So, I usually have really crappy birthdays...

[Shai]

Yesterday was my birthday. :3 For the last half decade or so I've always been really sick on my birthday. (Year before last I actually had to be taken to Emergency the day of.) Given this track record, I usually don't get overly excited when February 3 comes around so I don't end up disappointed. : )

This year I wasn't sick and had a really exceptional birthday so I wanted to share!

When I got home from work yesterday, I discovered my sweetheart had gotten out of bed right after I'd left that morning, cleaned the house AND baked me a birthday cake all before he had to leave for work! Seriously, how awesome is that when a man cleans and bakes all by himself?

That evening he took me to dinner at The Keg (much yum and free dessert) and afterwards presented me with the uber-special edition of the latest Star Trek movie and (at home) gave me a full body massage. I was totally spoiled!!

To top it off! The finkids also wanted to give me a surprise or two of their own...

I recently got a group of Ruby Greens to round out the stock in my 55g, but the dominant male took a strong disliking to my GBRs, so I separated them and put the GBRs into a 33g I've had sitting around empty for a while. The GBRs were a bit roughed up; Sheba (dom female) had a nick out of her jaw and she and Cleo (sub female) had split fins. That was a week or so ago, and after daily water changes they're recovering nicely which is great.

In fact, they are so happy now in the 33g that, after I returned from my bday dinner, I found eggs! I've never had eggs from either of these females before.

Despite being smaller and a lot younger, I think they're Cleo's, because she was sassing Sheba something fierce and even got caught flaring her gills!

Cleo guarding the eggs:

Sheba seemed really uncertain about the clutch and investigated several times when Cleo wasn't looking:

Then something really bizarre happened: with Cleo looking on, Sheba added a few eggs of her own to the group! Guess she didn't want to be left out?

Unfortunately, the GBR eggs will not hatch because there is no male in the tank. My male died some time ago after I went away for the weekend and the tank he was in at the time spiked. : ( I haven't been able to find a good healthy male since then.

But wait! There was more! I checked on the 55g and lo, I think one of the Ruby Green females might be holding? I'm not totally sure though. She seems to have that "mouthfull" appearance and didn't have it before, though it's admittedly not very prominent:

To compare, here's one of the other females who doesn't have the same pouchy appearance under the mouth.

This is the best pic I could get of the dominant male and potential Dad. He wouldn't sit still!

If the Ruby female is holding, I expect I'll lose the eggs this weekend though. I have to move the 55g tomorrow so I assume she'll either spit or swallow whatever is in her mouth when I start netting the fish to get them out of the tank to tear it down.

But even so, this was all very exciting for me on my birthday!

[Wingin' It]

Well Happy Belated Birthday! Glad it was a good one for you!

Sounds like you had an exciting day! Your female GBRs are sweet! And it certainly looks like the Green female might be holding at least a few eggs in there!

[jvision]

I'd say the Ruby Green is holding. My Paracyps always look like that they day they begin holding - I'm not sure if they decide to add more eggs later, or if the eggs swell, but they always look like they have a mouthful w/in a couple days.

Happy B-Day! :thumbs:

Edited February 5, 2010 by jvision

[Shai]

Thanks guys!

Yesterday I moved the 55g. It took seven hours... But thankfully, the female is still holding! She looks like she has a bigger mouthful now than before too, although I've also seen her flashing a bit. : ( None of her tankmates are flashing though, so I'm not sure what to think. I expect there was a bit of die-off in the filters so I'm going to do some extra water changes regardless, but is it possible she's flashing because having a crammed mouth is uncomfortable?

Either way I'm just going to leave her be and see what happens--how long before I know if she has a successful batch of fry? I figure most, if not all, of the fry will end up picked off by the other fish...but maybe some will survive.

A few more pics, of the move:

The "before" shot:

Really soupy water, yuck! This was after taking everything out. The sand had a lot of gravel in it so I was straining it out while it was still in the tank.

The MTS I saved:

The gravel I ditched. There's still more in the sand (I doubt I'll ever get it all) but I still pulled out about two gallons worth:

The tank after setting it back up:

And a few (better) pics of the Dad:

[Wingin' It]

Great job setting the tank back up! It looks even better after you took the gravel out! Very healthy looking plants! :thumbs: :smokey:

[JLake]

Nice fish nice tank

[Shai]

Thanks! I should post some more pics. The female ruby still has her fry and if I watch closely I can see their little eyes pressed up against the inside of her mouth!

My GBRs laid eggs again too. Still no male for them though. : (

Edited February 22, 2010 by Shai

[Wingin' It]

Maybe you'll luck out at the Calgary Fish Auction and find those girls a man?? LOL

[Shai]

ACK. I don't know what happened, but she was holding last night, and this afternoon she's definitely not. I suppose if she finally let the fry out, most likely there was a massive feeding frenzy in the tank... Dunno?

[Wingin' It]

:smokey: probably, though maybe some survived in the crevices of the aquascaping? One can hope right? :smokey: