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48 g Congo tank journal

6K views 43 replies 2 participants last post by  characinfan 
#1 · (Edited)
Moved from here

A lot happened in the last few days!

My custom lid from C & H Glass and Mirror in Scarborough arrived and so did the substrates I ordered from Angelfins (Fluorite, Aqua Soil Amazonian Light, and Carib Sea sand).

It took a long time to wash the fluorite, in particular, and I'm not thrilled with the way it looks (too red), but I hope it will be good for the plants.

Some of the plants and also the fish are expected to arrive later today.

Water parameters yesterday, 24 h after adding the substrate: pH 6.75, nitrites < 0.1 ppm, nitrates < 5 ppm, ammonia undetectable. (The filter was the same as before, and I saved about 20% of the aged water from the tank, so this is unsurprising). I put my catfish in a 15 gallon quarantine tank for 24 hours to let the cloudiness in the big tank clear. He's back in there now and behaving normally.

 

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#3 · (Edited)
ksimdjembe, thanks for following me here. :)

The fish and a few plants arrived yesterday afternoon are now settling into the quarantine tank.

Two of the butterfly fish are female and one is male. The male is the biggest of the three, at about 6 cm long. They are all way more active than I expected. This morning I fed them a broken-up shrimp pellet and they ate all the bits that floated, but the second any piece fell under the surface of the water, they ignored it. Yesterday I had also received an order of small crickets along with the fish and I have been gut-loading them overnight. I threw in a small cricket and, BAM, it was gone almost faster than possible to imagine. Each of the butterfly fish ate two crickets. It is amazing how far their mouths open.

(I will be receiving a package including more plants and some floating stick food from a different source later in the week. I don't intend to feed them only live food).

The Ctenopomas are very shy. They're about the size of two stacked quarters, quite small and too young to sex. One seems to be significantly more freaked out than the other. The more confident one has taken up a place next to/under the filter. The other one mostly hangs out near/around one of the coffee mugs I put in the quarantine tank as caves. It looks really skinny and not super healthy, and yet it is more interested in the sunken bits of shrimp pellet than the other one. I treated the quarantine tank with flubendazole this morning in case any of the fish have worms. I hope that this will solve the problem.

I also installed (?) the first wave of plants in the 48 g: Bolbitis heudelotii (tied to the driftwood), Anubias barteri var. angustifolia, and two tiny corms of Nymphaea lotus no bigger than hazelnuts. I hope all of them survive!

Pictures: 48 g with lights off and lights on -- both Nymphaeas are behind driftwood -- and all 3 butterfly fish in the quarantine tank (the ctenopomas were hiding).
 

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#6 ·
#5 ·
Almost one week in and the plants are doing OK in the main tank. Nothing has melted or turned brown. I have the light on for 6 hours a day at about 60% intensity and will increase it over a period of weeks as the plants get established. I was also expecting a delivery of a few new plants this week but I didn't even get a shipping notification yet. Fingers crossed for next week.

There is no significant algal bloom, unless the fluffy greyish white stuff all over the new driftwood is algae and not fungal. Whatever it is, it does not seem to affect the water chemistry. I will be scraping and siphoning it off when I do water changes, but otherwise leaving it alone and letting it run its course.

In the quarantine tank, the skinny and deformed-looking ctenopoma has died, but the rest of the fish are thriving and eating like pigs. The healthy ctenopoma has probably doubled in weight. It is becoming a lot less shy and has figured out that I am the source of food. I am waiting for a shipment of floating pellets. In the meantime, the butterfly fish are eating crickets and whatever bits of baked salmon and/or shrimp pellets actually float for long enough to retain their attention. The ctenopoma eats whatever bits float down. I saw it engulf a cricket leg about a quarter of its own length, and then eat several bits of crumbled sinking wafer I threw in.

Tails & Scales has said they'd compensate me for the ctenopoma that didn't make it. They let me know that they're getting in a shipment of new West African fish (and possibly plants) soon. I'm waiting to hear the specifics before I decide what to do. After reading articles and viewing numerous videos of Congo biotope tanks, I'm not sure that Congo tetras would be comfortable in my 48 gallon -- it's only 1 m long. I may seek out other mid-level fish that do something other than go back and forth all day. If this tank ends up being full of predators lurking in what I hope will become lush plant growth, that's OK with me -- I would like the fish to feel at home and not overly confined.
 
