LA
Sold to us as a 2-inch "blue shark."  Won't stop moving for a good shot.

LA
No idea what it is.  Awfully bright blue.  Could be dyed?

A:  Thanks for your info.  I added it to Oddballs VIII.  LA

A:  I doubt your dumpies would go into even an inch of water to eat a neon tetra.  I'll have to experiment with some dumpies in a moist container to see if they will eat a fish even on "dry" land.  Frogs that live on the edge of ponds will, but I doubt that dumpies will.  It is always best to filter the water in your fish tank.  LA

A:  Thanks for the photos and report.  I added them to my Pac Man page.  LA

A:  Blackskirt tetras, Gymnocorymbus ternetzi, are perhaps the easiest tetras to spawn.  Go to our Tetras, Spawn page for the details.  LA

A:  It's amazing how many dumpies get named "Kermit."  If they were a bit more economical, everyone would have at least one.  LA

A:  You were mentioned in two different places.  You are now just plain ol' Ryan.  LA

A:  At least it's a believable amount, unlike the seven other money laundering proposals I received earlier today.  LA

A:  Most fishes have these things called gill rakers that strain the crud out.  If the sand has soluble calcium in it, that could be a problem.  I do so many water changes that it wouldn't affect my fish.  The fine sand doesn't seem to bother the fish in the dozen or so tanks I've got it in.  Sponge filters work okay.  Power filters with impellors occasionally freeze up from the grit.  LA 

A:  I had the same problem in four of my sand bottom tanks.  I was doing 90% water changes every other day to get rid of it.  It returned every time.  The problem is diatoms -- a type of free-floating algae.  The aluminum sulfate flocculants did not work, even with power filters.  The oxidizer potassium permanganate did not work.  Then I tried AlgaeFix.  This is like a "duh" solution.  The bottle was in the cupboard right next to all our other magic elixirs.  Two days later, no slightly tinted cloudy water.  LA

Captured on LA's shoulder by Paul Greene.  See Mantids.

A:  Paul grabbed this one off my shoulder bare-handed four days ago.  He (the mantis, not Paul) had landed there while we were outside looking at all the yellow tape around a pre-morning fire.  We've always grabbed mantids bare handed.  However, you can catch them in a fish net.  If you need an official butterfly net, you can get one at the Dollar Tree.  Or save a buck and grab it bare-handed.  Work without a net like the Wallenda Brothers.  How many crickets they will eat is like the "How much wood would a" ... etc.  See Mantids for more details.

A:  Most die by December/January.  LA

A:  I've mixed angelfish and goldfish for years and they get along fine.  The African butterflyfish should get along fine.  Be careful with the parrots.  Most are mellow.  Some must carry more of their red devil heritage and can be troublemakers.  Most of the rainbowfish will make good tank mates.  They take a while to develop their colors, but the wait is usually worth it.  LA

A:  Yes.  We call them flutterbies.  LA

LA Pic
Approximately 40 painted ladies were on this sedum.

Pics stolen from Iowa State University Department of Etymology.

Left:  Red Admiral,  Right:  Painted Lady

A:  Sounds like you've read that book Everyone Poops by Taro Gomi.  I haven't read it yet because I was waiting for the movie.  As a result, I'm not a certified coprologist, or even a scatologist.  We keep tegus over shredded aspen so it never really mattered to us exactly what tegu feces were like.  LA
PS  In the UK they call it Everyone Poos.

LA
Three-inch leopard ctenopoma.

A:  I like leopard ctenopomas.  The one above lives happily with a same size Osphronemus gourami and several six-inch peacock eels.  I usually mix the smaller leopard ctenopomas with same-size cichlids because they have about the same temperament.  Iridescent sharks are nearly always on the move unless intimidated.  Leporinus mix very well with African cichlids.  Try taking out your leporinus and see if your sharks perk up.  LA

A:  Internal workin's are not my specialty.  However, Senegal bichirs have a long gut which they use to absorb oxygen.  Still, knowing that there's something wrong in that general region doesn't really help much.  All I can say for sure is the plants had nothing to do with his problem.  He probably took too much air into his gut.  It may pass out thru either end.  His prognosis is questionable.  LA