Fear the Crab

Fish are dying on me left and right. This morning Buttercup was dead. I didn’t notice at first because instead of floating on the surface, she was against the filter intake valve.

I fished her out, dropped her in a ziploc bag, grabbed a sample of my water in a glass jar, and went to work.

I went to my parents’ groundbreaking ceremony, where we blessed the lot before we began construction. I met an Italian buddhist priest.

After the groundbreaking, went down to Coral Reef. If a fish you buy from them dies within 3 days of purchase, you bring the body, sample of water, and receipt. If the body is free of damage (ie, wasn’t covered in parasites or fighting) and the water passed inspection (ie, the water wasn’t the cause), then the store issues you credit.

I was more interested in figuring out if my water was the culprit, but it turned out that my water was good. I asked if high heat could have killed the fish, but the guy said it was more likely stress. We took a look inside the bag again, and this time we noticed something odd.

Buttercup was pregnant.

So I had a dead mother-to-be. Not nice. The fish store guy said that stress and pregnancy could end a fish’s life, so it wasn’t my fault.

All the same, I ended up buying a 10-gallon tank and all the accessories that should go with it. Stuff like gravel, a full hood, filtration system (under-gravel and wet-dry, yeah), and for good measure, a water test kit. I have no idea where the 10-gallon will go, but I think I will put it on my desk, since there’s enough space. And speaking of space, the 10-Gs will give me enough room for more schoolers so the fish won’t feel lonely. Loneliness leads to stress, and we’ve all seen what happens from stress.

As for the 3-gallon tank, I’ll probably keep it as a quarantine tank. Clean it out, put it aside for a bit, and when I need to use it I’ll use it.