After many moons of not having internet (or a home for that matter) I have decided to do a quick sum up of our lives since January, and then get back into this whole blogging thing.
First things first - Long ago, before the days of changing jobs and moving, we got a pet fish. He was a Tiger Oscar Fish...nearly 10 inches long, and we named him Wiggles (courtesy of Korben). He was such a delight for the short amount of time that we had him - I think only 4 weeks total.
The story: Our friends wanted to get Piranhas, so needed to get rid of their Oscar fish. And of course the plants and rocks and decorations were all wrong for Piranhas, so they were giving those away too. Woot for us...a "cheap" and " easy" pet. It did end up being pretty cheap, well, to get the 55 gallon tank anyway. Then we had to make a stand (check out Mike's handiwork), purchase hoods, a heater and a backing for the tank...which all added up and taught us the lesson to just buy the sets in the pet store rather than trying to piece your own together. Another lesson - when your friend tells you "everything is free except the tank", take some time to add up costs before you tell her you will take her pet. :D
The Pet: Regardless of the start-up cost, Wiggles was super fun and worth it in the end. If you don't know about Oscar Fish, they aren't very tolerant of others in their tank and will eat anything smaller (and sometimes bigger) than them. They also are very picky about their living quarters and it doesn't matter how many times you bury the plants in their tank, if they don't like where they are, they will pull them up and move them (note the floating plant in the above pic) and I assure you, you will give up much earlier than they will. Wiggles loved to play with Logan - Logan would run to one side of the tank and Wiggles would "attack" the tank where Logan had his face up against the glass. Logan would run to the other side of the tank and Wiggles would in turn attack back and forth until Logan tired of the game. Oscar fish have a tendency to beg for food - and ours was no exception. He would wiggle back and forth (hence the name) and follow you with the cutest look on his face until you caved and gave him some goodness. Wiggles loved to eat goldfish - and we loved to watch. :D
A Sad Farewell: When we found out we were moving, we knew that we would have to part with our new pet. It was amazing how fast Wiggles had become a part of the family and how sad it was to see him go. We found a good family for him to go to on craigslist, but the blow of letting our fun pet go was almost as hard as leaving the house.
We love you Wiggles and hope you like your new home!
3 comments:
What a fish! He is a pretty big guy- that's fun that you had a pet for a while. I'm sure the kids loved it.
So sad!!! He seems like a really cool fish! I hope things are going well for you guys! Welcome back to you blog...I look forward to more updates :)
I understand how you feel...sort of. Our first pet when we first were married was a salamander that Kenny found at a construction site he was working at. We had it for a few years when one of our cats broke into his cage and ate him. I didn't think I would take it so hard but I did cry...he was our first pet! It doesn't seem like you would get so attached to a pet that doesn't really respond to much, but you do. :-/
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