Well, last month I mentioned Austin’s mosquito fish was pregnant, she gave birth on Thursday, but I have been hesitant to write about it because they keep escaping the breeder tank. To read the whole fish story, I suggest you click here and start at the bottom of the page. Austin told me before school on Thursday that Scarlet, his fish, was giving birth. By the time I went to check on her she had 30 fish and was eating them as fast as she could, so I pulled her out of the breeder tank and went about my day.

A few hours later, I took Matthew down with me to see the baby fishies and this time only counted 20, so I figured I must have miscounted, but I noticed my angel fish and a few other swimming around the tank anxiously. Before Taekwondo, Austin and I took Daddy down to see them and this time I only noticed 12. I told him they were escaping and being eaten and to not get his hopes up that any will live. Today there are only 4 living fish (out of the 30+) and 3 dead ones. I guess this is one way to prevent overcrowding…

Well shit. Austin’s mosquito fish he brought home from school looks pregnant. He told me this the other day but I did not believe him. Now I do. She is getting a HUGE belly and has a large gravid spot. Not sure if I will say anything to Austin anytime soon. We probably won’t do anything to save the babies and I don’t think he will notice them down in the plants before they all get eaten.

The fish all made it through the night… not only did they just ’survive’ but they seem to be thriving. When Matthew and I went down to feed them this morning, the light was already on, so I knew Austin and Christopher had already checked in on them. Thank goodness they made it! I would be said if THEY had found a dead fish. Most of them have been named… the shark is Jeremy, the angel fish is Isabella, the mosquito fish is Scarlet, and the rest of the names escape me at the moment. I am thinking of printing out a little ‘name tag’ of sorts since I am the one always assigned to remember all the names… since I won’t be able to remember fish names, I feel some sort of labeling is in order.

Matthew has also learned the sign for “fish” which is made by taking your right hand and mimicking a fish gracefully swimming in the water (you can look up the two-handed version HERE if you want to see what it really like). Well, Matthew’s version of fish is less graceful and looks more like a fish out of water flopping on its side either dying, or trying to thrust himself back into the water… but hey, HE knows what he means, WE know what he means, so a fish is a fish… swimming OR dying, it does not matter.

I stand corrected… it is not a guppy, it’s a mosquito fish.

The fish tank on Craig’s list was a very good deal. It has at least 5 varieties of living plants, and came with heater, filter, pump, bubble maker, and lights. It also came with two fish (angel fish and a siamese algae eater) and snails.

So after we got the tank set up in the basement and visited with the neighbors, Austin and I went to PetSmart to get a few more fish. Ha! We ended up bringing 5 more home, plus an assortment of cleaning stuff, and food.

We got a pictus cat, a clown loach, an albino rainbow shark, a cory cat, and a columbian shark.

All the fish are in their new home… except the mosquito fish… how is that for irony?

Austin brought home a fish from school yesterday, its a simple female guppy in a couple 2 liter bottles. Basically his project was to make a complete ecosystem in a small area. I found a nice explanation with pictures here. Well… this situation is much like the book If you Give a Mouse a Cookie in that now we have a guppy, but no tank. So last night I found a reasonable tank on Craig’s List and we will be going to view it tonight. Turns out, the person lives about two blocks away!

So, if the school gets your son a guppy, the child will bring it home. When the child brings it home, the mom will take pity on it and buy it an aquarium to live in. When the mom gets the aquarium home, she will think it needs a new aquarium hood. When the family gets to the pet store to get aquarium hood, they will look at the fish and decide to get more fish for the guppy to have company. If the family eventualy buys too many fish, they will buy a bigger tank.

And this is where I am determined to stop the vicious cycle. The things we do for our children!