Early Mornings again. And Fishes!
Michelle got up early today. I usually hit the alarm at 6:30 and go for my run, getting back around 7. At that time, she's usually turned the alarm off, so I let her sleep until I get out of the shower. So I was a little shocked to find the shower running when I got in. She had wanted to get to work at a reasonable time, which I'm all for. I even got in at quarter after 8, which I haven't done in months. It was weird, though, being able to go through all my comics, checking LJ, and my other morning routine websites all before 9 am. I could try to be productive, but that wouldn't be me.
So instead, I'm gonna follow up on my post last night with some aquarium info. Yesterday, after getting home from the airport, we decided to hit up Dolphin to pick up our Danios, which are basically your test fish. As celtcub put it, they live in anything this side of bleach, so you can't REALLY fuck it up. They're supposed to live in the tank about a week, just eating and pooping, starting the cycle for other fish which have more delicate constitutions. Anyway, we wandered around the aquarium area for a little while before finally settling on the long-finned blue danios. While they're not very colorful, they have very pretty wispy fins (long, as their name implies) and they look like little airplanes when viewed from above. What we didn't know, until we had someone grab a bag and a net for us, was that the little green dot on the front of their tank meant that they were quarantined, and they wouldn't be healthy again for a week. Such disappointment. I REALLY didn't want to wait a week, so we swallowed our pride and went to PetSmart (please don't hate us, celtcub!). All of the tanks were smaller and WAY more occupied than those at Dolphin, but we managed to find the tank containing the last 6 long-finned blue danios. Apparently, "six" sounds like "five" to a PetSmart employee, so much so that even AFTER confirming that we wanted 6, she was all ready to bag up our 5 that she had fished out, and had to be told again that we wanted 6. Whatever, I just needed the fish, we don't EVER have to come back if we don't need to.
We got home and prepped the fish bag. The part that made sense was putting the unopened bag in the tank water for 15 minutes. I assume that's to get the temperatures equalized. What didn't make sense, though was you're apparently not supposed to dump the water from the bag into the tank. That made our lives difficult, because the bag they gave us was very tall and very narrow, and our net is somewhat wide, so it wouldn't fit. We had to dump the bag, fish and all, into some tupperware and transfer them that way. They all clumped together near the surface for a little while, but by the time we got back from grocery shopping, they were darting about, exploring everything, and LOVING the bubbles.
Okay, so this isn't one of OUR fish, but the camera's at home and I'm at work. This gives you a good idea of what they look like.
We're still debating on what else we want to get. The one thing we KNOW we want is an upside-down catfish. I've even come up with a story about it when someone asks!
So, I think this fish is from Australia. We brought it home and put it in our tank, but it doesn't seem to be adjusting to living on this side of the world...
That's about it, though. We're still deciding on utility fish (algae eaters/garbage collectors), and I'm assuming the other school fish will be chosen based on looks and whatever's available. I'll be sure to keep y'all updated!
Current tank:
6 Long-Finned Blue Danios
So instead, I'm gonna follow up on my post last night with some aquarium info. Yesterday, after getting home from the airport, we decided to hit up Dolphin to pick up our Danios, which are basically your test fish. As celtcub put it, they live in anything this side of bleach, so you can't REALLY fuck it up. They're supposed to live in the tank about a week, just eating and pooping, starting the cycle for other fish which have more delicate constitutions. Anyway, we wandered around the aquarium area for a little while before finally settling on the long-finned blue danios. While they're not very colorful, they have very pretty wispy fins (long, as their name implies) and they look like little airplanes when viewed from above. What we didn't know, until we had someone grab a bag and a net for us, was that the little green dot on the front of their tank meant that they were quarantined, and they wouldn't be healthy again for a week. Such disappointment. I REALLY didn't want to wait a week, so we swallowed our pride and went to PetSmart (please don't hate us, celtcub!). All of the tanks were smaller and WAY more occupied than those at Dolphin, but we managed to find the tank containing the last 6 long-finned blue danios. Apparently, "six" sounds like "five" to a PetSmart employee, so much so that even AFTER confirming that we wanted 6, she was all ready to bag up our 5 that she had fished out, and had to be told again that we wanted 6. Whatever, I just needed the fish, we don't EVER have to come back if we don't need to.
We got home and prepped the fish bag. The part that made sense was putting the unopened bag in the tank water for 15 minutes. I assume that's to get the temperatures equalized. What didn't make sense, though was you're apparently not supposed to dump the water from the bag into the tank. That made our lives difficult, because the bag they gave us was very tall and very narrow, and our net is somewhat wide, so it wouldn't fit. We had to dump the bag, fish and all, into some tupperware and transfer them that way. They all clumped together near the surface for a little while, but by the time we got back from grocery shopping, they were darting about, exploring everything, and LOVING the bubbles.
Okay, so this isn't one of OUR fish, but the camera's at home and I'm at work. This gives you a good idea of what they look like.
We're still debating on what else we want to get. The one thing we KNOW we want is an upside-down catfish. I've even come up with a story about it when someone asks!
So, I think this fish is from Australia. We brought it home and put it in our tank, but it doesn't seem to be adjusting to living on this side of the world...
That's about it, though. We're still deciding on utility fish (algae eaters/garbage collectors), and I'm assuming the other school fish will be chosen based on looks and whatever's available. I'll be sure to keep y'all updated!
Current tank:
6 Long-Finned Blue Danios