Gourami Fact Sheet

Here is a fact sheet of the Gourami

Scientific Name	Trichogaster trichopterus
Family	Belontiidae
Common Names	Three Spot Gourami, Opaline Gourami, Cosby Gourami, Golden Gourami, Silver Gourami
Origin	Malaysia, Thailand, Burma, Vietnam
Adult Size	Up to 10 cm
Social	Peaceful, suitable for community tanks
Lifespan	4 years
Diet	Omnivore, eats most foods
Breeding	Egglayer
pH	6.0 - 8.8
Hardness	5-35 dGH
Temperature	22-28 C

Platties

I have been trying to take some photos of the Platties, but they never stay still long enough for the camera. Below is a blurry photo of one that has two colours in it.

Broken Pump Again

The other morning while having breakfast I noticed that the tank was very quiet. On investigation I found that the pump had stopped working. Luckily I had a spare one from the last time I had to replace the pump, so was able to swap it out that night. Not sure if that is the general lifespan of a pump or just bad luck, but having to replace the pump twice in 4 years is a bit on the expensive side. On the positive side, the water in the tank is looking much clearer.

Rummy-nose Tetra Fact Sheet

Here is a fact sheet of the Rummy-nose Tetra

Scientific Name	Hemigrammus rhodostomus
Family	Characidae
Common Names	Rummy-nose Tetra, Red-nose Tetra, Firehead Tetra
Origin	Amazon Basin, South America.
Adult Size	Up to 5 cm
Social	Peaceful, suitable for community tanks
Lifespan	5 - 6 years
Diet	Omnivore, eats most foods
Breeding	Egglayer
pH	5.5-7
Hardness	2-12 dGH
Temperature	24 - 27 C

Increasing the family

L and I acquired 5 Cardinal Tetras to increase the Cardinal school in the tank, which has slowly been dwindling due to the ravages of time. We also bought 5 Golden Zebra Danios so that we can have a few fast moving fish swimming around the tank amongst the slowish Tetras.Hopefully they will also swim close to the surface as we feel that area of the tank is a bit empty at the moment.

New Plants

Here is a list of the plants we recently bought.

Glossostigma elatinoides - Good foreground plant that will spread and form a carpet when it has the correct light conditions.

Hydrocotyle verticillata - Foreground plant that will spread.

Cryptocoryne beckettii "petchii" - Beautiful green leaves with a reddish stem, ideal for growing in middle to the back of the tank.

Restocking

Today L and I went to a new pet shop to do some shopping to restock the tank. We felt that we needed a few more plants and a few larger fish, as the number of fish in our tank have been decreasing slowly due to natural deaths. We ended up getting 3 different species of plants and 2 Gold Gourami  and 2 Opaline Gourami. The Gouramis are settling in slowly and I will plant the new plants tomorrow. Once the tank has settled down, we will see if more plants or fish are needed.