[DeeDeeK]

So, the excess Endlers are gone and feeding is back to normal. The airstone came out fifteen days ago and the only effect is that my plants are now pearling like crazy and growing like mad. Also I have to remove watersprite about weekly to keep up with it.

Ammonia and nitrites are 0. Nitrates hover around 10mg/l. Water changes are very infrequent now so I'm guess there's denitrification going on somewhere.

The black sand which I could see through the glass has faded to a dull blue-grey and the border between it and the blond-brown surface sand has retreated downwards.

Samples I've taken with a turkey baster are full of very very fine particulate matter and lots of worms, all sizes from around 1mm to a couple of inches. The big 'uns are clearly cali. blackworms and I'd swear I'm seeing their young since even the tiny ones swim in a corkscrew manner when touched on one end and flip over when touched on the other. There are very few flatworms, which saddens me. I really like flatworms. Actually I do have a species which is grouped with planaria but lacks a gut and all other planria have a gut. I guess it just absorbs organic compounds through its skin. Hmmmm. velly intellesting.

The newest member of my ecosystem are this tiny, white, hopping mites that live on the surface. I needed a magnifying glass to see that they had more legs and fewer segments than insects. The fish eat 'em when they even notice 'em.

I've got almost no algae except a couple tufts of black beard algae on some dying leafs. Oh, and these tough specks of a rich green algae that's hard to scrape off the glass. At least it grows VERY slowly.

The MTS are reproducing at last. Sadly, the pond snails are outpacing the MTS about four to one.

I introduced a male betta who like to eat young pond snails and any worms he can catch sticking out of the ground. He's like an addict, cruising around all day snapping at worms.

I still haven't vacuumed yet.

The fish are vigorous with a capital vig. And all the female Endlers are preggo again (I know, big whup). Other species are doing cute little courting dances, so I think everyone's happy. They almost thrash when I feed them. Their colors are excellent!

The shrimp are reproducing and the fish are eating baby shrimps.

And me, well I'm sure if I lived in that aquarium and be very happy.