A crap time to be a fish
– We moved Ajax to the qt to prevent his shell from getting pecked any more.
– Three days ago we noticed some of the Colombian tetras had white bits on them. This has got worse – much worse. I think it’s parasites. It’s not ich or velvet… they stand out, and they spread, and they make the fish a bit berko: not eating, zipping around the tank every now and then… I bought some medication today, but I’m not convinced it will work. The guy at the aquarium said parasites on Colombians was really rare (yeh, great, thanks…).
– Yesterday noticed some of the rasboras weren’t looking that great – an issue with a tail looking a bit nipped. This morning noticed one with only half a tail. Tonight, there are two rasboras against one of the filter inlets (dead, of course).
– The angel with the swim bladder issue is dead. I fished half of him out this afternoon.
– I’m thinking of just getting a betta and having it. Alone, in the entire 4′ tank.
All is not well in the world of fish
Few days ago, I had to move a certain black and white angel into the quarantine tank. He is still alive, but very, very unhappy… seems to have a serious problem with his swim bladder. Read: he is swimming on his side, rather than up the right way. So this is very sad, and I don’t think there is any way of curing him.
Additionally, I have noticed some holes on Ajax’s shell, which is hugely distressing. We checked the levels, and discovered that the water was at about 6 on the pH scale, which can’t have been good for anyone. As well, probably the stress of bring nipped at doesn’t help; nasty angel.
Revisionism
We went to B’s place the other day to watch some movies, and decided on the Star Wars trilogy. J was muttering and complaining for most of the first, something about revisionism because in the remastered versions Greedo shoots first, in the Mos Eisley sequence with Han… (are we sad?). I don’t see what the problem is, but J has some very strong thoughts on the matter. I am often a fan of revisionism; it can lead to some very interesting history, and is at least convenient for pointing out that our interpretation of past events can never be static. However. I must say that there was, in fact, a piece of revisionism that really, really annoyed me. At the end of Return of the Jedi – after everything is just fine – and the ghosts turn up… they have Hayden $%@^ Christensen appearing! Not the original Darth/Anakin! Really, really upsetting.
Hedges and their non-existence
So yes, the hedge no longer exists. At least not in its previous state; instead it is sitting, all roots up, in the middle of our courtyard. We got all excited on the weekend about changing the garden – partly as a result of J giving me The Small Garden Encyclopedia, which gave me – and him – all sorts of ideas. Like building up a pile of soil in a broken terracotta pot and planting bits of succulent, which has turned out pretty well. It also made us interested in changing the courtyard a little more substantially.
Originally, J was wanting to be pretty extravagant – build a deck, extend the garden bed by a metre or so. It turns out, though, that the pavers are attached to concrete, which means both of those things would be quite difficult. So we have settled for pulling out the hedge, which I must say has made a huge difference. Originally we meant only to pull out half of the hedge, so the courtyard looks a bit stupid because only half of it has mulch and new plants. But we figured that, while we were at it, we might as well do the whole thing. J has promised to take the hedge to the “waste reduction centre” before my party on Saturday…
And, hugely exciting, I got some dahlia tubers from a woman at school today… 21 clumps, to be exact. I gave some to other people at school, which was good, and I’ve also planted a few out the front and a stack out the back. Some of them have already started sprouting eyes, which is very cool.
Yay.
Dead tetra and a concerning snail
The dropsy Colombian finally died. I netted him on Thursday, from the main tank, because he was swimming on his side, and put him in the qt. He died Friday afternoon.
And, giving me quite a turn, I was looking at Ajax on the front glass on Thursday and there is a HOLE in his shell! Argh! Having done a frantic search on the web, it seems that this might be a result of water that is too soft and/or acidic, so we will have to do something about this. Apparently if you correct it in time the snail won’t die, although their shell won’t completely recover. Argh! again.
Lotsa books
I’ve read a couple of books over the last week or so. It’s been fun to be on holidays.
Something Rotten – by Mr Fforde, whom I saw last Thursday – more about that later.
Grim Tuesday – by Garth Nix, which again was awfully entertaining. I can’t wait to read Wednesday.
Artemis Fowl – by Eoin Cowler. Also very entertaining, looking forward to reading the rest of them. I like the idea of the main character being a 12yo criminal matermind with some family issues.
The Gutenberg Revolution – by John Man, just for something slightly different.
Right not I’m reading two books. This is because the one I was already reading, the Empyrion omnibus by Stephen Lawhead (yes, like a cross between Hyperion and Endymion, but very very different and hopefully not so disappointing as that’s conclusion was… I’m still not over that), was too enormous to carry to the HTAA conference I went to today (and tomorrow, and Thursday). So I took along Queen Bees and Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman, which I’ve been meaning to read for ages – it’s all about what it’s like in “Girl World”: aimed at mothers and daughters, but I think it will be really useful to read as a teacher too. So far it’s been pretty good; not entirely sure if/whether I’ll be able to put it into practice.
A disappointing Firebird
Have just finished Michael Asher’s Firebird, one of the books I got from Walkerville Library. It was an excellent story… right up to about a fifth to go. Then it got stupid. It was almost like he had this great story going and couldn’t really figure out a way to end up, and so added in this stupid bit (aliens; rarely a good idea outside of good scifi, and only then when it’s obvious they will feature) in order to bring it a not-very-dramatic conclusion.
Sigh. And I decided to finish reading that rather than jump straight into Fforde’s fourth, Something Rotten. My restraint is incredible… I’m writing this rather than starting it, even now!
And people think it's ME who's obsessed with the snail
Oh no. It isn’t me. On the grounds that I would like to stay married, I shall forebear from mentioning any names… but a Certain Person had a dream the other night about Ajax.
In the dream, Ajax bit him on the hand.
Hard.
Mussel
When the mussel is open – which it is mostly; when it is closed, I get very worried that it has died – there is the odd bit at one end. While the rest of it is covered in this film – I guess it’s like mucous or something – this bit at the end reminds me of whale baleen. We’ve decided it must be where the mussel actually does its filtering work, since there’s nowhere else for water to go in. It’s actually quite exciting.
The word you are searching for is ‘incorrigible’
I went to Coburg yesterday.
I really wanted to get some gourami, but the girl said normal ones can get to be 8-10″ long, and also get quite aggressive when they’re that big, so I decided to leave off. I did, however, buy 4 yiddle black and white angels; they’re so cute. They’re only about 2cm long, if that, in the body. It will be fun to watch them grow. I also got mussel, just for the heck of it. Doesn’t do much… apparently they can move, so I’m looking forward to having that happen…
Randomly Yours, Alex 