Love is watching someone die

This weekend sucked. There you know know how I feel about my post today. It all started Thursday. I found out that my teacher was not going to be at class and that a TA was just going to be collecting our reading responses so I decided to just turn it in and go hang out with Tina and Mom. After a great lunch with Mom at Olive Garden Tina and I decided to go ahead an assemble a DVD rack that we had bought months ago because we were being taken over by the loose DVD's in the house. Right before assembling the DVD rack I decide that our fish tanks were all running a little low on water and that Tina and I should do some water changes. We do all of our tanks except my big tank and as the tank is draining / filling Tina and I decide to go to work on the DVD rack.

Well, I forgot to add dechlorination to our tank as I was refilling it and as Tina and I are finishing the rack we stand it up and I realize that all of my fish are on the bottom breathing really heavy and not eating or moving. Well just then Corey Woo shows up and in the whirlwind that is Corey basically tries to reassure me that my fish are fine and to pay attention to him. I realized my error and added the dechlornator right then but, it was too late, damage had been done. I couldn't find anything on the internet about what to do, so I add some stress coat, and I convince myself to just give them some time. We head out to our usual Thursday Spot, The Thirsty Turtle for .25 cent night. Well, we were running a little late, and I guess the word has gotten out about this little deal and the line was down past potbellies. Prolly like 1,000 people in this line, so after not moving for five minutes Tina and I decided to just go home.

I get home and the fish are not doing better, and I find one dead fish. Apparently, when I was filling THAT tank, none of the others, a really chlorine heavy batch of water decided to come into that tank and chlorine burned the gills of all of my fish. That combined with my absence of mind with the dechlornator, equaled really bad things. I get online and find out that this is a lot like being in a room full of smoke, its not impossible to breath, but very hard. Stay in the smoke too long, and you die. I got on the forums and thankfully some of the people in there had some advise, which I could have done hours earlier, but had to wait for the replies. I added some Melafix and some salt to the tank, along with every air stone in the house in an attempt to evaporate all the bad stuff. and find my first dead fish. One of my sub dominant Saulosi had died in the mess. I watch the tank for a few more hours when I find my second dead fish, one of my yellow labs. The worst part about loosing this fish, I had grown him from a fry. Tina and I decide that were going to pull all the rocks out of the tank in the morning and see where we stand.

Well, Friday morning comes and we find another a saulosi who is really struggling. We remove him from the main tank and put him into our medical tank. Add the same medication to that tank, and cover it for complete darkness. By this point the tank is looking really cloudy. What I come to find out is the chlorine also destroyed all my de-nitrifing bacteria.

WARNING SCIENCE CONTENT.
This is the nitrogen cycle. Fish waste and uneaten food become Ammonia, this Ammonia becomes Nitrites which get broken down by beneficial bacteria into Nitrates, these Nitrates are removed by Water Changes. Well, apparently, I killed all of my good bacteria and the tank became over crowded with this bad bacteria, which make the tank cloudy, and smelly. Well I add this stuff that is made in Glen Burnie which jump starts the bio-cycle and pray.

Saturday comes and I wake up to a dead Saulosi, he just couldn't overcome the burns. When I go to work the tank is really cloudy and I get even more depressed. Finally Saturday night I get my first good news, the tank is clearing up nicely. Finally, some good news. I needed this, I was really upset about the fish. Tina had put a lot of the rocks back in and did a head count, so far everyone that was left was still alive.

Skip to today, I go to school at 9AM, get home at 9PM and my little fish (who I raised from a fry) who I had not seen in a few days, dead and being sucked into a filter. Lucky everyone else, including my new fry, are doing much better. Little Miss, one of my labs, was holding, but in all the stress her fry died, and she spit it out. So if you include that little guy, 3 labs, and 2 Saulosi. The only other ray of sunshine is that the tank is looking really decent and I think everyone is gonna make it.

This weekend sucked. But this blog is about fish. Sometimes this happens, but you have to realize that its not all bad. I get a lot of happiness from these guys. Just have to re-build.

