Advancing the Seasons

My new baby looks right at home... or is this a dentist's lobby?

So, the last little while has been a flurry of activity, both the good and the bad, and I'm about as tired as I've ever been - in the best possible way.

At the moment, I'm resting on my laurels at the end of an unusually long shift - one of many that I've worked in the past month or so - taking what I hope is just a well-deserved break before I clean up the dishes and clean the smaller of my tanks, which is having problems with brown algae. Brown algae are diatoms, and there's really nothing to do about them but scrub them off by hand. Such is life, and Friday is supposed to be water-change day anyway.

As it happens, I've been busily overhauling the 55 and getting it right up to around where I want it. All that's left to do now is wait for the plants (and the fish) to grow into their surroundings. Fishkeeping is a good hobby for the impatient, like me - it forces you to practice that particular virtue.

Fishkeeping trains patience.

I've gone for what I'm calling a river's edge theme but is probably too composed to represent any sort of natural environment. I've got throngs of Hygrophilla and Amazon Sword plants, water-worn stones, and a piece of mopani wood.

The mopani wood is going to soften and slightly acidify the water, which is perfect for the fish I'm hosting. It's a type of a bogwood, as I understand it, from South Africa... none of the fish in the tank would ever encounter it naturally. Just as well - I wasn't really going for a biotope build anyway.

Speaking of pets, I should introduce the fish themselves - I've aquired a pair of A. Heckelii and a Tiger Hillstream Loach, in addition to the six danios I cycled the tank with.

At any rate... Katherine is still here, and I can never stay away for every long. :) So long, kids.

Acarichthys Heckelli - the Threadfin Acara

Tiger Hillstream Loach - sometimes called a "butterfly
pleco"