Fishumentaryâ„¢

I’ve been debating on whether or not I was going to completely replant the 55 gallon tank next month or just make some adjustments to the current layout. For the time being I decided that it was more practical to just trim and adjust the current setup.

I completely removed the Cabomba and the Red Foxtail. Although I like the way they look, the lower halves of both plants create a huge mess and leave virtually no room of the fish to swim around in.

I trimmed all of the Rotala Indica and used the trimmings to thicken up some of the existing bushes and to start some new bushes where the Cabomba and Red Foxtail were. I also replanted some Ludwigia trimmings.

I spotted 4 White Cloud fry this afternoon. They don’t move much, mainly sticking to the glass which is normal based on what I’ve read. I had a heck of a time getting my camera to focus on any of them because they are so small but I did manage to get a few decent photos. The fry in the photo above is about 3/16 of an inch long.

The 6 White Clouds have been moved from the breeding tank to the 55 gallon tank as a precaution just in case they have not eaten all of their eggs yet.

Below is the current population of the 55 gallon tank:

Cherry Barbs: 14 (9 female, 5 male)
White Clouds: 10 (2 of the original 6 are missing)
Otocinclus: 6
Siamese Algae Eater: 3

Total: 33 fish

Update: 12/20/2006
One of the male Cherry Barbs in the 55 Gallon tank has died

Update: 12/21/2006
Two of the female Cherry Barbs have died. All water parameters are normal, not sure what’s going on.

Update: 12/22/2006
Another male Cherry Barb has died. I’m starting to get a little worried at this point. All of the other fish, including the remaining Cherry Barbs are behaving normally and show no signs of disease.

Update: 1/2/2007
Another female Cherry Barb has died.

Update: 1/5/2007
Two White Clouds have died.

Update: 1/8/2007
Added 10 juvenile White Clouds and 2 rather large Otos.

Update: 1/13/2007
One of the Otos has died. It wasn’t one of the new ones.

Update: 1/17/2007
Added 2 Otos and 6 Rasbora Espei

Update: 1/22/2007
Added 6 more Rasbora Espei

Update: 2/9/2007
Added 4 more Rasbora Espei

Update: 2/16/2007
Added 6 Golden White Clouds

Total: 61 fish

It looks like the White Clouds have spawned. Yesterday the males were darting around the tank next to the larger females with their fins fully displayed. Today the bellies of the two largest females look considerably smaller than they did yesterday evening. So far I have not spotted any eggs.

The Cherry Barbs have spawned! I’m not sure exactly when it occurred, I usually check the bottom of the tank and the Java Moss a few times a day to see if a spawning occurred and today I noticed a few tiny specs in the debris that has collected on the bottom of the tank. At this point I’ve only spotted about 10 tiny fry. As you can see in the photo above they basically look like eggs with tails. I haven’t been able to spot any fry in the Java Moss yet, hopefully more survived being eaten than the few that were lucky enough to fall through the screen. The adults have been moved to the 55 gallon tank.