Day 2

I had a scare last night when I tested my aquarium water. The levels of nitrate and nitrite were way past toxic, which means that my fish should have been dead. Since then, I’ve been doing 50% water changes in order to keep the levels down. The guy at the pet store says that I’m just overfeeding, but I’m pretty sure that the fry have something to do with it since levels were fine until they were born. I’m just being extra diligent about cleaning the tank and feeding them for the next couple of days.

Despite all this, the fish are still healthy and happy. They can’t stop swimming around trying to eat the glass and their own pooh. Trust me, fish give a whole new meaning to the term “short-term memory.”

It will be a while before I let the fry out into the tank, because even now the other fish keep trying to break through the plastic to eat them. I heard that when livebearers give birth, a hormone is released that keeps the mother from being hungry for 12 hours. After that, the fry are on their own.

I’ve been watching a couple fry that just hang out on the bottom of the breeder… it seems like they can’t swim very well. I’m concerned that they won’t get enough to eat. Does anyone know the mortality rate with fry?

Just in case you wanted to experience what I hear everyday, you can check out some exhilarating aquarium sounds.

All I can say is that you guys are lucky that my editor won’t let me loop “Circle of Life” instead.

So far, name suggestions include Grom, Dave, Sharkie and Clara. I’m going to need more than four, though, so let’s hear it.

The Fish Whisperer