I'm a Mama

Our fishies
Originally uploaded by icadrews

That's right folks, I'm a mother. Joe and I decided that it was time to expand our family. We thought that fish were an easy way to start. We headed off to Petco, but no one bothered to assist us, so we went to Aquarium Adventure on Sawmill. If you have never been to Aquarium Adventure, you have not lived. It was like real live aquarium. Huge tanks, fancy "habitat". It was amazing.

We looked at the goldfish. After a couple minutes, we asked a guy feeding the fish to help.

"You want to get a goldfish?" he asked. "Well, you'll need a 30 gallon tank and twice a week water changes."

I gulped. Who knew goldfish required that much?

"Uh," I asked, "What do you recommend for a small...2 or 3 gallon tank?"

"Minnows. They're delighful. They can last quite some time. But, remember, the first 4-6 weeks is the most riskiest for fish loss."

Fish loss? There's a term for it? Joe and I hadn't realized the extent to which "Fishkeeping" was an art form. I spent the next day at work, researching online while the computer system was down. Having a home aquarium, no matter how small, was more work than I had anticipated. But, I was ready to dedicate myself.

The next day, Joe and I went to Petsmart. The saleswoman, not quite as much a fish conniseur as the guy at the aquarium place, recommended some great, sturdy fish. We purchased our aquarium, a 5 gallon, and set it up.

Two days later, we adopted our little fishies! We got three guppies and an Oto Cat:

Leopold, a little yellow guy with black spots and an opalized belly. He was a fiesty one, constantly attacking my fingers as I carried him home in the bag. He's pretty inquisitive, too.

Cloak, he's a black guy with a white face with a big fan tail that is injured. It's currently healing. He didn't initially want to be caught, and suffered some stress and trauma to the transition, but he's getting along much better now.

Margaret, he has red tail, blue core, and yellow front. He's not a Fancy Guppy, like his buddies, but demonstrated his place in the pecking order pretty quickly and took control of the aquarium. He used to pick on Leopold a bit, but they're all friends now.

They all swim together. It's pretty cute.

We also got an Oto Cat, Chupa, who spends his day sucking around the tank eating algae, dust, and whatever else he can get his little mouth on. Every once in a while, during mealtimes, he mistakes Leopold for a flake of fish food and will chase him around the tank.

So yes, Joe and I are proud parents of a tank full of fishies. Today marks one week of successful fishkeeping!