Do Cats Really Rule?

Not everywhere, but in overall numbers, perhaps yes:

Where cats are more popular than dogs in the U.S.—and all over the world

We all know there are only two types of people in the world: cat people and dog people. But data from market research firm Euromonitor suggest that these differences extend beyond individual preferences and to the realm of geopolitics: it turns out there are cat countries and dog countries, too.

Here in the U.S., slightly more households own dogs than own cats. But Euromonitor’s numbers show that in terms of raw population, cats outnumber dogs to the tune of 2 million (the number is closer to 4 million, by the American Veterinary Medical Association's estimate). Why? One simple explanation is that cats are more compact. You can fit more cats in a house than you can, say, golden retrievers. (You can also geolocate a lot of them, which is fun, but entirely besides the point.)

At the state level in the U.S., cats outnumber dogs in the Northeast and Upper Midwest. Dogs are the favorite in the South and Southwest. The most dog-friendly state is Arkansas, where dogs outnumber cats 1.35-to-1. At the other end of the spectrum stands Massachusetts with 1.87 cats for every dog.

"A lot of that simply has to do with population density," Jared Koerten, a pet industry analyst at Euromonitor, said in an interview. "Many cities just aren't that dog-friendly."

[...]

World pet populations also appear to follow a few interesting—if inexplicable—trends. For one, highly developed countries, for reasons yet unclear, tend to have more balanced cat and dog populations. "Looking across all countries, there's a correlation between developed economies and balanced pet preferences," Koerten said. Brazil, as is turns out, has a strange affinity for small dogs—it has more small dogs per capita than any other country. [...]

Go to the original article to see the 10 top cat loving states, the 10 top dog loving states, and the countries around the world with their large differences. There is a color coded map of the states, and also a map of the world too.

     

Goodbye to Herbie, Last of the Spice Dogs

We took our 17 year old Chihuahua, Herbie, to the vet today, to be euthanized. His health had been steadily deteriorating, and this last week, rapidly so. He was in much pain, so it was the only kind choice, to end his suffering.

We had a group of dogs when we owned our restaurant many years ago. The first four were females, and we gave them all the names of spices, so we called them "The Spice Girls". Then we added one more dog, the only male. We named him Herbie (as in "herbs and spices"). Thereafter, the group was "Herbie and the Spice Girls". Here they are, at the height of their glory days:

In the above photo, Herbie is standing at the forefront. In the back, from left to right, is: Coriander, Saffron, Rosemary, and Marjoram.

Marjoram and Rosemary died while we were still living in San Francisco. The rest came to Oregon with us to live here on the farm.

Saffron died in 2007. Coriander died in 2011. Herbie, the last of the group, was also the last to go. We did a toast to him and the Spice Girls at dinner. It was the end of an era, and the end of a group that was (is and always will be) close to our hearts.

They are survived by our farm dog Digby, and our siamese cat, Smudgie, and 23 chickens and three ducks.

Here is how I'll always remember Herbie: leading Corrie and Digby in a charge attack on the Evil Vacuum cleaner:




Here is a photo of Herbie, when we adopted him from a dog rescue organization:

Here is probably the last photo I have of him, taken last summer:

He had a good long life. R.I.P. Herbie. May all of our Spice Dogs R.I.P.

Thanks for all your love. The world was a better place for having you here. And now Heaven is a better place for having you there.


   

Ramshorn Snails in the Aquarium: Good or Bad?

Ramshorn Snails as Pets and Pests - Guide on care, controlling population, pictures & forum

Snails in an aquarium are not to everyone’s taste, a lot of fish keepers regard them as a nuisance that gets out of control, other keepers believe that there are good points out weigh the bad points so therefore they should be included in the tank. I have an open mind on this as I have kept them and still do but I can see both sides to the argument.

Ramshorn snails can include a variety of species of snails that all get classed as one breed in the aquarium trade, the differences between the snails is negligible so many keepers are quite happy with this general classification. Their shells are planispiral, this means that they are similar to a coiled piece of rope or a rams horn, hence the name that they are given.

They all belong to the Family Planorbidae which is the largest family of aquatic pulmonate gastropods; they can be found on most continents throughout the world. They are lung breathers, having no gills they have a large pulmonary sac for the gaseous exchange, this is found on the outer whirl of the shell, and if you shine a light through the shell it should be possible to see the air filled space. The air is collected and trapped by large folds of skin. Another distinguishing feature is that they only have one pair of tentacles which host an eye at the base of each. It is reported that the Planorbidae species can be hosts to pathogenic nematode worms but whether this is correct I cannot say.

Normally these are found with two different skin colorations, either black or red. The red coloration is the color of their blood, unlike other snails that have a green coloration (this is caused by the presence of hemocyanin), these snails blood actually contains hemoglobin. The lack of melanin in the skin reveals the redness. Their shells can be found in a wide range of different colors, opaque right through to a dark brown or black, and with a mixed collection of these I think that they are very pleasing to the eye.

