Thursday, October 31, 2013

Something's Fishy



Okay, okay…. I have a bit of a problem. I am a piscineophile, an aquarist, a fin man. First I got a 12-gallon tank and then, about a month later, I got a second tank. The second one is only six gallons and it was designed to be the maternity ward/sick bay but the 12-gallon tank is where the best breeding is going on.

I've had them a few months now and I can hardly wait for every morning when I turn on the lights to see all my little fishy buddies. We have gotten used to each other and they get all excited knowing I am going to feed them. My Beta is amazing. He practically leaps out of the tank to get the food. He is curious and brave and I love him. His name is Liberace. (No other ones have names. Don't worry!)

Well yesterday I bought a 60-gallon tank. Not only that, I hired a professional aquarist to design the interior and install a carbon monoxide system so that my new tank can really be a stupendous growing medium. I am as fond of the plants as the fish. I am super excited. Costin, the aquarist, is coming here on Tuesday to get me started.

It is like being a kid again and having a hobby. I haven't had anything like a hobby for half a century.

This morning a mother fish had a lot of babies so I ripped out some plants out of my small tank to dump into the large tank to give the new babies more places to hide. And more are imminent and I have found it thrilling to watch them grow and the colour start to come in. Only then can I tell who had the babies — sometimes. I just love this hobby!

No comments: