(no subject)

There are fish in my tank! Including some surprises.

I went to the fish farm and spent a while talking over fish-- I ended up with a trio of small angels. I'd been wanting to add them last, but everyone thought it was pretty funny that I have a 75 gallon and I'm putting a bunch of tiny fish in it. Relax! It's all good.

So I get the angels, a pair of pineapple swordtails, and they convince me to get 6 longfin white clouds, which look really cool and I do not regret.

They also recommended I get a severum, because they pick off parasites. Oh neat, I think. "How big do they get?" The girl helping me holds her hands apart maybe 5 or 6 inches. Big, but not too big (or so I thought until I put fish in the tank and it appears to be bustling like a metropolis). "Are you sure it's peaceful?" "It's a little aggressive, but it'll hang out with the angels." "Huh. It looks like a cichlid...." "It's a cool fish."

I get home, already deciding that the severum's name is Snape, and hit up google.

It's a new world cichlid.

It's peaceful. For a cichlid. It will also be the biggest thing in the tank and fully capable of eating fish I'm far more interested in keeping-- like blue kerri tetras.

It happens EVERY TIME. "Oh I don't know anything about that." There's a reason! It is a bad decision, don't buy it! I have little interest in a cichlid tank. They're cool and full of personality (some people think severums are better than oscars, and if you wanna talk charming freshwater fish, oscars should be the beginning of the discussion), but I don't want to deal with mean fish. I'm hoping the angels stay placid since the tank won't be overstocked and they'll grow into it.

Now I'm trying to decide if I should return the adorable fish (it's 1 inch now) or wait until it becomes a pain in the ass. I mean, sometimes they get along in community tanks, and tetras/white clouds are pretty quick, but they're small and edible. After talking to them again, they say that growing up in a community tank means they won't eat the other fish and they really only grow that big in ponds but... I dunno! If I return the fish now I get a refund. I dunno I dunno aaargh I hate indecision.

Of course, right now the angels and the severum have been hiding behind the hair grass while the white clouds pick on each other and the swordtails, so as it stands I have the most backwards pecking order in aquaria. Probably because they're new and my tank isn't that well planted. I managed to melt quite a few plants I bought with an overly enthusiastic bleach dip. Woops.