But I Don't Like Fish

Yeah, I'm not a big fish fan. No, I do eat much fish, but I was referring to the aquarium kind. Amanda wanted to get a tank, but I knew her animal care history and I did not want to mess with a fish tank (after all, who wants a pet you cannot pet?). Amanda promised she would take care of it and Brooke promised she would help because she, too, wanted to get a fish tank. I think it was sometime this summer that Amanda used her money and we helped her buy a 10 gallon fish tank. She has done a pretty good job of taking care of the fish and the tank, but she still needs help with water changes, etc. Guess who that ended up doing that??? Yup...the guy who doesn't like fish.

Since we got a tank, of course we needed pretty fish so the first time around, we "helped" Amanda choose her fish. We ended up with Mollies (very pretty black, spotted and orange mollies). In all my efforts to keep a clean tank, I cleaned it a little "too good", got the nitrates and nitrites up WAY too high and killed the fish. Two died in the tank...the third was going belly up and had to be euthanized. This second time around, Amanda asked if she could choose the fish SHE wanted for her tank. We said "yes" and she chose red tail x ray tetras.

So Amanda like the creepy, see through fish and I wanted pretty, colorful fish. I was the last one to see this coming, but I began to think it would be nice to have a bigger fish tank with pretty fish in it. I decided I would like to get a fish tank for my birthday (next week), and it didn't take much to convince Brooke since she wanted a fish tank all along. I priced fish tanks at Petsmart and decided to see what I could find on Craig's List (since there is still that budget matter of the "donation" I am waiting to make to the state of Tennessee). Short version...I found a 29 gallon tank with gravel, pumps, filter, undergravel filter, light miscellaneous tank decorations for $50. I had to drive to Garland to get it (hour there, hour back) and I will have to upgrade/replace some of the filter system, but it still seems like it was a good deal. On the way home, I called my Dad and asked if he would build the shelf for my birthday. I will spend a little here and there getting the tank ready and hope to start adding fish by the end of this month. I'm pretty excited.

Boo was fascinated with tank when we brought it in the house. 

I wonder what she is going to think when there are actually fish in it.