My Tropical Fish Aquarium - Part XII

I decided to re-landscape my little 8g and find some more appropriate inhabitants for it. It looks like this, now.

I bought a little shoal of six male Endlers, and a little shoal of six pygmy corys, which were sold as Coryadoras Hastatus, but look more like Coryadoras Pygmaeus, to me. Anyway, Hastatus or Pygmaeus, neither corys nor Endlers grow beyond 1" as adults.

I haven't got a pic of the corys, yet, but here's a crappy one of one of my Endlers.

Genius: there's no other word for it - Part XXXVI

It must have been much earlier in the year that I was looking for this; this was posted on YouTube in the summer. Tell me this isn't a Master at work:

I've been tagged!

Bob's tagged me, so here are my eight random facts:

1. I played for Derby Boys (schoolboy football), when I was a kid, and I'm a FA-qualified coach.

2. I nearly terrified myself to death, doing a static line parachute jump. I forgot to let go of the wing strut!

3. I've flown a glider, and a Cessner (but only as introductory lessons).

4. I've smoked a spliff, whilst watching crocodiles being fed, in Sun City.

5. I missed out on a First by 1.5%, although it would have been a travesty if I had achieved the highest degree, seeing as the Law Library and me were almost complete strangers!

6. I scored 808 points on the WiiPlay shooting gallery game, the other day.

7. I named my daughter after my Dad, who was a vet, and my son after a childhood friend.

8. My all-time favourite song (which changes, from day-to-day), is currently Brown Eyed Girl, by Van Morrison. I'd have featured it as one of my Genius... posts, but YouTube doesn't seem to have it.

Genius: there's no other word for it - Part XXXV

My New Aquarium - Part VI

There's quite a lot of reflection, which interferes a bit, but I was just testing out what difference, if any, the light reflector that I've just installed in the hood made. It's supposed to improve brightness by 100%. I don't know about that, but it certainly seems to be an improvement over the previous picture.

Book of the Week - The Fish Who Could Wish

This is a children's book, by John Bush and Korky Paul. It's a story about a fish that has the power to make his wildest fantasies come true. I read it to my daughter, tonight...

In the deep blue sea
In the deep of the blue
Swam a fish who could wish
And each wish would come true
Oh, the fun that he had
Oh, the things he would do
Just wishing away in the deep water blue...

...That silly old fish
Wished he could be
Just like all the other
Fish in the sea.

But wishing was something
Other fish could not do
So that was his very last wish
That came true.

My New Aquarium - Part V

It's a bit grainy, probably because the light isn't strong enough and needs a reflector, but I think I'm pretty much happy with this. I ended up just switching the filter across from my little 8g, which is already cycled, before moving the neons and the corys in with the White Clouds. I picked up the bopani root from a local garden centre for peanuts.

My 8g only has the snails keeping a couple of plants company, but it'll do as a QT tank.

Addendum:
I ought really to acknowledge the guys on Badman's fora (link on my sidebar), for all their invaluable advice and support. Being a complete rookie, I've managed to avoid a whole range of errors, and learnt at a rate that I simply wouldn't have done, without that assistance.

My New Aquarium - Part IV

Let me tell you: these little bastards move fast! I decided to get a little shoal of White Clouds, to help with the cycling of my 20g. They're 1" long (max. adult size of 1.5"), and are constantly on the move - as demonstrated by the fact that three of those in the picture are blurred! I need something with a faster shutter speed!

Matt

My New Aquarium - Part III

I'm using playsand in the substrate, and it's quite fine. I put the sand and rocks in several hours ago, and it still hasn't settled, yet! I'm going to get a couple of goldfish, to cycle the tank. I want some bogwood, too - just to complete the "hard landscaping"!

Matt

My New Aquarium - Part II

OK. Here's my new tank. This was taken a couple of days ago, when I was disinfecting it, just in case there were any live snail eggs, or algae, or whatever...