Genuine Plastic Plants

In hitch hikers guide to the galaxy, the advertisement for robots was something like "your plastic pal who's fun to be with." Marvin, the paranoid android was anything but fun but did make the series much more interesting.

I think the same can be said for aquarium plastic plants. They don't do much but they do make the tank more interesting. As a bonus, the fish seem to like them.

I became concerned about our fifth fish. He's the one that's darkly colored and spends most of his time under the castle. His name has ranged from Rebel, to Gollum, to Goblin, to Glowy to Galowy. Some of the information I read on the internet stated that platies can be shy when first introduced to a new tank and some hide for a while.

I decided the fish may need a bit more cover to come out from under the castle so Deb, Zack and I headed to the local pet store to buy some genuine plastic plants (GPP). My first tendency was to get real plants but the store owner guided us away from this decision. His concern was that plants make new tanks more complicated and can lead to algae problems.

While at the pet store, I described Galowy's plight of alway hiding in the castle. The owner seemed to thing the fish was suffering from the toxicity of the water. The term is called tank cycling and its the time that the bacteria form that convert fish waste into whatever they convert fish waste into.

Before the colony forms, ammonia and nitrates build up in the tank. The first set of sacrificial fish's job is to bring the bacteria with them so the water can support other, less fragile fish. So the owner said Galowy might be suffering from nitrate build up in the fish's blood stream. I came away from that conversation feeling guilty for naming the seed fish but not guilty enough to forgo the purchase of some GPPs.

We picked the plants that looked like they would fit in the tank. We bought two long and one short of different colors to give the tank a little variety. Zack was ecstatic to have the chance to add some new stuff to the tank and have the opportunity to actually put his hand in the water.

We added the plants and a few more shells to decorate. Zack giggled as he plopped two more shells in the water and watch them float to the bottom. I had to move the castle in order to situate the plants. Galowy swam out and joined the other fist for a while. It was nice to see it again. Galowy seemed to enjoy the additional hiding places as well.

Tangerine, the reddish orange fish, took to the new plants quickly, first tasting them and then swimming in and out readying his escape route from the tyrannical Mickeys. Tangerine is the explorer of the five always swimming new ways through the maze that's become our tank.

Sunrise, the pretty orange, yellow and black fish swims the perimeter trying to stay out of the Mickeys way and, by and large, does a good job of it.

As for the Mickeys, they tasted and re-tasted the GPPs hoping, somehow, they would suddenly become edible.

Galowy has since gone under the castle again. I think we'll move the structure once we feed again so that fish actually has a chance to eat.