Bloodworms

Today we went to the local fish shop to get some frozen bloodworms for the guests. I thought it would be a good idea to vary their diet. The bloodworms come in a pack of 30 portions. I popped one portion out and dropped the frozen cube into the tank. It took a while to thaw out and then sank to the bottom of the tank as one big lump of knotted worms. The fish loved them, especially the Danios, Cories and the Cardinals. One Danio ate so much that it's stomach is now exceptionally swollen. Hope this will not cause it any harm.

I think the amount of worms in one portion is too much for the number of fish I have in the tank at the moment. Next time I treat them I will only give them half the amount and also thaw it out before hand so that it can spread around the tank in the current, giving the fish more of a chance to get some, instead of them all fighting over it at one location and the strongest hogging it all to themselves.

I am a bit worried about the last Guppy at the moment. He was not interested at all in the worms and is very lethargic at the moment. I suspect he is not well and might be checking out soon as well.

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!

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

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.

6 New Guests

Yesterday my father bought me 6 new fish for the tank. 2 Leopard Cory (Corydoras julii)

and 4 male Guppies (Peocilia reticulata), each looking different.

The Danios seem a bit putout at the arrivals of the new fish, as the had the run of the tank so far. Lets hope all the guests can get along.

Thanks for the fish and the photographs Dad.