Good news! I have managed to keep Frederick and Zumi alive thus far! KNOCK ON WOOD! Seriously! Everybody who just read that sentence- knock on wood immediately! I mean it, don’t you dare keep reading until you have knocked on some wood. Have you done it? Promise? Good. Carry on then. (I’m a little superstitious could ya tell? Ask my friend Carley about it, our knuckles were practically bleeding from knocking on wood so many times during our state championship volleyball game-I’m not saying its the reason we won, but I’m also not not saying that, if you know what I mean).
Anyways, Frederick and Zumi. They are thriving! Yay! You may be thinking to yourself-what’s so hard about keeping a couple of fish alive? EVERYTHING! From regulating water temperature, to food intake, to chemicals in the tank-THERE ARE A MILLION AND ONE WAYS TO KILL A FISH. No joke. And somehow, Ollie and I have managed to avoid all million and one ways.
We are learning a lot about the little fishies already:
- They hate the light in our tank. Absolutely hate it! Whenever we turn it on they immediately hide in the castle ruins or behind the plants. Its weird. After some heavy duty googling, we found that Frederick and Zumi’s fish breed (blue green glow tetras) can be very sensitive to light, so we are slowly trying to get them used to lights by leaving all the lights in our apartment on for as long as possible. Apparently this is supposed o help them acclimate to light. We’ll see. They still hate the aquarium light a lot
- I’m convinced that the “fact” that fish have a memory that resets every 3 seconds or something is completely made up. Because I swear these guys not only remember when dinner time is, but they actually recognize us. Whenever Ollie and I come up the stairs the fish immediately stand (swim?) at attention and race to the front of the tank. Its quite endearing actually.
- If your fish don’t eat t first-don’t freak out! The first couple of days Ollie and I fed the boys, they had no interest in the food what-so-ever. We couldn’t understand it! We were using the same food they were fed at Petco, we were feeding them twice daily (I always thought you fed fish once every 3 days or so-WRONG), we turned the lights on, we turned the lights off. Nothing! I was convinced that we had blind fish who couldn’t see the delicious flakes floating at the top of the tank! Apparently the boys were just getting used to their new situation, and now they can’t get enough of their breakfast and dinner. Its been a struggle for me not to over feed them-they just look up at you with those fishy eyes saying “mommy give me more! I’m so hungry!” Don’t give into the fishy eyes! If they overeat THEY WILL DIE! And if there are uneaten flakes left in the tank it will raise the ammonia in the tank AND THE WILL DIE (we don’t want that!)
Even though I can’t cuddle/snuggle/bring them to the park I am very fond of the little guys, and frequently find myself at work hoping they are swimming happily around their tank. I am VERY nervous about leaving them home alone for the next few days while I’m in Vegas (oh had you not heard that? Ya. I’m going to Vegas. NBD). I spoke to the people at Petco and they suggested that we just not feed them while we’re away (UM HELLO YOU TOLD ME TODAY WAS YOUR FIRST DAY SIR, SO WHY SHOULD I TRUST YOU WITH MY BOY’S LIVES!!??!?!-short answer I DON’T) Anyway, I got this awesome automatic fish feeder that will take care of them for a few days, but please send some good vibes their way! Hopefully I don’t come home to find they’ve trashed the place…
Thanks for reading! xo Whitney