Introduction to the aquarium is often by them being brought in with aquatic plants as clusters of eggs or even juvenile snails, but they are also sold to keepers who purposely wish to use their tank cleaning abilities and prize them for this.

As I have just stated they will rid the tank of algae, also cleaning surface algae of the plants, in general they will not actually eat healthy plants apart from the delicate species such as cabomba or anacharis.

They will travel about digesting rotting leaves or even any fish carcasses that have been missed so they are to me classed as part of a good clean up crew. [...]

In a previous post about Guppies, I had linked to some posts by a Guppy breeder who had mentioned Ramshorn snails as providing beneficial infusoria to the aquarium environment, which lead me to want to know more about them.

Read the rest of this article to find out more details. I've been allowing Ramshorn snails in my tanks, and so far, so good. Some of the plants have had problems with algae on the leaves, I'm hoping they will help manage that.
     

"Tough Love" for Guppies? Can it really work?

I've been experimenting with keeping a cool/temperate water fish tank, keeping various fish that are said to tolerate temperatures on the cooler side. One of the fish that is often mentioned for this, is the Guppy.


There is also a great deal of argument about it. Guppy's are, in fact, from the tropics. Yet they have been known to do well at temperatures lower than many tropical fish like, and even survive temperatures even lower, for brief periods. This invariably leads to discussions about the hardiness of Guppies.

Some claim the natural hardiness of Guppies has been bred out of them, as they have become more and more in-bred in order to create fancier and more dramatic fish. But still others claim, that the hardiness of Guppies has more to do with how you keep them; that over-pampering them creates a "weak" fish.

Some of the most interesting posts I've seen on this topic, are on the GuppyTruth blog:

"Killing Them With Kindness" by Anthony Fischinger

[...] In Chicago in the 70's and 80's when I was growing up there were dozens of pet stores that had multiple tanks of fancy guppies. Some carried a dozen or more varieties and the quality of fish then was high enough to shock many new to the hobby today if they could travel back in time and sees them.

Fancy guppies at that time were hardy fish, recommended to all beginning fish keepers. They were a joy to keep and rarely got sick in my experience. A lot of friends I had in those days growing up kept guppies in peaceful community tanks, even some with angelfish, and the guppies thrived.

Back in those days, I did water changes and major tank cleaning once a year, since my mom hated water on the floors. I usually just added water to replace that lost by evaporation. I always had live plants in the tanks, and so did many others in those days. I think that was and remains a key to success-- the plants prevented ammonia spikes and nitrate buildup and provided a margin of safety when mistakes in overfeeding were made. The fish just seemed to be happier as well with some live plants in the tanks.

I also didn't realize it was important at the time, but aged tank water and the gunk in gravel contain infusoria that are both a food source for fry and a source of challenge to the immune system of the guppies.

[...]

The hygiene hypothesis basically contends that people raised in too sterile of an environment are more susceptible to nagging illnesses. I believe wholeheartedly and speak from experience that this also applies to keeping guppies. One of the biggest hurdles the guppy hobby needs to clear today is that of loving them to death. Expensive trios that die when moved to a new environment with good water parameters before fry are dropped is, to me, totally unacceptable, as are fish that need constant medication to stay alive. A lot of eager first time hobbyists are lost forever after a bad experience with expensive fish.

I was an experienced guppy keeper and was disgusted when I re-entered the hobby and found fish difficult to keep alive. Warning bells go off now for me when a breeder recommends elaborate preparations and attention to pH and hardness and medications, other than possible a bit of salt and worming/parasite medications for the arrival of a trio. Their directions might be meant to help a novice but they make me a bit nervous nonetheless. Let me say that as long as a breeder will stand by their fish and guarantee a drop of fry, I have no problem with them and would buy fish if needed without reservation. I also think a shift to sending fry packages versus trios would be of benefit to the hobby, as they acclimate easier.

Guppies should be able to tolerate a wide range of PH and hardness and a fairly wide range of temperature conditions, from acidic backwater filled with tannins to even full saltwater, and from the 50s to the 90s in temperature for at least short periods. I have had my fish survive in both during the last year, I had some fish outside in barrels in dark tannic waters and I gave culls to a friend that acclimated them to saltwater over 24 hours to use as feeders. I rescued some stunned fish from a barrel after an early fall freeze that dropped the water temperature to the low 40's, they were dying and wouldn't have lasted long but recovered fully.

I think the root of the problem is that we are killing them with kindness, raising them in sparkling clean tanks with frequent or constant water changes. A return to simpler methods of guppy husbandry is needed. I think a change is also needed in how we select our breeders. I used to think that inbreeding over too long of a period was the main problem, but mine eyes have seen the glory, so to speak, and I have seen that for even the weakest inbred fish there is hope of recovery of vigor, hardiness, and deportment through selection and husbandry. I have brought strains back from the brink of extinction in my fish room and so have others. The problem really doesn't seem to be the inbreeding like I originally thought, but instead selecting the wrong breeders out of a population. If you breed the two wrong fish, there will always be problems. You can't improve and win with a strain you can't keep alive.

