Animals
Bunnies
Bunnies II 
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Degus
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Ferrets by BOB
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Hamsters V
Hedgehogs
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Parasites
Rats I
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Rats III
Rats, Hairless
S-T Opossums
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Water Bottles

Bugs
Crabby 500
Crab 04 Results
Centipedes
Cray/Lobsters
Crayfish II
Crayfish III
Cray, Yucatan
Fiddler Crabs
Shrimp, Algae
Shrimp, Aqua
Shrimp, Red
Shrimp, Flower
Shrimp, Ghost
Shrimp, Rudolph
Hermit Crabs
Hermit Crabs II
Madagas Roach
Mantids
Mini-Clams
Mini-Crabs
Patriot Crabs
Giant Millipedes
Red Claw Crabs
Reiman Butterfly
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Snail, Colombian
Snail, Land
Snail, Malaysian
Snail, Mystery
Snail, Trapdoor 
Scorpions
Tarantulas
Tarantulas II
Tarantula Night 2006
TarantulaWeen VII
TarantulaWeen 9
Misc. Bugs
Misc Bugs II  

Birds
Breeding Tips
Button Quail
Canaries
Cockatiels
Dove, Diamond
Dove, Ringneck
Finches
Love Birds
Parakeets
Pelleted Foods
Quaker Parrots
Parrot Pictures
Parrot Pix II
Parrot Pix III
Dave's Parrots

Lizards
Alligators
Anoles
Bearded Dragon
Beardies II
Calotes
Chamel, Jackson
Chamel, Panther
Chamel, Veiled
Crested Geckos
Gecko, Golden
Gecko, House
Gecko, Leopard
Gecko, Tokay
Horned "Toads"
Iguana New
Iguana Dragons
Iguana Q&A I
Iguana Q&A II
Iguana Training
Iguana Update
Cool Iguana Pics
Knight Anoles
Monitors, Nile
Monitors, Savana
Monitors, Water
Salmonella
Skinks
Skinks Blue-Tongue
Tegus
Uromastyx maliensis
Water Dragon
Misc Lizards
Misc Lizards 2
Misc Lizards 3
Misc Lizards 4
Misc Lizards 5
Misc Lizards 6
Misc Lizards 7
Misc Lizards 8
Misc Lizards 9


Snakes
Anacondas
Boa, Rosy
Boa, Red-Tail
Corn Snake
Garter Snake
Green Snake
Kids/Corn Snakes
Kids/Red-Tail Boas

Kids at Pet Expo 1

Kids at Pet Expo 2

Kids at Pet Expo 3

Kids at Pet Expo 4

Kids at Pet Expo 5
King & Milk
Python, Ball
Python, Burmese

Snakes Alive
Snakesgiving
Snakesgiving II
Misc Snake Pix
Misc Snakes II
Misc Snakes III  

Turtles/Tortoises
Box, Asian
Box, USA
Races
Snapping

Sulcata
Water
Western Painted

Live Foods
Blackworms
Blood Worms
Br Shrimp I
Br Shrimp II
Crayfish 1
Crayfish 2
Crayfish 3 
Crickets
Daphnia
Earthworms
Feeder Goldfish
Fruit Flies
Ghost Shrimp

Glass Worms

Grindal Worms
Infusoria
Mealworms
Microworms
Rosy Reds

Super Worms

Wax Worms
White Clouds

Decorating
Bubbles
Driftwood
Gravel
Plastic Plants
Rocks
Slow Growing Plants

Miscellaneous
Bob's Acclimation

How to Start
How to Add New Fish
How to Keep Healthy
Which Fish Get Along?
10 Questions to Ask
What is Ich?
Under Gravel Filters

Sponge Filters
Cloudy Water
Cool Water Tanks
Gravel Vacuums
Preventing Disease
Feeding to the Max
Frozen Foods
Green Water
Nasty Chemicals
Overfeeding
Power Filters
Rift Lake Salts
Quarantine Tank
Mini-Tank
2nd Av Bait

Pet World Visit
Dandelions

Aquatic Plants
Amazon Swords
More Swords
Sword Plants III
Anubias
Aponogetons
A. boivinianus
A. fenestralis
A. ulvaceous
Aquarium/Bog
Banana Plant
Bolbitis
Bunch
Bunch Plants II
Cryptocorynes
Crystalwort
Dwarf Lily
Grassy
Grassy II
Hornwort
Hygrophila
Lace
Java Lance Fern
Java Moss
Moss Balls
Onion
Vermiculite
Watersprite

