Fishes! An illustrated history, part 5

10/18/09
We've made a lot of progress populating the new tank with plants. The big leafy things are new, but the grass and the one-leafed clover came from the old tank, and they've flourished here.

And water tests showed that the tank is cycled (not too surprising; we have plants and gravel from the old tank), so we added fish! 3 Panda Cories:

We are calling the cowfishes because they sit on the bottom and graze. They kinda look like cows, too.

11/07/09

We move the rest of the fish into the new tank. We find all 3 shrimp! The little shrimp has grown quite a bit.
The process is not without its moments of drama: After moving all the rasboras, we only count 5! Where did the last one go? We check the old tank and double-check the new tank, and finally find him on the floor!
We quickly get him back into a tub of water and he comes to. Over the next few minutes he gets more active and he brushes the carpet lint off of himself.
Finally, I float the tub of water in the new tank so the temperatures can equalize. A few minutes later, SC points out that the tub is empty. Another escape! Fortunately, this time he landed in the tank: we count all 6 rasboras schooling in a corner, no doubt listening to the jumping rasbora's stories of the outside world.

12/16/09
We get ready for winter break. We'll be gone for 2 weeks, so we need to take care of the fish. We have an automatic fish feeder for the rasboras, but the otos and cowfishes need bigger wafers. Also, it'd be nice to be able to add the plant fertilizer. So we set up an elaborate system involving an Arduino and 4 servos:

On top of the tank, one servo moves a strip of paper carrying several wafers, and a second servo pushes them into the tank. The bucket contains a pump circulating water between the bucket and the tank, and the two test tubes perched above the bucket contain fertilizer.
Also note the can of grass jelly drink. We bought a case of them a while back. Best drink purchase ever. Haven't been able to find them sold by the case since.

01/02/10

The plants have grown a lot since we were away. Unfortunately, Gourami has disappeared. Very sad. Even now, I sometimes still think I see him in the tank, peering out at me from behind a leaf. Is that weird?

02/13/10

The new stem plants have grown prolifically, but our otherwise hardy cabbage bush (Java fern) has been decimated by disease or something. It's still hanging in there, though, and I'm hopeful for a recovery.
We get a few new fish: 2 very small panda cories and 2 otos. Unfortunately, none of them make it through the next few days except for one of the otos. What are we doing wrong?

02/28/10
We fill the old tank with water and hook up pipes to cycle water between the two. The idea is that, by increasing the total volume of water, we'll be able to go longer between water changes (we're planning to take another long vacation in the future).
This also takes us one step closer to the fish tube: a clear, large diameter tube connecting the two tanks, big enough for a fish to swim through. Pretty awesome.