bewildered

bewildered,
originally uploaded by mcmrbt.

The fish were a promise to the kids, CJ mainly; something she could have if we moved house. So that she was actually looking forward to the new house instead of worrying about leaving her friends from school behind.

So, knowing nothing about fishkeeping, we got away with buying tank, gravel, plant, and fish, on the same day, and setting it all up without a pump or filter - since the guy in the aquatics centre never suggested we needed those. My theory is that he thought we'd be in to buy more fish every week to keep the kids happy - but surely there's more profit in accessories than there is in fish?

Anyway, by some miracle, they survived. The water was incredibly cloudy very quickly, so we realised we needed a filter pump, and since it was a small-ish tank, we got one that acted as filter and air pump in one. Except it's rubbish, and you have to take the whole thing apart every couple of weeks to clear the gunk out of the works.

So I looked into getting a better filter system, bought a separate air pump, and things have been much better - especially since we stopped the kids over-feeding the fish!

But they were getting bigger and, having realised the cost of a decent filter, I discovered the BiOrb - an aquarium with an easy to maintain filter system, both fish- and grown-up who has to clean out the fish friendly. I must say, it looks lovely in the dark with the light on. We can't move the second fish in until the end of the month, but I'm sure they'll be happier in there. Took this one two days to come out of the jug (or off the bottom), but he seems to be enjoying the extra space.