Fish Stuff Friday: The Tank
Last yeah, when Em and I moved into a third floor apartment, we had the oh-so-enjoyable experience of moving not one, but two saltwater fish tanks. This involved catching wily fish, removing rocks covered in bristleworm spines (which I believe are still stuck in my fingers somewhere), filling multiple buckets with water and sand and fish, then moving it all up a winding staircase. This stirs up all kinds of muck and stresses the fish out, big time.
So we had one tank that had lived with me, and one tank that had lived with Em, both needing to a place in our new digs. Unfortunately, these tanks couldn't be combined, since they both housed a type of clownfish, which, though you'd never know from watching cute little Nemo, are notoriously bitchy when it comes to their personal space. Throw two adult clownfish together and usually you get some sort of fight to the death. (not cool at $30 a fish!)
Luckily, thanks to friend of bil.com Pete, we had a 30 gallon tank collecting dust, and thanks to Home Depot, a sheet of thin acrylic was an easy acquisition. Inspired, Em crafted a tank divider with small holes drilled in it to allow water flow, but to keep those bitchy clownfish apart. The result? Two tanks in one!
This made maintenance a lot easier, of course, and it also made a great display for our living room. Em's dad made the beautiful top to hide the lights, and we've been enjoying our peacefully co-existing tank ever since.
Next week: The porthole!
(PS, I think this idea of a giant see-through barrier may work for keeping Mexicans out of the US. Someone should float that idea to Congress…)
May 27th, 2006 at 1:28 pm
At one point, that tank held about 50 random goldfish that I caught behind the funeral home next to the old Stop n’ Shop in Warwick (now A.J. Wright). There’s a small run-off pond there. I went back a week later to catch more fish (50 wasn’t enough?), and the owner had sealed the parking lot that week. Everything ran into the little pond and caused a massive fish kill. So I ended up saving the fish. Of course, about 40 of them died over the next two weeks.