Burning bridges is a form of suicide

Okay, let’s see all the things that have been going on. Since my last post I have done a lot of things. I finished three of my five classes and I feel I did pretty well. I have all three of the grades back right now and I have two A's and a C. My C grade was in Spanish, a very hard subject at the University of Maryland. I have really, really, enjoyed my classes over the summer. I took a FANTASTIC history of Films Noir with Greg Metcalf. I really enjoyed seeing some of the older movies, and I loved the way he presents the information in a clear and concise manner. We would watch a film, and then he would say something like "Imagine everything that the main character told you was a lie..." It would literally just blow your mind. My other class was about 20th Century History through film, and we watched some of the greatest war films of all times. If you guys have not seen Stop Loss yet you should really consider it.

I was also able to go see The Dark Knight this weekend and I absolutely loved it. I really appreciated the Noir-esk aspect of the film and the direct statements that it made about society. I really really was infatuated with the way that it embraced Neo-Noir as not only a genre but a style. Classical Noir Films challenged the assumption that society was perfect, they instead showed the darker aspect that was the reality and that evil existed. Now that films focus on the darker aspect of society, The Dark Knight chooses to focus on how society is not doomed and how good people still exist. The film all around was very politically charged, while at the same time delivering a profound statement. I will hopefully see it again, in an environment where I can take notes, and want to post a complex analysis of the content of the film. I also don't want to ruin it for anyone.

Well, I will continue with some things regarding my life. I guess I can share a little about my life. Tina and I found a new place to live! It's in Laurel and it’s a two bedroom that will allow us to separate different aspects of our lives. I.e. we will be able to have and Office / Fish Room, and a Bedroom, and a living room! We will hopefully close two days before I am done with classes and I'll have about a week to get us moved and everything set up. I have been busy picking pretty much everyone I know for ideas regarding the transport of my current apartment. I think that I may rent a U-haul, but we'll see. I really appreciate everyone offering to help (as pretty much everyone has).

Since this blog is ALSO about fish, I feel I must mention them. I bought/traded for a community of Ps. Saulosi. Right now my fish are just Juvies, but when the reach maturity they will look much like this. They are considered a dwarf Mbuna and only the dominant male gets the color seen in the photo. The females and the non-dominant males are yellow in color. They are some of the most curious fish I have even seen EVER. When I put my hand in the tank to move things around they are constantly biting my arm just to see what’s going on. It’s been a joy watching them get a little bigger and start some of the interesting behaviors. They were discovered by Ad Konings in 1989 (yes that’s a correct date) by accident. He was diving in Lake Malawi when he stopped to clear his ears at 7 meters, he looked at the rock right in front of him and swimming in the current he found this species as he struggled to stay where he was. He named it after one of the native Africans who was helping him and the fish been in the hobby as a favorite since. It’s amazing how they tend to exhibit this same behavior in the aquarium at my house. They REALLY enjoy swimming in the current and are always very happy to see me. My dominant male looks kind of funny right now, he has yellow on his tail and a blue and black body.

I will conclude with the other fish I have recently bought for one of my smaller tanks. 'Lamprologus' stappersii' or the Pearly Occellatus. This is a small shell-dweller from the littoral environment of Lake Tanganyika. They move and defend their shells as if they were little homes. In fact, I guess that makes sense. They do actually use the shells as their little houses. I have been unable to get any good pictures of mine yet, but I will have to satisfy you with a funny story. This weekend I was doing some of my maintenance on my tanks and I was adding some rocks to it when I got the shock of my life! This fish, which tops out 2.5”, had gotten so mad that I was within 6 inches of his home that he had bit me!!! I literally dropped what I was moving hit my hand on the top of the tank as I pulled my hand out, got water literally EVERYWHERE and tended to my wounds. I never would have that the fish would have bit me. I know I talked about the Saulosi nibbling on my fingers, but they do it because they want to know if I am food, this guy was defending his shell(s). It was hysterical, Tina and I laughed for like 10 minutes. Needless to say, I may be more careful next time I do that.

Also, this Sunday Tina and I were at Ikea and we found this AMAZING four post bed and Mom graciously offered to help us out with cash because our beds had been on the floor since last year and its wonderful. We put curtains around it and its just been so great to sleep on. I've really enjoyed being able to shut the curtains and take a nap in peace. I really like the bed, and it was a steal at the price we payed. Thanks Mom!!! This Sunday was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed seeing everyone.