Guppies need to be a pleasure to keep, not a burden. Vitality and deportment and favorable responses to stressful conditions need to be the, most important selection criteria if a strain is hard to keep. Perfection of conformation can be worked on conventionally once the fish are easier to keep healthy.

[...]

The best way to start a toughening process with a strain is with a new drop of fry. I keep up to several hundred fry in a 2.5 gallon tank for several weeks without changing the water, and they grow like weeds. The tank has a box filter with aragonite and floss in it. The tank is filled at least 50% by volume with hornwort. I like hornwort since it does well and grows very fast even under relatively weak lighting if you let it float. A cheap 4 foot shop light a few inches above a row of tanks is plenty to keep it going.

It you are doing this for the first time, shake out the filter that is ready for cleaning and seed the tank with a few ounces of the dirty looking water. This will add filter bacteria and some infusoria to help jump start the immune systems of the fry. Snails or some water in which they have been kept can be added to help seed the tank with some infusoria. If the tank is kept under 24 hour lighting, with a lot of plants or green water, several hundred fry can be kept in a 2.5 gallon tank for several weeks without the water parameters going out of whack.

When I feed, I push the plants aside, so there is a bare area of surface. I feed them decapsulated brine shrimp and spiralina flake and they grow nicely despite the crowding .By the end of 3 weeks there might be a half inch of mulm and detritus on the bottom and the tank walls might have a lot of algae on them.

I guess I am also selecting for fish that grow well despite crowding, though it didn't really hit me until I was writing this was selecting for fish that were able to tolerate crowding and stay healthy, I guess I got a two for one there. I dump the entire contents of the tank into a 29 gal and immediately remove all the males to their own tank. I scrub at least one or 2 sides of the 2.5 gallon tank with a diaper wipe and refill it for the next batch of fry. I do not try to get it sparkling clean.

As for the 29 gal tank, I might keep up to 500, one month to 2 month old fish in it during the culling process. My 29 gal is in front of a sunny South window and is green water. Sometimes, I will do a water change just so I can see the fish to cull and sort.

[...]

The toughening process can be gradual and I am giving a lot of detail so people can pick and chose what might work for them in their fish rooms. There is more than one way to go about the process as Greg has proved. I gradually let water go longer between changes, letting the interval go longer if the fish looked OK.

Also raise some fish outdoors between April and October, roughly between last and first frost. I take a few fish outdoors and acclimate them over an hour in bags in 55 gal barrels in partial shade in Spring when water temps are in the 50's and then add a cow patty to each barrel to grow green water and daphnia for them. I just give them anti-protozoal and anti-worm flake food when I bring the best of them indoors in the fall, usually when the water temps are in the 50's.

This is an additional and optional selection step for fitness that is hard to do indoors and I get a lot of extra gallons to raise fish in, most of which go to become feeders, only a few of the best come back indoors to the breeder tanks. My strains are relatively new so large numbers help, I have a lot of culling to do but they are still improving, I was told my fish made a good showing last year at the one show I took them to. Now that they are a pleasure to keep, I can spend the next few years fine tuning them, and the process will not be fraught with worry for their viability. [...]

These are just a few excerpts (I also added some extra paragraph breaks). There's LOTS more on his blog, fascinating stuff.

When I was a kid, I remember a friend of my mothers, who kept a 10 gallon tank. She hardly fussed with her's at all, and her tank was pretty healthy. The more I fussed with mine, the more problems I had. She said it was better not to disturb things too much. I eventually followed her example, and I also had better results. Reading about these guppies reminded me of that.

He's got other good posts too, like The Green Water Miracle, and Answers to questions people ask.

And of course, there was the post that originally lead me to his blog:

Cold Water Guppies

In April of 2004, I read an article in the April 2004 e-Bulletin of GuppyLabs entitled “The Full Blue of Rio de la Plata – Part One” by Rosario Arijon. In this piece, the author described how a certain Professor Daniel Tejedor, a man of impressive credentials, maintained a fish farm in Olidin, Uruguay where many varieties of ornamental fish were raised. Of specific note was the fact that the gentleman raised, among these various species, guppies that were perfectly adapted to breed at 18 degrees Celsius, and live at 14 degrees Celsius. That is 57.2 to 64.4 degrees Fahrenheit! “No way,” I thought. At the time, I was barely keeping my fragile IFGA strains alive at a constant 78 degrees Fahrenheit, and drops of fry were out of the question! Further, I would later find out I was dealing with some of the tougher strains. Was there a misprint in the GuppyLab’s article? It was just so inconceivable to me.