#8 ·
Not anymore!
 
#9 ·
So all the plants are doing well -- I'm surprised how many new leaves the little Nymphaeas cranked out in a week -- and the fish in the quarantine tank are growing. It is amazing how fast the ctenopoma is growing. It is about 50% longer than it was a week ago, no kidding. It eats crumbled shrimp pellets and whatever cricket bits sink after the butterfly fish do their thing and it comes back for more. This morning I saw it even try to grab a live cricket from the surface of the water (of course, a butterfly fish got there first). It likes to spend time hiding in a giant coffee mug with just its nose sticking out, but it also patrols the tank and sometimes rests near the filter and heater with the butterfly fish.

Meanwhile, the male butterfly fish, which is a little bigger than both females, has started to push the females around. He's not a total jerk and he is not biting them, but he is ramming them and making it clear that he gets the choice lurking spot. I hope that once these guys are introduced to the main tank and especially once I get some floating plants, there will be several ideal lurking spots to choose from and also interrupted sight lines to reduce the jerkdom.
 
#10 ·
Quarantine is now over! Well, at least for my fish. :rolleyes:

I fed all the fish in the morning in their respective tanks and waited until the lights in the main tank went off in the afternoon before transferring the new fish to their new home.

I was a little surprised that the butterfly fish seemed to settle in almost immediately -- circling around the surface of the water and trying out various low-flow spots -- whereas the ctenopoma was freaking out at first, breathing heavily and flaring all its fins for around 10 minutes. It has still (more than an hour later) not explored the entire tank, though it is now becoming bolder and not spending all its time behind the filter intake pipe.

The biggest surprise for me is how my catfish has been behaving. He's a gentle fellow whose #1 concern in life is food. (I have been known to refer to him as the "gluttonous vacuum beast.") He lived all of his 8 years with two headstanders, which are middle-of-the-tank fish who also spent time near the bottom in choice lurking spots and also at the surface, especially when there was floating food, largely plant matter. The catfish prefers to stay at the bottom of the tank but he also cruises around. But he's never at the surface of the water unless he's either eating, begging for food, or gulping a mouthful of air (normal behaviour in his species).

First, there was the introduction of the new fish, which came with the introduction of a bit of water from the quarantine tank, which has a different smell from the water in the regular tank, which might mean FOOD! Cue catfish frenzy looking for food.

Then it became clear that this catfish does not know what to make of the butterfly fish. They hang out just under the surface, and what floats near the surface? FOOD. But the butterfly fish are not food, just fellow fish. But why would they be there unless there is FOOD? The catfish keeps looking for food wherever the butterfly fish are. They quickly figured out that he's not after them and either ignore him or dart out of the way, but not very far or with much effort. The ctenopoma occasionally comes to the surface to see what the fuss is about, determines there is nothing worthwhile going on, and returns to behind the filter intake. This little drama has been going on for around an hour.

Since the order for floating food sticks and other plants has not shipped yet, and I am starting to run low on crickets, I know what my strategy will be for feeding the fish tomorrow morning. Before the lights come on, I will feed the fish some composting worms. With some luck, the new fish will catch the mania for worms from my catfish. I will report back soon . . .
 

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#12 ·
Thanks! My second order of plants arrived today and another is in the mail. I will post photos soon. (I cleaned the tank when I planted the new plants so the water is full of bits of stuff right now). I think the butterfly fish appreciate the Amazon frogbit I specifically bought to provide some cover in there before the plants that actually come from the Congo get big enough to take over.
 
#13 ·
It's now week 3 of my build.

Light

I have increased the number of hours of light in the tank from 4 hours/day (first two weeks) at 80% of the maximum intensity to 6 hours/day at 80% of the maximum intensity. So far, there has been green hair algae growth on the Bolbitis but no green water or other major algae outbreak.

How soon should I increase the hours of light to 8 and increase the light intensity to maximum?

Plants

This week I planted the new plants, namely Anubias barteri var. nana (tied to driftwood) and Lilaeopsis mauritania, separated into bits and poked into foreground of the substrate behind the front sandy area. My catfish managed to dislodge several bits of the Lilaeopsis. I'll replant them when I change the water next. In the meantime, the loose bits are floating with the Amazon frogbit.

Amazon frogbit is obviously not native to the Congo, but I figured the butterfly fish and ctenopoma would appreciate some kind of floating plants as cover until my other plants get big enough to provide more shade.

