Welcome Home

Every Friday night after a week of travel, one of the first things I do when I get home is to study the fish tank. Yes, I said study.

I can't just "look". I have to really go over the tank. I judge how dirty or clean, I count the fish to make sure Ron didn't have to flush any while I was gone and just take awhile and relax and study.

Last night, Ron and I were both studying. One of our female gouramis looks really fat. We did some research on getting baby gouramis and that just looked like too much work. The fish tank is only there for fun and relaxation, not work! So, we decided that we weren't going to make the habitat special for breeding the gouramis which would include taking out all but six inches of water from the tank. It's a 65 gallon tank for crying out loud. No, too much work. So, our fat gourami is either eating too much or she might be full of eggs. I don't think we'll be able to bring the eggs to baby fish, but that's ok. It's all about letting nature take its course with this tank. What will be will be.

So that's what I look at and study. One of our platys looks pregnant as well. Ron and I were talking last night that it's time to take the tank apart and give it a good cleaning. That means taking out all of the stuff in the tank like the plants and the slate, we clean the glass inside and out, vacuum all the poop out of the rocks, clean the filter and take out 1/3 of the water, build new hiding places with the plants and slate and then fill it back up with clean water. That's the most work we do with the tank. We thought before these fish have more babies, if they are pregnant, we'll clean the tank. That way, there is no way of putting the babies in danger by taking out all of the hiding places to clean the tank.

Then I saw it!

A BABY!!

Yes, there is a baby platy in there. At first I saw the one, about 1/2 inch long. I was so excited! The more I looked, I thought I saw another, smaller one in the same space. Sure enough, here he came. Almost totally translucent, and about half the size of the first one I saw. Teeny tiny baby! Two confirmed babies, and here's hoping there are more under that rock that I just can't see yet.

So, we'll still clean part of the tank this weekend. I won't touch the area that is hiding the babies but at least it will be better than nothing.

Yeah, that was a great welcome home present on Friday night.