Over the years that followed, I would occasionally search the web for any other corroborative information on “cold water guppies”. I found some who swore they had some in ponds or in coldwater tanks with goldfish, but other forum members would always dismiss the claims as lies, or insist such guppies were, in fact, Gambusia (mosquito fish). One rather famous American guppy breeder claimed that he knew for a fact guppies would not reproduce below 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and as a long-time New England resident, he should know.

My interest in the subject was born out of a bit of necessity. As the owner and inhabitant of a 115-year-old Victorian cottage, things can get a bit, shall we say, “drafty” in winter. The fact is that the house does not get above 68 degrees from November until the first of April. Due to high utility bills, even those with modern homes typically set the thermostat to 70 degrees during the winter. In my case, with winter temperatures between 10 and 35 degrees Fahrenheit, my home never sees anything warmer than 68 degrees even with the furnace running non-stop. It is usually around 64 degrees through most of the winter.

[...]

The Great Recession of 2008/2009 found me returning to school for nursing, while pinching pennies to cope with ever-rising energy costs. If I was to have this many tanks of guppies, they would have to be able to survive at room temperature, whatever that “room temperature” was. Either that, or perhaps my living arrangements were better suited to goldfish. Cold water guppies were no longer some esoteric consideration, but a hard cold reality, no pun intended. [...]

Anyway, there's lots more. If you find the topic of Guppies and temperatures interesting, you'll appreciate it.

You might also find this shorter piece, by another Guppy breeder, to be of interest too.
     

The Joys of Keeping Ghost Shrimp as Pets

Maybe "joy" is too strong a word, but they are fun to keep, inexpensive, and easy to care for:


It’s a GHOST!

I love Ghost Shrimp! I have had an aquarium in my house for over 15 years, and I’ve always loved having a ghost shrimp in my tank. They are very neat and express cool movement, I personally think they are very entertaining to watch. Ghost Shrimp are also very inexpensive to purchase, at my local fish store you can get 3 for a dollar. Woohoo!

The Ghost Shrimp is also known as the Glass Shrimp because of its semi-translucent body. It is pretty awesome to look at their bodies and see the food that they have eaten! They like to feel secure so sometimes they will borrow in your substrate. You can provide sand or fine gravel to help them with this. Sometimes they will hide out in your plants as well.

Ghost Shrimp are scavengers which means they will pretty much eat anything. They do a great job at cleaning up your aquarium floor of uneaten flake foods. They also love algae wafers, nature algae, and pellets. Since they are so small, do not mix with large fish because they will get eaten! [...]

Follow the link, for a list of their care requirements.

I always wanted to try keeping them when I was a kid, but didn't. Better late than never! They are great scavengers, fun to watch, and a nice contrast to the aquarium fish.




Also see:

Life in the Bowl: The Ghost Shrimp

     

Two More Goldfish Subsitutes: the White Cloud Mountain Minnow, and the Common Guppie

White Cloud Mountain Minnow
Previously, I've posted about other fish that look similar to goldfish, such as Gold Barbs and Rosy Barbs. They look similar to goldfish, but are easier to care for in an aquarium setting (real goldfish being better suited for living in ponds or large pools, or very large aquariums).

But there are two other fishes, that don't look a lot like goldfish, but that are among the easiest to care for in an aquarium. One is the White Cloud Mountain minnow

[...] White Cloud Mountain minnows are considered good fish for beginners, as they are extremely forgiving with regard to aquarium temperature and water quality. They are often sold as ideal "starter fish" for cycling a new aquarium, however it is kinder if they are introduced to an already cycled tank. They are schooling fish, and feel most comfortable in a group of at least five. An individual of these minnows kept alone may become timid and lose its bright color. White Clouds are generally peaceful and happy to coexist with other fish, as long as they are not put in a tank with larger fish that may eat them. The minnows are usually top or middle-level swimmers and rarely swim close to the bottom of a tank.

Although the nominal temperature range for the species in the wild is 18–26 °C (64–79 °F), it can survive water temperatures down to 5°C (41°F).[4] This makes it an ideal fish for keeping in an unheated aquarium in cold climates. In fact, White Clouds are more active and healthier when kept at temperatures lower than those at which most tropical tanks are kept. Water hardness (dH) should be from 5 to 19, and pH levels should range between 6.0 and 8.0. Also, the aquarium should have a top. White Clouds have been known to jump out on rare occasions.

During the 1940s and 1950s, White Cloud Mountain minnows acquired the nickname, the "Poor Man's Neon Tetra," because they were much more affordable in price than the colorful and then expensive Neon Tetras.[5]

Two variants are commonly available: the "Golden Cloud" and the longer-finned "Meteor Minnow." The Golden Cloud is a relatively new variety as compared to the Meteor Minnow. The Meteor Minnow first made its appearance in the 1950s in Perth, Western Australia and the Golden Cloud in the 1990s. Breeding between the two varieties has recently resulted in another attractive fish, the "Golden Meteor Minnow." Inbreeding of Golden Clouds have resulted in "Blonde" Clouds, light yellow specimens similar in colour to blonde guppies and "Pink Clouds", flesh colour specimens which lacks further pigmentation still. [...]