The Nymphaeas are putting out new leaves but they're still very small. The Anubias barteri var. angustifolia put out one new leaf, and the Bolbitis has not put out any new fronds, but it has both hair algae and bits of loose slime from the driftwood trapped on it, perhaps blocking the light a bit too much.

The slime on the driftwood is about 90% gone now, thanks to a booming population of MTS.

Fish

I have seen some interesting fish behaviour in the past few days.

1. The ctenopoma hates the camera, whether it's a real camera or cell phone. When it sees it, it hides. It also hides most of the time when the tank lights are on.

2. When the lights are off, the ctenopoma can sometimes be a jerk and go after the butterfly fish. I don't know why it does this -- entertainment/boredom? Sometimes it also just hangs out with one or more of them near the surface. The rest of the time, it lurks around the driftwood. It has several preferred spots.

3. The butterfly fish don't seem to care that I put a piece of black plastic over part of the tank to create a dimmer area for them. Instead, they hang out where the frogbit is and/or next to the filter intake (full light exposure but relatively low flow area).

4. My catfish is obsessed with floating food now, even though I feed him sinking pellets or worms before I feed any of the other fish anything just so he'll stay out of the way. Yesterday I even saw him sleeping vertically, bracing his dorsal fin against the filter outflow tube to maintain his position (see attached picture). I've had him for 9 years and this was new behaviour to me. I don't know why he was doing it, but it could have been so that he could watch for floating bits of food without having to move his body. (A less likely, but possibly more fun reason he might have done this is that the place where he fell asleep is right next to one of my crested gecko cages. The geckos and catfish are around the same size. The geckos also sometimes like to sleep on the glass. Was there some sort of imitation going on?)

5. As for the floating food, it did arrive and the fish love it -- but the sticks are so big that I have to break them into 4 or more pieces each or they can't be swallowed. (I'd thought they were going to be smaller). The butterfly fish try to swallow these bits but as long as they float, they are apparently too crunchy to do this. I may have to buy some floating betta food and use that until the butterfly fish get bigger.

6. I thought one of the butterfly fish had gotten sick and was about to die. She was completely pale, her pelvic fins were loose and close by her sides instead of spread out jauntily like normal, and her tail was sagging. I had no idea what could have caused this. But about 5 minutes later, she woke up and has been fine since! I guess she was just really deeply asleep.
 

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#14 ·
I rearranged the driftwood when I cleaned the tank today and replanted the smaller Nymphaea lotus, which my catfish had uprooted. The fish are all growing. The plants are getting new leaves. New plants are delayed.

The ctenopoma is being a total jerk to the butterfly fish, contrary to everything I've ever read about ctenopomas. It is a beautiful fish but it is stressing me out with its harassing behaviour. It has the whole tank to roam in and plenty of crevices but it insists on rushing the butterfly fish for several hours a day.

I have ordered a coconut with my next grocery order so that I can make it a second coconut hide that it can fit into but that the catfish can't get into. I'm hoping that knowing that it has a secure lurking place will make it behave better.
 
#16 ·
Do you think the jerk fish may have to be removed entirely?
I hope not. I will give it a few days. The grocery order with the coconut is expected to arrive on Sunday.

In the meantime, I have been feeding the fish a lot. The ctenopoma is a glutton. It definitely is less of a jerk when it is full, but even when it can't fit any more food in its body, it is still sometimes a jerk.
 
#18 · (Edited)
Pictures!

The Nymphaea on the left has been growing really well but it is not visible from the front of the tank yet because it's behind the driftwood.

The Nymphaea on the right is about 4 cm tall but at least has not been uprooted in the past few days. It is growing. I hope that being actually planted will allow it to flourish.

Everything else is starting to grow new leaves!

The past two days, the ctenopoma has also been less of a jerk. Fingers crossed.
 

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#19 ·
Today my most recent order from Tails & Scales arrived.

I had ordered more plants and some small floating pellets that should enable me to use the automatic fish feeder. There was also a surprise fish with the order! I had asked for a refund on the ctenopoma that had died a few days after it arrived but instead I was sent me another one. Luckily for it, I had left the quarantine tank running after I moved the last batch of fish to the new tank.

