A little something about fish…

I mentioned in my first post that this blog was not going to be a eulogy to the ecstasies of pet ownership. Didn't take long did it?

I guess it is right to get the boring stuff out of the way…

I have a tank for tropical fish about " " long and " " wide and about " " deep. It holds some water.

This is not censorship, I just don't want to bore you with the details. Imagine if they censored the dimensions of fishtanks…

Anyhow…

It has some fish in it, some are Guppies and some are Minnows and some are Mollies with a couple of Shrimps and a Pleco thrown in. Basically, some pretty fish in a tank.

All was well. All was in fact very relaxing, I was starting to get the whole staring at a fish tank and just enjoying their moving about. This was, overall, quite a pleasant experience. It does become a little worrying if you have been sat staring at something without moving for an hour that isn't the television. Even more worrying if you realise you have been drooling for most of this time without realising, (this story, incidentally was related to me by a "friend").

Things were going swimmingly (sorry), until the Angel fish were introduced.

Just in case you are reading this and are unsure of the breed, Angel fish are the pretty tropical fish that look a little like swept back arrow heads from the side, as per the illustration top left. Face to face they are a little less pretty, insubstantial in fact. A little like a fish which has been through a printing press, flat. This is not meant to be a tropical fish seminar, but it help's to be able to visualise.

A few things about Angel fish:

• Apparently Angel is a little misleading
• They can be a "little" territorial
• They may nip the fins of fish with bright tails (which narrows it down to about 95% of our tank)
• They have to be added to a tank last because, well I don't know to be honest, but it's true apparently.

I found all of the above very interesting but wanted them anyway, well they are v pretty. A little bit like being presented a blank white four walled room with a red button along with a little sign underneath saying "Do not press the red button". You know you shouldn't but…

At this point I am sounding a little uncaring of the welfare of the existing fish community, which is not true. In the event of accidents or disasters there is a backup tank available for quarantining badly behaving or baby fish. It is round. We call it Guantanamo Bowl. So in the event of something bad happening there was a contingency plan, oh and I kept the receipt.

So the day of introduction came, after purchasing the Angel fish. If you have not been party to the fish purchasing process before transporting fish to your home is no different than winning a goldfish at a funfair. Water, clear plastic bag and carry it home.

And the point of all this? Well, the two hours spent staring, and certainly not drooling, at the tank after the introduction of the Angel fish were certainly not relaxing. There is something about them. The other fish seem carefree, swimming about, no sign of any great purpose apart from marking out time until the next meal. Not Angel fish, they float like butterflies, they sting like bees (sorry, got distracted for a moment).

It is like observing the most dangerous of assassins walk into your local bar for a beer. Crowds will part without knowing why, space will appear at the bar even though people have been waiting for hours to be served. The assassin, of course, filling the vacuum, will be served immediately. The barperson will forget to collect the money.

Angel fish, like the assassin, have charisma, they exude something dangerous, unexpected and exciting. Annoyingly, they do it without trying.

This being said, so far they have been no trouble at all. I like their style and envy their stage prescence (which granted does go a little flat when viewed face on) and continue to hope that Guantanamo Bowl remains empty.