Well, I got the tank filled

and this was the result (I know, it's not great resolution, but it was the first time I'd tried to do a video on my phone and also the first video I've uploaded to YouTube).



Tonight I came home and there were five fish that had died, including the Mama platy, which is unfortunate. On the other hand, I have a lot of babies in the aquarium, including ones about a third her size down to teeny tiny (as in born within the last few days), so I should be good on fish for awhile. I tested the water with a strip, and the nitrates are high of course, but the nitrites are a little higher than normal. The chloramines are okay. Maybe I didn't treat the incoming water enough, or maybe a few days with less oxygen followed by a sudden influx was too much. I plan to have the folks at Animal House test with a liquid kit; that's supposed to be more reliable. I'd really like to get a couple of golden snails, a couple of cory catfish, and maybe a pleco or other algae eater--but all of those are more sensitive to water quality, so testing's the first thing on the list.