Post Pictures of your Pets: 2017 Edition

[Corrderio]

I haven't had fish in ages but yeah if you're using gravel you should give it a good wash first to remove any dust/other crap off it. Or if you're trying something fancy and using sand I heard that can take forever to set.

[mallister]

Yeah, absolutely wash the gravel (and anything else you'd put in the tank) before putting it in.

[Gredival]

Anyone a fish tank bro?

Bought a fish tank, thought our daughter (3 years old) would love it, have had it 5 days, can't get the cloudiness out of it. it's had a filter running this whole time and I've added chemicals but seems like no progress. Doesn't even have fish in it yet.

Anyone got any guidance?

It matters what kind of cloudiness it is and what the source is. What chemicals have you added? The stuff that just preps the water for fish won't get rid of most cloudiness. There are chemicals that fix cloudiness from debris by helping to make particles stick together so that they will get caught in the mechanical portion of your filter (if you are running a standard filter that's going to be the cotton padding on the filter cartridge). If that stuff isn't helping, there is a chance, especially for a new tank that, this is a bacterial bloom which will resolve itself after a while.

You should actually run a tank for about a month before adding fish to give the beneficial bacteria that process fish waste time to grow and establish themselves in your filter. Add a little bit of fish food every other day (like a few pellets/flakes) to start the process. You *can* add fish before this, but you have to be diligent about changing some of the water every day because without a bacteria colony prepared the fish's waste will accumulate and literally poison the fish. In nature the density of fish to water usually prevents toxicity from ever reaching this point, but in aquariums you need bacteria to break down ammonia into nitrite and then into nitrate (which eventually needs to be taken out of the water via water changes). Some tougher fish can deal with toxicity while your bacteria colony establishes itself, but fragile fish will die.

Alternatively a lot of live plants that can process the excess waste and make it safe to "cycle" bacteria with fish. But we're talking a verdant green levels of planting, not just two or three bunches from Petco/Petsmart.

[Salodin]

Live plants are a pain bruh, unless you're looking for that look. Just give it time, usually if you skip the washing step you're gonna add a few days to a week to your tanks prep time just cause gravel be like that

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[mallister]

ok, finally. the mangrove snake's grow-out enclosure is completed, outfitted, planted, lighted, and he's moved in:

[Buffy]

Fish tank now has 5 fish in it. A complete water replacement + refill with distilled water + new/better chemicals and our testing numbers finally started making sense.

Bought 5 fish and 3 snails but I think 1 or 2 of the snails has already died (haven't moved in like 6 hours). Any guidance on keeping the snails alive? My daughter is 3 and we were having fun finding them in the fish tank when the moved around, I miss the snails already.

[Salodin]

Snails can often die quick if the water isn't right, but also they're like water pests and once established you'll never get rid of em. Flip a coin, your snails are now immortal in the tank or you'll have to buy a couple more in a few weeks which will be fine once your water cycle is better established.

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[Qalbert]

Had to be put down today. Had a small tumor but didn't seem to be suffering so we were just monitoring him. Stopped eating much this past week and laying around more than usual; took him in and they said he probably only had a couple days, blood cell count was really bad.

[Botosi]

So sorry for your loss

Looks a lot like my old dog Teddy Bear. I'm sure he was the best boy.

[Salodin]

Sorry for your loss qalpal

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[Meresgi]

San Diego Little Italy Corgi Valentines Day event

[Mayareira]

Figured I may get some help here.

I've been looking after a couple of cats in my apartment's garage. I went on a vacation for 2 days and upon my arrival, I found one of the cats extremely lethargic (he was extremely active, always playful), drooling, smelly and overall very sick. Zero aggression or poor manners still though.

The other cat also has a wound that doesn't seem to affect her.

They are basically stray cats but they got so used to us, always at the same spot, have good manners.

There is no doubt that something is seriously wrong with him. My question is that, how can I bring him to a vet? I can't seem to get him into a case, was able to do once but now he doesn't even come anywhere close to it. Are there any tips you guys can offer?

(food doesn't work, he almost completely lost his appetite as well)