New additions.

Many changes since the last update.

Foremost, is the addition of some Lamp Eye Tetras (aka Red Eye Tetras).

From An UnOrthOdOx Aquarium

These guys just together and flit from one side of the tank to the other and back. Not as small as some Tetras, so as to not be seen as food, the Paradise Fish have so far reacted by curbing all agressive behavior, and are clearly unsure how to handle the shoal.

From An UnOrthOdOx Aquarium

We've also added a number of new plants, and a bubble wall. The tetras love the bubble wall, and are often seen playing in it. So do the plecos, it seems. We even had a snail playing in the bubble wall for a while.

From An UnOrthOdOx Aquarium

Speaking of the plecos, the ugly brown algae (always first to a new tank, it seems) has been replaced by the hair algae stuff. The Plecos don't seem to care, and are munching on it all. Next is the green algae most people actually think of when you say 'algae'. All actually promising, and indications of a healthy environment.

Speaking of Healthy, those darn Khuli Loaches... Hide and seek is a normal game with them, but I was thuroughly unprepared to have one living in the aquarium FILTER when I cleaned this weekend. Caught her and tossed her back in the tank. But, I think it may have been a few babies I saw get down the drain before I could catch them...

Food, and Girls...

I guess Kyle got a bit of a show 2 nights ago.

He awoke on the verge of tears to tell Jen one of his fish had killed another.

The Notorious CAE (Chinese Algae Eater) lived up to it's reputation...

Several years ago, we were starting the 80 gallon tank for the first time. And, it being in the front room, with plenty of sun, Algae was going to be an issue. But, I had this brilliant plan to deal with it: Only buying fish that EAT algae.

The Mbuna Cichlids would peck at things just fine, but to clean the glass, we needed a sucker fish. Enter the CAE. We bought several of the 'Golden' variety. The bad temperment they are known for as adults wasn't a concern with Cichlids. The Cichlids were MORE than capable of defending themselves.

Well, in the mean time, Kyles tank served as a maternity ward for 'pregnant' cichlids, and the fry. As such, he really had a bare minimum of fish. But, we threw one of the CAE's in his tank for good measure to keep it clean.

THAT...was a long time ago..

When we took down the 80 gallon tank to redo the floors, we dumped a second CAE in his tank just in case I went the Mbuna route again. And, they've lived happily for 2 years. Munching on the abundant Algae happily. Alone...

Last week, however, we uprooted their world.

Alec wanted HIS tank working. (NEVER buy a 10 gallon tank, it's been nothing but trouble) And, I got this bright idea we'ld empty Alecs tank completely, START OVER. Use some of the leftover gravel from the old 80 gallon tank, clean the crap out of Kyle's, and fill Alec's with the dirty, pre-cycled water we cleaned out of Kyle's.

This ensured Alec was starting with a nice, cycled system. HOPEFULLY enough to prevent the 10 gallon death trap syndrome.

Now...we haven't fed Kyle's cleaners in 2 years, remember. They've just been eating the naturally growing Algae. But, a week ago, we stirred all that gravel up, we scrubbed down the walls, and we ripped out the decorations.

I didn't think about it at the time...but we ripped out their food sources...

As I've mentioned before...

Food and girls are the typical sources of fish aggression.

Lack of food, and yep, they beat the holy crap out of anything.

I wouldn't hesitate to get another CAE. Yes, they get a little grumpy when they're hungry, but hey, who doesnt?

In the mean time, Kyle's learning the law of the Jungle. Yes, the smaller one died...yes, that's the one that's always been "his", and "it was just a kid".

Blame dad. I forgot about food and girls...

Product Review: Hydor Ario

So...

I've been wanting an airstone or bubble wall in this tank. And, while looking over air pumps, I came across the Hydor Ario Color.

The size for an 80 gallon tank is considerably cheaper than an equivalent airpump. And, I liked the idea of everything fitting IN the tank. No mess in the cabinets, no mangled mass of air tubes. The lighting, I thought might be a neat feature as well. So, we bought the Airo 4 with green light for $24.

Excited, I cracked open the box first thing when we got home.

Black airline tubing that looked to be of very high quality was impressive, as was the multitude of suction cups to secure both airline tubing and electrical chord.

The "instructions" to put the thing together was a diagram. And not a step-by-step style diagram, but rather an expanded diagram that was difficult to make out. Thankfully, I've done enough automotive repair with my dad to have seen more than my share of these expanded diagrams, and everything was together fairly quick.

Not the easiest of things to install into a full tank. That took some time to dig everything up and make room to get this all to the glass bottom, under the gravel, get it all set up, (have the parts fall off and reassemble IN TANK) and get the gravel back covering the plate to the proper depth, as recommended for "best stability".

Time for the final test...

The Ario produces a very impressive torrent of bubbels, and a pretty decent current along with them to circulate the water. I have no doubts they are superb aerators. And, the light was as cool as I expected it to be, if a bit brighter.

Here, I found a video of one in action.



HOWEVER.

The box we bought listed among the features "Now with less vibration".

It stands to reason, then, vibration was once a problem, yes? Well, it still is.

The thing was vibrating the entire tank. I could feel with my hand on the glass. The fish were going nuts, and I shut it down after just a few seconds. Reading up, it was claimed this was due to the thing being against the glass. So, I moved it, making sure the entire rig was in the center of the tank, and turned it on again. Same problem.

I even pulled the enitire thing out, stuck it in the sink, and filled the sink with water. Just as much vibration there.

Ah well. It's a great idea for aeration. And, in researching, I've learned they were designed for hydroponics first, aquariums second.

So, to top it off, I'm probably on some watch list to make sure we're not trying to grow something funny.

Ah well, it's not a total loss. I'm sure my other hobby can find a use for a cool green light and bubble making machine...

Hide and Seek.

The War against Algae has begun...

Meet the front-line troops.

Plecos that are not ludicrously ugly and won't get massively large are rather hard to come by.

These guys are a challenge to see...

From Aquarium

From Aquarium

Cycling...

Lots of waiting these days...

Making sure everything is up to snuff before adding new fish.

The Paradise fish are GLUTTONS!

They'll eagerly eat ANYTHING. INCLUDING MY HAND. Would easily be trained to feed out of your hand. And, these last couple days, the Angels have come to where they come right up to the top and grab spots to feed right next to the Paradise fish as well.

Have had some flashes of aggression from the Paradise fish towards each other. As is typical, though, increased feeding curbed the aggression. Usually food and girls are the sources of fish aggression...

Speaking of girls...

From Aquarium

Add a snail to the death toll.

Snails are finicky, though, I'm not exactly concerned.