Pre-Prologue:  I really need to preface my remarks by saying there are some purists in the cichlid hobby that consider hybrids if not an abomination, then at least within spitting distance of same.  No one's ever accused me of being a "purist."  At least not lately.  We all have our prejudices.  We'll let them have theirs, and we'll all be happy.  A couple weeks ago I bred a pair of reputed convict X firemouth parents to see if their separate strains sorted out.  Their eggs died, but then this was their first spawn.  Recently somebody brought us some red parrot X dempsey youngsters.  Is there no end to this madness?

LA
Our selected parents matched up on aquaharmony.com.  They were not housed together originally.

LA
Our studly 8-inch male.  Nice color and head bump.

LA
Another view of said male.  Note the black "spots" along his sides.  Ignore the eye flash reflection.

LA
Our winsome and willing 6-inch female.  Not as much of a bump -- not an accurate sex determination.

LA
Apparently, the "scribble" patterns along her sides are a sought after trait.

LA
They meet.  Love at first sight.  That's a good sign.  Sorry about that reflection.

A Bit of Kanoodling:  Our stars evinced little body slapping.  And after some initial lip locking, they got along fine.

LA
He's got the weight advantage on her, but they're not really fighting.  Just getting to know each other.

Conditioning Foods:  Prior to their aquaharmony.com hookup, both were fed regular cichlid pellets from our bulk supply.  No alternative foods or supplements were offered.  Nor were extra daily feedings made.  They decided to breed on their own.  Time to ramp up the process.

LA
Who could turn down a tasty worm?  Ladies first.

LA
He looked a bit hungry, so we gave him some extra protein.

Over Voice Interruption:  For some reason, I think nightcrawlers contain a secret "horny vitamin."  Worms seem to get their motors running.  When we dropped in the first worm, she grabbed it first.  He had to be coaxed.  He wouldn't chomp his worm until the second day.

LA
More pre-snogging activities ensue.

LA
Shortly after inserting a slate spawning site.

Pit Assistance:  They started digging out potential breeding pits.  If they dug down to their under gravel filter, their eggs could not be relocated (by me).  And, if they hatched, the larvae would be sucked under.  So, I helped them (in my opinion) by inserting an easily discovered piece of slate for them to dig out.  When I inserted it under their gravel, the male expressed his disapproval by trying very hard to bite me.  A net in my other hand fended him off until my mission was a fait accompli.

LA
"Where'd our pit go?"

LA
They started re-digging their potential spawning site in this corner.

LA
They swept their substrate aside with their bodies,

LA
And they grabbed mouthsful of rocks and spit them elsewhere.

LA
My camera-finger wasn't fast enough to catch many mouthsful.  It was only half-fast.

LA
Not as much of a spawning pit as they prefer.  Still work to do.

LA
We can barely detect our starlet's breeding tube.  She's not quite ready.  His is even less obvious.

LA

Intermission:  Just a short break (20 or so hours).  I separated them and left the female in charge of the 55.  The next day they go back together again. 

Next Day:  The report continues.  Kellie dropped the male back in the tank before I came to work.  Sort of a morning off to go with my usual afternoons off.  We notice a small problem.  Actually, ich is even smaller

LA
That's not dandruff atop his head.  Fortunately, ich's pretty easy to cure.

The Probable Cause:  Our male formerly resided in a 20H on our top row, some 13 feet high.  The female in the 55 was about five feet above the floor.  Warm air rises.  Dropping him in the lower tank evidently triggered stress which allowed the ich parasites to gain a foothold.

The Cure:  Normally I'd hit them with the standard Malachite Green and Formalin ich cure.  But, since we're expecting eggs, this remedy will zap the eggs.  So, we're adding a heater to bring the temp up to 80 F.  Unfortunately, the higher temp may make them more aggressive.  We'll see.

The Hiatus:  Seems they needed five days off to recover from the ich.  Now, they are back together again.

LA
At least they're getting along great.

LA
Working on more pits.

LA
He thinks this pit is fine.

LA
He's showing off to her.

LA
She's working on him also.

LA
So they dug a new pit.

LA
Where I promptly placed another piece of slate (which they accepted).

LA
They promptly dug the pit even larger.

