July 26th - Thorns

Just some thorns from my dormant Fuchsia Gooseberry bush. Scary looking, ain't it?! :)

July 25th - Aquarium Triptych

It always seems to be the same fish who are enthralled with the flash on the camera! ;)

Anyway, here's a Cardinal Tetra, the Mystery Snail, and a Zebra Danio.

The tetra is the only one I have. I have 8 other Neon Tetras which are extremely close in looks (the red only covers half the body, but that's the only difference I can see), but I can't find any more Cardinals at the local pet stores. It stinks, because they are a schooling fish and like to be in odd-numbered groups. This one seems to be the leader for the Neons. They're always following him around.

The Zebra danios are annoying, and they nip the other fish's fins. I don't like them, but they're hardy and great for starting a new tank. I have 6. They're from India and all the other fish I have are from South America, so that could be why there is so much contention among the Danios and the other fish. (?) I had to take the betta fish out of the tank because of the Danios and the Guppy's tail fin is starting to get a little nipped, but they're nippers, too. I'm going to leave him in the tank. Mainly because I have no place else to put him. :( The betta is in a bowl, now, though.

They snail I already talked about a few days ago. Anyway, I'm rambling again. Sorry. I'll stop now. :)

For those who are interested, my fish tank is 100 gallons. :)

July 24th - Shorebird

This is a shorebird that is at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I don't know what kind. It sucks how hard it is to take a decent shot there, but I think I did pretty good today. I'm saving the best, though. ;)

July 23rd - Otocinclus

This is an Otocinclus. They are sucker fish, who like algae and swim quickly. They're very hard to catch. Otocinclus, at least the dwarf kind, get to be only about 1 1/2 inches long. This one is probably an inch at the most right now. S/he is sucking on the inside of the tank. I took this shot from the side of the tank looking out the front. The one on the left is him/her. ;) (duh.) S/he's got two reflections, for some reason.

For those who've been wondering: Yes, the plants in my tank are silk plants. I can't stand the plastic kind, and the real ones get mauled by the critters, so I went with fabric. :)

I was going to wait and see if I got a better shot later today, but got bored this morning, so decided to try to photograph the fish again. Eventually, I'll be able to get a shot of the Zebra Danios! They swim just as quickly as the Otocinclus do, but the Otocinclus do tend to stop for a while, occasionally.

I'd also like to get a shot of one of my Neon or Cardinal Tetras, but the flash just makes the colors on them explode and it looks like the pic is blurry when it's not, it's only the reflections shooting every which way.

July 22nd - Hillside

I went to my inlaw's house today, and had to drive by some hills. These are typical California hillsides, always brown. ;)

(They do turn green, sometimes.)

I know it's a tad blurry, but we were driving at the time.

July 21st - Mystery Snail

He's not a mystery, that's just what they're called. Look it up. :) (They're also called apple snails.)

I just got this little guy today, to help clear the tank of algae. Unfortunately, it has become a problem. :(

The last time I had one of these, he grew to darn near fist size! This one is about 1 1/2 inches in length, so far. My daughter picked out a yellow one, but they also come in black. Yellow is easier to see against the black background of the tank.

Yes, I know we're back to my fish tank, I just didn't do anything of interest today, so this is what you all get. Sorry. :)

July 20th - Ed

Today's picture is a portrait of my dad, Ed. I asked him if he minded, and he said, "Hell no!" :)
I like how it turned out. He's a handsome fella, ain't he? ;)