Pruning

I have had to do some pruning of the Vallis, as it was starting to cover most of the top of the tank, causing the main source of light to be blocked out. Some of the leaves that were removed were longer than the length of the tank. I was amazed at how few leaves you had to remove to suddenly see a difference.

The other problem is that there are so many leaves in the way that when it comes to feeding, a lot of food gets trapped on top of the leaves, preventing the fish from getting to it. As I also want to setup the automatic feeder this week, I did not want the food getting stuck there.

Tank viewed from above

Baby Update

The good news is that the baby Molly is still around and growing. It is still white, but now has a few black spots appearing on its body. I have tried to take some photos of it, but because it does not stay still long enough, all I get is just a blur. The picture below is the best I can do to date.

Blurry baby Molly amongst the Vallis

Tank Update

The sick Molly is still sick. He has started eating a bit, but generally is not doing well. There are a few scales that are missing and the speckled Molly is returning the favour of chasing him around the tank. I am surprised he has lasted this long.

The Kuhli loaches are settling in and have made the gap under the bogwood their home. They can be found hiding there most of the time and only come out when the lights are off or there is a bit of food out. But they are slowly acclimatising to the tank and every now and then we see one swimming along the bottom.

I now know why they call the shrimp "Ghost Shrimp". It is not because they are see-through, but it is because you do not get to see them! Since they have entered the tank, I have only seen them a few times. They appear to like the Java fern and now and then I see both of them hanging on the leaves. Occasionally a fish will chase them around until they get away.

Last but not least, the snails have been reproducing. The total number of snails have increased and we have even seen some snail egg sacks on the Java fern's roots. They appear to live mostly on the Vallis and Java fern. I might have to invest in a fish that likes snails for dinner to start keeping the snail population under control.

I also noticed that the Vallis was starting to block out the light to the plants below, so I decided to do a bit of pruning. I thinned out the longest leaves, creating space for the new leaves. I decided to cut the leaves just as they reached the surface. Some of the off-cuts were nearly a metre long, so the total length of the leaf must have been over a metre.

Kids Club

Over the last few days I have noticed a large weight gain on one of the Danios and a large weight loss from the speckled Molly. This morning I discovered why. I noticed a baby Molly swimming amongst the Vallis. So we have officially opened a kids club at the hotel.

I thought the mommy Molly looked a bit on the plump side when we got her and hoped she was pregnant, turns out that she was. I guess the rest of the young became a fast food snack for the rest of the fish as the last remaining one was not there tonight. This would explain why the Danio's stomach is so swollen. Eating food on the swim. If I had more foliage in the tank for the babies to hide in, it might have increased their survival chances. Pity I did not have a small tank to transfer the babies to, might be something I will get in the future.

Took some photos, but because of the Mollie's size it was very difficult to get a decent shot.

Can you see the baby?

Look at the red circle

Uprooted

I have been away for a few days and came back to a tank that has had most of the Cabomba uprooted. My current suspects are the Mollies as they have a habit of nibbling on plants and if those plants are not rooted down strongly, they slowly get pulled free of the substrate and end up floating.

I took some awful photos to show the effects of the uprooted plants in the tank.

The sparse location where the plants used to be.

Caught on the Java fern and Vallis

Caught on the bogwood

Replanted

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.

More Flora

I have bought some more plants to fill the gaps of the plants I have lost. I decided to get plants to try and hide the box that stores the filter, heater and pump in, and to get some plants that will be low growers.

Vallisneria gigantea (Giant Vallis) - The long, fleshy leaves of this Vallisneria may reach up to a metre in length and will trail across the surface. Ideal for hiding boxes or equipment. Best grown at the back of the tank. As the leaves will trail across the surface, it can block out the light to lower growning plants, so it will have to trimmed to size.

Cryptocoryne petchii - This crypt is ideal for the foreground of the aquarium where it will spread via daughter shoots borne on runners.