Pioneers

Ryan’s tank stood in the corner without any fish nor water in it, so I transported it across the state, 300km + til it reaches my home. Handsome tank, I must say.

I got it setup. Lots of learning curves. The pump, cleaning gasket fixing leaks, fixing light, adjusting this and that. Cleaning the rocks and the tank itself. Finally filled it up with water and a capful of anti-chlorine. Shouldn’t rush into putting fish in it, they said. So I ran the pump for a night.

The next day, I went to a Fish Shop.

“Have you got any fish that isn’t expensive and highly adaptable? It’s a new tank.” I went home with a pair of semi-transparent fishes costs RM4.50 (the price of a packed lunch) which I forgot to ask of their name, and a piece of 2kg rock that I wont even dare to inform SiewLeng how much I paid for it. They will tell me to pick it up from the roadside or use a brick instead.

Patiently, I acclimatize the fishes over 5-6 hours. And it is time to introduce them into their new home!

We dropped the fishes into the tank. Lo and behold, only one ZapChoyfan was seen swimming. Where is the other one? We searched high and low, gently touched the rocks and possible hiding places, listening to sound in case it fell out of the tank and splashing on dry land. We checked behind the tank, and even removed the lid in case it got stuck on the lid. With each passing minute, we know the other ZapChoyfan is going to die being out of water. It was upsetting – might as well buy a pack of lunch.

The whole night, I monitored the behaviour of the lone guy. He seemed comfortable, albeit lonely missing his friend. He ate. He swam freely.

I went to bed, hoping the lone guy survives the night and the stress of a new tank. And wondering what happened to the missing one.

The next day….

For the life of me… the pair is swimming happily. Alive and well.

What exactly happened? You fainted from the drop-in impact and rested on the floor?  Then you woke up from coma and all is well? Or you got sucked in by the pump filter and then reappeared filterised??