Heat Wave

Over the last few days we have been having a heat wave here and I noticed that the temperature has gone up by a whole degree Celsius. I have turned the heater down in case the thermostat is not working. Hope the guests are coping with the increase in temperature as it is getting close to their maximum range. So far all we have seen is more activity than usual, but no signs of distress. If it goes up any more and starts to cause them distress, I will have to either do a water change or add ice blocks to cool them down.

And They Call Him Houdini

L and I have just had a big shock. We just sat down to eat dinner and looked over to the tank and I noticed that the Siamese Fighter was missing. Oh, we thought, he is just hiding somewhere beneath the bogwood or amongst the plants. 5 minutes later and still no sign of him, we started to panic. Our dinner got pushed to the side and we started hunting high and low for him. Could not find him anywhere, I even checked the cross beams, thinking he might have tried to jump out of the tank and landed on one of them. Still no Siamese Fighter. L suggested that maybe he could be in the filter box. I opened the lid and looked in and could not see him, and then low and behold, there he swam into view. One quick net catch later and he was back into the tank.

Now the interesting bit, I am not sure how he got in there! There are no large holes into the filter for him to swim through. The only place we can think of is the gap between the pipe that creates the current and the filter wall. We will have to keep a close eye him to make sure that this does not become a regular occurrence, else I will have to look at ways of bocking the gap.

This is the back between the pipe and the wall. In the time it took me to write the above bit, he went and did it again and got himself into the filter. So I had to come up with a quick solution to stop him getting in again. I took an old plastic plant container that I had kept and cut the bottom off and wedged it over the pipe, blocking the gap. I hope this will work, though it looks awful. Let see if Houdini can get inside now.

Siamese Fighter Fact Sheet

Here is a fact sheet of the Siamese Fighter

Scientific Name	Betta splendens
Family	Osphronemidae, suborder Belontiinae
Common Names	Siamese Fighter, Betta
Origin	Thailand and Cambodia
Adult Size	6cm
Social	Peaceful, suitable for community tanks, though Bettas can be very aggressive towards long-finned fish
Lifespan	2 - 3 years
Diet	Live foods are the ideal diet, but eats most foods
Breeding	Egglayer - bubblenest
pH	6.8 - 7.4
Hardness	up to 20 dGH
Temperature	24 - 28 C

The King And His Entourage Have Arrived

Today L and I went to our local fish shop to see what they might have and we came home with a Siamese Fighter (Betta splendens) and six Cardinal Tetra (Paracheirodon axelrodi), or as I have named them, the King and his entourage. When we bought them they all happened to be in the same tank and Siamese Fighter has the same colouring as the Cardinal Tetras (both have red, white and blue in them)

They appear to be settling in OK. Everyone is busy sorting out the pecking order. The Danios are taking nips at the Siamese Fighter, who either ignores them or just swims away. What is funny is the fact that the remaining Guppy is chasing the Siamese Fighter around and harassing him. It appears the Guppy is quite the bully. I suspect the Guppy is not happy that the Siamese Fighter gets to stay in the penthouse.

Siamese Fighter

Cardinal Tetra

Java Fern And Vallis Update

The Java fern appears to be doing very well. Loads of roots have grown onto the bogwood and seven new leaves have appeared. Also, most of the original leaves have baby plants on them. I am waiting for them to break away so that I can relocate them to other parts of the bogwood. This is a very easy plant to grow in the tank, most difficult part was tying it to the bogwood with cotton thread.

Some of the Giant Vallis plants are doing well. If you look behind the Java fern, you will see some of the 50 cm long leaves flowing in the water current caused by the pump. Most of the other Vallis plant leaves are growing slow and occasionally I find that some have broken off. This is also another easy plant to have in the tank. Its leaves are tougher than they look and can handle strong currents, though something in the tank causes them to break off occasionally.

All Clean

Did a water change and gravel clean tonight, with the help of L. The gravel cleaning appears to be a two person job, one to hold the bucket with the pipe running into it, while the other person moves the large tube around the tank, cleaning the gravel. L gets the unfortunate job of holding the bucket and pipe, while I avoid sucking up the Cories as they come to investigate what I am doing. I suspect they see it as a chance to get some food that is disturbed while I am cleaning.

We removed 3 buckets of dirty water, which we used to water the outdoor plants. Water and fertilizer all in one. Each bucket represents about a third of the gravel in the tank. What I have noticed from my cleaning experiences is that the dirt seems to gather around the plants and in the one corner of the tank where the water is moving slowly, allowing food and dirt to accumulate there. So I will have to concentrate my future cleaning efforts in those locations.

