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.

More Snails

I have now counted 7 snails in the tank, consisting of 2 different species. One species is from the Physidae Family and I think they are Physa spec, otherwise known as pond snails. I have not been able to identify the other species yet as the snails are currently too small and their shells are white without any identifying features.

The Physa spec were the first snails I spotted when starting the tank and they have more than doubled in size and number. I often see them on the bogwood, glass and on some of the plants, especially the Java fern, eating the algae growing on them. I was lucky to see two either mating or fighting tonight. There is not much information out there on the Internet to suggest one or the other, but if there are a bunch of new baby snails in two to three weeks time, I will know which one it was.

Hello And Goodbye

On Friday night while inspecting the tank I noticed 2 more snails, so now I have a total of 3 snails in the tank. Two of them seem to be hanging around the thermometer (which currently reads 26 degrees Celsius). I have turned up the temperature to help the acceleration of the bacteria that is needed to keep that tank running smoothly.

I have had to remove the Fittonia 'Superba Red' and the Dracaena sanderiana (Red Striped Dragon Plant) tonight as both plants were starting to decay already. The leaves from the Fittonia 'Superba Red' had decayed from the stem and were floating around the tank. I had also noticed an abundance of red worms in the water (introduced from the Cabomba aquatica (Green Cabomba, Giant Cabomba)) and they were attacking the Dracaena sanderiana (Red Striped Dragon Plant), eating the decaying parts. 

I am a bit worried about the red worms as all my internet searching for the last 3 hours has not turned up much, so I have posted a question on a forum to see if I can get any answers. I am hoping that they will not be a fish parasite of some sort, but rather fish food.   

First unofficial guest

I decided to give the tank glass a clean as I thought the glass was starting to look a bit cloudy. Using the algae magnet, which are two magnets, one with a rough fabric for cleaning the glass on the inside of the tank and the other with a smooth fabric that is used on the outside, I was able to remove the beginnings of the algae and dirt that was starting to accumulate on the glass. This proved to be quite necessary and I will make this a weekly routine in summer, probably a day before I do a gravel clean and water change, giving the removed bits time to settle on the bottom so that they can be removed with the clean.    

While cleaning around the thermometer, I noticed a small snail attached to the thermometer, making it the first unofficial guest to be staying at the Fish Hotel. It probably came with the plants I bought and I will probably find more with time. They can add another dynamic to the tank, as long as they do not get out of control. I am sure a few will also become a fish take-away when the fish start arriving, but I am starting to get ahead of myself.