Little things

Yesterday when I was finishing up with my work, I walked over to our local butterfly garden. It's a very nice little garden where my local science center hatches and grows native butterflies.  In the back of the garden, they have a nice little goldfish pond. It's probably about 300 gallons or so. While I was sitting by it and trying to snap photographs of the butterflies that danced by, I noticed a white goldfish with a red splotch on his head, and he looked familiar.

Some of the flowers and butterflies in the garden

A few years past the butterfly garden was the subject of vandalism when some punks broke in and killed a handful of the goldfish. A year or so before then I had donated comet goldfish with a red splotch on his head to them, but I thought him lost in the raid as he is a very recognizable fish.

On my way out of the garden, I asked the attendant who had worked there for a while how long that particular goldfish with the red splotch on his head had been there. She told me as long as she could remember, and then proceeded to tell me that the vandals only took the largest goldfish which would not have included my little comet. I came to the conclusion that the unique goldfish in the pond was the little comet, who I had named Tancho, that I'd released there years ago! The attendant was just as shocked as I was and even more so when I told her he could easily live another 10 years there.

The only photo I have of Tancho.
Taken in summer 2007.

I spent the next 30 minutes by the side of the pond watching him. His markings have changed a lot. Instead of a neat, almost circular mark, it's spread down to his cheeks. But the rest of his body is still as white as a cloud. And while I did spend a lot of time there, I never managed to get a picture of my goldfish who I'd named Tancho. But it made my day to be able to see him again, so strong and so healthy.

The pond where Tancho now lives. He shares
it with three other orange-red goldfish.

Goldfish Salvation

I don't often talk about fish art because there simply isn't a lot of it, but the other day I found an artist who deserves recognition. Riusuke Fukahori was a struggling artist who found inspiration in his pet goldfish. These beautiful works resulted from his chubby, golden muses.

Photo of Riusuke Fukahori's work displayed at thisiscolosal.com

It looks real, doesn't it? It's all done in resin. He makes these 3D painting by pouring layers of resin on top of paint in a similar manner as a 3D printer. Watch a video of him working here:

Beautiful works inspired by beautiful fish. If you look in the background of the video, you can get a quick glimpse of his fish comfortably living in a 50 gallon tank.

Photo of Riusuke Fukahori's work displayed at thisiscolosal.com

You can find more photos from his ICN gallery expo here: Goldfish Salvation by Riusuke Fukahori at the ICN gallery.

Largest Aquariums in the World

These are tanks like we can only dream of. So take in these videos of the world's three largest aquariums (they do have sound) and dream away. They are spread out over three continents. If you ever get a chance to visit just one of them, take it. These videos are nothing compared to the real thing. 

# 3 "Kuroshiro Sea" Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium (1.98 million gallons)

# 2 Dubai Mall Aquarium (2.64 million gallons)

#1 Georgia Aquarium (6.3 million gallons)

I do not own any of these videos. Credits are in the individual videos.

Emergency Preparedness and Aquariums

It’s hurricane season in the south eastern US again. For some that means potential evacuations. For others it just brings the possibility of a few days without power. Either way, we want to consider our pets. Animals like dogs are easy to move in case of an evacuation. Fish are not. You need to have a plan with them.

I’m going to divide emergencies into two types to simplify this a bit: sudden emergencies and predicted emergencies. Sudden emergencies would be things that you don’t have a day or even a few hours’ warning. Predicted emergencies could potentially give you up to a week to prepare. But first let’s go over a fishkeeper’s emergency kit.

Hurricane Irene that hit the eastern US in August 2011 (kakela @ flickr)

Things to have around

Battery-powered air pump and sponge filter: these can be rigged up when the power goes out to provide both mechanical and biological (if the sponge filter was already in the tank) filtration for your tank. Pumps can also be used to provide aeration if fish suddenly need to be moved. Always make sure you have an extra set of batteries or two.

Blankets or extra towels: in case of a winter power outage, these can be used to maintain a warmer temperature in your tanks. The air temperature may fall but an insulating layer around your tank will help keep the water from getting too cold. If you live in an area that can get very cold in the winter, having an extra space blanket and duck tap to secure it to your tank is a great idea.

Flash lights: let’s face it, emergencies can happen in the dark, too. It’s no fun to fumble with cords and batteries when you can't see. A head light comes in handy here, too. Always make sure you have an extra set of batteries.

Medicines: while I don’t recommend stuffing your cabinet more thoroughly than your local vet clinic, having things like aquarium salt, General Cure, and Maracyn I & II around is a great idea. After a disaster there is a chance your fish could get sick. Depending on the severity of the disaster, you might not be able to get to the store for a while. These medications or a combination of them can treat most common tropical illnesses.

Sudden Emergencies

These would be things like tornadoes, earthquakes, mudslides, house fires, and some volcanic eruptions. Disasters that you didn’t get warning of. Often times in these situations, we simply don’t have time to think about our fish or other pets before our safety comes into question. First rule of thumb is save yourself. If you aren’t alive when it’s over who will take care of your fish if you protected them first?

Certain areas of the world are more prone to some of these immediate disasters, and there are things you can do to help lessen damages when they happen. If you live in an earthquake zone, consider stabilizing your stands to the wall (the studs not the drywall) or nailing stands to the ground. If you are in an area where tornadoes are prevalent, consider putting most of your tanks in the basement or other central area of the house. The best thing you can do for these types of emergencies is preventative preparedness.