The new fish is half the size of my existing ctenopoma. It will be a challenge to get it to grow enough while it's in quarantine so that it can hold its own in the main tank. I really hope it will not get beaten up by its bigger and more well-adjusted conspecific. (I told the guy from Tails & Scales this and he said that if I have to return any fish because of aggression or whatever that I should call the store).

The plants that arrived today are Anubias hastifolia (beautiful arrowhead-shaped leaves), Anubias congensis (wide leaves) and Crinum calamistratum, a bulb plant with long leaves that resemble frilly ribbons. The plants are all fairly small right now but the tank already looks even better than before. I will post pics tomorrow once the water clears up from the planting.
 
#20 · (Edited)
Tank photo! That's Anubias hastifolia on the far left (with the smaller Nymphaea zenkeri behind it), Anubias congensis in the middle, Anubias afzelli on the far right, Anubias barteri var. nana on the wood (two plants with roundish leaves). The leaves of Crinum calamistratum are barely visible to the left of the A. congensis, next to one of the coconut hides. The Bolbitis heudelotii ferns are tied to the wood and Lilaeopsis mauritania is planted all over the substrate. In this photo, the larger Nymphaea zenkeri is behind driftwood and so are all the fish except for the butterfly fish, which are hanging out in the Amazon frogbit (Limnobium laeviatum) at the surface.

The only problem that has come up with the plants so far is that there's a green hair algae infestation on the Bolbitis. I pull off clumps every time I have a reason to put my hands in the tank. I'm not sure whether to just keep removing it manually or whether I might need to get some shrimp -- and I suspect that shrimp won't last long if the "big" ctenopoma keeps growing at such a fast rate.

Meanwhile, the new little ctenopoma is hiding at the back of the quarantine tank and not eating. Its behaviour is not worrisome yet as it must be a big adjustment for the little fish.
 

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#21 ·
Apologies for the least photo-heavy thread in the planted tank photo subforum!

A week and a half after the latest shipment, all the plants are doing well except for the Bolbitis ferns, two of which have green hair algae infestations that I have to pick off around twice a week. Everything else is producing new leaves. My catfish is doing fine, the butterfly fish are growing (and one that I thought was the smallest female is actually showing itself to be a male), and the ctenopoma in the main tank continues to be a jerk towards the butterfly fish.

The new little ctenopoma quickly got over its rough first day in the quarantine tank and started to eat -- and eat and eat and eat. It grew a lot in just a week and a half and appears vigorous and healthy. For various reasons I needed to move it to the main tank ASAP, so as soon as the lights went out in the main tank this afternoon, I did a 25% water change and then transferred the little one in. I also changed 50% of the water in the quarantine tank and left its filter and heater running, just in case.

Unsurprisingly but unfortunately, the bigger ctenopoma has been a jerk to the little one, following it around, feinting at it, shaking its head at it and showing it its pelvic fins. The little one also showed its pelvic fins. Within an hour of being in the new tank, the little one was hiding in a corner just over the gravel and breathing heavily.

I had to take out all the driftwood to catch it, but I did catch the bigger ctenopoma and moved it to the quarantine tank. Obviously it is not thrilled, but this should give the little one some time to find its groove in the bigger tank.

I hope it won't be a jerk.

I will be contacting the store tomorrow to see if they will take the jerk ctenopoma back.
 
#22 ·
So what have we learned here?

Some fish are not as good in pairs as they are as singles?
I guess some fish are too territorial to work in pairs, and that given that we don't have natural conditions in the relatively little glass boxes, it doesn't always work.

I'm still looking forward to seeing how this tank develops as all the plants grow in. I forget; did you put in a background?
 
#23 · (Edited)
A week and a bit on, the jerk ctenopoma is still in the quarantine tank. The store told me last week that they'd drop by when they're doing deliveries in my area at the end of this past week and pick it up, but they did not contact me in the past few days to specify/confirm when.

So what have we learned here?

Some fish are not as good in pairs as they are as singles?
I guess some fish are too territorial to work in pairs
I'm not sure about that. It didn't fight with the other (first) ctenopoma that was the same size as it and that died. It could well be that it is not primed to be a jerk under all circumstances. I suspect that part of its jerk behaviour comes from the fact that it spent two weeks in quarantine with just the butterfly fish. It learned from them to prefer floating food and to ignore sinking food/food on the bottom. Then it fought with them for food and "dominance" (I don't think they cared), especially when it was (likely) also intimidated by the much larger and much more gluttonous catfish. It may also not have been a total jerk to the new little ctenopoma if the new one were around the same size or bigger.

