Rudolf, the Rummy Nose Tetra

Since the tank has somewhat stabilized after the renovations, we went to the fish shop to check out for some new additions for the fish tank. We got a new plant (not sure of the name, see pic), 10 x Yamato shrimp to help eat up the hair algae, 2 new Otos to keep the lone one company and 3 x Rummy Nose to add to the small group of Rummy noses. So now there should be enough to pull a sleigh :D.

Unfortunately we didn't realized till we got back that one of the Rummy Nose had white spot @ Ich (Ichthyophthirius multifilis). It's a parasite that burrows into the skin of it's victim, feeding on blood and dead epithelial cells. The irritation caused by the burrowing parasite causes the skin of the fish to swell and produce white cysts seen as a small spots. Fishes are more susceptible to it when under stress or living in unhealthy coniditions, or when the temperature is colder.

I didn't realize what it was till Jacob pointed it out to me, and by then we had already released the fish into the tank. However, some fish owners say that once it runs its course, the fish will be fine, so I decided to let the fish be. It infected another one of the new Rummy Nose, but yesterday once the temperature increased we didn't see anymore white spots (yay!) so I think the fish will do fine.

Another unfortunately, the Otos weren't so lucky and both died. One died just after I think as we didn't see it around after that. We saw the dead body of the other yesterday afternoon. I think Otos are quite sensitive, so I think I won't try to add anymore into the tank.

The Yamato shrimp however have been hard at work, and there has been a obvious decrease in the hair algae (another yay!). It's quite amazing to see how strong these shrimp are, as they can fight with the fish for food and always attempt to drag the food into a corner for themselves. Greedy manz...

Greedy Yamato @ Amano Shrimp (Caridina japonica)

One of the Pygmy Cory died too :(. So we're left with one lone one. Maybe will try to get it some friends :). I haven't identified the new plants in the tank yet, but will do a post of it once i've figured the names out. In the meantime, Merry Christmas!

RHenovation

If you've had the chance to walk past the fish tank recently, you would have seen the changes made to the tank! After our final paper, Jacob and I made a trip to the fish shop with some of the other guys to shop for new plants. That night itself we removed the left-most piece of the driftwood and planted the new plants in that area. We also placed a layer of grey-ish stones in that area. I really like the new plants, makes a difference from the uniform green colour previously. We didn't change anything on the right side of the tank, and the centre piece of driftwoods are still the same. We just removed most of the old plants since there were too many and saved a patch of Windelovs that were tied to a small piece of wood for the centre.

Now the tank feels so empty :p. We're planning to add more 'caves' to the tank for the fishes to hide in. That'll be another mini project for us during this break. Happy holidays everyone and stay tuned!

Puffy, the Snail Slayer

Last Wednesday Kelvin bought a mini puffer for the hall tank. In case you don't know what one looks like, here's a picture of it:

Dwarf (Malabar) Pufferfish (Carinotetraodon travancoricus)

Some questions that might be crossing your mind now are...
Will it puff up if it's aggravated?
Nope, it's not that kind of puffer. However, if it get's stressed the colours on its body become darker. So please don't put your hand into the tank and poke it just to see if it balloons up.

How big can it grow?
This breed will grow to a maximum length of about 3cm. So no worries about a giant puffer terrorizing the tank

What does it feed on?
We got the puffer to help control the burst in snail population. However it does feed on other food such as brine shrimp or bloodworms. And nope, it can't eat those big snails in the tank, only the baby ones. However, when the snails run out it might start nipping on the tails of some of the other fishes.

If you've time, do observe it in the hall tank (that's if if you can find it first). It's really cute and cool to watch the way it swims about and if you're lucky, you'll catch it in action during its snail hunt!

Also, just like to add that we have concluded that the fry in the fishtank were given birth to by the Platy. This is because other than the endler, the only other fish in the hall tank that are livebearers (i.e. don't lay eggs to breed) are the Platies and the Mollies. Its unlikely that one of the fishes laid eggs because the temperature of the tank is too warm. Haha..so it couldn't have been baby pencilfish or mountain minnows (Awww..).

Another update! Once the exams are over, we plan to replant the tank! Which means new plants, and a new landscape for the tank! Check it out during the holidays :D