Three's Company

I went to Fintique today looking for a small pump for a potential water garden I'm working on, as well as some driftwood to replace the fake log in the 10-gallon. No pump, but there was a nice piece of driftwood (labeled "carved stone", but I didn't think so) that I took home with lots of neat hiding places for the zodiac loach once I manage to get him in there.

I also took a few green lilies that I'll try in each tank, as well as three otos for the 10-gallon. Ideally, I'd like two in there, but they enjoy company, and there tends to be a pretty high attrition rate for them in new environs. So three it is.

Once I got back, I tried using my wits to capture the zodiac loach. Ok, not my wits; somebody on a message board recommended it to me. I slipped some frozen food into an old water bottle and set it on the bottom of the tank. The zodiac loach emerged almost immediately to check it out, but would not take the final step of swimming through the neck of the bottle to claim his prize. It didn't help that half the snails in the tank were clamoring to get to the food and congesting the entrance-way. I may try again tomorrow with a freezer bag -- then I don't have to worry about any "bottle-necking".