they went through. I learned so much! I am so glad I came prior to showing any of my own fish. Now I have a much better idea of what to look for in a show fish. I need to order the IFGA judging guide now so I can get it solidified in my head better.
Ok now for the auction.. I had a great time there too! I am glad I signed up as a cash bidder, and had a limit of the cash I brought or I could have spent quite a bit! I spent about $60 and got a pair of Gary Mousseau's HB Yellows (gorgeous!!), a Red female (1st place novice female), 3 baby Cory cats for my daughters tank, a bunch of plants, and a giant can of color flake food.
After the auction we stayed a little while to help debench fish, and dump tanks. During this we helped pull Gary's fish and found that there had been a slight mix up in which fish were auctioned. He ended up giving us the HB Yellow male that was supposed to be auctioned as well as one from his 1st place HB Yellow male tank entry (as it's tank mate had died)! How cool is that!? I am so thrilled. I just love these fish!
I did not get as many photos as I had wanted to. By the time the judging was coming to a close it was so late and my feet were killing me. I decided to wait till Sunday morning to do pics and ended up getting there after many people had debenched. Here is the album of photos: Enjoy!
Friday, May 15, 2009
Hybrid Leopard Endlers
I found these guys at the local fish store (one of 3 that I frequent). Aren't they cool?! I got 2 pair of them and also added a very pale blue snakeskin female for kicks.
The Guppy show is tomorrow and I am excited to see all the beautiful fish, and meet everyone!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Attending my first Guppy Show!
I am preparing to attend a Guppy show for the first time this next weekend. I am pretty excited to meet so many Guppy people in person and see the beautiful fish. I won't have any old enough to show of my own but I will be handling some fish for a friend of mine. :)
Now an update on my fish...
Solid Snakeskins - I have not gotten any more fry out of Bubble my Solid Snake female from Rod. I think she popped while I was not home and had a large feast. :P The fry from the first drop I got are getting big now at around 6-7 weeks old now. They look just like mom so far.. fat & short bodied little things. Frank Falcone sent me some of his amazing Solid Snake line a few weeks ago so now I have those as well. He sent me 4 females and 1 young male. The young guy is starting to color up now. They are some nice looking fish. Here is the young male.
Blue Snakeskins - one of the young fry that came as a bonus with my original trio from Toni has colored up and is really looking nice. His tail is much more sturdy than the original male I got and I like his pattern a lot. He is also easily larger than the original male which is excellent. I have a ton of fry from the trio and am able to get picky now on who I keep. The first fry I had born in my tanks are from that trio and they are looking nice so far. I hope to be able to show some of them at the Chicago show in August. :)
Spanish Dancers - I have decided to part with this line, so all but one female are in my sale tank. They are pretty fish but I have decided to stick to a few others. It is fully a case of too many strains and not enough tank space! The one female I am holding back has a beautiful spot pattern on her tail and I want to try to use that with the Red Snakeskin line, and see what happens. Hopefully get some Red Leopard Snakeskins.
Tequila Sunrise Ribbon - My daughter decided to do these as her 4H project so I gave her a trio and a ribbon male. I think I had 3-4 Ribbon males, and no ribbon females. The rest were non-ribbon. Hopefully I can keep the ribbon coming from them. They are still fairly young, a few males have started to color up.
Blue Grass Ribbon - These guys gave me their first drops a week ago. The total fry was 5. LOL.. boy I hope next drops for these 3 are bigger.
That is about it I think. The Red Snakeskin fry are getting big and fat, and one of the largest males from my first female that died, is getting his tail spots.
Now an update on my fish...
Solid Snakeskins - I have not gotten any more fry out of Bubble my Solid Snake female from Rod. I think she popped while I was not home and had a large feast. :P The fry from the first drop I got are getting big now at around 6-7 weeks old now. They look just like mom so far.. fat & short bodied little things. Frank Falcone sent me some of his amazing Solid Snake line a few weeks ago so now I have those as well. He sent me 4 females and 1 young male. The young guy is starting to color up now. They are some nice looking fish. Here is the young male.
Blue Snakeskins - one of the young fry that came as a bonus with my original trio from Toni has colored up and is really looking nice. His tail is much more sturdy than the original male I got and I like his pattern a lot. He is also easily larger than the original male which is excellent. I have a ton of fry from the trio and am able to get picky now on who I keep. The first fry I had born in my tanks are from that trio and they are looking nice so far. I hope to be able to show some of them at the Chicago show in August. :)
Spanish Dancers - I have decided to part with this line, so all but one female are in my sale tank. They are pretty fish but I have decided to stick to a few others. It is fully a case of too many strains and not enough tank space! The one female I am holding back has a beautiful spot pattern on her tail and I want to try to use that with the Red Snakeskin line, and see what happens. Hopefully get some Red Leopard Snakeskins.
Tequila Sunrise Ribbon - My daughter decided to do these as her 4H project so I gave her a trio and a ribbon male. I think I had 3-4 Ribbon males, and no ribbon females. The rest were non-ribbon. Hopefully I can keep the ribbon coming from them. They are still fairly young, a few males have started to color up.
Blue Grass Ribbon - These guys gave me their first drops a week ago. The total fry was 5. LOL.. boy I hope next drops for these 3 are bigger.
That is about it I think. The Red Snakeskin fry are getting big and fat, and one of the largest males from my first female that died, is getting his tail spots.
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