hole in the head

My fish have holes in their heads. No really. Holes. Small holes, but in a fishes world, small means big.

For as long as i can remember i've had fish. Currently, I have 4 tanks - mostly cichlids as in recent years i've developed an interest in variety of fish with so many species from different parts and habitats around the world.

Last summer, I added a high intensity light to one of my tanks hoping to grow more plants. The idea was to build a CO2 infuser and have a garden in my house! sweet! the not so sweet part was learning of possibility for such home-made CO2 contraptions to explode due to excessive fermentation and resultant CO2 buildup. As much as i love to blow stuff up, i decided to nix this particular project as i like my house without fermented stinky slime spewn all over it. The light, however, remained.

Lo and behold, water chemistry and nutrient balance is a tricky thing. Too much light leads to quick plant growth depleting CO2. This in turn sparks other nutrient deficiencies in the water yielding:

1. green spot algae - an algae that only can be removed via busting out the guns and showin that tank who's boss. yea, it's seriously that tough to get off.
   
2. fish with holes in their heads.

I noticed the fin deterioration but they were still eating. I tthought perhaps they were dueling at night - biting off each other's fins, to the point of no return. then i noticed them starting to darken in color. I researched and researched and finally, this week i discovered hole-in-the-head disease. Also called Hexamita because of it's association with certain protozoan bastards that slowly tear apart said fishes insides... poor fishes!

Above right: take note of the finless fish (poor nemo!) No his fins are not down, they are MISSING. and the remnant nubs are frayed. The light discoloration in between their eyes is the HOLE. there are a bunch there.

in short, i'm starting to treat the tank as recommended and hope my little guys heal - atleast some. long-term fin damage may be irreparable, but i'm hoping for some recovery. wish me luck!

Pine Siskins!

Speaking of CHICKENS ... on a completely random and unrelated (except for that whole "Animal Kingdom" deal) the Pine Siskins are STILL HERE en masse! i have flocks of 50 swinging by and I'm filling the feeders many times a week!!! Lucky that we have them this year in town to see!! They're cute little guys, a few picts are below. More are here.




AND while we're speaking chickens, I have to announce a mistake made on this blog! i mistakenly labeled a red-shouldered hawk a red-tailed. Not that you really care, but I know something now. That makes me special.
the end.