Reviving Connections Via Ichthyoids

When I was...oh jeez, twelve or thirteen I got my first fish tank as part of a deal I made with my parents. I would go to a writing tutor and they'd get me a small fish tank. It was a 7 gallon Eclipse all-in-one and I put 3 mollies and a platy in there. I kept it running up until about 6 months ago when I finally got my hands on a 29 gallon tank with all the fixings.

First, I tried Cichlids. I got  a little Krib. That died because I had the wrong substrate. So I switched out my substrate and got some German Rams. They died. So I tried some angelfish. They died. So I just let my tank sit, with some Cories in it. Then I got a pair of parror cichlids, and adopted a pair of angels and 3 glass catfish. And then I took 2 rummy nose tetras and 6 bleeding heart tetras. And somewhere in the middle of all that I ended up with some livebearers.

So warmwater tanks evaporate. Fast. And between all my schoolwork, personal problems and lack of desire to aknowledge the state of my tanks, I couldn't keep up.

So today, I called up an old friend whom I have not seen since school let out and he told me he would take them and help me set up a coldwater planted tank, give me some plant clippings and give me deals at his work (he works at an aquatic plant farm).

So I packed up the two angels, all but two of my livebearers and all the tetras and decided to donate the two parrot cichlids to my school tank. And together as a family (we were invited over so my parents could enjoy "happy hour" and me, my brother, William and his brother Emerson could swim or go on the trampoline) we drove them down. 

Now, had it not been for these fish I never would have talked to William. I know they don't understand the signifigance of it....just being fish and all. And maybe I didn't wear a bikini (I didn't end up going swimming) but I made another connection.  Not a bff, but a connection. 

And I had fun. We chatted on the porch, watched William and Emerson goof around (they're two of the most hyperactive, crazy brothers ever) and just generally had a good time.

It was nice.....I could get used to this.