Fear the Crab

After one panda decided to stick itself into the driftwood and die, another panda got fin rot. I bought some medicine that specifically treats fin rot, but after three days it (the fish) was gone. Its tail fin was completely missing. I’ve lost two fish, one to unfortunate circumstances, another to high stress and disease. It makes me sad.

I had just gotten through a super happy fun time, too, on inklink, where me and the staffers from CheesyMUD played pictionary. Pictionary online is uber fun, especially when we all play for sheer amusement. Kyrol managed to get a few answers correct on luck, because he was being sarcastic and it just so happened to be the word the game was looking for. I mean, how can you guess “derringer” when someone draws a walther-ppk? He even got “africa” because he was making fun of my crappy drawing of that continent. Too bad I can’t play when I’m at work; I’d laugh too loud.

I had these thoughts during a chat session. I was at work, which is why I was chatting in the first place. Mind you, this is an abridged version, not an actual transcript of the conversation, but I think the gist of it still comes across. The statements in parentheses are those issued by other people. Mine are in quotation marks.

(maybe a little exaggerated with the US, coz the media is constantly broadcasting everything that’s happening, and giving it its own flavour, I did honestly think the govt responses were slower than my own hometown, and the shooting was just plain ridiculous.)

“Sometimes people just have to realize that the rest of the world is watching what you do and judging you.
The hypocrisy of the US is that we judge everybody, even our own, yet we hate being judged.”

(hmm.. oh well, isnt that wat everybody does?)

“Not to the extent that the US does it. We judge other nations, tell them they’re evil, or poor, but we say “screw you” to the UN when it tells us we’re doing something wrong.
The govt response was horrid, the shootings were insane, but the relief workers who were there instantly deserve credit.
In any crisis, when we look to the actions of the “little people” we see tremendous courage. They’re not doing it for political gain or global status.
The good people attempt to work with what they have left and provide as much as they can. They don’t say “We don’t have helicopters because so-and-so used ’em in another country”
They don’t announce the shortcoming and blame it on someone else. They just act.
The govt response was slow, I think, because people were trying to explain why things failed, instead of just “doing” things.
Just once I wish I could see someone in power say to reporters, “I can’t talk now I have to go rescue people!”
Or turn to the camera crew/reporter and say, “Instead of filming me, why don’t you lend a hand?”
I’m sure if we all saw that clip on tv, we would think that guy is pretty serious about the situation.”

I dunno. It was just something I was saying, and I felt I should write it down.

One of my pandas died yesterday. When it didn’t show up for feeding time, I started to look behind the driftwood and plants, where the fish are usually wont to hide. I didn’t see it, and it took me a while to confirm the locations of everyone else (fish don’t conveniently stay still, you know). Then a thought struck me out of the blue, and I grabbed my mag-lite and started shining the light into the nooks and crannies of the driftwood.

There was the missing panda, stuck between the gravel and the driftwood. I thought I might have a chance, but when I lifted the driftwood, the panda was quite dead. Rigor mortis had probably set in, because when it was finally dislodged from its location, it remained in a curled up position, the way I found it.

I’m thinking that curiosity killed the panda. It explored the nook and maybe got stuck somehow. It’s a depressing thought to think about, though.

After work today I might head over to that store by Maile’s mom’s office. I hear they sometimes carry pandas. If not there, I’ll try the place where I got my first two. If not there, I’ll try by The Lab. I might get two pandas, should there be enough. I don’t think it’ll overload the tank, and hopefully the remaining 4 pandas will appreciate the extra company.

It still makes me sad. I can understand a fish dying of stress, of old age, of disease (which is usually brought on by stress), but not by something accidental like that. Sad.

It’s freakin’ hot.

I set up a web cam to take still photos of the fish tank. Unfortunately the shutter speed is so slow that moving objects become nothing more than a blur. Still, it’s a nice adventure into the land of web cams.

I used to have these live plants called anacharis. I had about 6. Trouble was, the leaves would start turning brown. I’m not sure if it was because of the under-gravel filter I was using, or I didn’t have the right conditions for growing live plants. Today I removed all of them and instead threw in 3 fake plants for color and to break up the monotony. The fish don’t seem to mind, but they might still be in shock after the trans-plant-ing and water change. Although, it’s only been about 5 minutes and they’re cruising all over the driftwood. I think removing the plants kicked up some stuff that was trapped in the gravel and it may have settled on the wood.

I still have living plants in the tank, except it’s java moss, stuff that apparently can grow anywhere. I stuffed two wads of moss into the driftwood, and I hope it secures itself and grows.

Enough fish news. This semester has me taking art history and narrative game design. The art history course is your typical history class, and we’re focusing on pre-history art up through the 15th century. There’s about 275 students, and I think a vast majority are sophomores. I say this because the prof had just finished going over the syllabus and opened the floor for questions.

She received her first question, “What is the test format?”

The prof answered, “Some short answer, some multiple choice. I don’t know, I haven’t made the tests yet.”

Then another student asked, “Are you going to have matching questions, with the answers to the side?”

“I don’t usually have matching,” said the professor, “but I don’t know. I haven’t made the tests yet.”

Yet another student asked, “How many questions will there be on the exams?”

The professor exhibited infinite patience as she answered, “I might have 30, sometimes I’ve had up to 50 questions, but I don’t know. I haven’t made the tests yet.”

