Oops

Last night I went to the pet store to buy the first batch of fish for the aquarium.  I had planned on getting 6 Zebra Danios to start with.  They’re fish that I want there longterm (as opposed to sacrifice for cycling* the tank), and are tough enough to endure the low-grade ammonia spiking that will occur while the tank cycles.

Unfortunately they were quarantined, so the fish guy suggested Dwarf Spotted Danios instead.  Pretty similar, but with a line of spots below the stripe.  And just as suitable for cycling the tank.  So I picked up a half-dozen of those.

While the bag of fish was floating in the aquarium to get the temperatures to match, I re-tested the water.  In fact, I read the instructions on how to test the water.  It turns out that I’ve been doing it wrong, which explains why I wasn’t able to cycle the aquarium without fish.  It turns out that I put the fish in after the ammonia had started to cycle the tank.  OOPS.   Oh well, it really just means that I’ll swap out a little more water than expected, a little more often than expected, for the next few days.

After researching online today, it seems that the Dwarf Spotted Danio likes to jump occasionally.  I’m a little nervous.  Maybe 5% of the tank is uncovered, where the filters hang into the aquarium.  I don’t THINK they’ll unconsciously aim for that spot, but you never know.  I made a point this morning of counting to ensure all 6 were still there.   Maybe that will have to become a habit.

The surprise of the evening:  The cats don't seem to care about the fish.  They've both sat at the aquarium and watched them swim, but after a couple of minutes they get bored and walk away.  No pawing, tank-climbing, meowing, or anything.  Just a 'huh, weird, don't care'.

*cycling the tank:  fish excrete ammonia, which is poisonous.  Bacteria is automatically created that erases the ammonia.  This bacteria creates nitrites.  Bacteria is automatically created that erases the nitrites.  This bacteria creates nitrates, which are okay in small doses.  Once the nitrates appear, there should never be ammonia or nitrites.  This tank is now cycled and stable.

Monday AGAIN?

Yup, another week just FLEW by.

I’ve been looking up on options for my aquarium.  I’m a geek like that.  I’m heading to the pet store tonight to buy a half-dozen Zebra Danios.  These are the first of 4 types I plan to include (3 have already been chosen), and the most appropriate for cycling a fish tank.

This weekend Wife and I went to London for my niece’s 3^rd birthday.  We headed over on Saturday afternoon, did a bit of shopping, then spent the evening with a couple of friends that moved there from Toronto.  Great dinner, great wine, great conversation.  Sunday morning we headed over to the in-laws’ house for the party.  Again, it was another fun day.  I got to see my niece for a while, and hold my brand-new nephew. 

Wife and I had an interesting conversation on the way home, about “relationship status.”  Specifically that these 2 kids will NEVER remember a life without me.  Wife’s cousin’s children might remember me not being there, they were very young when I joined the picture.  And obviously my grownup in-laws remember Life Before Dickeybird, but for these kids I’m a fully qualified member of the clan.

While shopping in London, I also picked up a “Teach Yourself French” CD course.  I’ll need a bit of fluency when I head to the Caribbean in February, and it certainly can’t hurt my resume to re-learn that language forced on me in grade school and ignored/forgotten for 20 years.

Fishy Family

It was an interesting weekend.

Wife and I drove to my Dad’s house for a day and a half.  I’ve been feeling a bit guilty about not seeing him since my mum died last February. 

I was worried about him getting lonely, so went for a visit last August, but he misunderstood my reasons for coming and as soon as I arrived he went out with his church group.  I was really annoyed – he’s the reason I went.

So we went again on Saturday.  The family all seems to be doing well.  After asking how well life is in Toronto, and confirming that marriage is going well, he asked about grandchildren.  My mum used to ask often, but I assumed that would stop.  Now he’s started.  After my saying ‘no’, and him saying “oh, come on” a few times, I pulled out the trump card:  I told him about the vasectomy I had a couple of years ago.  That shut him up, unfortunately disappointed.

The good side of the conversation was that it also included him asking what we have planned regarding care for my 2 sisters.  They’re adopted and have Downs Syndrome.  We’ve got a good plan already set up, but it was encouraging to hear him ask about it.

A new addition to the family is an aquarium with a bunch of fish in it.  After looking at it for about 10 minutes, I turned to Wife saying “I want one.”  I posted about my unexpected desire on Facebook (I’ve never wanted fish before), and a few minutes later a friend offered me his 20 gallon aquarium for free.

It’s now in our living room and I’m researching what fish to get.  The plan so far is for two half-dozen little school fish (Neon Tetras and Zebra Danios), four Peppered Corydoras, and a Betta (Siamese Fighting Fish).  From what I’ve read, they’ll make a compatible and peaceful aquarium that will look good and be relatively low-maintenance.  The Siamese Fighting Fish really only fight when you have multiple males, and just to be safe I hope to get a female.

Wife is a little worried about getting attached to them just in case they die.  To accommodate this, we’ve come up with a unique naming convention.  They will ALL be named Eric, except for the one you’re focussing on.  That one will be called Larry.  So while you’re having a chat with Larry the Betta while she eats the fish food, she’s Larry.  But as soon as your attention moves to one of the Corydora catfish, it will become Larry and the Betta will be Eric.