This past Wednesday -- July 15th -- I performed a 55% water change. I can
tell exactly how much water I change because I do it manually, using four one-gallon jugs. I always keep these four jugs full of dechlorinated water
in order to top off my tanks in between water changes. Being as I keep the
jugs in the same room as the tank, the water temperature of the water in the jugs is about the same as that in the tank.

Whenever I do my weekly water change -- usually on a Wednesday -- I just
drain the tank to a certain level, and then use the four jugs to see exactly how much water it takes to fill it up again. I add chlorine remover to each
jug before adding the water to the tank; that way, there is less opportunity for the chlorine to kill beneficial bacteria in the tank, or to stress out
the fish.

Water changes always stimulate the fish; and considering that I also add vitamin supplements to the water when I perform the changes, it is no wonder that the fish liven up, and become quite aggressive with each other, doing their usual sparring, etc.

While I find my adult mbunas interesting, little Junior continues to be the star of the tank. I receive personal satisfaction out of knowing that he is
the first fry to be born in this tank, and that he has survived this long.
My daughter has read my blog, and has remarked that I talk about Junior as
if he is my child. Well, maybe she is right! :)

Whenever I don't see Junior for a few hours -- and I constantly keep an eye
out for him -- I begin to worry that maybe he finally got eaten by one of
his tank mates; but then he pleasantly surprises me by making a reassuring appearance.

Junior is now a full month old, and has reached a full inch in length. I haven't actually measured him, but visually, he looks to be about an inch,
and he is looking more and more like a mbuna with each passing week. He
still has a yellowish-orange tinge to his dorsal fin, tail and anal fin,
while his body color is a silvery-blue hue with a series of dark vertical
bars on the front half of his body, which were probably obtained from his father's genes. He also has a distinct dark horizontal bar running the full length of his dorsal fin; again, just like his father.

With his increased size has also come increased boldness. In fact, sometimes
I think that Junior is a little too bold, and takes some chances with the bigger fish that he shouldn't. At any rate, whereas before he was happy to
keep to the left half of the tank, the last few days, he has now made treks
to the far right side of the tank as well. He is very cautious, always
sticking close to the rocks, but there is one area where he is forced to traverse a seven-inch area without any protection whatsoever; and his hiding place there is right about the lair of one of the adult fish.

But somehow, Junior just keeps beating the odds, and survives. I am waiting
for the day when he will be too big to even fit in the mouths of his tank mates. Of course, once he reaches sexual maturity, that will present new challenges for him. BTW, while I refer to Junior as a "he", at this point in time, I am really not certain of the sex.

Something else which Junior has taken to doing is nibbling at the floating pellets on the surface of the water. The adult fish rarely do this,
preferring instead to remain in the lower portions of the tank; but ever
since Junior realized that those pellets are food, he has made it a regular habit to target them. He will beeline for one of them, bite of a tiny piece, and then return to the proximity of the upper rock level, until he is ready
to make another beeline for more food.

Today also marks the eighth day for momma fish to be holding her second
batch of eggs. I am growing more determined to remove her from the tank
before she releases her fry, as I would really like to get some more
females. Right now, I am thinking that unless I do it sooner, I will make another attempt to remove her this coming Wednesday -- July 22nd -- when I
do the next water change. On that day, she will have been holding for twelve days, so it will give her time to become adjusted to the twenty-gallon
holding tank before releasing her fry.


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