Thanks for all the compliments. I agree, he is a gorgeous fish. And no, I'm not joking about all the missing fish.
We have counted nightly since the first disappearance. We lost 7 in 2 1/2 weeks. Not to be cruel, but losing the tetra's didn't bother me that much since they were returned to the food chain. I originally had them to cycle the tank. I tried bringing them to the big PS where I got them from, but they wouldn't take them. I won't kill a fish, so to let nature takes it's course in survival of the fittest was the best I could do. After the 1st 7, the killi slowed down. He's eaten 3 or 4 true siamese algae eaters which bugs me. i have one left that is big enogh now that it's safe, but the only ones I can find to buy are snack size. I found 1 a bit smaller than mine, but it's in my good LFS' owners personal display tank on the counter which isn't for sale.
To let you know how greedy the killi can be (and it's my fave fish
), get this: My GF called me at work one day to tell me that something caught her eye in the aquarium. She went over and took a close look only to find my black angel sitting there with half a neon tetra sticking out of it's mouth. The killi calmly swam up to the angel, stopped and looked at it for a second, then snatched the entire tetra out of the angel's mouth and inhaled it in 2 gulps, all right before my GF's eyes!
i can't let the killi take all the blame for eating the fish. Twice we've seen the black angel sucking on a neon, although I suspect it's the killi that get's the tetra first...Still, you gotta love that fish!
Colin