Fear the Crab

So the 10-gallon is up and running, and it’s sitting on my dresser near the wall, away from the window where the sunlight comes in. I know that sunlight is good for the plants, but here the sun will just shoot the water temperature into the 90s. That’s not good for the fish. Granted, it still is summer, but why take chances?

I bought a playmate for Wesley, but after some heavy thinking, I returned both glowlight tetras to the store. I think having tetras is a bit too high maintenance for me at this point, especially if they don’t seem to be eating.

So what do I have in the 10-G? I bought an additional 3 pygmy corys, upping the number to 6. After several days of monitoring the water conditions and the overall health of the pygmy corys, whom I have named Inigo Montoya², Fezzik², and Vizzini², I decided it was safe to buy some other fish.

I knew I wanted to get a larger cory, but what kind? Many places only had albino corys, but a quick search on any browser will tell you there are hundreds more species. Whilst at the fish store, Maile found some panda corys, cute little buggers with big black spots (like.. well.. pandas, I guess). I bought two so as not to overstress the tank with new fish.

The next day one of the pandas was dead. Still don’t know what caused it, since the other was healthy and active. I knew that it would get lonely real quick, which might lead to stress and eventual death, so when Maile called me up to say she was going to find more panda corys, I asked her to pick me up some.

I now have a total of 5 panda corys. All 5 seem hearty and playful, and they’ve taken to surfing the water bubbles in the back from time to time. When it’s feeding time they and the pygmy corys look like.. I dunno, hop-happy bunnies skipping over the gravel. I swear they’re starting to perform search-and-rescue on the sinking food tablets because they’re often forming a line across the gravel bed and moving in tandem towards the other end of the tank.

The panda corys are pigs, though, because once they find a bit of food, they’ll munch on it for a little while, then “sit” on it as they rest, preventing others from getting to it.

Maile tells me that the fish in her 20-gallon tank are doing well. She has a mix of corys, all about the same size. I believe 2 are pandas, 2 are “spotted” and I forget what the other 2 were. She plans to move Kylie (the angelfish, if you remember) into the 20-G when everything’s settled. She was planning on getting a black ghost knife, but since those fish grow really big, she doesn’t want to consider having to get a bigger tank. Not just yet.

I’m thinking of getting a web cam, just for the fishtanks. One for me, one for Maile. I dunno, I have no experience with web cams, much less what’s involved in setting one up.

Today I have to go to SECE and prove that I’m eligible to remain at my student job. I also need to pick up my parking pass for Fall and get my textbooks. Meanwhile, the cafeteria is closed, so I don’t know what I’m going to do about lunch.