There's something fishy going on

As we hurtle towards 100 posts on the blog (this is 99, apparently), I'd best do as the wife says and blog my fish news.

I've now got 12 fish in my tank (at least I did this morning), after buying 3 more last weekend. There's space for a few more, but narrowing down my list of possible candidates for the next additions will take some time, so this is it for now.

Platys:
My, haven't they grown! I've tried to get a picture so you can compare against my first fish post, but have so far been unsuccessful. The women in particular have been putting a lot of weight on. Females do grow larger than males, but I'm still suspicious of the size of their stomachs and am expecting babies some time soon. Then again, I have been for about a month. Another thing adding to my suspicions is the way that one of the men follows one of the women around all the time. He was even chasing away others who came near her the other day. Quite cute really, if a little needy.

Cories:
They're still very shy, which is a shame. If they see you coming they'll shoot off and hide, but then you can trick them by waiting for a while and they'll come out again. Their favourite hiding place is under a log in the corner of the tank, and it's quite fun when they're all huddling up there in a little row. Here's a nice little picture of one of them coming out for his tea.


Rainbows:
The new guys. Dwarf neon rainbowfish melanotaenia praecox. I've seen rainbowfish arouns and they're always described as "a bit boring when they're young but nice and colourful when they grow up" or something. I really like them and these chaps are very nice - they don't grow too big which is one of my criteria for the tank. Having said that, when I was in Mr Fish at the weekend I saw some very VERY nice banded rainbowfish, which are currently high up in the running for my pair of larger fish which I will have at some point. Anyway, these guys have got a lovely shimmery blue body and red/orange fins. Photos really don't do them justice, but here you go:

One with the lights on


And the same guy with the flash on, showing his nice blue scales


I have 3 of these, as I said: 2 males and 1 female. I think one of the males is bossing the other one around a bit, as the smaller one is always hiding in the plants and has lost a lot of his colour since I put them in. I'll have to monitor the situation. One of the fun behavioural things that the big guy does is to sprint across the front of the tank, then put the brakes on and extend his fins as much as possible. It's quite amusing to watch him showing off. I'm looking out for signs of a love triangle here - surely the lady will fall in love with the small, dull one and spurn the advances of the bully? Watch this space.