The Drama Continues, sort of...

I decided it was high time I rinsed out the filters for the 37-gallon angel breeding tank. The two canister filters have been working overtime lately with all of the extra feeding of the fry, and the sponge prefilters on the intakes don't catch everything.

I have two Eheim canisters on this tank, one big old classic (love it - still going strong after ~12 years) and a newer Eheim Ecco filter (do NOT love it - very poorly designed and prone to problems). I thought it had been longer since I cleaned out the Classic than the Ecco, so rather than rinse them both out and risk triggering a cycle I'd clean out one, wait a week and do the other. I shut them down, clamped the valves shut and got the Classic out from under the cabinet.

Wait, what's that I see through the translucent outer body of the filter? Are you kidding me? Fry in the Ecco? Yep. OK. I guess I'm rinsing out both filters then.

I open the Ecco and pull out the trays that are snapped together, and in the space beween the tray assembly and the filter body about 25 fry are swimming around, apparently in good health. I have had the sponge prefilters on the intakes for a while now, ever since they became free swimming and started moving around the tank, so I don't know how to explain it, other than shortly after wiggler stage they traveled the distance through plants and behind large rocks to get to the intakes, and got sucked in, then continued to develop while inside the filter. Amazing. I netted them back into the tank and rinsed out the filter, which was not at all dirty as it should have been (due to what I consider a poor design - lots of open space where the water does not get filtered at all).

I opened the Classic, and of course that one was very dirty. There is no open space - the water must be shoved through the layers of filtration - nowhere else for it to go. Also, there would be no spot for fry to survive either, but quite honestly I'd rather have an efficient filter.

In the bottom of the bucket I had used to collect the fry, after I had gotten them out and emptied it the rest of the way, there was a bit of debris left in the bottom, and I noticed one particle was moving. Now I apparently have leeches. Or some sort of flat worm. It looks like a flattened out earthworm, except the head is vaguely spade shaped and the tail is more pointed, but you have to look at it VERY closely to determine that. Otherwise it is the shape and size of a thistle seed or something, except dark reddish brown. I figure it came in with the live blackworms I have fed the adult angels. *Sigh*

I am sure this is not the only one in the tank, but hopefully they will not do too much damage. I might have to go ahead and get the babies out and into their own tank. I still have many, many babies - too many to count.