Today, I dropped by AFA, but Tuesdays they are closed. So, I bopped over to Justin at Ocean Aquarium to see what he's up to. I just wanted two female Checkerboard cichlids to keep my beautiful lone male company, but his batch was still so young, he couldn't tell males from females. He urged me to try again in two weeks.

Not to be thwarted, I picked up some items for the 6g and new 20g:

• A 100-watt heater for the 20g. I'd been using a dinky extra 25-watt I had lying around, which was not up to the task.
• Another glass CO2 diffuser, this one even smaller and cuter than the one I bought for the 20g. I installed it in the 6g, replacing a relatively enormous Vortex reactor that served me well for a couple of years, but was just too prominent in so small a tank.
• A healthy, thick bunch of -- oh, I forgot to ask what they are! -- anyway, they're bright red, with curly-spinach-style leaves. I got these ultimately disposable beauties only to more densely populate the 20g while it establishes itself.
• A nice zippered case containing extra long pincers, shears, and a double-ended substrate spoon.

I also talked with Justin at length about my plans for livestock. I trust him without reservation when it comes to this kind of advice. The lovely fish and shrimp I've used -- at his recommendation -- in Asgard (6g tank) over the years have been a joyous balance between rare specimens and very small fish that can flourish in so small a space.

When I told him I wanted lots and lots of very small schooling fish (a dream I've been unable to realize in my smaller tanks), he showed me Jellybean tetras, which are cool, but not as striking as what I'm after. Then he showed me the astonishing Rasbora pauciperforata, or Red-line Rasbora. In dim light, it's rather unremarkable, but under bright light, a strong red line runs horizontally from the snout along the lateral line, terminating at the caudal fin. They look like fish who'd swallowed itty bitty glow sticks. More on my livestock research as it develops.