The AI mode for searches has turned up lots of useful tips for my aquarium. The fish are much healthier. Blackbeard algae is less likely to be a problem too.

“Preventing Blackbeard algae” was my first AI search. Overcrowding–my middle name–is a primary cause. The tank of my dreams is chock-full of colorful fish. Unfortunately, too many fish leads to tons of problems.

Calculating the appropriate number of fish for a tank is about bioload–the waste they generate. Fish size is a big factor, but different varieties have different impacts. A couple of months ago, I entered the size of my tank, the varieties of fish in it, and the quantity of each.

The first thing in a long response was no big surprise. The tank was overcrowded. The AI-generated solution included a mix of suggestions for additions and subtractions with great information about each variety.

I’ve had one or two corydoras catfish in just about every tank I’ve ever had. Turns out, these little critters prefer to live in groups of six or more. Who knew? My heart breaks for the loneliness and depression I inflicted upon the catfish in my past.

I also keep an otocinclus algae eater or two in the tank. They, too, prefer to live in groups of six or more. I feel terrible! Please don’t tell PETA.

The response included suggestions for fish to remove. The first helpful tip was to keep only male guppies. Doh! I took out all the females I could catch. Getting rid of fish ceased to be an issue a few weeks later. An ich outbreak from a heater malfunction proved fatal for many.

Two male guppies survived. I thought about getting a female or two, but decided to take a break from my favorite fish for a while. The female black molly of mixed heritage (one parent is a sailfin) also survived, along with a couple of Cory cats and an otocinclus.

Motivated by a bioload much less than my tank can handle, I went shopping and picked up a pair of beautiful lyre-tail black mollies. I wanted a clown loach, but they prefer to live in groups of five or more and my tank is too small for one.

AI also suggested adding a few more catfish and six-to-eight small, schooling/shoaling fish for the middle-to-top of the tank. I plan to get more catfish, but recently saw molly babies so I’ll wait on adding a new variety.

In addition to reducing the fish population, I also added aeration and restocked the plants to prevent Blackbeard algae. Months ago, I reduced light to the tank and stepped up water changes of 30% to 50% of the water to every week.

Thanks to AI, the aquarium is in great shape–the best in my fish-keeping career. Finding the information to get there was easy with AI. No more sifting through pages of links that may or may not contain answers.

As always, thanks for stopping by.