Oddly enough, the syllabus has a section that states the tests will consist of multiple-choice or objective questions. Hello?!

Those questions had to have come from idiot sophomores, because freshmen are too naive to ask, and juniors and seniors know that it doesn’t matter what format the test is in. Only sophomores seem to believe that knowing the format of an exam enables them to better prepare themselves to pass.

Wise fools? Perhaps, but I think the emphasis would be on fools. If a student knows the material, the test could be in the form of an oral exam and there still wouldn’t be a problem. Rather than concentrating on studying for a multiple-choice exam versus a fill-in-the-blank exam, study the damn book and show up to class!

Aside from art history, the narrative game design looks to be fun. It’s a very small class of 10 or 11 students, including myself. There appear to be 5 ICS majors, with the rest of the class in fields such as filmography, art, and graphic design. We’re going to split into two groups, and each group will work on a “demo” version of a game concept the class will come up with. Hopefully my experience with software engineering and my recent work project will help me handle my share of the workload.

Speaking of which, my project went into production last week, meaning that it’s in actual “official” use throughout the UH system. I’m happy.

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.

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.

Wesley and Buttercup died. I noticed they were acting timid and spent more time stationary in the back rather than doing the phantom tetra thing. While they were stationary, I also noticed symmetrical.. well, white nodes I guess you could call them. I’m no fish expert and nothing I researched online seemed to indicate that the tiny white dots were anything. Maybe it was the onset of ich. Wesley had the symmetrical dots on his pectoral fins, while Buttercup seemed to have one on her lower lip.

Well, today they were floating and unmoving. I cleaned out the tank and the plants and ornaments and put Inigo, Fezzik and Vizzini back in. I also got two glow-light tetras as replacement. These looked healthier, with no nipped fins and nothing weird on their body. These two will become Wesley and Buttercup, and hopefully I can take better care of them.

I returned Meeth, and bought two phantom tetras, one male and one female.

The female is named Buttercup, and the male is named Wesley.

Poppy³ is now, no longer to be named Poppy³. Instead, the two that seem to often hang out together will be Inigo Montoya and Fezzik, while the one that occasionally schools with the other two will be Vizzini.

Now I just need a fire swamp and some cliffs of insanity, and I’ll be all set.

I came to the decision today that I have to give Meeth away. First I was really concerned about his avid attention to Poppy³, especially since the little corys are the same size as neon tetras. Angelfish consider neon tetras and small fish that size to be dinner. Meeth is too small now, but he’s going to grow whilst the corys will not, and when he gets to the adult size, it’s going to get dangerous.

I figured maybe Maile could take him back. She had recently replaced the fish in the 30G tank with tiger barbs and albino barbs, and the larger corys. Perhaps that tank would be more accomodating. So we took Meeth over and acclimated him to that tank. We first observed that once in, he seemed to have trouble with the current. Then I read online that tiger barbs like to nip angelfish fins. Bad.

There was another tank, but that had guppies, which also tend to be considered as food for angelfish. Again, bad.

The other tanks in the house were too small for an angelfish, and were already occupied by species considered incompatible in some way.

That left Maile’s tank, which was the home of Kylie, who had put out a restraining order on Meeth. With no other alternative, it was concluded that the best place for Meeth would be at Coral Fish or some other aquaria store, where he will get a tall tank and good care, and be housed with compatible fish.

Needless to say, I’m fucking upset. Meeth was the adopted child that I swore responsibility to, and now because of my idiotic decision to put small bite-sized corys in the same tank, I’m abandoning him. I could switch out the corys, but they would have no place to go either, so either way I’d end up having to give away one of the two species. And as it turns out, Poppy³ seems to actually enjoy my tank.

It felt like Meeth wasn’t happy. He would just.. hover, eat, eye the corys, and repeat the process. Occasionally swam the tank to explore the nooks and crannies, but showed no personality at all. I think he was as depressed as I am feeling now. As a comparison, Kylie is extremely active and curious, exhibiting great personality and generally showing that she’s happy with her surroundings.

Someone asked what I will put in my tank in replacement. I was thinking of phantom tetras, since they’re about as big as the pygmy corys. Really though, the only thing on my mind is Meeth.

I don’t know. I feel like such a quitter. Funny how iTunes plays “Regret” as I write this.

I bought a fake plant and a large castle to put in the tank. I did this because it was about time for a water change and I was going to siphon the gravel to remove the gunkyness. I figured that it was the best time to put in new decor.

While cleaning I discovered that two of the live plants I had were looking nasty, and because it grows it started to drop little flower buds all over the place. I removed them and rearranged the tank, so now I have one live plant to the left, a small castle in the middle, and the fake grassy plant behind the large castle to the right. In front I still have the two bridges.

Seems like a lot, but there’s still plenty of swimming room, as Poppy³ loves to demonstrate. They’ve been playing follow-the-leader ever since the water change. Meanwhile, Meeth is his usual hunting self, scanning the surface for tender morsels. I read somewhere that angelfish and corys don’t get along, because the angel is territorial and aggressive whilst the corys are peaceful. I haven’t seen anything dangerous happening between Meeth and Poppy³, yet, and I hope to never do. It might be because Meeth is still rather small, and I doubt he’ll get any bigger in just a 3-gallon tank.

Otherwise I might have to separate them..