I have a bunch of them, and they've been a very hardy fish, easy to care for, and at their full size are quite beautiful. I have the regular short fin, and the pink/gold ones. I'd eventually life to get the long finned "Meteor" variety:



The Meteor's look stunning, but I've not been able to get them through my local fish store. Darn!

My local fish store sells baby White Cloud Minnows as feeder fish, which means they can be purchased for only 0.20 cents apiece. Very affordable!

White Cloud Mountain Minnow Fact Sheet

[...] This fish is very hardy. It will survive in temperatures ranging from 4̊ C (39̊F) to 32̊ C (90̊ F) although the extremes of this range are not recommended. It is more comfortable at about 16-26 °C (60-72 °F). This is a lower temperature than some tropical tanks although, like most 'cold water' fish it can be kept in tropical aquariums, so it can be kept in either a tropical or an unheated aquarium.

The fish prefer clean water, and will grow and breed over a wide range of ph and hardness. I would avoid extremes of pH or very hard water. Make sure all the Chlorine or Chloramine is removed.

The White Cloud Mountain Minnow is intolerant of Copper in the water, and great care needs to be exercised if Copper is used for treatments. [...]

I read somewhere that, while a bowl is not really a suitable environment for any fish, the White Cloud Minnow might be the hardiest to be used as a bowl fish. But I really would not recommend a bowl; I'd recommend a filtered tank, no smaller than 10 gallons. I think a heater is preferable too, even for cool water fish; it keeps the temperature more stable, which is important if you live in a cold weather climate or somewhere that has very cold nights. I know that my house can get very cold at night in winter.

A bit of trivia about how the White Cloud the fish was "discovered" in China:

White Cloud Mountain Minnow (Tanichthys albonubes)

[...] This fish's ability to survive (and breed) over a wide range of water conditions, temperature and general hardiness means it's cheap and an excellent choice for beginners.

This fish is sensitive to copper in the water so ensure that you do not overdose when using any treatments containing copper and accidentally poison them.

It's latin name Tanichthys albonubes literally means "Tan's fish, white cloud". It was named after a boy scout leader named Tan who discovered it in the 1930s.[1] [...]

I've read too, that the fish is now believed to be extinct in it's original location. But it has survived in captivity and, through the aquarium fish trade, spread all over the world.


The other fish I considered to be an easier-to-keep alternative to goldfish, is the common Guppy. I say "common", because there are many fancy strains of this fish, some of which are not physically hardy, having been breed for their looks more than anything else.



Guppy Fact Sheet

[...] The Guppy is a popular aquarium fish. It can be kept with other small peaceful fish, including Platies, Swordtails and Mollies. It is in the same family as these fish and is in the same genus as Mollies. Other fish suitable as companions are White Cloud Mountain Minnows, Neon Tetras, Cardinal Tetras, Siamese Fighting Fish, Peppered Catfish and other Corydoras catfish, Cherry Barbs, and other small peaceful fish.

[...]

Guppies generally thrive in fairly hard, slightly alkaline, water. They can tolerate very large amounts of salt in the water. In some countries they are bred in water which is a mixture of half fresh water and half sea water. The Guppies thrive in this water, but these fish can cause problems when people put them into normal fresh water aquariums. As well as having to be acclimatised to the fresh water, the Guppies have not been exposed to columnaris disease. These fish can die very quickly in a normal aquarium unless strong treatment is done quickly. To get immunity the fish have to be exposed to the disease, and the disease cured.

[...]

The Guppy is a tropical fish. However, different strains of Guppy have different tolerances to low temperatures. I have even heard of strains that are claimed to be able to tolerate temperature down to 4̊ C (39̊ F). I have never encountered any of these. Once I heard of a creek to the north of Adelaide that was supposed to have a naturalised strain of Guppies. I searched for the creek. I was able to identify the creek from the description I was given. There were no Guppies in it. (Actually, there was not even any water.) Although I tried to find where the Guppies would have gone, I was unable to find any Guppies. I suspect that this was a case of mistaken identity of the fish.

As a general thing I would not suggest a temperature of lower than 18̊ C (65̊ F). Guppies will certainly tolerate up to at least 32̊ C (90̊F), and probably higher. Although I sometimes give the maximum and minimum temperatures types of fish can tolerate, it needs to be remembered that subjecting fish to their limits is not good and you are stressing the fish very badly. Stress will leave the fish very vulnerable todisease.

I generally set the thermostat at 24̊ C (75̊ F) although some people prefer a few degrees higher, especially for breeding.

