The Dining Table - Day 153 - Daily Haiku

The dining table
Is host to a small fish tank
Aquatic black hole

Marek and I both love fish and aquatic creatures, so not surprisingly, we have several aquariums throughout our home.

The one on our dining table is a small 5-gallon tank, purchased originally for a particularly pretty betta, who Marek then brilliantly put into our kitchen aquarium with several good-sized goldfish and a koi, who promptly beat the crap out of the betta, who died soon after I put him back into his original aquarium. Oops.

Since that time, it has been home to many fish, including a number that have quite simply disappeared without a trace, with not even any remains to mark their passing. It has gotten so common that it's weird.

More interestingly, it seems to be the hardier fish that bite the dust, while the more delicate continue to survive.

As just one example, we had a male betta that had done well for a couple of months; long enough for us to feel confident in introducing a couple of tank mates. We introduced a breeding trio of guppies, and the betta promptly disappeared. Gone. Vanished.

For the uninitiated, guppies are peaceful small fish, whereas bettas are larger, hardy, and can be aggressive. If anything, it would have been more logical to have lost one or more guppies, but no.

Meanwhile, our common plecostomus, albino plecostomus, and several ghost shrimp in the tank, continue to survive and thrive. Ghost shrimp are very delicate, and under ordinary circumstances, would likely be the first to go.

The running joke now is that the little aquarium is a portal to another dimension, and aliens are somehow spiriting the fish away, which will finally be proven on the day that the fish start to reappear.

Hopefully they won't reappear all at once, or that will be one crowded tank. ;-)

The photo isn't the best, as I was posting with my phone, and I took it without flash, after the aquarium light had gone dark for the evening. I'll do my best to upload an improved photo tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I just tried to burn down the house, so now at least we know that our smoke alarms are not working, and need to be replaced. Kidding aside, I was making hummingbird nectar for tomorrow, and when I thought I had turned it off, I actually accidentally turned it to high. Oops again.

Interestingly, it took only about twenty minutes to start filling the house with smoke, so now, with pouring rain outside, we have the doors wide open and all the fans going. I don't think I'll be repeating this mistake any time soon.

On the other hand, if your kid needs fake lava for a science project at school, I found the perfect way to make it. ;-)

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