Gone Fishin'

We are getting fish.

Thank you for sharing our great excitement. We've talked about fish for years and have decided that finally, after 12 years of marriage, we are deeply committed enough to one another to withstand the potential trauma and screaming fits involved in selecting, buying, and caring for fish.

Our interest in fish stemmed from (where else?) the cats. We felt the cats were growing bored within the confines of the house and that watching colorful fish with their zigzag movements might provide hours of entertainment that didn't involve us having to wave around a wand with dangling feathers or catnip balls of any sort. Nothing gets me excited like a win-win scenario.

So on Saturday, we drove to Aquamain's Fish World in Greensboro.  We discussed strategy along the way.

"Listen," said Blair. "Don't say anything about us wanting to get fish for our cats."

"Why not?" I asked. "It's not like we're going to feed the fish to the cats."

"I just think that would start us out on the wrong foot," said Blair. "These people really like fish."

"Fine, fine. I won't bring up the cats," I said. "But whatever happened to 'the customer is always right?'"

"That's for people who don't appear initially insane," said Blair.

So we entered Aquamain's Fish World and were immediately struck by the thick, musty, fishy smell places such as these carry. "I'm sure our home will smell nothing like this when we get fish," I said. Blair nodded.

We were pretty set on a freshwater tank as we'd heard saltwater tanks were work to maintain and the fish less hardy. However, the very helpful salesperson serving us pointed out that with today's technology, saltwater tanks aren't substantially harder then freshwater to take care of. Both need 1/4 to 1/2 of their water changed once a month and saltwater requires you mix the salt into the replacement water before adding it to the tank.

 Saltwater fish are so much bigger and brighter than freshwater fish. Now that I know saltwater is within our grasp, I have made it my life's goal to own a puffer fish (Just look at the photo.  The fish is smiling .

I must have a smiling fish).  

Our idea was to start small. Get a small tank with 3 fish and see if we could make it a week without the option of fresh sushi presenting itself in the form of a belly-up Angelfish.

But small is apparently no good. Our salesperson advised to go as large a tank as we can within our budget. Something about larger tanks creating a more stable environment. Whatever. All I know is we suddenly started eyeing 65-gallon tanks with their own stands that combined are bigger than the entertainment  center that houses our TV.

We've decided to take it slow, meaning we'll give it a week--two, tops--before we rush in and make poor buying decisions. Meanwhile, if any of you reading this have any knowledge of the world of fish and freshwater vs. saltwater tanks, now is the time to weigh in with your opinion. Do not tell me I made the wrong decision after we purchase our tank or you will awake one morning with Angelfish sushi on your doorstep.

Fish. The family pet. Stay tuned for exciting developments...