HannahJ
Aquarium Advice Activist
Well, my mother had a moment with her pleco today that I thought everyone here might appreciate. You see, she is an elementary school teacher and had an aquarium she kept for her classroom, containing three Buenos Aires tetras, five mixed Danios, and a pleco by the name of Buddy (who is really too large for her 15-ish gallon tank, but who will shortly be joining my 58 gallon).
Anyways, being summer, I helped her move her fishtank home and get it all set up (I still live with my parents). To commemorate the move, she went and bought a new hidey-hole for Buddy, one of those fake rock caves, since he seemed to spend all of his time partially wedged against the glass behind the intake for the HOB filter. We put it in the tank, and that was the end of it (or so I thought).
Later that evening, though, my mom starts yelling for me.
"Did you move Buddy to one of your tanks?!" she asks, sounding panicked.
Turns out, she had gone to feed the fish and couldn't see Buddy anywhere, an accomplishment given that he is a large fish in a small, unplanted tank. Given the sturdy cover on her tank, it seemed unlikely that he had escaped on his own, and a cursory examination around the tank turned up no escaped fish. It also seemed unlikely that one of our two cats had gotten him, my mother's next conclusion, since they had historically viewed my fishtanks as large water dishes and little more.
Suddenly, an idea occurred to me. "Mom, I know where your fish is." Rolling up my sleeve, I reached into the tank, picked up the new hidey-hole, and turned the bottom to the front of the tank, revealing Buddy, firmly suckered upside-down to the roof of the cave. Placing the cave back down, he once again became invisible from the outside.
And so ended the Mystery of the Missing Pleco.
Anyways, being summer, I helped her move her fishtank home and get it all set up (I still live with my parents). To commemorate the move, she went and bought a new hidey-hole for Buddy, one of those fake rock caves, since he seemed to spend all of his time partially wedged against the glass behind the intake for the HOB filter. We put it in the tank, and that was the end of it (or so I thought).
Later that evening, though, my mom starts yelling for me.
"Did you move Buddy to one of your tanks?!" she asks, sounding panicked.
Turns out, she had gone to feed the fish and couldn't see Buddy anywhere, an accomplishment given that he is a large fish in a small, unplanted tank. Given the sturdy cover on her tank, it seemed unlikely that he had escaped on his own, and a cursory examination around the tank turned up no escaped fish. It also seemed unlikely that one of our two cats had gotten him, my mother's next conclusion, since they had historically viewed my fishtanks as large water dishes and little more.
Suddenly, an idea occurred to me. "Mom, I know where your fish is." Rolling up my sleeve, I reached into the tank, picked up the new hidey-hole, and turned the bottom to the front of the tank, revealing Buddy, firmly suckered upside-down to the roof of the cave. Placing the cave back down, he once again became invisible from the outside.
And so ended the Mystery of the Missing Pleco.
