My "Fish-Keeping" Hobby is back...

When I was in elementary school, at around 10 years old (the same time I picked up a guitar), I got interested in fresh water fishes. I actually saw a friend of mine carrying a little plastic bag of water, with a little goldfish in it. That actually stirred my curiosity about fishes, and I had to ask him where he got it. He said, an old man named "Nong Eto" is selling different kinds of aquatic fishes, which ranges from the little guppy to the colorful goldfish. So off we went, and I bought my first little tan-colored goldfish for P10.00. And it came with a branch of aquatic plant, too! Quite a bargain!

When I got home, I actually realized that I had nowhere to place my little fish. So I used an old styro-foam case which I found lying around my dad's working area, cleaned it up, and filled it with water up to the brim. I released the goldfish in its new home, and I stayed there for a few minutes, just watching the fish swim around.

My dad found out that I was taking care of a goldfish. He didn't know about it at first, cause I placed the aquarium at the back of the house. He actually surprised me by buying 2 Platty Mickey Mouse fishes! It's a kind of fish which had a mark on it's tail-fin which resembled the famous mouse. So I placed them together with the goldfish. It was kinda difficult to see the markings this time 'cause I could only see the fishes from above. I now desperately wanted to have an aquarium made of glass, so I could see the fishes clearly.

A few days later, on a Saturday, I saw my dad working on some glass pane, and an adhesive which smelled like dried pee! Turns out, he was making an aquarium! And I was so happy about it. While he was working on it, he asked me to go downtown and buy some aquarium pebbles, an air-pump, and a few more fishes from a pet-shop. So I did! I also bought some aquatic plants. And when I got home, the aquarium was done, but the silicone adhesive had to be dried, and once dried, it still had to be tested for leaks. My fishes had to wait for another day before they could be transferred. And on the following day, after testing the aquarium for leaks, I placed the pebbles in, together with the plants, and installed the air pump. I let it stay like that for awhile before I placed the fishes in. And then, about an hour later, I released my fishes in their new home. A small goldfish, two platties, and two bottom dwelling catfish (which I bought from the petshop, and acts like a janitor) now swim around the large 20-gallon aquarium.

The aquarium was so large, and it had very few fishes in it. So, I bought more fishes. Mollies (black and white), swordtails, which looked very nice with their long protruding tail fins, black moors, with their big black eyes, and lots of other fishes. I also got interested with fighting fishes, which I had to separate in small jars because of their aggressive behavior. The female fighting fish can be placed in the aquarium 'cause they are less aggressive than the males. I also bought zebra fishes, which were fast swimmers. And I also bought oscar fishes which was a meat eater. And other varieties of goldfish (lionhead, pearlscale, shubunkin, etc.) My dad actually made two more aquariums cause there were just too many of them. And aside from those three big ones, my dad also made 2 small ones, and a little fish pond on the terrace, with one side made of glass.

I actually had the chance to breed some of my fishes.

The mollies and swordtails were easy to breed. They'd simply mate in the aquarium, and a few weeks later, the female give birth to live fries. I made sure that the fries were separated from the larger fishes.

The Zebra fish was also easy to breed. Simply separate a pair in a designated breeding area, and they will do the rest. The female will drop her eggs and the male will fertilize it. And in a few days, the eggs will hatch into little zebra fries. Make sure to remove both male and female right after laying the eggs. You could actually use an egg collector to collect the eggs, and you can transfer the eggs in another container if you want.

Fighting fishes have a unique breeding method. You'd easily know if a male is in heat 'cause he would make bubbles in his container. Just put the male and female together and the male will start doing his "flary" dance. He'd squeeze his body around the female to force the eggs out and then he'd fertilize them. The male gets the eggs using it's mouth and places them in the bubbles. He'd make sure that none of the eggs would fall on the aquarium floor. I have to make sure that the female will be removed after that. Then, the eggs will hatch after a few days. When the hatch-lings fall, he'd simply catch them and put them back in the bubbles. Once the hatch-lings can swim by themselves, I can remove the male fighting fish and put it in another jar.

Now, I was never able to successfully breed a goldfish! I do get a pair to lay some eggs, and let it hatch, but then the fries never grow to become adults! And sometimes, the eggs just won't hatch! But I do know when to separate a pair of goldfish and let them do their thing. First, you have to check if the female goldfish does have eggs. To do this, hold the goldfish in your hand, and gently press on it's "butt" (the hole under its tail fins). If you see some white stuff coming out, little round-jelly-like substance, then those are the eggs. Leave a pair of goldfish together in a separate container. It's best to do this at early dawn, around 4am. The goldfishes will start chasing each other. Make sure to remove both of the fishes from the container if you already see a lot of eggs, 'cause they might end up eating it (they get tired from all the chasing, y'know). And also, make sure that your water is not too deep, about 2 or 3 inches deep. This will allow the hatch-lings to swim to the surface and grasp for air. I think that's one reason why I never successfully bred them, cause my water is too high!

Anyway, I kind of lost interest when I was in college. Y'know, with all the distractions, studies, projects, my girlfriend (who is now my wife... hehe...). I barely gave any attention to my fishes. Worst, when I got married and transferred to a different house, I totally forgot about my fishes until they all gradually died one after the other.

Until lately, with a two year old son who gets curious at everything he sees, me and my wife thought it would be a great idea to start having fishes again, and to entertain my son. So I decided to get the aquarium from my old place, and fill it up with some fishes. And I just love it when I see my son run towards the aquarium and say "fiiish... fiiish..." and he'd point at the fish food, and i let him feed it. It's actually his fishes, literally.

Right now, I have 2 oranda goldfish, 2 black mollies, and 2 silver mollies. And very recently, the black molly gave birth to 7 little crossbreeds. So that makes 13 aquarium fishes! I'm actually planning to add some more. I have no aquatic plants yet, but that can wait.

It's really nice to wake up in the morning, and sip on a cup of coffee while watching the fishes do their thing. And whenever I come home from work, I'd sit in-front of the aquarium and it relaxes my mind. It helps me de-stress, and forget my problems (momentarily). And it's a great thing. It's a great hobby.

Looking forward to be breeding soon.

Happy Fishing!