My Little Community of Fish

You know, I like having fish.  Some folks say they are boring, and have no personality, but I disagree with that.  I think it's like any animal in nature, you just have to watch them and study them.  The hard part about owning fish is that, they have a short lifespan.  It's rough if you really get to know one, and then they pass away.  Or worse yet you watch them get to the point where they can't swim around the tank anymore, and slowly starve and suffocate to death.

I can't really stand to watch that happen to my fish.  Just yesterday I had to put down one of the oldest fish I ever had.  He was a Red-Eye Tetra that I must of had for around five years.  He had gotten to the point where his health was in major decline.  His jaw was messed up.  All his fins were in bad shape.  And yesterday, he was not able to get away from the flow of the filter intake tube.  It's like when dog owners know it's time, I knew it was time. 

I have learned to scoop them out of the water, and "pinch" their heads to kill them quickly when they can't get around anymore.  I can't stand to see them suffocate in the air or try to survive while being flushed.  It's cruel.  So as much as I hate to do it, I "pinch" them, and end it quickly. 

It's been a rough week anyway.  At the beginning of the month I gave my tank a really good cleaning.  At that point with the tetra, I had a total of four fish.  Him, two gouramis, and Big Joe the Pleco.  Once my tetra died that left me with a total of three fish in a 46 gallon Euro-tank.  So I was feeling bad due to the rough week, and looking at a near empty tank didn't help. 

I've been having a rough time deciding to get new fish.  We will soon be replacing the carpet, and that means emptying and moving the tank.  And due to it's size, that's not an easy task.  But I was told to go ahead and get some new fish.

I had been aiming to go to the pet store anyway.  I needed Ammo-carb and some aquarium salt.  So while I was there at Pet City in Lutz, I looked over the fish.  They didn't have many gouramis which I thought was odd.  I wandered down to where the guppies were when something caught my eye.  They had these smaller, friendlier gouramis in with the guppies.  And these were nice and red.  I had never seen any like these before.  There were not many in the tank so I got the three that they had.

I took many pictures of them in my tank, but they were still a bit freaked out by the move, and kept hiding from me.  Only two pictures came out well.  The older ones kept getting in my way thinking I was going to feed them.  That or they were like, "What do you want Pops?"  So I took the best pictures I could, and posted them below.

They are smaller, so I hope I bought them young.  I would like them to hang around a while.  We'll see how things go, and I might try to find another few like them.  I mean, I certainly have enough room in the tank.  And the good news is that, so far everyone is getting along.  Yes, there is some fish showing dominate signs, but everyone accepts it, and no one is fin nipping or fighting.  I think it's going to be a happy little community of fish.