Midterm (break) Update

A well deserved 6 days of no official lessons for most of us, the midterm break came and went... whether you spent the break fruitfully or not, let's move on and work hard in the second half of the semester!

Craving for some RH Fish Tank updates?

MIA; Missing In Action?
Having not seen the Mosquito Shrimp, BumbleBee Goby and the Candy-Striped Goby for two months already, i have decided to classify them "MIA, assumed dead". Our heartfelt goodbyes to them for their presence will be missed. (click the names above to see their pictures)

Green Shot
I was finally able to take decent shot of the
Neon Green Shrimp (Neocaridina cf. Babaulti)
sitting atop a Crispatula leaf. After many many clicks of the shutter and numerous attempts to enhance the picture with Photoshop, i managed to find a nice one (although i captured it on camera while it was defacating). Try taking photos of them who won't listen to your instructions to keep still, it ain't easy!

Although the Neon Green Shrimp doesn't look totally green, there is usually at least a slight tinge of green, and you will be able to differentiate the Neon Green Shrimp from the Malayan Shrimps
(see Malayan Shrimp picture) by looking at the back: The Malayan Shrimp has a distinct off-white strip/patch in the middle running from the head down to the tail, whereas the Neon Green Shrimp doesn't have such a strip/patch.

New Fishes will be added soon!
I am currently raising some fish babies in my personal fish tank, and once they are old/big enough I will introduce them into the RH Fish Tank. This will take 3 to 4 more weeks...
What fishes are they and how do they look like? You'll have to wait and see!
Keep a lookout for these new (and colourful) additions!

Puffer Poopoo Valentine

The Dwarf Puffer which was introduced last week... is surviving well and fine! (click here for previous Dwarf Puffer entry)

Why the wierd title? Just to catch your attention, hope it worked.
The Puffer is a male, it ain't a poopoo, but it sure is one happy Puffer: the non-beneficial snail population has visibly decreased after the introduction of the Puffer (no more snail sightings on the Erect Moss after lights out). Also, there have been no signs of the Puffer fin-nipping other fishes: good Puffer. An updated picture of Mr Puffer (posing in our own tank) will be posted up once i get it to pose for some shots.

In the meantime...
here are some updated pictures of our latest tank inhabitants:
Kuhli/Coolie Loach (Acanthophtalmus Kuhli Kuhli)

Sparkling Gourami (Trichopsis Pumila)

(They unknowingly posed for shots on Valentine's Day 140205.
Click to view full picture)

Dead or alive?

You might've seen some fishes floating on the surface, or sitting motionless at the bottom of the RH Fish Tank... getting picked at by the shrimps or the Corydoras; dead fish.

What happened to them?

I can't tell for sure but i have a few assumptions as to their death, and a few causes i can rule out... so here goes:

What did NOT happen...
i) Puffer Fish Attack - the other fishes are well and fine, and there are no signs of fin nipping (torn fins due to puffer biting), no signs of puffer aggression.
ii) Fish Disease - the other fishes show no sign of disease till now, and the variety of fish that died means that it is not a species-related disease.
iii) Old age - the fishes could have grown much bigger than they were when they died. The Cardinal Tetras are less than a year old, can live past 2 years at least, and can grow up to twice the current length. The SAEs were relatively large, but i've seen them grow to at least double the size at death.

What could have happened...
i) Poisoning from Dwarf Puffer Carcass - the previous Dwarf Puffer died last week and we failed to remove the carcass from the tank. The fishes that nibbled at the Dwarf Puffer carcass could have been poisoned by it. Although the shrimps ate it too, i think they were immune to it, or so i assume.
ii) Nitrate/Nitrite Poisoning - because we have been adding fishes into the tank quite regularly (10 Kuhli Loaches, 10 Sparkling Gouramis, 20 NeonGreen Shrimps, 1 Dwarf Puffer) we could have added in excess of the tolerable bio load of the RH Fish Tank; amount of fish waste produced > amount of waste the plants/beneficialBacteria can absorb/use. The nitrate/nitrite level in the tank was probably already high, but when the Dwarf Puffer died last week the decomposition of the carcass caused the harmful nitrate/nitrite levels to spike (increase suddenly) and the whole ecosystem "collapsed", causing the older and not-so-sturdy individuals to succumb to the nitrate/nitrite poisoning.

Any Remedy? I have since...
i) removed the carcasses - to prevent further decomposition to add to the harmful nitrite/nitrate levels,
ii) changed 40% of the water - to remove the ammonia, nitrate, and nitrites in the water, and put in fresh/clean water, and
iii) added some special liquid - to neutralise the harmful chemicals and balance the other minerals in the water.

Hopefully there will be no more deaths among the fishes in the coming days. Should you see anything out of the ordinary, please feel free to put it up on the forum or the RH Fish Tank blog... because the caretakers of the RH Fish Tank might not be around 24hrs, and you might spot something we've missed. Thanx... and happy fish watching!

...and Happy Lunar New Year to you!

I'll Huff and I'll Puff

There's an addition to the RH Fish Tank! A fish with an interesting personality, a fish with a craving for snails... the Dwarf Puffer, or Pygmy Puffer.

Dwarf/Pygmy Puffer (Tetraodon Travancorius)

The Dwarf or Pygmy Puffer (Tetraodon Travancorius) is a freshwater puffer fish that feeds on live food, but the main benefit of the Dwarf Puffer in the planted aquarium is its snail-eating ability. There have been many occasions where we saw many small (non-beneficial) snails coming out from hiding when the lights go out, that is the reason we introduced the Dwarf Puffer into the RH Fish Tank.

However, the negative side of the Dwarf Puffer is its aggressiveness towards anything that moves, including fish. Hopefully it will learn to co-exist with the other fishes in the RH Fish Tank. Should you notice any unfriendly behaviour, please do notify us so that we can take corrective action (isolate the Puffer, take it out and into our personal fish tank, etc).

In the meantime, you can enjoy the helicopter-like movement of the Dwarf Puffer as it flutters around hunting for snails...

Headstanders couldn't adapt!

Unfortunate but true, the Spotted Headstanders could not adapt fast enough to the competitive feeding environment in the RH Fish Tank, and they died of hunger.

Being naturally downward-facing fish, they never saw the food that dropped from the food timer; resulting in the other fishes (Cherry Barbs, Cardinal Tetras, Rocket Pencilfish, etc) finishing the food before the Headstanders could get any. Our condolences to them four.