I have not been drawing much lately. And the things I have drawn are not all that great...basically scraps I've thrown together for people who have made requests on a game called Impressive Title.

Today is the 4th of July so everyone have fun and don't hurt yourself whilst playing with fireworks.

So, I talked to the local fish store and described all that happened. The catfish that died MAY have been sick. However, the guppy died because of.....*drum roll*

Overfeeding!

I am a bad fishy mom! Come to find out these algae wafers are NOT good for the fish because they reabsorb water...get huge...float off...and cause the ammonia to rise. And while rearranging my tank this morning I found a gazillion off-white fuzz balls floating around. So, I got an air stone (like I needed...but I had to buy another extension cord too...ugh) and the air pump has gotten the watter really moving and helping the filter clean up the crud. Was advised to do a 30% water change tonight then go back to the fish store with a water sample this weekend. And hopefully then I can get another guppy to replace Leo.

My newly established tank (as in done with cycling) has been doing great. Well, I went and bought a 6th fish for my 5.5 gallon on Wednesday. Everything still looked fine. The tank was comprised after that of 3 guppies and 2 cories.

Well, last night I noticed my newest cory acting odd. Decided to let things slide. He was probably just being...a cory. But this morning I saw him floating half-dead. Had no time to pull him out the tank as I was called in to work and rushing out the house. 4 hours later on my lunch break I removed the bronze cory who was by then dead. Grabbed a water sample and put the fish in a baggy then put them in the fridge at work for another 4 hours until I got off and went to Petco shortly after. They checked my water and they said everything was fine. The ammonia was slightly elevated, but they said that may be due to the fish being dead in the tank for a little while.

Figured it was just that one fish was a "bad" fish, but still to keep from getting any more "bad" ones I bought a new fish at another store rather than Petco. So, I ran to the local fish store and bought a new cory as I heard rumors from a friend that almost all the new fish at Petco in their last shipment have been dying. Came home, added the new cory and everything looked fine in the tank. Just looked at the tank and saw my FAVORITE guppy stuck to the filter. Tapped him and he swam off, but was not swimming well. So, I have him now in a quarantine bowl.

I don't know what is going on. This came on suddenly. My guppy and all the others excluding the cory, were swimming around begging for food as usual. My guppy Leo keeps swimming rapidly then stopping, sinking, and lying on his side or head down. The only noticeable damage of any sort on him is his gills on one side, but it happens to be the side that was being sucked up by the filter.

I'm just freaking out now. I don't know what they are dying from...if they are related...nothing! And now my other 2 guppies as well as my brand new cory and my albino are at risk of dying!! I wish I could say they had some sort of creature growing on their head or something, but I have nothing to work off of. They're just...dying and suddenly with no previous signs. Have not sprayed anything over my tanks. Nothing new. I occasionally overfeed, but I have cut back the last few days. The only difference in anything is that the weather here has gotten warmer and I've had to leave the light off or my tank will hit 80 degrees in just a couple hours time.

Tomorrow I am going to take Leo, my guppy, who I presume will be dead in the next hour, to the LFS and hoping they can help me out!!

Well, went to the local fish store to have my water tested. So far it's just doing what your normal tank is supposed to do when it cycles. Ammonia levels haven't risen yet, but the pH is a bit on the high side. The man was very helpful there so I plan to buy 90 percent of all my fish from him.

The man there told me I should get a 5 gallon minimum next time since smaller tanks are hard to keep healthy. Oops.

Well, lo and behold there were 2 tanks at church last night that had been donated for a large yard sale. I most likely won't be present the day of the sale so I went ahead and brought the 5 and 10 gallon tanks home. I'll have to contact the head of the yard sale and ask her how much she wants me to give for the 2 tanks.

May not ever use the 10 gallon for fish. Why? It is 17 years old! It has a manufacturing date of 1992! I don't know how well the caulking will hold up. Would not like fretting about the tank exploding in the middle of the night, but it can still be used for other creatures. did fill it up last night and left it sitting on the back porch. It's holding water just fine as far as I can tell.

Will definitely use the 5 gallon. Might move around some things in my room so I can use it in place of the 2.5 gallon. If I get another extension cord I could possibly stick it on top my computer desk. If not my brother can use it in the future for his 2 guppies.

So, got a new tank. I only have 1 guppy. Got to wait a few weeks before I add anymore (or at least a week before I add 1 more guppy as the tank is cycling)

I plan on probably just keeping guppies. Everyone is saying anything more than 4 is too much. I guess they haven't seen how SMALL a guppy is. I probably can fit 5 as long as I don't attempt to put anymore fish in there.

I want to have at least 2 males. I already have 1. Should I get 2 females too? And for those with experience...do you think I can get by with 2 zebra danios and 2 guppies?

Everyone I talk to is whining that a 2.5 gallon tank is useless, but I saw on a youtube video some rather LARGE fish in a 2.5 doing perfectly fine. And they had like 7 fish (to include those large ones)