Elvis is in the house

This afternoon we went and bought another Siamese Fighter to replace the one that died last year before Christmas. We also need something to try and keep the baby fish population under control as both the Mollies and Platties are breeding excessively.

He is red in colour with a touch of blue towards his back. Photos to follow later. When L saw him, she fell in love with him and named him Elvis. We hope he will supply us with lots of enjoyment.

Major Clean

Today we did a major clean of the tank. Took over two hours to do. It involved an hour's work just pruning the plants and removing the algae. The rest of the time was spent siphoning the water and cleaning the filter, which was way overdue a clean. Tank is looking much better, though the water is a bit murky. Of course the fish had to have their fun by getting into the filter while I was cleaning it, so ended up spending time fishing (excuse the pun) them out.

Sailfin Molly No More

Yesterday I discovered that the Sailfin Molly had gone to the big fish tank in the sky. Over the last week his swimming had been getting worse and we noticed that his body was starting to bend. I think he might have been suffering from old age and like humans who become hunch backed, so do fish. I have noticed this with a few fish that I have had.

An interesting thing I have noticed about the tank is that the female fish live longer than males. Most of the deaths we have had were males, not sure why that is. Could be that the males were older when we got them or that they have short live spans. Or by going on the number of baby Mollies we have, they just wear themselves out.