The end of the shrimps

Jacque died last night. He molted, and I guess after molting he was just too weak. I didn't see any damage on him so I don't think the puffers had anything to do with it. My guess is that between the plant and the tank changes he just got too stressed, and shrimps don't seem do be able to recover once they start to turn white. The shrimp cave is just so lonely now without any shrimp. I am not planning on getting any more shrimps for the time being. I think if I had them I would want them in a shrimp only tank so that I could be super careful with it and not have to worry so much about them.

On an up note I got all of my puffers to eat bloodworms tonight. They finally seem to have figured out that the medicine dropper is not there to eat them but to bring them bloodworms. So now I don't have to worry nearly as much about them, at least I can feed them whenever I need to and don't have to count on snails or food they find.

Speaking of snails I got some more, my girl friend picked them up for me from the plant tank at Petco. They seem to be doing fine but I still can't seem to get them to breed. I think there are probably a few factors in this. First, they aren't getting enough food for them to feel like its safe to breed. I keep trying to feed them algae wafers but Zimmerman has decided that he deserves them more than the snails. Second, both Bubble and Zimmerman are possibly eating the eggs. I doubt Bubble is since he won't eat anything I feed him other than bloodworms, but I wouldn't be surprised if Zimmerman spends all day hunting snail eggs.

Back to the puffers they haven't been fighting as much. Bug still chases Puff and the little one from time to time, but she doesn't seem to think she has to defend her territory. They little one is getting a bit more brave and comes out toward the front of the tank every now and then. Its nice to seem him sometimes rather than having to search the big grassy plant for him. It has been recommended to me that I get some more puffers, and it will make them school/shoal rather than fight. I am thinking about it, but before I do that I need to get some more plants and possibly drift wood or rocks as well. However, I don't really like drift wood, can't find rocks, and the only fish store around me that I knew sold plants is closed until a new owner acquires it. I want to get a lot more plants but to make them do well I could really use CO2. It just seems silly to spend hundreds of dollars on CO2 for a 10 gallon tank, and I don't have the money for it.

I feel that 3 puffers in a 10 gallon tank just isn't enough, its ok but I would like to have something else in there. So maybe I will get some otos or kuhli loaches.

If I got otos they would certainly be happy, the brown diatom algae is back in my puffer tank and there is a lot more this time. Most of the gravel is covered in it, the fake grass has a lot of it the swords are getting covered in it and my cardinal is starting to grow some long green algae. The good thing is that it is just starting to grow on the glass, so maybe I can keep it off. Its too bad, I had probably made a pretty good dent in getting rid of the silica in my last tank(the brown diatom algae eats silica) but, now I have to start over again.