Anyway, there's no way to tell what it would do under other circumstances. Under the present circumstances, it is a jerk.

Meanwhile, in the main tank, the little ctenopoma is behaving exactly like all the material I'd read beforehand suggested that a ctenopoma will behave: it is somewhat shy, but very smart. It does not bite or otherwise harass any of the other fish or steal food from them. In fact, none of the fish is behaving in an antisocial way. They are all getting along well. The only behavioural trait that the new ctenopoma shares with the jerk ctenopoma is that it also hates the camera, so I have no photo to share! It is eating well and growing, though.

Two of the three Bolbitis are suffering from green hair algae pretty badly and I may need to take them out. It is hard to remove the algae.

Everything else is growing well. The Nymphaea has now reached a size where it is visible from the front of the tank! It is really beautiful. (That's just one of them. The other one is still tiny and struggling after having been uprooted 4 or 5 times by overenthusiastic catfish behaviour).
 

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#25 ·
Yesterday I cleaned both fish tanks. I felt bad for the larger cteno, all alone in the quarantine tank. I also thought that I have all day in the house (weekend, intermittent rain) so I might as well do an experiment.

I put it back in the main tank.

My reasoning was that the other, newer ctenopoma has had more than a week to grow and get familiar with the main tank, whereas the bigger one had hardly been eating in the quarantine tank and was not at its best. It is still twice the size of the new one, though, so I was/am fully prepared to remove them at any time if things didn't go well.

The two ctenopomas found each other almost immediately and started displaying to each other -- and then the small one started chasing the bigger one around! A multi-hour series of displays and nonviolent skirmishes ensued. Nobody was hurt, and all other fish were left out of it. At the end of this establishment of the ctenopoma hierarchy, one was hanging out at the one side of the tank and the other at the other, roughly near each of their preferred lurking spots in the absence of the other cteno.

This morning, same deal. They did not fight over food with each other or with the butterfly fish. They also seem to be able to hang out for limited periods in the same area at the same time without conflict.

Major fingers crossed for this peaceful state to continue!

(Oh yeah, and the catfish uprooted the smaller Nymphaea again, for probably about the fifth or sixth time now. Poor plant. I need to put it back into the substrate again, possibly with rocks or something around it to secure it).
 
#27 ·
Tank update, July 25th

Plants

The Amazon frogbit grew so much that I'm giving some of it away. I also removed about 50% of it to the quarantine tank just because it was getting so dense in the main tank.

The Nymphaea has put out several new leaves that reach the surface of the water. They are solid green, unlike the submerged leaves, which are covered in red and green splotches. Last week I tied the tuber of the little Nymphaea to a piece of wood so that it would stay upright and in the same area even if my catfish knocks it around. It has responded by putting out a tiny 4th leaf. There is hope!

All the Anubias are growing well.

The Crinum (hiding at the back) has been uprooted by the catfish once but is putting out new leaves anyway.

The Lilaeopsis mauritania (grassy-looking foreground plant) is slowly growing.

Unfortunately, there's been an outbreak of both brown algae and slime on the wood. The slime is probably coming from inside the wood as an outgrowth of fungal (?) activity in there. I expect the snails will eventually eat it. The brown algae is growing all over the place, on the wood, on the roots of the Amazon frogbit, on the L. mauritania, and, worst of all, on the Bolbitis. It was interfering with the growth of the Bolbitis and I could not scrape it off so I cut off the worst-affected leaves. I don't know if the Bolbitis will all survive.

I am wondering whether it's worth trying to get some shrimp to eat the algae or whether the ctenopomas will eat them before they accomplish anything.


Fish


The butterfly fish and catfish are thriving. The larger ctenopoma is still somewhat of a jerk, but not so much that I've had to remove it. It likes to boss the smaller one around, but it also likes to hang out in crevices. The smaller one spends most of its time next to the filter output. But the smaller one is growing well and is now half the size of the bigger one. In the past few days, the smaller one has taken to lurking in other places for hours at a time and the larger one has left it alone. Positive developments!

The last coconut I bought to use as a hide was rotten so I had to throw it out. I have yet to open the next coconut. (Rotten coconut smells gross, for the record).
 

