happiness...is a fish!

Welcome fish lovers! It's a page where you can see and hear about four loveable Black Molly fish named Raine, Duncan, Mike and Jeremy! Learn about the aquatic life behind our "Happiness...Is A Fish" contest, but don't forget to enter before you leave!

September 27^th - Well, after almost a month of waiting with an empty tank, the fish finally came home tonight! It was a long process, and things turned out a little differently than planned, but we're now the proud owners of 4 Black Molly tropical fish! Here's what happened:

As some of you may know, we had originally intended to get Black Moor fish. Apparently Black Moors are very finicky and very hard to take care of. On top of that, I could never find a pet store that appeared to have a tank of healthy fish. I wasn't exactly fond of spending six bucks a fish if they were going to die on me in twenty-four hours. In the end, we decided to go with a heartier variety, the Black Mollies. They are extremely active!

September 28^th - The fish are happy in their new home, and appear to have adjusted nicely. Suprisingly, it is easy to tell them apart, as they differ in size as well as characteristics. Mike fish is the largest of the fish (there is no real reason why) and his biggest thing is hanging around the filter output. When the filter passes out the water it has cleaned, it comes out in a small waterfall. Mike seems to enjoy bobbing up and down with the water that pours out. I fear that Duncan fish will soon have a concussion. Whenever I approach the tank to check on them or to feed them, you can always hear this little "thud" noise on the glass. The noise is Duncan's head hitting the glass tank; maybe I keep it too clean. Raine fish is the most amusing to watch during feeding. He eats the food, then spits it out, and then eats it again. I have no clue why he does this, and I feel bad for him because if the others are around when he spits it out, they s teal it from him before he gets the chance to eat it again! Don't worry, I still make sure he gets enough to eat. Jeremy fish is the smallest fish, he may not wear a "7" T-shirt, but he appears to have developed a fascination with the heater. Because they are tropical fish, they need to be kept around 78 degrees Fahrenheit, to be kept happy. Jeremy enjoys biting the heater, I don't know why. He sneaks up on it from behind on of their plastic plants and bites it and he does this over and over again. I watched him do this for ten minutes today, and he was still attacking the heater. Don't worry, there is no chance of him getting burned.

September 29^th - The title is a little alarming but it is true. I suppose Duncan fish isn't as manly as we'd thought. After all, he's pregnant! The lady at the pet store told me that if any of my fish turned out to be females, there was a good chance they'd be laying eggs sometime soon. I'd been watching for the signs of a female fish that was getting ready to lay eggs, and Duncan is showing all the signs...oh dear! If any of the fish are actually m ales, they could fertilize the eggs and we could have babies all over the place! This is where we realize that they are fish...otherwise it makes for an ill conversation!

Suppose I will be going to the pet store to see if there is anything Duncan needs...

September 30^th- Okay, Well I went to the pet store today to inquire about Duncan's condition. They told me that the fish (I feel odd referring to Duncan as he or she) was definitely to lay eggs. They suggested that I get a real plant so that Duncan would have a safe place to lay the eggs, they would be safe for fertilization and that when the babies hatched, and they would be safe from their parents. Apparently the parents like to eat the babies, and we wouldn't want that! If you know of anybody who wants pet fish, let us know!

October 1^st- Today is a dark day for us fish-owners. I am sorry to announce that Duncan fish passed away late last night. Even though we only had him for four lovely days, we will always remember him. /P

As for the pet store, I believe the term for these people is someone who "can't tell their @$$ from their elbow". I told them the day before that Duncan wasn't too lively and that he hung around the bottom of the tank a lot. They told me he would be spawning. I wonder that if they knew what they were talking about, he could have been saved. They sell lots of fish medicine.

A fish will replace him, to be named Duncan the Second (Duncan II), in honour of our aquatic friend. Funeral services were held this morning shortly after the body was discovered one member of OLP.net attended the services. Rest in peace.

October 5^th- There's a lot happening in the OLP.net fish tank, so let me update you. This past Saturday, Duncan II came home. Duncan is not fully-grown, so he's about half the size of Jeremy who, as you know, is the smallest fish in the tank. Thankfully, the other fish seem to have accepted him, and they are all getting along nicely. They had their fist tank cleaning today, the gravel was vacuumed, and they also enjoyed a partial water change. While I was putting their plants back in place they took the liberty of nibbling my fingers, it tickled. I promise to have pictures for you soon. (It's a 27 exposure disposable camera, need to waste some shots)

Sometime In October - We've been so busy lately, I haven't had time to update and fill you in on the lives of our fishes! In the last three weeks, Raine has given birth, Jeremy has eaten most of Raine's babies, and Duncan is sick. That's a lot to deal with!

Raine gave birth while I was at work on one lovely Saturday, and my mother telephoned me to share the news. Jeremy figured out what was happening pretty quickly, because as soon as Raine dropped a few fry (what a baby fish is called) Jeremy would eat them all. So Jeremy was isolated, and fed a little bit extra then the rest of the boys, and soon all was well. We had the baby count stabilized at 12, but I noticed that each day the numbers were going down. I scolded Jeremy (yeah, like scolding a fish is going to do anything) and bought some live plants so that the babies could hide in them.

When I cleaned the tank the next week, I found were all the babies went. Not in Jeremy's tummy, but in the filter�yuck! I was surprised to find that 4 of the babies were still alive, but the others weren't so fortunate. I feel pretty bad. So now we had 6 babies; Jamie, Arnold, Oskar, Hope, Annie and Naveed. I was unfortunately watching when Jeremy ate Naveed, sorry. So then there were 5. Hope decided to swim into the filter again, and then there were 4. Annie had always been really small for her size, possibly as a result from living in a filter for about a week, she died, and then there were three.

So I bought a little fry tank for Jamie, Arnold and Oskar and now their growing fine. Jamie is the biggest. What a hectic few weeks!!

This morning, I noticed that Duncan wasn't looking too good, got the cloudy eye thing going. I think the live plants aren't rooting properly, and instead of being good, they are decaying and therefore releasing ammonia into the water, which is bad for fish. I'm going to take the plants out, and get him some medicine; hopefully everything will be fine.