LA
So I covered the slate again.

LA

LA
Three days later.  Still later.

Jaguar Spawning II
Jewel Fish
Keo's Flowerhorns
Keo's Flowerhorns II
Kribensis
Odd Couple Spawn
Oscars 1
Oscars 2
Oscars 3
Oscars 4
Oscars 5
More Oscar
More Oscar II
More Oscars III
More Oscars 2007
More Oscars 2007.5
Oscar Spawn
Peacock Bass
Red Devils
More Red Devil
Red Parrots
Red Parrots Spawn
Red Parrot Spawn II
Pikes
Pink Tilapia
Rams
Red Bay Snooks
Red Bay Snook Spawn
Roger Stephen's Cichlids
Severums
More Severums
Severums III
Tanganyikans
Texas Cichlid
Texas Spawning
Texas Spawn II
Uarus
Misc Cichlids I
Misc Cichlids II
Misc Cichlids III
Misc Cichlids IV
Misc Cichlids V
Misc Cichlids VI
Misc Cichlids VII
Misc Cichlids VIII
Misc Cichlids IX

Livebearer  
Guppies
Half-Beak
Mollies
Moons/Platys
Swordtails

Minnows/Tetra 
Barbs
Barbs, Black
Barbs, Gold
Barbs, Rosy
Barbs, Tiger
Barbs, Tinfoil
Danios
Danio Egg Saver
Distochodus
Fathead Minnows
Headstanders
Killies, Econ.
Killies, Golden
Killies, Peat
Killies, Plant
Misc Mini-Fish
Pacús 
Piranha, Black
Piranha, Red
Rainbowfish

Rainbowfish, Dwarf Neon
Rainbowfish, Irian
Silver Dollar
Tetras, Larger
Tetras, Smaller
Tetras, Spawn
Tetra, Vampire
White Clouds

Pond Fish
Carp
Channel Cat
Gold. Comets
Gold. Fantails
More Fantails
Gold. Oriental  
Gold Oriental II 
Gold. Spawn
Kloubec Koi Farm
Koi
Koi II

Koi III
Oranda Spawn
Plecostomus
Shubunkins

Oddballs  
Af. Butterfly
Af. Lungfish
Af. Mudskippr
American Eel
Archer Fish
Arowana
Bichirs
Borneo Suckers
Brackish I
Brackish II
Brackish III
Brackish IV
Brackish V
Michael Troung's Pix
Butterfly/Wasp
Chameleon Fish
Chromides
Chin Alg Eater
Crazy Fish
Crocodile Fish
Datnioides
Dojo
Dwarf Puffers
Electric Cat
Electric Eels
Elephant Nose
Exodon paradoxus
Flounder
Gars  
Glassfish
Goby Bumble
Goby Butterfly
Goby Dragon
Goby Misc.
Half-Beak
Knife African
Knife Clown
Knife Ghost
Loach Botias
Loach Clown
Loach Kuhli
Loach Weather

Longear Sunfish
Moray Eel  
Peacock Gudgeons
Polypterids
Puffers
Ropefish
Scats
Siam Algae Eater 
Spiny Eels 
Snakehead
Stingray
Stonefish
Wasp Fish
Wolffish
Wrest Half-Beak
Misc Mini-Fishes
Misc Odd
Misc Odd II
Misc Odd III
Misc Odd  IV

Misc Odd V
Misc Odd VI

Sharks  
Bala
Black
Bull
Chinese Hi-Fin Banded
Iridescent
Red-Tail
Siam Algae Eater

Pond Info 
Blank Park Zoo
Bob Humphrey's Ponds
Cattails
Maffett Reservoir
DMACC's Pond
D.M. Botanical Center
D.M. Water Works
Dr. Ervanian's Garden
Duckweed
Dwarf Lily
Ewing Park "Pond"
Jan & Chris's Water Garden
John McDonald's Pond
Hall's Four Acres
Klines' Water Garden
Landscaper Effects
Mini-Pond Pics
Pioneer Corn's Pond
Pond Fish Predators
Pond on 38th Street 
Pond Pics
Pond Plants
More Pond Plants
Pond Plants III
Reiman Ponds
River Scenes
Riverview Island
Selin's Water Gardens
Selin's Japanese Garden
Tom's Used Cars Pond
Urbandale Duck Pond
Water Hyacinth
Water Lettuce
Wild Ponds