These are the pretty immediate plans, relatively concrete and scheduled for the next month or sooner. 4-26-04: The summer plans are coming together! First, a big switch: the leleupi from the 20 C move to the 44 and the hecqui do the opposite switch. This will allow the leleupi more room, let me focus on making the hecqui happy (and hopefully spawn them during the summer, or early fall), and allow me to at least dream about adding a single Tret to the 44. From there: obviously the rock comes out of the 20 C. It's the same type as in the 125 so I'll be able to augment that rockpile, which is somewhat lacking. I can replace the fluorite with some nice sand, probably a lighter-colored sand. Also, while I'm, changing things around I'll be able to put in the new 3D Habiscape background, which should look fabulous (if it does, I'm getting ones for the other 20 gals as well). Other changes: since I've amended my plans for the 20 A, the lava rock can come out of there, which allows me to switch out the driftwood I wasn't too pleased with in the 29 for lava rock, which should be an interesting look. I wish it could be holey rock but who has that kind of money? The multis are moving out of the 10, which I'm shutting down, in favor of the 20 D (whose residents will of course be moved out first). Then there's the interesting plan: I'm going to set up a 2.5 with a tight-fitting cover and plenty of fluorite, and perhaps some rockwork in the back, as a tiny and very very shallow paludarium. I can mist it daily and I'll get some java moss and anubias growing in there, at least. I can use the old retrofitted light from my 5 gallon, screwed into a piece of wood, as the main light, anda desk lamp with a screw in PC if I need more than that. 3-30-04: I'd like to find a nicer piece of driftwood, or, better, some really nice rocks for the paludarium. In the meantime, I'm trying to compile a list of plants which will grow emersed and which I already like and have access to. H. difformis and H. corymbosa will; what about H. polysperma "Tropical Sunset"? Anubias and java fern will. The Pothos should do very well, and I intend to buy some Bromeliads as well. I'll go do some more reading ... hope I can buy some Pellia, too. 1-31-04: First off, I'm going to start putting in some kind of mark for "this change actually happened, perhaps with explanations in italics below each plan. Big plans right now. First, with the switch from the current 20 to a 29 paludarium, I'll have three 20 gals. Since all of my shelldwellers could use a bit more space, I'm going to buy a two-tiered 20 gallon stand and use it to replace my current two-tiered 10 gallon stand. Then I'll replace the third 10 with a 20, as well. I'll keep one of the 10s around for the summer (with the male Brevis in it) but put him in a 20 with some tankmate or other at the start of fall so I can bring either the occies or the leleupi to school in the fall in a (new) 20 gal. So at that point, the tank list would be: 125 (Cyps, N. caudopunctatus, N. similis) 44 (N. hecqui, J. transcriptus, N. brichardi, A. lineatus) 29 paludarium (A. compressiceps "Sumbu") 20A (Occies) 20B (Meleagris) 20C (Leleupi) 20D (Brevis, probably with Unknown from 125) 9 (betta, H. formosa, Endler's) 6 (Brevis) 12-18-04: At the suggestion of my younger, hates-fish sister, I'm thinking of replacing the danios in an older sister's 20 gal tank (I set it up for her last Christmas; ever since she's complaine leleupi. I don't think she'll complain about *their* color! 12-17-04: I set up the 20 for the comps because cash is slightly short (c'mon, it's the holiday season!), but I plan to switch it out in favor of the 29 idea. Very excited, still! I may use lava rock in place of holey because it's cheaper and available, but I have a lead on a good rock source, I'll have to see. The holey would I think be nicer, but the lava's a good backup, definitely. 12-7-04: Whoo! Just had a great brainstorm! I'll replace the 20, which I have to empty anyway to switch to sand and clean out, with a 29. BUT I'll only fill the 29 partway, because - duh-duh-duh-duh - it's going to be a Tang paludarium. Cool eh? Little Alto. comp "Sumbu" swimming around vals and peace lily roots ... anyway, now I just need to go research. A lot. So I fill it more than halfway (the comps need their space!) and use Texas holey rock in the back which rises somewhat out of the water, allowing for a waterfall and lots of pretty bromeliads or whatever. A few emergent plants and some nice submersed ones and I'm good to go! 12-1-04: I'm starting to finalize the plans regarding the new fish. The 125 and 20 are now empty of fish. The 6 Alto. compressiceps "Sumbu Dwarf" are going into the 20 gal, which needs sand, rock, and shells (eek, I'd better get on that!). The 10 Cyps, the 6 Caudopunks, and my similis are all going in the 125 at the same time. It still needs rock for the caudos and more shells; I may add in a sand bed but perhaps not. I found some more J. transcriptus so about 5 new ones and my lovely guy go into the 44 to pair off. For the 7, which will be empty when the similis leave, and is my dorm tank ... multis! Meaning it comes full circle, since that's what I bought it to hold. They're available locally and are such fun how could I say no? 11-8-04: Submitted a hold request form for some Cyp. leptosoma "Neon Head." Here goes nothing! Very excited all around, and my friends, although they'll miss the similis fry, are looking forward to seeing the Julie in person, since I've showed them his pictures. 