Tales from the Pond (Aquarium)

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Yesterday I changed the water in my aquarium and parted the mess of Hornworth which has invaded it while I have been busy. I can't bring myself to throw any out, especially since it has become apparent both filters have not been working for a while. The aquarium is now completely dependent on its plants, which also means that I'm not going to add any other animals to that particular tank. The java moss has also experienced a sudden growth spurt. The inhabitants actually seem to enjoy all of the growth, and the only other plants present are crypts, Windelov, and Anubias, which are doing fine. The nana petite and barterii have both grown plantlets and there are little windelovs and crypts in various places, too. The moss ball has exploded.

I saw my paler Dario Dario at the front, which strangely appeared to be decked out nearly in battle colors and was showing the dominant "eye stripe". I was confused as to what had happened. I finally managed to spot Dopey doping around at the bottom and then Trixie, who proceded to boink her head on one of the filters. Dopey is an H. curp. hybrid in the tradition of irresponsible Petsmart suppliers. Trixie and Little Frog are obviously at least strongly influenced by H. bog., the more succesful subspecies. Dopey reminds me of a little man, an adorable little man who does funny things all the time. They were so cute I had to give them food. Little frog came out, obviously excited. He was bought at Aquatic Warehouse after stowing away in one of their tanks for a while, where I spotted him and decided he would be the final ADF. I proceeded to watch Little Frog figure out where the food was and then miscalcuate and go towards the bottom again. Naturally, Trixie was the first to figure out where it is, and LF joined her again while Dopey spun around the bottom like a dope. Trixie accidentally bit LF a bunch of times. Meanwhile, by the moss ball I see proof that the paler Dario has won his/her fight as she half heartedly chases away the more dominant male, who has a bite in his tail. I love the extra blue ruff on the top of his fins. These guys are so much fun and tiny. They don't really care about the food, as they feed on the multitude of microoganisms in the now very established aquarium.

Last I saw Trixie and LF were feeding, while Dopey..will figure things out one day.


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Subconciously

Something funny has happened. Heeheehee. The big frog is Trixie, who has been with me over a year. The smaller one is Tiny Frog, who is relatively new.

My mom has been calling me all day to tell me about the kittens, who have finally followed their mother out to eat solid food. There are five adorable fluffballs in our backyard.

I've been thinking about the subtle effects of association that can affect human beings. Jung, among various other people, wrote about this. It's no secret that we form associations between the senses and memories. We can even form connections of association between memories. I'm curious as to how these can be manipulated therapeutically. Rationally, connections can be broken or resisted, but forming these links is part of how the human psyche operates and it is exhausting to be continuously resisting memory. This is part of the reason people "feel like a change" after some dramatic event; they wish to disassociate past events from the current time period. I am sure there is literature on this subject which I am unaware of, but I think getting in touch with and calming that part of the mind directly would be of immense value to patients. I'm not going to get into manipulating the subconscious and symbols and all of that great stuff.

On a different note, the world's richest asshole, brought to you by Gawker.
"To be sure there's plenty of competition for that title, but we think Germany's Prince Marcus von Anhalt (above) has a pretty clear shot at it. Born Marcus Eberhardt in 1969, he started out as a butcher, went into the brothel business, did some time for tax evasion and human trafficking, then bought himself a title (from Zsa Zsa Gabor's husband): Prinz von Anhalt, Herzog zu Sachsen und Westfalen, Graf von Askanien. Now the SOB's latest stunt is driving around in this Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe covered in a Louis Vuitton multicolored monogram print....."

Also, there is no way I can justify going to see "Flight of the Conchords", which makes me sad.

Sunny Sunday

I've been treating my aquarium as a garden. I love the environment that I have created and watching creatures interact in it. The only problem is that unlike a real garden, there are very few surprises in it these days. I have no idea where my cherry shrimp or sparkling gouramis went-that's a surprise-but there are no insects crawling out from the dirt, no cats giving birth to kittens, no wildflowers bursting seasonally up from the ground to live a short and beautiful life. I want to add more creatures, but I'm afraid for the balance that has sprung up in my small "ecosystem". Regardless, working with it and watching things come to frutition is very gratifying. I wish I could create a million of these tiny worlds. Working with living creatures, combining my love of observation with the aestheticsm of the arrangements and the science of what makes it all not die but in fact thrive makes me really happy. The Dario darios, goby, Trixie, Dopey, Tiny Frog, nerites and female sunfish are all doing fine. Come to think of it, the shrimp have been with me the length of their usual lifespan, so they may have died of old age. Tiny Frog is a male, and I saw Dopey amplexing Trixie last night. Dopey, Trixie, and Tiny Frog are all African Dwarf Frogs, which is abbreviated as ADFs. I may actually be able to fit killifish into this environment...hmmm.......*maniacal twinkle appears in my eye*

At the moment I technically have no large problems in my life outside my head. While, yes, the three upcoming midterms aren't happymaking, they don't qualify in the same way. My head is getting the message, which also makes me happy.

Also, I will never hate Chris. Many people have shared that their first reaction after breaking up with someone is to demonize them, and I have experienced this myself. I was expecting this, waiting for this to come, but it hasn't and at this point I know it won't. I don't agree with things he's done or some of the opinions/attitudes he has, and I don't want to get back together any time in the foreseeable future, but I genuinely think he is a good person. There are, of course, unanswered questions, but that's ok, I shouldn't expect any less.

Better tank shot

Here we go! Blown up this looks very grainy and not nearly as appealing as the tank actually is, but this picture manages to capture its essence, I think.

Attack of the Fish Nerd and Other Stories

This little guy is one of 200 new species discovered in Madagascar.

Today I actually attempted to brush up my French accent. I used to have a very good French accent at one point, but this interfered with my previous natural Spanish accent. Natural, of course, being what happens when people attempt to cram the language down your throat since infancy; I went to a preschool where they attempted to teach it to me. Anyways, the Spanish accent reinstated itself and made my French sound amusing to say the least, so I am trying to make both accents coexist with each other.

So Practical Fishkeeping's newest newsletter came out! Included in this issue: A man inserts a 50cm eel up his rectum with predictable results, nearly all cephalopods are venomous, a breakthrough in shoaling studies has occured, whale sharks are all related, and world's oldest brain studied.

I am really happy for Maidenhead Aquatic's success in breeding the stingrays! Oh, and Chris landed a small gold nugget pleco about a month ago.

I am too tired to read other news, such as what's actually going on in the world and killings and murder and genocide and NVIDIA unveils Tesla clusters. Discuss?

Endangered Species and Hobbyists

Posting that picture of a Wombat reminded me of an idea I had.

In the pet trade, especially the fish and reptile trade, owners are sometimes in charge of animals which have become endangered within their native range. Sometimes these fish or reptiles are wild-caught; sometimes they are secure fixtures in the hobby who's natural habitat is in severe danger. I would love to see a group of hobbyists, laymen, who were doing their part to help preserve these species through a concerted effort to breed and observe them.

Now, there are a couple obvious roadblocks to this:

1.) No pedigree and unknown genetic makeup of many of these animals.
2.) Breeding programs enforce strict guidelines almost impossible to effectively enforce in a
group of laymen.
3.) A non-standardized environment means that almost none of these animals could realistically
be re-released into the wild.

Of course, you could have to sign a contract to join the organization promising to follow certain guidelines. And these animals could be the basis of a later breeding effort by professionals focusing on re-population and genetic strengthening.
I don't have the details worked out, but I would love to see something like this happen.