Mr. Birchmountain recently turned 35, and to celebrate, I thought it would be a great idea to get him a small aquarium. Not only did I get him an aquarium, but I also surprised him by tidying up the office, and having the aquarium up and running and ready for fish. That was a challenge, and I couldn't do it without him knowing that something was going on, since our apartment is so small. I succeeded in surprising him about the specifics of exactly what I was doing, though, and am rather proud of that fact! What pleased me more, though, was that on the morning of his birthday, when he stepped into the office, he was happy with his surprise. :o)
To celebrate his birthday, I had planned for us to have lunch at Olive Garden, and go to That Pet Place in Lancaster to pick out the new inhabitant of his aquarium. What I didn't think about, though, was that even though we were having a very late lunch -- at 3:15 -- the Olive Garden right by Park City Mall was still really busy, with a 45 minute wait! We decided to take a rain check on that, and went to McDonald's instead. (What a let down!) I got a Big Mac, which I'd been craving for a couple weeks -- ever since those new Big Mac commercials came out -- and Mr. B got a hot fudge sundae. I should've gone with the sundae too, since nothing (especially fast food) is as good as it looks on tv! :oP Needless to say, I'm not craving a Big Mac anymore!
After our lunch, we went to That Pet Place. Mr. B had been there once with Proteinstar, but I had never been there. That place is HUGE! Mr. B gave me a tour, starting with the reptile room... Cool lizards, but way too many snakes for my liking! We ended up in the fish room, checking out all the fish to see which one would be perfect. After seeing gold fish with googly eyes, fish that were just the right size for a sandwich (how convenient!), and tiny fish for $40 (!), Chris settled on a rainbow shark. It was about an inch and a half long, with a dark gray/ bluish body, and brilliant reddish orange fins. We carried home our new pet with high hopes.
The following morning, I made sure to get up before Chris, and went out to check on the fish. I wanted to make sure that if Mr. Fish didn't make it, that I sent him down the porcelain waterslide before Chris got up. Upon first glance, I didn't see a fish. Even closer inspection of the aquarium still showed no sign of him. After several minutes of searching everywhere -- and with a 1.5 gallon aquarium, there aren't that many places to look! -- I was baffled. I backed up, moved the plant that was sitting right next to the aquarium to the side, and behold, there was Mr. Fish, looking more like a fishing lure than anything. Apparently, he had a moment of genius, followed by what I like to refer to as an "oh crap" moment. He had gotten the 2-3 inches of air he needed to make it out of the hole in the aquarium lid, and had managed to aim through that opening that is only the size of a quarter. Not thinking his plan any farther than this, though, was his downfall... and why he is now known as Mr. Fish the first, God rest his soul. (Is it sacreligious to say that about a fish??)
After the appropriate mourning period, we ventured to Walmart, in search of a fish without grand ideas of escape. Mr. B chose four neon tetras, and, after being warned to hold them above the store security "scanner" things in the store doorway (or else their insides would be fried... ewww...), we brought them back to settle them into their new home.
Things went pretty uneventfully for a day or so, until one day we only counted three fish. Where was the fourth? We looked everywhere -- inside and outside the tank -- and came up empty. It seemed we had a Houdini on our hands. Until I looked inside the filter. There, at the bottom, I spotted a flash of neon blue. It appeared that the smallest of the four tetras had been sucked up into the filter! Amazingly enough, he was fine, although he looked a little pale after his brush with death. After noticing that he has one "gimpy" fin, and in light of his adventure into the water filter (to try to block it up?), I suggested that we name this fish Nemo. Mr. B didn't exactly take to the name.
I'm unsure if the fish will ever be named, especially because two out of three are hard, if not impossible, to distinguish from each other... I have made other suggestions, though, and am rather proud of them. Because the fish seem to like to stick together, and sometimes seem to be of one mind, I suggested that we name them Borg. You know "We are Borg, you will be assimilated. Resistance is futile". For some reason, Mr. B didn't go for that one either. I suggested Tetra, with the same basic concept... but that wasn't a favorite either. Although the fish remain nameless, I like to refer to them, for the timebeing at least, as Mr. Fishies the second.
There haven't been any more adventures since the little one's trip into the filter (which, by the way, is now covered with tulle to prevent this from happening again). It seems, thankfully, that these fish have no desire, or maybe just don't have the ability, to jump to eternal freedom. I am hoping they will remain content to swim in circles around the tank, inspecting the rather cool-looking fake stump and greenery we added, and chase their food flakes at meal times.