11-6-04: Just had a thought - I can take a pair of the brevis fry from the 10, or my two (which probably aren't a pair) from the 125, and put them in the 7 with the julie. With a pair, he'll have free food (and I won't have to worry about having too many brevis fry) and with the two, at least he'll have someone to interact with. Hmmm. Will continue to think about this. 10-28-04: Perfected the plan! Step one - the Endler's, cories, brevis, and GloFish leave the 125. I'll give away the latter groups and most of the Endler's. Step two - I set up a 15 gal tank under the 10A (which is on a metal stand, because I've been a cheapskate lately. Thank goodness, eh?) and put the Julie in there for the moment, along with some adult Endler's. Step three - I remove the driftwood from the 125 and make sure the pH, gh, and kh are at good levels for cyps and similis. Step four - the similis and their tank come home for christmas break, at which point they move into the 125, Laurel's brevis fry go in the 15, and the Julie becomes a "wet pet" in the 7. Step five - I put a school (12+) of Cyprichromis leptosoma, maybe "Utinta," into the 125. Of course there are minor intermediate steps like putting a really, really secure glass top on the 125, changing some substrates (7 -> Tahitian Moon sand, 15 -> ?), and the like, but you don't need those details! Oh, and this means I don't need the 40, just a 15. I'd still like the 40 (of course) but now's not the time. May I just say - I'M SO EXCITED! 10-25-04 part 2: OK, updating the plan. Endler's out, GloFish out, cories out - SAEs and brevis stay, add some more brevis, then ... Cyprichromis school! Why not? They like plants, they'll use the middle of the tank, they'll be safe with the brevis and hopefully with the SAEs (I'm checking that point), they're cool and gorgeous, they'll love my hard water, etc. Whoo! Very excited. 10-25-04: The 125 - my plan has been to add in a nice school of something very very cool, like Denisonii barbs. However, now my mind turns as always to thoughts of shellies. The N. brevis I have in there now do very well with the group - why not take Laurel's fry (the friend whose tank is on the 6 page has 21 - yes, really! - brevis fry from a single spawn) and start a group of brevis going? I might have to move out the Endler's but the SAEs and cories would definitely be safe. Maybe a pair of caudos ... sigh. Also, the plan for the 40-long similis colony is rolling into the station - I intend to get the tank and accoutrements for christmas and have it running in early spring (or perhaps sooner, and put the similis fry in there to grow out, or a new trio or group to which mine would be added). This frees up the 7, which was of course my intention - I can't, of course, bring the 7 with me to Italy next spring. However ... my lonely Julie is a beautiful fish who I'd rather not put back in the 44 (he's having a timeout in the 10A) because he's such a sure fry-eater and the hecqui I'd really like to successfuly breed. My thought is, wouldn't he make a beautiful pet fish for the 7 gal? Gorgeous, personable, not too big or meaty, and I could stuff the tank with fun rocks for him to play in. 8-4-04: I find myself with an empty (well, okay, I moved one of my bettas, Chunk, into it) 2.5 gal minibow. I think I may make it a paludarium - or at least, a low-water-level planted tank so I can reach in and rearrange things without water pouring over the top as it's wont to do in small tanks. A nice 13 watt fluorescent (I have one already), some fluorite with peat and mulm and perhaps laterite layered underneath, no heater, probably no filter, probably no fish, some hairgrass, Stargrass, something red (Rotala wallichi, maybe, and perhaps Ludwigia repens) ... well, it's going to have to wait until after Fall break, when I can go home and get supplies, of course. 8-4-04: Well, my housing form came - I have a single this upcoming year. Thank goodness! The similis will be joining me at school, probably as a desk fish. A little styrofoam under the tank and no worries about hurting anything (well, fingers crossed). This also allows me to bring other fish, but I'll try to keep myself well in hand about that. Oy - getting them there (five hours away, plus who knows how much time until I can get into the room and set up the tank) is going to be a nightmare, but I'll make it work. 7-28-04: I've recently done a lot of fish and tank moving, including shutting down several tanks because, well, leaving my family with 9 tanks just isn't an option. There's been a lot of recombination (the 44, once an L. meleagris/stappersi species tank, is now quite the little Tanganyikan community). Basically, the multi or