[...]

The modern Guppies have been selective bred for colour and fin length, as well as other external characteristics. In the process they have lost much of the original hardiness of the Guppy. The life span of the Guppy now is often no more than a year. [...]

The hardiness of the modern Guppy (or lack of it) is a subject of much debate, of which I will post more about later.

I do think some varieties may be more hardier than others. Buyer beware.

I know there are other fishes that might be considered as goldfish substitutes too. The Zebera Danio, for instance, is also a hardy fish that is tolerant of lower temperatures. But I have read, that it prefers a tank at least 36 inches long, because it likes to swim back and forth a lot.

The Siamese Fighting Fish is also considered to be a good bowl fish by some people. But it will not thrive in a bowl, and actually does better in a filtered, heated aquarium (it prefers it's water temperature to be kept around 80 degrees). And it prefers live food. If you keep it in colder temperatures and only feed it dried food, it might survive, but probably won't thrive and have a long life. But if you treat it right, it can be "easy" to care for and very satisfying to keep.

So, if you have been trying to keep goldfish indoors, but have been unsuccessful or found it too arduous, you might want to consider some of these other fish I've suggested. There are plenty to choose from, look them over and see which ones might be best for you to try.
     

Fish Tank Filters: HOB vs Old Fashioned Box

The New Aquarium kits on the market seem to come with HOB (Hang On the Back) filters as a standard item. The one that came with mine uses special replacement pads, which are supposed to be replaced every 4 to six weeks or so. They cost about two bucks a piece, and while not prohibitively expensive, over time that can add up.

I seem to recall many years ago, that HOB filters were not unlike the box-in-tank filters, insofar as, you could load them up with whatever filter medium material you wanted, at much lower cost. So I looked on Amazon.com to see if such HOB filters still existed. They do:


AquaClear 20 Power Filter
This model also has a flow control, which allows YOU to choose how strong the water flow is. The customer comments are mostly favorable, and it comes in
various sizes.

But what about the old in-tank box filters? I haven't seen any in stores, but they are still around:


Lee's Triple-Flow Corner Filter, Small
Low-tech, but tried and true, and inexpensive to use and maintain.
They also come in small, medium and large sizes.

Why do I say tried and true? Consider this interesting comment posted by a customer:

So far, so good..., July 31, 2011

There's a local fish shop in Lewiston, Maine I visit about every 2-3 weeks or so. The owner is a gentleman I'd guess to be about 70 years old who says he's been in the business for 40 years. I'd estimate he's got well over 100 tanks running in his store. Compared to the other pet stores in the area (Petco & Petsmart types), his tanks are crystal clear. Yesterday, I stopped by and struck up a conversation with him. He started asking questions about my tank (75 gallon freshwater) and my filtration system. When I told him I was running an Emperor 400 HOB filter, he promptly told me it was no good. I asked if I should go with a canister filter. He told me those are "crap".

He recommended that I install a couple large Lee's corner filters. He pointed out that he uses them in all his tanks, and credits the filters with keeping the tanks so clear. He claimed that he's sold 15,000 of them during his career. He emphasized how inexpensive they are to buy and operate, and that they require very little maintenance. He suggested changing out the carbon and polyester fiber about every 6 months...but also stated that he's got filters he hasn't touched in 3 years. For about $30, he set me up with 2 large filters, and enough carbon and polyester fiber to last at least a few years.

On the way home, I got to thinking about my little aging air pump, so I stopped at Walmart and picked up a more powerful Tetra Whisper Air Pump with dual air outlets for about $20. Less than an hour after I got home, both filters were up and running. Like some of the other reviewers stated, the quality of the plastic is disappointing...I'm giving this item a 4 star rating (rather than 5 stars) because of this fact. The unit seems quite fragile and I imagine it wouldn't take much to break it. However, I'm already liking these filters. I like the fact that they are clear, enabling you to see them at work. When I got up the next morning (about 12 hours after installation) I could see a noticeable difference in the water clarity.

For me, the true test will be how they perform over time. But for now, I'm impressed.

The old fashioned box filters are not only cheaper, but have the advantage of being able to run off of a battery operated air pump, should your power go off for any extended length of time.

I like the HOB filter because the pump is quieter than an air hose pump, and because it's external to the tank, leaving more space inside the tank. But all things considered, I'm not sure it's necessarily better. And I think getting some sort of emergency power to run an HOB would be much more challenging. A rather big DIY project.
     

Another Gold Fish Substitute: Rosy Barbs

A while back, I posted about the difficulty of keeping gold fish in an aquarium, and using Gold Barbs as a substitute. I've since found anther aquarium fish that's and excellent choice:


Details About the Rosy Barb Fish

One of the most popular types of freshwater tropical fish is the Rosy Barb fish, which is also known as the Red Barb fish. This tropical fish thrives in large groups, 5 or more red barb members. As a schooling fish, it is naturally sociable and peaceful when relating to its own kind, as well as other types of fish in the aquarium. With this kind of temperament, they are perfect for an aquarium with a lot of inhabitants. Here is more information about the Rosy Barb.

