When Nick (my husband) and I lived in Fort Hood, we bought Eva a 10 gallon fish tank along with two goldfish, whom we named Porkchop and Lambchop.
Here's an old picture of the day we got them. All she wanted to do was sit and stare at them.
Nick was so excited to get Eva new pets. He set everything up for them right away...
...then about 6 hours later they died.
When we talked to the pet store employees they explained that goldfish require a tank that has been cycled at least two weeks prior, the tank should be filtered, and you really should only have about one goldfish per 10 gallons of water. We had no clue all that went in to keeping goldfish.
Eva still wanted fish pets so we decided to go with some that were easier to maintain. We stocked the tank with four Tiger Barb and one Gourami.
We had those fish up until Nick passed away. When he died, I didn't really know what I was going to do. I couldn't stay in Fort Hood now that he was gone. I made the decision to move to San Antonio so I could be near my mom. I wasn't sure exactly where I'd be staying or how long I would be there so I gave the tank and fish away to my sister's brother in law. He has a lot of fish and has taken excellent care of them.
So there is our fish pet history. I didn't make the decision to buy Eva more fish until after we'd had our house for a few months. I didn't want to go with a large tank so I bought the Fluval Chi 5 gallon aquarium along with three tetra fish.
This is what it looked like when I first set it up:
Yellow is our tetra and we've had him for about 11 months now. We used to have Blue and Orange as well, but we've lost them along the way :/ Blue died just a few days after we bought him. The pet store clerk said he was probably just from a bad batch of fish. Fortunately Orange and Yellow seemed fine. Before I left for Alaska in July, the motor on the filter stopped working. It was not a big deal since the water in this tank is not that difficult to change often. My sister was pet & house sitting for me so everything was going to be fine. I came back from Alaska in August and that same day the AC motor died, then the next day Orange died too. I think I forgot to tell my sister to add water to the tank frequently, so when we got back, it looked like this:
EEEWWWWW! I'm actually surprised they lasted as long as they did. I cleaned it out and added water hoping Yellow would be okay....and he was. It seemed a little silly to have one tiny tetra in a big 5 gallon tank so while my friend Mabel was in town visiting, I bought a $5, one gallon fish bowl from Walmart. It seemed like a more appropriate home for our tiny fish.
Here he is swimming around in his new digs.
I'm so glad I switched from the bigger tank to the bowl. This weighs so much less, so I can actually carry it to the sink when it needs a cleaning. I don't have to siphon dirty water out or vacuum the rocks for a cleaning. About once every two weeks I just pour him and 1/2 his water into a vase while I wash his bowl and rocks. Then I pour him back in and add 1/2 new water. It's so much less stressful, and that makes me happy. Now I just need to find a cute container for his food. I keep the ammonia and Ph stuff in a little box because we don't use them that often, but his food basically needs to stay out since I feed him every other day. I'm also on the hunt for a slimmer end table. The one the bowl is currently on is kinda bulky, but so far I haven't found anything I like at a reasonable price.
Now, I'm just gonna throw this in here because it's only two days from the official beginning of Fall. I've slowly been making a few changes to the house in the dining room, front porch, my bedroom, etc... and I'm still not done with my Fall decorating either, but here's some eye candy for garden lovers:
(I took these yesterday. I'll try to name each of the ones I can remember. Yet another reason I love Fall, everything in TX is blooming!)
Vinca
Double Hibiscus
Petunia
Hibiscus
Zinnia
Hibiscus
Knockout Roses
another type of Rose
Esperanza
Calibrachoa?
Vincas
Dianthus
Morning Glory vine (gives blue flowers)
Bougainvillea
Pomegranates
(hanging over our yard from the neighbor's tree, he lets us have them all, so sweet)
Zucchini
Squash
Ahhhhh so pretty...and that's just part of what's in the back yard. I'll have to take pictures of all the beautiful flowers growing in our front yard. Isn't Fall just the best time of the year? I can't wait to start putting out pumpkins and stocking up on Mums. Have you started your Fall decorating yet?
No comments:
Post a Comment