| Aquarium Survivor (part 4 of ?) |
[Feb. 19th, 2007|10:56 pm] |
...actually, the first round of Aquarium Survivor is over. Muerte died maybe 2 months ago, probably of starvation after he ate all the algae. I spotted his tail sticking out from under the tank bridge thingy, thought about scooping out his corpse, and then never got to it. But no worries, Mort ate him, I think. In any case, the tail is gone, and as long as I don't see any rotting fish flesh, it's all good.
However, round 2 of Aquarium Survivor may be about to begin. With Muerte gone, algae started repopulating my tank, so I decided to get another algae eater. But I wanted a different algae eater, a prettier one, because I'm superficial like that, resulting in the purchase of a Golden Algae Eater. And it was only AFTER I dumped it in the tank that I decided to look it up. Apparently, these things don't even eat algae after a while when they mature. No, they prefer other forms of nutrition, particularly the slime coating off other fish. SO, basically, it's going to attach to Mort and rasp away at his skin until he dies. AWESOME. Only not really.
It is my intention to remove this Golden Algae Eater, now named Cujo in honor of his foreseen psychosis, and return to a boring Otocinclus like Muerte. Or a pair of ghost shrimp. However, I am the world's biggest procrastinator, especially when it comes to opening up the tank and disrupting everything and swishing a dinky little net around for maybe 15 minutes until I catch Cujo. So...it's more likely that they're going to be tankmates until this weekend. Too bad for Mort, I guess. Or maybe he'll give as good as he gets. We'll see. |
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| Aquarium Survivor (part 3 of ?) |
[Aug. 30th, 2006|05:57 pm] |
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The tetra has disappeared. It has either been sucked into the filter or devoured by its tankmates. It's a pity I wasn't around for its last moments; I actually had to work at home in Columbia so my good ol' suitemate Casey fed the fishies for a week. Ah, well. According to her reports, Mort continued to delight in chasing the tetra around, so he was in all likelihood the killer. Alas, he was clever enough to hide any incriminating evidence, and I don't really feel like scouring the filter. In any case, we are now down to 2 contestants for Aquarium Survivor. It really is no contest; Muerte is going to go any one of these days because he's eaten most of the algae in the tank and shall basically starve to death unless I buy him algae chips. |
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| Aquarium Survivor (part 2 of ?) |
[Aug. 20th, 2006|10:23 am] |
So, as of this morning, everyone is still alive. Mort seems to have calmed down and adjusted to his tank the most. This doesn't exactly come as a surprise given he's at least three times larger than his cohorts and could kick their scaly asses if they tried any sort of, I don't know, tank uprising. Last night, I saw him chasing the tetra around for a good minute or so, brushing up on his bullying skills, I guess. And of course the tetra was ZOMG and crying and racing around the tank. Maybe minus the crying. Of course, it's either pooped out now or maybe just used to the bullying, 'cuz sometimes Mort swims on over (there are only so many places he can be in a 2-gallon tank) and the tetra just sort of ignores him or floats resignedly in the other direction.
The tetra has earned itself some points with me for having survived this long. I really expected to wake up this morning, look in the tank, and see a little neon carcass drifting carelessly among the plastic plant leaves. It really surprised me. Plus it is really really really cute. If it lives out the next week or so, I'll have to promote it to actual "Pet" level.
Muerte, it would appear, is the most mentally unstable one in the tank. He chills, sucking onto a tank wall for a bit, and then the minute someone (usually Mort or the tetra getting chased by Mort, so ultimately it's always Mort's fault) swims too close to him, he freaks out and explodes around the tank. And it's funny because in my opinion, every time he's zipping around the tank thinking someone's trying to kill him or something, no one in the tank is even remotely interested in him. He must just be one of those people who thinks the world revolves around him. |
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| Aquarium Survivor (part 1 of ?) |
[Aug. 19th, 2006|05:58 pm] |
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After having lost my third pet betta Anubiros to an overdose of Ick medication (administered by me with the best of intentions mind you) about two weeks ago, I decided to get another betta, along with an otocinclus, AND a neon tetra. According to a fish aficionado friend of mine as well as various online sources, this is too many fish for a 2-gallon tank, and my best chances are to buy a power filter and vacuum pump, and heck, why not a 5-gallon tank instead. This is really too much money. Hence day 1 of Aquarium Survivor where only the fish who REALLY want to live get to stay in my tank. I'm betting that the tetra goes first. To further demonstrate my belief, I'm not even naming it. The betta, on the other hand, is named Mort, and the otocinclus is Muerte. Oh the irony. |
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