The feeder had run out of food, not sure when – can’t have been too long before we got home, because there was still a lot of algae around… they were pretty excited at being fed bloodworms, though. We ran out of tablets before we went away, and we went to a little fish shop in Ballarat to get more. They didn’t have the stuff we usually get, so I got some plant chips instead – and then realised that our normal tablets aren’t plant but pressed bloodworms and other nutritious, meaty things; the cloaches don’t seem very happy with us, as a result. We’ll have to get some more next time we’re near Coburg.

Happily, I don’t think there are any new babies, although I was worried at first – then I realised that some of the left-over babies were quite small when we left and they can’t be expected to get enormous in just ten days. The female is getting a bit harassed at the moment, but that’s no longer a problem, because… James bought me a qt! We’d been talking about getting one as an anniversary present to ourselves, and he went out today and just bought one. It’s about 50L, and has a little heater and an in-tank, platform filter, now seeded with some gravel from the main tank. We had to rearrange the kitchen bench to make room for it, and it’s just humming along to itself at the moment. Once the water is the right temperature, it will be tempting to put Miss Molly straight in there, maybe with some of the babies as companions. Apparently the bloke at the fish shop told James that by seeding it with old gravel, it won’t need to cycle. I’m not sure about that; have to keep an eye on it. I think we will keep cardinal tetras in there, because James likes them. And I think I will get a dinky ornament for it, too.