fishyfishybangbang: water change

I mentioned some months past that, as part of my general fish-caretaker duties, I occassionally change some of their water to keep it fresh and clean and devoid of grossness. Usually, I only have to do this about once a week, but as it turns out, I tried to do it earlier this week and then made the mistake of leaving the blinds open during the day, spawning a massive algae outbreak in both of the tanks.

So, being a good fish mommy,* I decided I would change the water again and see if that helped clear it up.

The only problem with this is that the Swimmers are not a huge fan of the water change process. In fact, I think I am justified in saying they are TOTAL DRAMA QUEENS regarding the whole scenario. Allow me to explain how this goes.

Traditionally, as I bop around the apartment, occasionally tripping and stubbing my toe,** I stop once in a while to gaze adoringly at the tanks. This morning, I did just this, and discovered that the tank in my room was in especially bad shape, and so I decided to remedy the situation. I took out the plants, put them in some mildly soapy water, and emptied about 20% of the tank's water to prep for the water change.

At this point I realized you should fully understand what I was up against, and so I present. . . THE SITUATION:

You'll note how nice the new water looks. And that it is in a Poland Spring bottle, because up until recently, I also used spring water for the fish. Not for me, mind you, but for the fish. (I have a Brita filter on the faucet, which recently betrayed me by cracking and spraying a jet of water up toward my face every time I tried to use it. Bastard.) Now, I have a slightly different system, which I'll get to in a minute.

Anyhow, since I was going to be cleaning the tank and the plants, I decided I had to take the fish out. Preggers and The Kid were greatly unamused.

This photo is actually a good chance for me to mention that I am still not positive that Preggers is, in fact, with child. Or with fishies, as it were. Yes, the life of a fish owner is constantly plagued by that epic question --

I still can't tell. Figures.

Anyhow. Back to my tale of woe. The actual water change is not that big of a deal. It looks like this:

To the fishes, however, apparently it is like this:

They swim around like mad, then take shelter, then sulk for the better part of the weekend if I change the water while they're still around. (But they're none too happy to be plopped in a tupperware while I clean, either, so my little divas really need to make up their minds.)

But lo! The water changing process is not done! I have recently bought a water conditioner to use so that I can put tap water into the tanks instead of spring water, which is a) a lot of money and b) hard to lug in bulk when you live in ze city.

Look! It even has BioExtract, which . . . does something awesome for the water! Wohoo! So I put the water conditioner into the tank (a few drops), stir it around, and then, the final touch: aquarium salt. About a teaspoon, to be exact. It's like rock salt, only specially formulated for freshwater aquariums.

Why salt, you ask? Because it is a natural gill enhancer and stress reliever.*** In short, it is fishy prozac, and after their ordeal, they need it. So I sprinkle a little of that in, add back the now clean plants, and finally put the fishes back in their tank.