Little Fish, Big Meaning

          Finally!  The tank we set up at work is stable, and a happy community. It's been a good 60 days of life.  Yes, life.  A community tank is one where fish get along, even to the point of mingling with other types of fish.  Territory is not an issue and males are not very aggressive.  Although this photo does not show (and I took this photo when there was less fish) the 25 or so critters we have now, in the 30 gallon habitat.  The standard rule is one inch of fish per gallon, and all of these guys are small.

        Here are our players:  Platys-hearty diverse fish.  Swordtails- the males are especially pretty just like my fair city, Tetras- square shaped, Cory catfish-friendly, darting bottom feeders.  Cory catfish are small and hyper but occasionally sit still as tired puppies and just stare at you.  Bamboo shrimp-scavengers. Often hiding but will crawl in and on the plants and filters using their mitts to fill their mouths. 

         We proposed this at work to provide a tranquil space to an open area.  I didn't realize this at the time but I was desperately wanting to create life from the void (and no way would this compensate) of my Father's death.  I thought we could have a big tank, stock it and there would be this colorful land of diversity and movement.  Unfortunately our first attempt-after a nice first week (different, larger fish) found the fish with a heavy dose of Ich (tropical tanks can usually be cured of Ich by raising the temperature to 82 degrees, using "Rid Ich" although some fish are ich magnets and can't survive)- they all died.  I was responsible for 17 fish dying- and the last took a sickly ten painful days to die.  It turns out that a major cause was the source of some of the fish- a store on Clement Street that has a great variety of fish but a reputation for overcrowding and sick fish.  Just the same I felt that I had had done something horrible and it was awful watching them die one by one.  I wasn't bringing back life into my life, and instead by combining some sick fish with healthy ones- was at fault for this poor decision.

         There is a store in the Tenderloin that i stumbled upon years ago but could never find it again until shortly during this dying spree. Mostly because it's in an alley no one would normally walk down into unless you were looking for a quirky fish store in a lonely alley by a shelter.   Ocean Aquarium, Cedar Street near Polk and Post streets.  I wanted to set up a new tank as soon as I could but the owner insisted that to do this right, I needed to follow his instructions for 30! days.  First I had to bring the PH level down and pour a bacteria into the tank daily.  This bacteria (he didn't tell me about this part) had the odor of the worst bad fart. Pouring this into the tank required much tact and if necessary, quick feet. Once someone was sleeping on the couch near the tank and I considered waking him.  I didn't and he probably woke up believing that he was responsible for something awful.  If anyone had asked, I would have agreed.  The owner of Ocean Aquarium told me that after 9/11, San Francisco raised the PH Level of the local water to protect from infection making our water very harsh for tropical fish.  He says he just pours tap water onto any wounds he has to sterilize.    He really did make me wait 30 (plus) days and 3 water tests before he gave me the okay to proceed.  To cover the time, I brought Dexter's backlit jellyfish tank in to have in the tank area.  This toy probably fascinated people more than the actual fish tanks ever will.

         Also Lucky Ocean Aquarium, near 2nd Avenue/Balboa Street- here the staff is helpful, friendly and knowledgeable.  Perhaps a good aquarium store needs to have the word "Ocean" in its' name.  They were the ones that said  to check reviews of the Clement Street store. Pretty bad reviews!  The Clement street store is a good place to visit and buy non living items.  As spectacle also see the 4.5 foot nurse shark in back- until the day someone sticks their hand in the tank.  Despite the two small warning signs the tank is on floor level and an unsupervised child might be tempted to pet the sharky.  As docile as nurse sharks are, they may not enjoy getting stroked on the snout. 

           There is good life in our tank.  Finally!