Living the Dream

Living the Dream

• Monday, June 16, 2008 - Where's the fish?

          I have an aquarium. It's a nice 29 gallon tank that sits in my kitchen area. I planned a community tank with social fish, nothing aggressive. As time has progressed, my little fish have become big fish, but still pretty social. I have a Plecostomus, a rainbow shark, an iridescent shark, an African frog, a couple of small algae eaters and two tetras, an orange and a silver with black.
     The other day as I was peering into the tank, I noticed my little tetra was being pursued by the rainbow shark. Now the rainbow has a couple inches on the little guy, but the tetra has a bit of speed. He swam to the corner and hid behind the heater. He then shot to the other side and hid behind the filter. But it didn’t end there. He shot across the tank and then hid under the greenery. The shark was on his tail, nipping a piece, shredding the fin. Poor little guy! Someone needed a time out!
     I grabbed my net and attempted to scoop out the rainbow shark. If I did that, I wasn’t sure if the one gallon tank would hold the shark. My bigger fear was the shark would jump out of the tank, so I scooped the tetra instead and placed him carefully into the little tank. The little guy scooted from corner to corner looking for a place to hide. The small fake plant in the center of the tank did little to provide coverage. As the tetra swam around, his frantic movements became more fluid and less anxious. Oh my gosh! He was alone in the tank. No shark! He swam from side to side, obviously happy.
     Meanwhile in the other tank, the rainbow shark swam lazily throughout the tank looking for the little guy. Oh well. Little did he know, the tetra was swimming happily in the one gallon tank without the stress of pursuit.
      Before I turned in for the night, I checked the tanks, turned off the lights, and went to bed.
      I the morning, I turned on the lights, checked the tank, and fed the fish. Everyone looked happy. I picked up RJ after he drove in from Wisconsin and told him about the tetra and shark incident and how I have saved the little guy from the big bad shark. He laughed.
     When we got home, he walked over to the little tank and asked, “Where’s the fish?”
     “In the tank,” I said.
     “No it’s not.”
     “Yes, it is.”
     “No… it’s not.”
     I peered into the tank. No fish. There was Sam, my cat, sitting on the floor, licking his lips, and meowing with a smile on his face. I had saved my tetra from the big bad shark to become Sam’s lunch. Agh! I guess I can’t change destiny.