Think Fish Keepers Daily News. [2016-2019]

Have been to the local MA twice this week, and to the one near Aquarium Gardens (seemed rude not to have a look in while I was there), and I've managed not to buy any fish. I may need to mark this event on a calendar. 

The gobies in the river tank have put on quite a display over the past couple of evenings. Three males have been vying for the attention of one female. I swear that one of the males was twerking for her - which was both disturbing and hilarious. 

[Moved from 'Kribensis' to 'Think Fish Keepers Daily News' where I assume it belonged.  FCMF.]

I tested for ammonia and nitrite this morning, and found the ammonia colour was between the zero and 0.25 shades. I was a bit worried that removing so many plants would result in this. But there were no Malaysian trumpet snails crawling up the glass, the nerites were not trying to escape and the shrimps were pottering about as usual so I didn't panic.
After lunch I tested again and got zero ammonia. But I still did a small water change (1 bucket instead of 7.5) because of the bits of hornwort leaf all over the sand.


I can see my fish now, they aren't lurking in a barely lit tank under all that foliage. I am quite surprised that the rasboras are still out and about as I expected them to panic with less cover over them.
The rice fish are responding to the combination of water change followed by food - the males have darkened and are chasing the females. Maybe they like a brighter tank 

Ooooh - new fish - exciting... and overdue by your standards! 
Glad your faithful patronage of your local MA has paid off with some well-deserved samples, and also very kind of you to offer to share some of them. Skinny Harley (RIP) might have benefited from some of these as I see some mention for loss of appetite. 

In my own tank, the spare filter or its cable was causing a lot of vibration yesterday evening, to the extent that I removed it under plea from Mr FCMF, moving the filter media into the tank so as not to lose all the beneficial bacteria. What a difference its removal has made - the tank seems so much roomier, much more aesthetically interesting as the main filter and heater are hidden at the back, and the fish are intermingling so much more rather than in separate territories / station points according to whether they like/dislike the filter outflow.

Current positioning is the green neons lively at the very top, more sedate harlies on the strata immediately below, and x-rays on the bottom. 

Edited to add video: https://#youtu.be/fWevvPEwIpY [remove # to watch], with apologies for scratches on tank due to algae magnet use some time ago, silk plants in lieu of former real plants plus the need for some general scrubbing of them as BBA has set in on them and food debris have landed on them.

Love the video fcmf...   

There is something very adorable about watching tiny fish (eg neon green rasboras / MDK) chomping on a large brineshrimp or savouring a piece of bloodworm.
 

I agree.
I also like seeing my amano shrimp run off with a whole algae wafer.

I'm quite small, but completely certain I am far from adorable when tackling a large meal. 

Great news Sue. 
Please keep us updated on the progress of your local MA.

Good to know that they kept the staff on!

A flurry of activity in the tank today. X-rays are sedate at the bottom, enjoying the peace and shade of a silk plant. Harlies are sedately over to one side. Greenies are playing in the filter outlet flow, in a sort-of restructuring of the hierarchy as to who gets first rights to ride the flow - so far, two of the slightly older and bigger (3cm) ones seem to be at the top of the hierarchy but one newer and smaller (1.5cm) one is challenging one of the older ones, while the remaining 3 smaller ones are playing tig a little lower down in the tank, possibly sorting out who's next in the ranking order.

Thanks, @Littlefish . 

I've noticed today that the new fish haven't quite got used to human habits. For example, if I'm sitting by the tank and lift a hand to move a hair away from my face, they scatter, causing the entire tankload of fish to follow suit. Later on at lunchtime, I was sitting eating my sandwich by the tank and wondered if they'd notice that I was actually eating and start begging for their own lunch but, instead, they scattered every time I lifted the sandwich to my mouth. Needless to say, I felt bad about eating in front of them and instilling panic, so followed this up with fishfood (for them, not me).