similis colony plan, although very sound and very much something I plan to do in the future, is on the loooong wait list, as are all my other plans, more or less. Instead I'm greatly enjoying my existing tanks - I do have to say, I enjoy them more when I'm not stressing over all these little tanks I can't use the python on. So: at the end of the summer, the 10 (currently with a lovely N. brevis pair) gets shut down and the Brevis go to my friend and her dorm room. I'm taking the 7 and similis to my school, leaving the 125, the 44, and the 20 (plus the 9, which is their tank, and the other 20, which lives at my sister's apartment) with my parents. This year there aren't going to be a lot of trips back and forth, so they better get good at caring for the tanks! Oy ... 5-18-04: I'm buying an Eclipse 6 for a friend's birthday. I'm going to set her up with a trio of multis of a pair of brevis, whichever I come across first. I'm kind of hoping for the Brevis, since whatever fish I get her I'm going to be caring for all summer, and, well, I've never kept Brevis! 5-1-04: The similis are arriving on the 7th, so I have to set up a tub for their short-term home. Long term, however ... hmm, this should go on the "future" page. On further reflection, scratch that. The similis will go directly into the 7 (I'll get it set up somewhere!), because I'm moving the smaller ocellatus into a tub. This way it can get a little strength and growth without being constantly harassed into the top corner of the tank - and maybe I can figure out if it's male or female! 4-14-04: I'm highly tempted to add some Otos to the 44 and maybe even the 7 gal. The brown algae (and the green as well, in the 7) is irritating the heck out of me. However, I think I'm going to try turning off one of the strips over the 44 before adding any fish; seems counterintuitive since brown algae is usually caused by low light, but I never had this stuff (or any real algae) before I added the second light, so we'll see. 4-5-04: The A. australes have been moved from the 10 to the 2.5. I've decided, since another species of shelldweller is being forced upon me (long story short: I ordered a trio of similis, they were DOA, the seller won't refund, just offer a replacement trio. ARGH), to redo the 10 for shellies. Not that I'm not excited about the similis, but I just don't have the room! I should return some species or other, or give some away, but they're too easy to get attached to! My multis are breeding, my meleagris are gorgeous photo subjects, my ocellatus have 'tudes, and the similis are wild-caught, apparently breeding, and have cool dorsal rays (well, the dead ones did). So - either the occies or the similis get the 10, redone with sand, maybe in a cool color (brick red?) but still planted - corkscrew val, hygro, Asian Ambulia, some Rotala indica, etc. The other species gets a tub, and may later be given away ... but to who?! 3-10-04: Actually ... I'm thinking of replacing the 30 with a 20 gal. What?! Scale down?! Well, yes. Reasons: 1. I'm a little scared of the amount of water weight in that one room. 2. The 30 is a tall tank, and when I turn it, knock on wood, into my annulatus species tank, they'll just disappear into the top, nearly invisible. 3. It allows me to have better lighting (for the nice new substrate I just ordered) ... without actually changing the lighting. 4. If I downgrade now ... my parents may have less of a to-do over the planned 75 gal. Although, really, I know them, and they're going to LOVE that tank. They like beautiful things, and this is a beautiful thing that never has bad days like plant tanks do, with big, colorful fish they'll adore. But, still. 5. So I'll be less tempted to add other species in with the P. annulatus Fake reasons: 1. Because less really is more. 2. Because you really can have too many fish. 3. Because I know if I keep the big filter on, the fish will be living in whitewater! 4. Because I need to stop overcompensating. 5. Because everybody else was doing it. ----------------------------------------------------- 03-08-04: This upcoming week (Spring Break) I'm going to replace the tank of the 30 gal. None of the equipment, fish, plants, substrate, etc, just the actual glass bit. Why? It's been having strange die-offs and general bad health, and I've finally concluded that the only cause that hasn't been ruled out is the silicome-sealed hole in the back where it was once drilled for central filtration. AGA silicone is supposed to be safe, although I've heard stories, so I'm inclined to blame the glass. In any case, I'm not going to lose any more fish, especially with my A. bitaeniata pair in that tank. I've just bid on a group of L. meleagrise, my favorite shelldweller, from Aquabid. Assuming I win (I'm the only bidder at the moment), I'll have them shipped to arrive over this week, so I can settle them in. I think the best plan is to get the ocellatus out, which shouldn't be tough (scare into shells, remove shells!) and bucket them, and give the meleagrise half an hour or so to get adjusted.

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