Physical Appearance

The body of the Rosy Barb can be described as tall, increasing width vertically as it gets older. It can be easily mistaken for gold fish from the perspective of novice fish observers because of its color which can range from yellow to red, but the most common coloration is metallic silver. The shade of red in the male Rosy Barb becomes more vivid during breeding time, and this is where the name of the fish comes from. The male is generally smaller than the female and it also rarely displays the color yellow on its body unlike the female. The body size and color may vary between sexes, but both of them have black dots in their tail fin and shiny scales that usually come in the color green and are highly reflective. [...]

The golden variety looks particularly like a goldfish:



The ones I have look more like this:



They remind me of Veiltail Goldfish. Very elegant, very hardy, easy to care for. The temperature range they like can go as low as 64 degrees, which is lower than most tropical fish can go. Real gold fish can tolerate much lower temperatures, but that's one of the reasons they do so well in ponds. So Rosy Barbs are more of a temperate water fish, than a cold water fish.

In the wild they can grow up to 6 inches, but in aquariums 4 inches seems to be the maximum size they reach.

I find Rosy Barbs to be an excellent Aquarium substitute for goldfish.


Also see:

Rosy Barb Family: Cyprinidae

Rosy Barb Fact Sheet
     

Corriander, our beloved Chug, is no more

She was a Chihuahua - Pug mix, so we called her a "Chug". She was 16 years old, which is something like 115 in dog years. She died one week ago tonight.

It was my ham radio night, when our radio net meets on the air. I always feed the dogs a little later on those nights. The net had ended, and I had prepared her food and was bringing it to her when I heard her yelping rapidly, in a panic. She was on her bed, with her head hanging over the edge, like she was trying to get up.

I put the food down and rushed to her, just in time to hold her while she died.

I think it was her heart. It didn't last long. I held her and stroked her and rubbed her ears and spoke the usual words of comfort to her, as the life left her body.

It was sad. And it sounds kinda awful, but it wasn't really. She died at home, in the hands of someone who loved her. And it was quick.

She was completely deaf, and almost completely blind. She slept most of the time.

Last year, she started to lose her mind, like a kind of doggie alzheimers. The vet put her on some prescription dog kibble, called "b/d" (for "brain diet"). It worked; she came back to us, mentally. But she continued to slow down physically.

I had to walk her on the leash, or she wouldn't walk with us. Toward the end, I carried her a lot. On that last day, I could not find her leash, so I had carried her most of the way through our walk in the woods.

At night she would poop and pee on newspapers I left out for her, because she couldn't manage the stairs anymore, or even the dog door. Lately she had stared to become careless about going on the paper; I was dreading having to take her to the vet to be put down, putting it off as long as I could. Now that won't be necessary.

I had hoped she would die quietly in her sleep. But perhaps she needed me to be there at the end. Anyway, that's how it played out. I was there.

Our other two dogs were there, watching. They understood.




She had a good long life. We had some fun times. I posted once years back about how she survived cancer, using natural treatments. She continued to enjoy life, even as she aged. As she slowed down, we made it easier for her.




We buried her in the garden, next to Saffron, our Boarder Collie - Aussie Shepard mix, whom she was very attached to. I planted blue daisies on top of her grave, so that when I say "Corrie's pushing up daisies now", it will be more than just a figure of speech.




Good bye, Corrie. You will always be my favorite Chug.
     

Is it the World's Most Tiny Doggie Ever?

Mini mutt the smallest in world

IT’S gnaw joke for Brandy the smallest dog in the world as she tries to tackle a meaty bone bigger than her SIX-INCH long body.

The Chihuahua — who is just a fraction taller than a cola can — was named the world’s smallest hound by the Guinness Book of Records and has finished growing.

Four-year-old Brandy weighs only 2lbs and cannot even BARK as her lungs are too small. Owner Paulette Keller, of Largo, Florida, said: “When I saw her I just fell in love with her.”

Paulette, 53, whose pint-sized pooch has become a hit on US TV, added: “With a dog like this you have to be careful. She can’t even jump on or off anything because her legs are so tiny.”

We own two chihuahua mixes, a chihuahua pug, and a chihuahua dachshund. They are small, but this dog is so small it's scary. You would really have to watch out to make sure it doesn't get hurt.

See the link for another photo of her next to a coke can.
     

Farm Report 07/01/07

Life and Death on The Farm
Farming really puts you in touch with the basics of life. You feed and care for animals; they reproduce, if you allow it; then eventually they die sooner or later. We have had three instances of that last part. One death is uncertain; another was not entirely surprising; the last was very unexpected.