Below is the gravel cleaner I use to clean the tank with. Does a good job, though I struggle to start the syphoning process in the beginning. So far have only had one mouth full of aquarium water. Still getting to grips on how best to use it around the plants.

Thanks L for all your help tonight!

Cleaning preparation

I have decided to do a water change and gravel clean tomorrow, as the gravel is showing signs of dirt in it. So tonight I am doing a bit of preparation for tomorrow's clean. I have removed the algae growth from the glass using my Algae Magnet. This will give the removed algae time to settle on the gravel so that tomorrow it can be sucked up with the gravel cleaner. I have also filled up a large bucket of water to stand overnight so that the Chlorine in the water can evaporate. Don't want to kill off any of the bacteria that help keep the tank in working order. With that all sorted, I am ready to clean.

Sparse Tank

Just a quick update on the tank, which is looking sparse due to the lack of fish and low growing plants, both of which I will have to get when I have more time.

Gardening

Today I decided to do a bit of gardening in the tank. The three Ophiopogon 'Kyoto' (Dwarf Fountain Plant) had turned yellow and was starting to rot, so I removed them from the tank. They only lasted one month, which was a pity as they provided a nice wall in front of the bogwood. While I had my hands in the water, I decided to prune a few of the other plants that had a yellow leaf or two and did a general tidy up. The fish seemed to love having their environment invaded, as they were darting around, trying to see what the giant hand was busying doing. I think they were a bit disappointed when I had finished as their fun had left.

Leopard Cory Fact Sheet

Here is a fact sheet of the Leopard Cory

Scientific Name	Corydoras julii
Family	Corydoradinae
Common Names	Julii Cory, Leopard Cory
Origin	Coastal Brazilian rivers and Lower Amazon River, Brazil
Adult Size	6 cm
Social	Peaceful, suitable for community tanks
Lifespan	2 - 5 Years
Diet	Omnivore, eats most foods
Breeding	Egglayer
pH	6.5 - 7.2
Hardness	4 - 20 dGH
Temperature	20 - 24 C

Serious Problems

OK, the tank has serious problems. I lost 2 more Guppies (Peocilia reticulata). Both were acting lethargic last night and I found them at the bottom of the tank this morning. I have done a gravel clean and water change tonight to see if that will help, though according to the water tests everything is fine. The 7 remaining fish seem to be ok, but only time will tell.

Hotel Kitchen

I have extended the food range in the hotel's kitchen to cater for the Leopard Cories (Corydoras julii). I now also use TetraPrima at feeding time, which is a slow sinking granular food. The Danios love to grab the granules as they sink down, but as the granules are still dry, they are quickly spat out. Once the granules have been sitting on the bottom for a while, they become soft enough to eat. As the Cories make their rounds they find the granules which they appear to suck up as they hover above them. Occasionally the Danios will find the soft granules before the Cories do, leaving them going hungry for the evening. I am hoping to get some live food at some point, but that will be later when the hotel has a few more guests.

Guppy Fact Sheet

Here is a fact sheet of the Guppy

Scientific Name	Peocilia reticulata
Family	Poeciliidae
Common Names	Barbados millions, Guppies, Guppy, Queue de voile
Origin	Central America to Brazil
Adult Size	3.5cm Male / 6cm Female
Social	Peaceful, suitable for community tanks
Lifespan	1 - 3 years
Diet	Omnivore, eats most foods
Breeding	Live bearers
pH	6.0 - 9.0
Hardness	4 - 10 DH
Temperature	18 - 28 C

Baby Java Ferns

When I bought my Java fern (Microsorium pteropus) and tied it to the bogwood, it looked like the picture below.

After a couple of weeks on the bogwood, some of the leaves now have little plants growing on them, see picture below. This is how the Java fern reproduces. Once the new plants have developed roots, they will break away from the mother leaf and float around in the aquarium until they find something to which they will attach. I am hoping to put a few of the new ferns into some holes in the bogwood so that they can grow from there.

First Guests To Check Out

After a few days away on holiday, we came back home to discover that 1 Guppy (Peocilia reticulata) and 2 Zebra Danios (Brachydanio rerio) were missing. Apparently there was a murder mystery week at the hotel.

The missing Guppy below was a favourite of mine as the pattern on his body would be more pronounced when the tank light was switched off. This is because it would reflect any light in the room off the white pattern on it's body.

Not sure what caused the deaths as no bodies could be found. Guess some of the fish ate well while we were away. All the other fish appear to be ok. The fish will be much missed.