My tanks

[TwoTankAmin]

It's better that is was the kid and not you. I have made a few mistakes over the years. One cost me 23 zebra plecos at 2+ inches and in another tank 100 amano shrimp (the same mistake did both). What is more import is that the kid is old enough to have learned that one needs to be careful about what gets put into a tank. I have heard/read stories of kids sharing their milk with the fish or adding soap to help clean a tank.

The new set-up is looking pretty nice.

 

[NoodleCats]

It's better that is was the kid and not you. I have made a few mistakes over the years. One cost me 23 zebra plecos at 2+ inches and in another tank 100 amano shrimp (the same mistake did both). What is more import is that the kid is old enough to have learned that one needs to be careful about what gets put into a tank. I have heard/read stories of kids sharing their milk with the fish or adding soap to help clean a tank.

The new set-up is looking pretty nice.

Yeah its a harsh lesson, but he realizes he did something wrong (he doesn't get the concept of death yet though, but hes 5) because he saw how sad i was about it. He's a kind hearted kid, just impulsive and didn't know the "sick bug soap" at the store was still on his hands and that it could hurt the fish.

It just really really sucks.

I lost some of my original cories, so it was a hard emotional hit. Lucky financially it wasn't any of the expensive cories in that tank, but a life has no price tag when it comes to feelings.

These were the ones we lost unfortunately.
I'm the kind of person who can tell each individual apart when it comes to them.
The top left and the middle right were two of my original cories ever too.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

That you can differentiate the individuals is amazing to me. I cannot even come close to doing that. Can you also do this with schoolers like tetras, or is is mostly with the cats?

 

[the loach]

Very sad, they were great looking specimens as well. I've said it before the pics are AAA+, send them over to Seriously Fish and Planet Catfish and Fishbase so they kind of get immortalized a bit.
I can tell my cories and a lot of my fish apart as well. It is hard to impossible with female endlers and tetras when they're literally twins, depending on the species and school something like 3 to 6 out of 10.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Don't forget Scotcat.

My problem is I have too many fish and suffer from OBS and CRS. (If you are under 50 these likely do not mean what you think.)

 

[NoodleCats]

That you can differentiate the individuals is amazing to me. I cannot even come close to doing that. Can you also do this with schoolers like tetras, or is is mostly with the cats?

Some of my tetras, yeah. Not all as they move a lot but if they sat still I could get an idea. My skirt tetras I can though. Just not my black neons except a couple of the big girls and the one that has 2 tails.

I cant tell my pygmy cories apart much though, because they hide a lot and skedaddle too fast to get a good view lol same with the kubotai rasboras as they don't sit still at all.

But my larger cories and my loaches I can generally tell most apart. My livebearers I can tell apart but theyre all marked differently.

I can tell my 3 hoplos apart, their spots are in different locations and I try to memorize a single pattern thats unique to that individual. One female has 4 spots in a paw print type pattern on her tail, the other has 3 spots in a vertical line at the base of the tail. The male has the bigger pectoral fins and he has a bolder personality too.

Urchin, the female with the 4 spot pawprint at the base of her tail


Starfish, the female with a vertical line of 3 spots at the base of her tail


Squid, the male with his hooked thick pectoral spines.



Other times I use head shape or body shape to tell fish apart too since there is visual variations within the same species too.

 

[fishorama]

I'm having trouble seeing the paw print but do see the others' markings. As I age I find it harder to focus on individual fast schoolers, & like you said some, fish hide too much to identify as more than 1 of "those" species unless they have marking, territory or behavior quirks. Often just biggest female or something.

I could tell my pangio semicinctas apart most times. 2 hung out in tall plants & were so mellow they didn't move when I reached in their tank. That freaked me out more than a few times...& them too when I touched them to make sure they weren't dead, lol. But they all had slightly different patterns & gender shapes too.

I have to admit I didn't remember this tank photo forum way, way down past, well, everything on AC I pay attention to...until I figured out where TTA's music thread is...How many years have I been on this board? Sheesh But I did spend a lot of yesterday looking at your tanks Noodle...better late than never as they say It was fun binge looking but 30 pages took a while...lol, I had to get take out Thai food for dinner...well, you were the excuse

 

[NoodleCats]

I'm having trouble seeing the paw print but do see the others' markings. As I age I find it harder to focus on individual fast schoolers, & like you said some, fish hide too much to identify as more than 1 of "those" species unless they have marking, territory or behavior quirks. Often just biggest female or something.

I could tell my pangio semicinctas apart most times. 2 hung out in tall plants & were so mellow they didn't move when I reached in their tank. That freaked me out more than a few times...& them too when I touched them to make sure they weren't dead, lol. But they all had slightly different patterns & gender shapes too.

I have to admit I didn't remember this tank photo forum way, way down past, well, everything on AC I pay attention to...until I figured out where TTA's music thread is...How many years have I been on this board? Sheesh But I did spend a lot of yesterday looking at your tanks Noodle...better late than never as they say It was fun binge looking but 30 pages took a while...lol, I had to get take out Thai food for dinner...well, you were the excuse

Here, zoomed in and outlined for the "paw print"


Its just little things sometimes.

Most my fish have names, too lol but to me they're all individuals, even the ones I cant tell apart, so im always sad to lose any of them.

Ive got a couple tank photos I gotta update here in a bit actually lol

 

[fishorama]

Thank you, you know I need circles sometimes But I have to say "paw print" is stretching it a bit...lol

I do enjoy your tanks...in any forum I can find...now at least I know to page down, down, down,

 

[NoodleCats]