Aqua Diem

Well it’s been 24 hours since I added two Crossocheilus siamensis (“Siamese Algae Eater”), and they are both still alive – always a good sign in my book and check-box one ticked off!

I decided to buy juveniles rather than put in the SAEs I had before which were on holiday with the fish pusher. It kind of made me feel a little guilty, but they were over a year old and had grown to about 10cm, which made me worried that they might dig up my still delicate Hemianthus Callitrichoides (“Cuba”) as well as nibble away at the just growing  Vesicularia sp. “Christmas“ (“Christmas Tree Moss”). The juveniles I have now (pictured top) are about 3.5cm in length, and guess what… they made a bee-line for the Hemianthus Callitrichoides (“Cuba”) – typical! They have already uprooted some of the more fragile parts, but now seem to have found the abundance of food growing on the Vesicularia sp. “Christmas“ (“Christmas Tree Moss”). Hopefully they will hang out there…

Naturally as I just added them yesterday they are still pretty timid and are spending most of their time lounging in amongst the stem plants, so it took a bit of patience to get a photo with one out in the open.

Hopefully they will fair well over the next week and if that is the case then I will add a Carinotetraodon travancoricus (“Dwarf Puffer”) and Otocinclus. The Caridina japonica (“Amano Shrimp”) is going to have to wait until the Hemianthus Callitrichoides (“Cuba”) is well established – what with their penchant for digging.