The Cookie Crew

Generally around 24.5°C at the mo Dave...  There's some partial plus or minus, depending on various factors, but I've not seen it above 25.2°C at the highest point recently... 

Everybody else in the tank is fine...  I don't mind saying that for the next couple of days after the Cardinal went, I was very worried that others may follow suit, especially the recently added Oto Cats, but no worries at all thankfully...

Mrs Cookie & I are away for a week from tomorrow, off down to Torquay for a few days, to see friends there and then to Cardiff on the way back to visit my old dad...  That will be an anxious time in terms of the fish tank...... 

I've got Mrs Cookie's son popping in daily while we are away, primarily to feed the four cats...  So he will be able to just pop a little food in, maybe twice say, while we are away - and keep up with the daily ferts of course... 

He does Sue...  lol, he had to sit through a big lecture and the express instruction that too much food is a no-no, better to forget than to over feed etc...    He wasn't impressed, lolol...   

When I was on holiday in May I had a friend come in every 3rd day to feed the gang.
The tanks were numbered, with a corresponding list of instructions. They also came over a few times prior to the holiday to be trained in how to feed the fish & amphibians.
Although I was concerned, everything went wel,l and all the aquatic inhabitants in the Littlefish household were fine.
I was so pleased. 

Glad to hear that your gang are all well, and I hope you had a good holiday.

Multiple algae issues update:

Some of you will remember that I have been struggling with a variety of types of algae, non of which the clean up crew were especially interested in...!!!  Was a complete nightmare to be honest...!!!

Anyways, after switching the tank timer lights down to a mere six hours per day plus we got blinds in the living room, which have cut down the natural light levels significantly, things started to improve...  There was also that whole plant nutrition angle, with which I am now keeping up with at the recommended dose of TNC Complete but split down into daily doses... 

The magic final factor has now occurred - time...!!!  I am happy to be able to report that all algae has gone, the BBA, Staghorn or hair algae, the works...!!!  Seems like time was the magic ingredient...  After making the other changes, they collectively just needed time to get fully underway 

Interesting though that even with ferts being added, 6 hours of photoperiod seems to be enough...

That is absolutely fantastic news. Im really happy for you. 

I expect you will want a period of stability now but so you know for future, if you really want a different photoperiod (to enjoy the tank more etc) you can shift the time the lights are in into any part of the day or (more risky!) reduce the lighting intensity and lengthen the lighting period.

I honestly thought my tank had become cursed, lol, and just plain couldn't imagine how I'd ever get rid of what I think was the BBA - let alone the other types...  But then just at a very slow rate, the algae backed off and I honestly can't see any now... 

No doubt that stuff will still be lurking and would surely break out again if circumstances were right for it...  The only bit that remains is the bit beneath the sand where it meets the glass, but even that has the top several millimetres gone now, where I guess the snails & shrimp have been able to get at it... 

One change I have noticed in recent weeks though was that pretty much all the stem plants in the tank have been steadily under attack by the Rabbit snails and/or the Faunus snails, to the point where they appear to munch through the stems at the base and destroy the whole plant...!!!  Then it dawned on me that there's probably a lot less natural food for them now with the algae all but gone...  So, it didn't take long to twig that I should re-evaluate my feeding routine and shift the balance so that there is far less protein based food and increase the algae wafers...  This is looking to be working now too and the various snails can at least get to the algae wafers in time, whereas with the previous emphasis on flakes and such like, it was all getting snapped up by the Tetras etc... 

The old learning curve never stops with this hobby, eh...?  I'm sure that I'm still a ways to go in terms of getting things just right, but do at least feel like things are going in the right direction now, instead of the wrong direction - a major shift indeed... 

The old learning curve never stops with this hobby, eh...?  I'm sure that I'm still a ways to go in terms of getting things just right, but do at least feel like things are going in the right direction now, instead of the wrong direction - a major shift indeed... 

I tend to think of it as a rollercoaster, rather than a curve, but that's probably just me occassionally forgetting things if I panic. 

Great to hear that the change in feeding has reduced the snail attacks on your plants.

Keep up the good work.