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#28 ·
I didn't think it would happen, but after cleaning the tank on Sunday, the brown algae problem has become noticeably worse. I have purchased some cherry shrimp. They should arrive on Wednesday. We will see whether they eat the algae or whether they'll get eaten before they have a chance. I will be starting them off in the quarantine tank with a bunch of Amazon frogbit; all of the frogbit roots are currently covered in brown algae, so they'll have plenty to eat while they're in there.
 
#29 ·
OK, so it's now a week after my last post about the brown algae (diatoms). Diatom numbers went down after I changed the water repeatedly, but to keep them in check while the vascular plants ramp up leaf production, I purchased a few cherry shrimp.

I put them in the quarantine tank with a bunch of Amazon frogbit plants that had diatoms stuck all over their roots. The shrimp ate a lot of the diatoms in three days. (These shrimp are native to Taiwan, not the Congo, but they have a lifespan of less than a year even if they don’t get eaten).

Meanwhile, the jerk ctenopoma has not quit being a jerk. It had the run of the entire tank, including plenty of crevices and two coconut hides, but kept the smaller cteno literally cornered by the filter output. The smaller one has been growing well and is now half the size of the jerk cteno, but spending all of one's time in an uncomfortable position is no fun. I got fed up with the larger cteno's bullshit so today I moved the shrimp to the main tank and moved the jerk cteno to the quarantine tank.

Since the quarantine tank is not being used for disease quarantine purposes right now, I put in a coconut hide as well as a mug for the jerk ctenopoma to lurk in, and this time there is a layer of floating plants in there as well as some other plant material that came with the shrimps. In other words, it is relatively comfortable so the jerk cteno can stay there indefinitely. I am really pissed off at it. I gave it lots of chances but it will have to go to another home where there are no smaller ctenopomas to boss around. (It is a beautiful, healthy fish who will make someone else happy).

In the hour since I changed the water in the main tank and removed the larger ctenopoma, the smaller one has been swimming all over. The shrimp are exploring, too, and eating bits of stuff off of all the surfaces. I hope this is the last major renovation I will have to do for a while. (And for those who are curious, the butterfly fish are lurking in peace and the catfish continues to do his thing undisturbed and without bothering anybody else, other than the plants. He has uprooted multiple plants in the past week in his search for worms and other tidbits. I just replanted them).
 
#31 ·
I was out of town for a few days last week and when I came back, a lot of the worst of the algae/diatoms had disappeared. So did the shrimp, and I have a pretty good idea who ate them (i.e. the little cteno, who is both otherwise peaceful and confident, now that the jerk ctenopoma is not bossing it around).

The jerk ctenopoma was doing well in the quarantine tank for the last two weeks. I played a lot of phone tag with Tails & Scales but today the owner came by to pick it up. It was three times bigger than when it had arrived. I have mixed feelings about sending it back but I couldn't keep it in my main tank and a quarantine tank is no suitable home for a fish like that. I hope it finds a good new home where its cichlid-like attitude does not cause it or any other tank inhabitants any serious problems.

Also when I was away, one of the female butterfly fish jumped out of the tank and died. I am impressed but saddened that she made it out. There was only a small slit in the lid open so that the automatic fish feeder could drop food in. Next time I go away, I will have to tape over or otherwise block the crack everywhere but under the feeder.

There are two butterfly fish left, a male and a female. The male is starting to harass the female. He sidles up next to her, turns his fins bright and flares them, and vibrates his whole body, creating ripples across the surface of the water as well as in the water. She ignores him. He chases her around, and she avoids him. Then he repeats the process. I may well have to purchase some more females to dilute the masculine energy here so that the female does not become too stressed.

And in plant news, although two of my three clumps of Bolbitis seem to have succumbed during the worst of the algae, one is now doing better now that the algae is mostly gone. It has started producing new fronds. But over the last few weeks, everything else has not been growing as much as I thought it would. The Amazon frogbit and one of the Anubias are producing spindly, pale yellow leaves, and none of the leaves are as green as they should be. It is probably a nutritional deficiency so I added some Thrive fertilizer with the most recent water change. I also increased both the light levels and duration to 7 hours per day. I hope to see some positive changes in the plants within a week.

Finally, my order from Tails and Scales that arrived today also included two additional Crinum calamistratum plants. I will post new photos soon -- the tank was a mess today after I changed the water.
 
#32 ·
Photos of the tank from yesterday, showing new Crinum plants. The ctenopoma is hiding, as usual.
 

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