Alrighty, then....

After spending some time observing the goings-on in the 150, with the new additions of the festivus, I see that these charming little guys with the racing strips are rather tough customers, as I have been warned.

I note that since the addition of the single festivus a while back that I have not had the number of Endler's babies that I typically see in this tank. I have to net Endler's out of this tank from time to time, trading them and giving them away, and I have not had to do that since putting in the festivus, even though he's barely 2" long. OK, that's fine - I had too many Endler's in the past, and was disappointed that the wild caught angels did not reduce their number like I hoped. The festivus is up to the challenge.

Enter two new festivus. Feisty little fellows! They are lunging towards Endler's, they are lunging towards cardinals (someone on a forum commented recently that I might find myself without any tetras as the festivus matures) and they all seem quite interested in eliminating the snail population.

Hmmm. OK. I'm cool with this, actually. I won't cry if they wipe out the Endler's population -they are not appropriate for this tank anyway, and I can start a dedicated setup easily if need be - no problem. I have enough friends and relatives with my Endler's offspring that the group won't be lost forever. Better to not have a population explosion that is not being dealt with. I'm a bit torn about the cardinals, though. They get along famously with the wild angels - no sign that the angels have even the slightest piscivorous tendencies - and they look SO pretty. That will be a trick to get over, but I recognize that they might be eaten by the festivus as they reach mature size. The festivus have already shown strong tendencies towards hunting down small fish. I will have to switch to a larger, swifter tetra, and there are many species to choose from, so this won't be a big deal. I'll get over it! I still love the festivus, and want them to work out in this large tank.