This is Sam (I was reading "To Kill a Mockingbird" at the time. His full name is Sam Hill :) )
As is the case with most fish, that I was in denial about, some of them died. It was pretty hard on me, even though I was told not to take it personally. About 2 weeks later, I was at Wal-mart and was looking at the fish and decided that I would get a Neon Tetra, having been told by Sarah that these too, are docile fish.
Neon Tetra (I'm bad at the naming thing. So far Sam is the only one with a name. My car still doesn't have a name)
At this point, I had 7 fish: the 5 original baby guppies, Sam, and the neon tetra. On September 12th, a little less than a month after becoming a fish owner, I was at Wal-mart again (I know, I know) and was looking at the fish (I was very addicted). As I was reading the descriptions of the fish, I realized that maybe Sam and the tetra needed a fish of their same breed to swim with. They had female dwarf gouramis so I got a friend for Sam and then another neon tetra.
Sam's friend, not as brightly colored as he is, but still pretty. Oh and she has attitude. :)
Oh, but I didn't stop there, no, that would have been the responsible thing to do. No, you see, there were these Glowlight tetras that looked pretty cool, so I got 2 of those. Not once during this trip did I think that there should only be a certain amount of fish in a 10-gallon tank. Oh, no, in my mind there was plenty of room for more fish.
Glowlight Tetras
After getting home, I decided that I needed to clean the tank out before I added the new fish. I had to run to Petco and get some filters. While I was at Petco I decided to walk by the fish tanks (I am SO dumb) and realized that they are having a sale on fish. $1 for guppies! Sweet! "So," I think, "I only have those baby guppies, I'll get a male and a female adult guppy." Great idea, I know. (I think I was a little excited that I had fish that 1) actually lived longer than your typical goldfish, and 2) could have more than one in a bowl as it is with betas. )
They didn't have anymore males, so instead I got 2 females, an orange one and a black one. As the girl was putting them into the baggie, I ask her, "How many fish should I have in my 10 gallon tank?" ......... 5!......unless I have a really great filter. (I don't think mine is THAT special) Too embarrassed to tell her to put them back, I take them home and sit looking at all the fish I have.....13! Oops. Oh well, recognizing that I am a bad mother, I prepare myself for tragedy as some will most likely die because of overcrowding. I clean out the tank and after taking the proper measures of putting new fish in a tank, I let them loose. I watch as they all swim around. They did look pretty crowded.
Fast forward 40 hours. It was Sunday, early afternoon, Rachel & Steven are over for Sunday dinner. Steven is checking out the fish (which by the way, the tank was already gross, so it shows that I don't have a "great" filter) and he says something about the fry. I respond with something like, yeah, they are cute...or something like that. A few minutes later, I'm looking at the tank, and much to my surprise, there are 3 babies...tiny babies...like brand new baby guppies! How could that happen! I research on the internet and find out that it is common for pet store females to already be pregnant. Nice! So, no I do not have 13 fish in a 10 gallon tank...no, I have 16!
Guppy Fry (mine were more orange than black)
Having the babies in the tank changed my outlook....I needed to do something so that they wouldn't die. Since the next day was going to be a busy day at work, I couldn't do anything until after work. I decided that if I came home and the babies were still alive, I was going to buy another tank and do what I needed to keep them alive. And they were alive when I got home. (they are pretty hearty) So off to the store I went, no worries I found a deal on all the equipment, so it didn't cost me that much. I spent the next few hours setting up the new tank and cleaning the old one. When I finished, I put the 10 guppies in one tank (they were small enough that I figured it was okay) and then put the other 6 in the other tank.
Surprisingly, they all lived well for the next 2 weeks or so. But then 4 of the guppies died within a few days of each other (3 of the original babies, and the mama of the 3 surprise babies).
Lately I've noticed that the other female I bought at Petco had a huge belly! Having learned online that they get huge just before "dropping" their fry, I've carefully checked the tank for more babies these past 2 weeks. Nothin'! So I figured I was probably wrong about the female (I really need to give them names).
Well, this morning as I went to feed them, I saw a baby! I carefully looked for more and tried to count them (those little guys are hard to see!). I counted 7! YEAH! They are so cute!
So that is it, a long post about my 19 roommates! Hope you enjoyed their history and please don't judge me...I'm still learning... :) And although it sounds like I am obsessed, I'm not really...I'm only doing this to learn responsibility and to look beyond myself. It really is tough to remember to feed these guys. :)
