Aside from taking pictures for the joy of doing so, one thing that I have always wanted is an aquarium full of fish. Thanks to our friend Boz, this reality is now sitting in our living room with 3 fish in it. (so far)
I posted on my beta hell that I went through a few weeks ago, the week that I managed to kill three beta fish and salvaged another miraculously. He is now what I call, "Miracle", blue and vibrant. Thanks to Jenn and a couple of searches on the internet I soon learned some valuable things about beta fish, least of which is that they are a very hardy fish.
Upon posting that, I received an e-mail from Boz asking if we would be interested in a 30-gallon aquarium with all the necessary equipment as well as a stand. I was hesitant at first because I had been pricing aquariums and such just recently and he wanted nothing but to get rid of it all. Obviously we said yes to this offer but have extended that if he ever wants it back to just let us know. I mean really, FREE? How often does a deal like that come along.
We picked up everything, sanded and repainted the metal stand, Pat cleaned all the equipment while I dried and inspected and when Pat and I went on our little get away, we left the tank in our bathtub full of water to make sure everything was in tact. While we prepared all the things I became somewhat nervous and overwhelmed with the whole idea of an aquarium. I have to do a lot of work just with the four beta fish that we have and take care that everything is just right for them to thrive, how would I manage to take care of a 30-gallon tank full of tropical fish? Eeks!!!
Well, when Pat and I returned to civiliazation we made a stop at the pet store that is supposed to be home to the best fish selection around! Man, people weren't kidding when they said that. Pat and I spent about an hour and a half looking at all the numerous freshwater fish. So many to choose from, so much that we didn't know, how were we going to make any decisions? Real plants, fake plants, evil fish, peaceful fish, so many and such strange names. Pat and I knew nothing about aquarium fish but ask us about the fish in the lakes and we could talk about it all day!
We left there with armloads of things to get the aquarium up and running and decided that we would cross the bridge of choosing a fish once we had all the necessary stuff for their home. Gravel, rocks, fake plants, water clarifier, thermometer, replacement filters, biowheel and less knowledge than we had when we walked in. The guys that worked there inundated us with information, names of all kinds of fish, what one gets along with this or that, how we care for the tank...needless to say, I was almost dreading this new adventure.
However, that has changed. Once we got things set up, water in the aquarium, rocks strategically placed, we became impatient and bought 4 fish two days later. Dwarf Neon Gouramis and one algae eater. We have since lost the algae eater because there wasn't any algae aquired in the tank of course, a 'duh' on my part but live and learn is what they say. The Gouramis are really cool fish. They shimmer in the lights and can be all sorts of different colors depending on how the light hits them. They have feelers on them too which they use often. I love waking up in the morning to feed them. The three of them follow me around as best they can and remain at the surface of the tank. When they see me reach up for their food they flutter all over and sit in their feeding corner in wait for their flakes. Piggies is what they are. I fear that I might overfeed them and kill them off but so far so good.
What's really funny is for years Pat has put the kibosh on us having an aquarium. He has never been too keen on the idea, not sure why. Before Boz offered us this aquarium Pat had started to notice my attachment to the betas and mentioning that we should get a small aquarium, a real aquarium but just in passing. Now however, Pat will sit and watch the fish swim around, play tag, arrange the rocks just so, fix the weeds, check the temp, test the water. The guy is obsessed more so than myself and cannot wait until the water is at normal levels so that we can add to it. He sits on our chaise and watches the fish like he would watch a hockey game. He wants real plants eventually, to try out the salt water fish because of course there's one fish that's yellow and gold, the colors of his most favorite hockey team. If not for his interest and all his help in this new journey I don't know that I would put myself through all of this.
I love having the aquarium, my daycare kids love it too, our kids could care less. All of our betas have their own little aquariums now and room to move around and good water to live in. There's a lot of life in this house all of the sudden. Next thing Pat will wanna do is breed fish.....ugh! LOL
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