Still alive and swimming

It's been 1.5 months since the last post, and unfortunately, I didn't post earlier as I was trying to take some photos of the new fishes to go with the post. But knowing fish, they can't stop swimming, so it's SUPER hard to take a decent photo with my phone. Finally borrowed a camera from someone, not that it made it any easier though. Gah!

But hurrah! Managed to take a few photos which are satisfactory, so now I can finally update on the latest fish resident list:

Polka Dot Loach (Botia kobotai)

Thought that this was a Dwarf Chain Loach..but it's NOT! Turns out to be the Polka Dot Loach. Actually got a heart attack at first because I thought it was the Emperor Loach, which can grow up to 13cm (OMG) but I think it looks more like the Polka Dot Loach. Also because I realized that the fish shop labelled it as Botia Kubotai..haha. But it doesn't make it much better because this loach can grow to 13cm as well!!! @*#!&^#*!!! The cool thing though about this fish is that the markings on it's body can change over time. See pic below (taken from http://www.loaches.com/) on how it could look like in the future:

Cool huh? Hope it won't grow to 15cm too fast too soon though...especially since I bought 4 of them...>.<. This is an important lesson to make sure you really know your fish before making the purchase!

Other additions to the tank within the past month include:
50 x Cherry Shrimp
10 x Tiger Shrimp
3 x Endlers
1 x SAE (Siamese Algae Eater)
1 x Mini Puffer
2 x Snail

A few more pics below that I managed to take:

The lone Flying Fox which is normally mistaken for the SAE. Can be differentiated by the lack of of the black stripe at its tail.
It's bubbling! Check out the line of air bubbles coming out of the leaf. With the right amount of light and CO2, you'll be rewarded by the wonderful sight of your plants bubbling like a witches cauldron.Yamato Shrimp @ Takashi Amano Shrimp. Cool name for a cool shrimp :p. Has helped to rid the tank of hair algae, and works fast too. Unfortunately has been getting lazier since they were first added, and keep stealing the fish food away from the other fishes.

The most updated photo of the hall tank.

Stay tuned for the next post: the hall tank plant guide!