Jo O'Brien

Written by:

Jo O'Brien
August 7, 2009

Tags:

Unexpected Pregnancy

Nature is a funny thing. You go to the aquarium and buy 12 female fish. You don’t give them names because, lets get serious here – it’s pretty damn hard to tell plain orange fish apart.

So you leave the girls unattended for a while without any parental supervision and then… You wake up one morning to find several baby fish swimming around the tank just beckoning the bigger fish to mistaken them for food.

Something about this whole situation seems a bit fishy to me!

^{This is the mummy fish (maybe) I can’t tell them apart}

^{This is taken with the same lens at the same distance (so you can see the size difference)}

^{This is a baby fish near the tiny pebbles at the bottom of the tank – fish food is bigger than it!}

Katagram

AWWWWWWWWWWWW…babies !!!!!
coppertrees

LOL HEHE congratulations!!!!
Hien Nguyen

I used to keep cichlids and they’d do the naughties all the time. You have to have another tank and remove them straight away though, if you don’t want them to be eaten.
Jo O'Brien replied

I’m amazed they are still alive, considering that they are the same size and colour as the fish food we give the bigger fish!
Matt Simner

Now that’s a great journal title to get people reading! :)
Jo O'Brien replied

I couldn’t help it – it seemed so appropriate! lol
Sue Kane

Congrats Nana…lol
shanghaiwu

wonderful!
Craig Goldsmith

Everyone loves babies, or any variety! Congrats Jo, and nice title :).
Jo O'Brien replied

We are gushing like proud parents
Karen Cougan

oh mumma Jo….......lol
xkc
webbie

LOL congratulations….:)
michael embelton

I thought you were going to say you were expecting….I got all excited.
Paul Louis Vil...

Awwww, that’s soooo cute! :D
Jo O'Brien replied

I figured that if you can post about your new puppy dog, I can post about my fish having babies ;)
Holly Werner

Aww you are a mommy! Gratz Jo lol
Darren Stones

Wow, that’s exciting news.
Jo O'Brien replied

The last time I was this excited was when you changed your avatar and I had to click on your profile no fewer than 6 times before I believed my eyes :)

(looks mighty spiffy by the way!)
Darren Stones

Settle down Jo, that’s a real dolphin in my left hand. ;)
Sorina Williams

Fishy alright! :)
Lara Luz

get one of those separators for them before they get eaten! That being said they’ll prob be ok hiding amongst the plants there. If you find that when they grow up you have too many, I’ll be happy to take some off your hands, I’m looking at upgrading our tank to a nice 6 footer.

Oh, and we always name our fish. When we can’t tell some apart we just call them all ‘hobres’. So there’s Jose and his Hombres and sharps the shark and his homeboys. Vinnie the Cleaner, and cousin inbred aka I.B. (he’s a little strange from being in-bred) and his cousins. We have no idea why but we always give them male names. Go figure.
Jo O'Brien replied

We talked about separating them but they have been doing a really good job of hiding in the plants and inside this rock/pot thingy we have in there. It will get mighty crowded in there if they all survive – is your tank warm fresh water?
Lara Luz

yeah warm, fresh. I don’t think I could handle looking after salt water fish. too much to have to keep an eye on.
Jo O'Brien replied

Well, if they all survive, you may find me on your doorstep with plastic bag full of fish for adoption
joshmc

Sooo cute!
Paola Luz

Not true Lara…we had Carmen when we got Victor Hugo!
Paul McClintock

You should also watch out for the filter… that’s another way tiny fish can disappear. Not to mention they’ll die if you so much as look at them crooked… fish are so fragile.
Jo O'Brien replied

yeah, that’s actually how we first spotted them. James was like “what’s this orange thing in the filter”

Poor fishy :(
Lara Luz

Cool, we don’t have any mollys :)
Samantha Cole-...

How cute Jo, these guys are Platy’s they don’t tend to eat there young so they are safe in there with their parents. Now if they were Guppies that would be a whole new ball game as they will eat their own children!
Have fun !!
Jo O'Brien replied

Good to know their parents won’t eat them, but we also have 2 angel fish – they are a big aggressive as far as fish go and are my main concern.
Samantha Cole-...

Actually i think they might be Molly’s but sam applies, they don’t tend to eat their young either!
Samantha Cole-...

Yep Angel fish will definitely eat them! They are beautiful fish but aggressive little blighters. I have had an aquarium for 12+ years now and I have always found my angel fish will eat anything small enough to fit in their greedy little mouths! LOL!
Molly’s and Platy’s are great fish for breeding though… good way to fill your tank on the cheap too!
thickblackoutline

soooo cuuuuuuuuuuuttee!! :) :)
Melinda Kerr

My fishies in my outdoor pond had little fishies and I was so stoked I’d become a mama. Then those little fishies had their own little fishies and then I became a grandmama! That’s a spin out. I also named one of my fishies James Hird after the essendon footballer. When Hird retired so did Hirdy the fish.
davesphotograp...

ahhhh amazing things baby fish so small when born and the manage to live and grow great stuff
tkrosevear

Cool you are officially a grammy-fish Jo (name given from granddaughter) hehehe ;) xoxox ♥
Jenni Smith

sweet jesus you had me going there for a second.
Gary Gurr

Nice one Jo.
berndt2

very cool indeed 8) the cynic in me kind of assumed goldfish didn’t breed because pet stores would go out of business if small fishies could make more – even smaller – fishies!
zomboy

gorgeous. bought back memories of when i had guppies as a kid – great stuff!!
Simon Liberta

Little fishies
So Cute :)
Aaron .

What a bargain !
DeviousLili

Alright, that’s it. One of these days, Alice … pow! :P

I was sipping my morning coffee quite nonchalantly; Happily, mind you! and upon reading this Journal’s title nearly spit it out and onto my desk. Nearly being less than Definitely and taking into account the adoration levels, I forgive you.

But you’ve got one coming. Haha! xoxox
Erin Lyall

Haha wow the title of this freaked me out a little, I have to say. Cute fish though.
Christopher E...

whew..thought it was you! lol
make sure you put something in front of the pump in front of the tank, or it will suck the babies up, also, the parents will eat them, so create a few hiding places for them that only they can get into until they get bigger
and congrats mom….lol
Midori Furze

Sweeeeet!!
I like the fish name “Sushi”
Do you want to call one of them Sushi?
It is a popular name for fish!!
Jo O'Brien replied

Since you are so keen on the idea, just for you, I have decided to call one of them sushi.
Ally O'Brien

If only human females could get ‘unexpectedly pregnant’ sigh
I like Sushi lol. Good name!
Jeff Burns

LOL OMG I just got my daughter some fish. Am I gonna be a dad again. OMG!!!!