Saturday, 19 November 2011

Our new housemates (again)

First, a little history:
We have fish. I like fish. They are pretty easy to take care of, cheap to own, and can provide hours of entertainment to people with attention spans like mine. Since getting my tank, it has been populated with the following (in order):
  • A black guppy named Black (deceased)
  • A yellow guppy named Yellow (deceased)
  • Two harlequin rasboras named Thing One and Thing Two
  • A zebra danio named Zebra - officially Judy's
  • Two tetras - still currently unnamed (one deceased)
  • Two crabs named Houdini and Blaine because of their affinity for trying to get out of the tank - officially Josh's (deceased)
As you can see, some of the fish have thrived, while others have passed on relatively quickly. Such is the way of fish. One of the advantages is that it is very difficult to form any long-lasting attachment to creatures that live in an environment unsuitable for humans, so I remain stoic about all this. However, not all the fish appear to have died of natural causes: at one point a few months ago, we went away for a long weekend, and returned to find Yellow dead, and no sign of one of the tetras. Zebra was also looking rather larger than when we left, and very pleased with himself.
He has then been observed chasing the three remaining fish around the tank, haranguing and harassing them (at least, to my mind), and generally being a big bully. Stern words have been issued, but he appears to not understand, or not care. We have resorted to alternative measures. Allow me to introduce Totoro and Lupé.
Lupé

Totoro, with tetra and Thing Two in background
Totoro is a Japanese Fighting Fish, although the term is something of a misnomer - he's actually not agressive, unless there is another Fighting Fish in the tank. Lupé is a mosaic corydora, introduced primarily to eat the scraps that fall to the bottom, and keep the tank a bit cleaner.
The hope is that the introduction of these two slightly larger fish will serve to stop Zebra thinking he is king of the tank, and also make it a bit prettier - Totoro is a lovely red, and Lupé's spots complement Zebra's stripes wonderfully.

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