Here fishy, fishy, fishy!

Well, it had to happen. Everyone else seems to blog about their kids, dogs, and hobbies and its been a slow couple of days so I'm posting about my fish. Yeah, the kids are fun and full of energy but I can actually sit down and watch these guys without getting annoyed after a few minutes, they don't talk back, they don't scream in my ear when I have a headache and I only have to clean up after them about once a week (if I'm ambitious). Besides, since I'm constantly studying for tests (passed my site design exam by-the-way), I don't have much of a life. I have a stack of books to read and a couple remodel projects for the second these tests are out of the way.

Anyway, back to fish. I've kept fish for about 9 years now and I think I finally have a knack for it. The tank in the pictures below has been set up for about a year and a half and I've had most of the fish that long too. My favorite kind of fish are Central and South American cichlids, which are closely related to North American perch like sunnies, pumpkin seed and bluegill. I really like the larger fish but these are all in a 29 gallon tank so I can't go too crazy.

The fish below are a pair of curveceps. I found them about 8 months ago at a local pet shop, did my research, and picked the two fish I thought would most likely be male and female. I still don't know for sure, and I probably won't ever know for sure unless they mate. I really like these guys because they strongly resemble some of their bigger brothers with subtle colors, a rounded shape, and great personalites all in a very compact package. However, they are pretty shy. (By-the-way, fish are really hard to take pictures of. I had four good pictures out of 30. Thank goodness for digital cameras.)

I also bought a couple of Bolivian Rams hoping I'd get a pair. I'm not as confident about this selection. I think they are both male. (I also thought I had two male severums in New Jersey and they breed a month or so after I gave them away to move here). These guys are fun and always rush the tank when I approach. Hungry little fellows.

The next guys are the pride and joy of my tank. I actually found them at some evil discount chain store ...eh..hem...walmart...eh..hem... that has no business selling fish. I like to say that I rescued them. I'd actually never seen this variety of angel fish before so I thought I'd give it a try. I found out later that they are the original angelfish as they exist in the Amazon. Most of the other angels have been breed for special qualities like marble patterning, stripes, veil tails, etc. They have actually changed quite a bit as they have matured. The large male on the left is quite striking and about eight inches tall. The fish on the right has some strange blotch markings that come and go as "it's" mood changes. I say "it" because "it" is almost impossible to tell the sexes of angel fish so I have no idea what "it" is. The "large male" has a hump on its forehead called the nuchal hump which is pretty typical in dominant male cichlids so I assume its male.

The smaller angel again. A few months after I got the angelfish, this one somehow broke its dorsal fin and its been gimpy ever since. It can fully extend it when it wants to but otherwise the fin just rests as shown in the photo.
Anyone still with me? Yeah, I know, kind of boring but I really get a kick out of it. I actually read books about fish and other aquatic wildlife for fun. Must be something wrong with me.