Predicted Emergencies

These are situations like hurricanes, blizzards, most tsunamis, some severe thunderstorms, and some wildfires. In some case you might just have a few hours warning, but in others you could potentially have days to prepare. When you have a warning, your fish have the best chance of survival if you make the necessary preparations.

You typically have some warning with a thunderstorm (rejected reality @ flickr)

First: Stop feeding

Healthy fish can go up to a week without eating. Depending on the fish, they can be pushed to two weeks with no food without suffering major ill effects. This is actually rather natural to the fish. Often times they will go weeks without a meal especially in the dry season. Not feeding your fish will reduce the amount of physical waste and ammonia that is in the tank. It will also reduce the need for water changes. If you are unable to attend to water changes for an extended period of time, this will help keep your tank from becoming too polluted.

Second: Perform a large water change

Depending on the severity of the approaching disaster, you may not get to do another water change for a while. Doing a large water change before it strikes will ensure that your fish are in cleaner water when they go through other stressors like falling water temperature and rising ammonia. Fill up some extra jugs and barrels with water especially if you are on a well system and are expecting a few weeks without power. If you are in a city where the water pressure and quality will remain intact, this is not as important.  

Third: Clean your filters (with tank water not tap water)

This is especially important if you don’t clean your filters often. Once the power goes out and water stops running through the filters, the organic waste that is trapped in there will quickly decay, and the water will become toxic. You won’t want this in the tank with the fish when the power returns. Leave the filter media in the filters until the power goes out.

If you have to evacuate and leave your fish behind, unplug the filters and put the filter media in the main tank. Running a battery-powered air stone through the filter media will help give the beneficial bacteria enough oxygen to survive the power outage.

Fourth: Double check your emergency equipment

Because these types of emergencies don’t come along very often, locate your emergency equipment and make sure it is in good working order. Turn on the battery-powered pumps and flashlights. Double check your batteries. Make sure the medicines haven’t expired. Put your equipment in an easily accessible place, so you won’t be scrambling for it when the electricity does turn off.

Natural disasters are hard enough on families without having to worry about pets. Please remember, your safety is of the utmost importance. You are the only person who will take care of your fish as you want. In case your family doesn’t have an emergency plan for themselves, you can take a look at the US Federal Emergency Management Agency’s guide for family preparedness called Are you ready? An in-depth guide to citizen preparedness. Be safe and happy fishkeeping!

Goldfish Gel Food Recipes

As many of you may know I advocate against the use of commercial pellet food for fancy goldfish. I make all of my goldfish food as I've just had too many problems with commercial food. That's not to say that fancy goldfish can't thrive on commercial pellet food, but I haven't found one that will work with my fish.

Ryukin are a breed of goldfish that commonly have problems with commercial pellet food. (dirkusmaximus @ flickr)

There are a few different types of gel foods for goldfish. There actually is a commercial gel food mix. You buy the powder and mix in the gel. Mazuri gel food is the one recommended by a lot of people. The 5ML6 composition is good for goldfish older than 3 years and the 58LK or 5M70 compositions are good for younger goldfish. If you do make these, it's always good to add more roughage to the gel food. A good gel food should be opaque.

I like to make gel food using pre-liquified food: baby food. It contains no preservatives as it is made for young children. This is the recipe I use. I originally got it from The GAB, but have since modified it for my own uses.

3 jars 4 oz baby food, green veggies (only 1 sugary*)
1/2 cup boiled hot water
2 envelopes of unflavored gelatin
1/2 adult multivitamin (no iron) **
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder **
1 1/2 oz salmon (drained if from can) half a can
1/4 cup finely chopped veggies --> spinach, kale or zucchini work
* I'll explain this in a bit
** optional

Dissolve 2 envelopes of gelatin in 1/2 cup hot, boiled water. Mix veggies, garlic powder, salmon, and crushed pill stuff in a small bowl. Pour gelatin/water mix into the bowl. Stir well. Pour into a flat container so it's about 1/4 inch thick. Put in fridge to set. Once gelled, cut into bite sized pieces.

Cutting into bite sized bits is hard for the smaller goldfish, so I just cut them into 1/2 inch chunks and then cut what I need from the chunks at each feeding.

I lay about a week's worth of food on a plastic wrap sheet, and layer them like this. I end up with one large bag of goldfish food layered in plastic wrap. Lay them flat in the freezer, and pull out a new layer of food per week. The food will sit for a while. My most recent batch will probably last me 6 months.

Now let me explain the first asterisk. Sugary vegetables are things like peas, pumpkin, and carrots. If you don't have many choices, only get one of these and two of leafy, green vegetables like spinach. The "garden vegetable" variety is good. If you can't find them then getting two green beans and one peas is fine.

In order to modify this recipe for young goldfish (under three years old), just add more salmon. Instead of half a can, use the full can. As a general rule you want one part protein to four parts veggies for adult goldfish and one part protein to three parts vegetables for younger goldfish.

Pearlscales like this one also struggle with commercial pellet food and do best on gel food. (locorosa @ The GAB)

If you are a great cook (unlike me) and want to get more creative with your gel food recipes, you can find some of them the goldfish experts at The GAB have created. Betty's Goldfish Gel Food Recipes. If you don't want to try these, the baby food recipe works perfectly fine. I've been relying on it for about a year now and could not have been happier with the results.

I encourage you to try making gel food just once for your goldfish. At the very least it's a fun and interesting way to bond with a pet that you can't cuddle with like a dog or cat.