Monday 24/8/2015: School Starts, Tank Troubles

          Well, I'm back! A lot has happened over the past 2 days. We took the Cichlids back to the store where we bought them, but the blue one was too damaged, so I sadly think he was flushed, or the fish store equivalent. We were able to get some fish in refund for the pink one, and unfortunately our carefully thought out plans did not survive first contact. We had been planning to get some platys or Swordtails, but further research showed that they are too small to escape the jaws of the Pleco, pictured above. The fish that the workers were suggesting all become huge, and eventually my mom overrode me and bought a grand total of 3 angelfish and 3 Silverdollar fish. I knew that both of these species grow to 6 inches and require much more than our 20 gallon tank, but they were better than the Bala sharks that were the only other fish the catfish wouldn't swallow. I was thinking maybe we could keep one angelfish in our tank, and that would already be too small, but my mom's dream of having many beautiful fish came out on top. I have been uneasy ever since. I told my mom that we could replace the Cichlids with 6 or so other fish, expecting platy-size, but 6 large fish will likely shrink to 5, 4, 3, 2... until the numbers are what our tank can handle. My dad's feelings are that, if a fish is kept in a too small tank, it will stay small, and also a generally uncaring attitude towards fish I have mentioned before.
          On a much happier note, I bought my brother a 20 jd (25ish dollars) 5 gallon Betta tank and a blue normal Betta! It includes a glass cover which I keep at least half an inch above the water so the Betta can breath, a tiny filter, and a bright blue light I am sorely tempted to confiscate for use to help my plants grow. The shop manager and my mom decided a heater wasn't necessary, and I think they are right during the summer, as I have been able to easily keep it at 25-27 degrees centigrade (77-81F), but I will definitely try to buy him a heater as soon as possible. We got home, and I had an hour to release the too-big fish into our main tank and get my little brother's tank set up before going to a doctor's appointment. (This was Sunday. The weekend here is Friday-Saturday.) I used our fresh dechlorinator and added some aquafine general care medicine to the tank, as I had done to the main tank that morning, to hopefully keep the fish healthier. After I slowly released the betta from the small aquarium bag that was still many times bigger than his previous home in a clear plastic cup, he had a great time wandering around exploring his new home.
          I got home from my doctor's appointment right after my siblings got home from school, and luckily my brother (who is 8) had not yet gone to his room. The bright green medicine I had put in still had not quite cleared up, but the tank was much better than before, when I couldn't even see the betta from across the tank, despite using exactly as much stuff as was recommended.  Once my mom convinced my brother to go to his room, presumably to make his bed, I was able to give him what I have decided is his early Christmas present. He has already grown to love the small Betta, although I will not let him name it for a week, and we have big plans for teaching it the cool tricks we read about on the internet. For the foreseeable future, we will be feeding it halved tetra Cichlid food, as we couldn't return that, and I think it is alright because the food has over 40% protein. It seems to like it fine, even though I have heard that Bettas are picky eaters. After the very first feeding, he was already begging for food, and does whenever we first come near him. Unfortunately, as I am writing this late at night, I was only able to get some pictures of the tank and Betta under cover of darkness, even though I turned on his bright blue light for a few. Here they are:

          I also have a picture of the main tank, terribly overstocked even though you can't see most of the fish in this picture, with my makeshift lamp filling in for the fluorescent lamp we are waiting for in the mail:

          Anyway, so far as my tank goes, everyone has been doing fine. There was one point where I walked in on a rebellion by both lesser Danios against the queen, but she still rules from her lofty domain. Everyone is doing fine, although it's hard to tell with grouch and lurker because of their sour attitudes. Most of the time, the descriptions I gave in my last blog are holding up perfectly, though the male seems to be doing a lot better, bothering the queen and more adeptly avoiding the other. Happily, as it has been a week since I brought the Danios home, I can now name them. The first is easy, as I have been thinking of this name since I put the fish together:

 Ever since I put the fish together and started watching them, I have thought that the best name for the Queen of the tank is Sky. Sky is named, of course, for her territory at the top of the tank, which she valiantly defends even when multiple outsiders invade at once. She has proven herself in battle so many times that even my original female will usually flee as soon as she gives chase. This picture is one of the rare instances where Sky descended from her bubbly throne to the lower levels of the tank.

Surprisingly, a name for my original Danio does not easily spring to mind. In fact, I have barely four or five pictures of her. She darts around so fast, causing enough mischief for the entire tank, that she is incredibly difficult to photograph. While Sky spends a lot of time moving too, she has a set pattern she tends to follow. Streak is a beautiful girl, and even though she is under Sky, she is the biggest of my Danios. (In this picture, she isn't the one in focus. She's the blur in the background.)

And, last and kinda also least (sorry!) is the male. He spent his first few days in my tank being tormented by Streak, but has gradually become comfortable and even joins her in bothering the others. If you can't fight them, join them, right? He is actually in the above picture, and you can see that he has almost a mirror copy of Streak's circle on his left side that is his only defining mark. Darter seems quite happy now, and I am getting to see more and more of him and Streak now they aren't always playing tag.

           Now that school has started, I may end up only posting once a week, but I will do my best to see how long I can keep up this every-other-day thing. If anyone reading this has any ideas on what to do about my family tank, and is living in a time frame no later than November 2015, I would greatly appreciate some advice. Even if all you can say is "You're doomed", I would still be glad to read comments. Thanks!
-Sawyer