The first involves our cat, Mr. Swanky. We got him when he was a kitten, as a companion for our white Siamese cat, Smudgie:


They were inseparable, initially. As they matured, we didn't get Smudgie fixed in time, so she had to have an abortion when she was spayed. After that, they still got along, but Mr. Swanky began to wander far from home, disappearing for weeks at a time.


Smudgie is a good girl and always stays close to home, but Mr. Swanky loved to wander. The picture above was taken after he returned from a three week absence. He was very thin. We were pleased to see him again.

He's been gone now for over two months. I've given up hope that he's coming back. At about the time he disappeared, the dogs went crazy one night, barking at the yard. The next day, there was a bird feeder missing from the yard. I found it several days later, in the woods. It had been ripped from the tree, carried there and crushed to pieces, for the seeds inside. I'm not sure what would do that. A bear?

Could it have anything to do with the cat's disappearance? Who knows. I expect we will never find out what happened to Mr. Swanky, it will likely remain an unsolved mystery.

The next death is a certain one, not entirely surprising but still a bit sudden. It was our old dog, Saffron, seen here in this photo from last year:


For the past two years, she had slowed down a lot, and was having some trouble going up and down the stairs. Sometimes I would carry her. I was very fond of her, and didn't want to end her life as long as she could keep on going.

We got her about 12 years ago, from the SF SPCA. She was an Australian Shepard Mix, with one blue eye and one brown eye. Her owner had surrendered her because she was too rambunctious. They had guessed she was about two years old, but I think she may have been as old as four. The next two photos are from the early days:


She was a handfull; a real Frisbee dog, with endless energy, totally obsessed with a ball, Frisbee, kong, or ANYTHING you would throw. You had to exercise her a lot. She was the dog I had always wanted... when I was 10! As an adult living in a city, I think I would have prefered a dog that was a bit calmer. But she did get me outside a lot and we got lots of exercise while exercising her, so it worked out well.


I never had a dog before that demonstrated so much devotion to me. She would follow me around, and just lay down at my feet, waiting for a command. When I would sit at my desk doing office work, she would lie at my feet and doze off.

Since moving to the countryside, she's spend a lot of time outside. Here she is last year, just enjoying the outdoors, too old to chase balls and Frisbees anymore. She had slowed down a lot. This year, she had even stopped barking at squirrels.


My office in the house is too small for dogs. We had enclosed our large back porch, and partitioned it into two sides. One one side was a room for changing muddy boots and raincoats, which is also where the dogs get fed and sleep at night. The other half is like a den. I've been working on turning a corner of it into an office, so I could once again do my office work with Saffie; she could lie on the floor nearby, under the skylight, and snooze.

It was a nice dream, but one that won't come to pass. Before I could finish the office, Saffie's health went downhill fast. She stopped eating, then stopped drinking water; soon she couldn't stand or walk. She started to have trouble breathing, so we ended her misery. We buried her on the edge of the yard she had enjoyed so much. We planted a flower bush on her grave, so we'll remember her every time we see it.

Here is a photo of her a short time from the end:


Now I really miss her. I hope it doesn't seem morbid talking about it, but I think it's perfectly natural to miss our pets when they die. As much as the absence hurts, I have so many, many wonderful memories of life with her, that I would gladly do it all over again, she gave me so much. The experience had many more pluses than minuses. I'll always think of her fondly, may she now R.I.P.

So on to the NEXT death, which was sudden and unexpected:


Bizarre Guinea Fowl Death

Early this spring we got six Guinea fowl chicks. One was a runt, and died soon after. The remaining five grew quite large, and were integrated into the chicken coup.


They are rather shy, and for six weeks stayed in the coup when the chickens were let outside to forage. About a week ago, they ventured outside for the first time.



They seemed to enjoy themselves, strolling around in a group. However, a conflict seemed to emerge, between two males. The alpha male began picking on a beta male, the one with white tipped wings. The beta began hanging back, and would often get separated from the group.

One evening, the beta male did not return to the coop. Andy went looking for him, and found him... dead! It seems that he had been foraging (or hiding?) in some underbrush, and got his head caught in some blackberry vines. It looked like he had panicked, and in his struggle to free himself, became so fearful, that he pooped his guts out! There were no external injuries, and he was stone cold dead, his intestines hanging out of his rear.

So now we are down to four Guinea fowls. I hope they last, they are strange and kinda ugly, but I've grown fond of them and their funny ways and noises.


Humming Bird Heaven
That's enough death for one Farm Report! I'll end it with this glimpse of the Humming Bird Heaven that our front porch seems to have become this year:


We often have six or eight Humming birds at once, competing at two feeders. Yet they move so quickly; I've not been able to photograph more than two at a time.


I'd really like to get a video of them, as it's wonderful to watch them in motion. That may be my next project.


For now, photos will have to do. And that completes this edition of The Farm Report.