Pet Forum / Aquaria / Goldfish / May 2008

Well I have one pleco who is over eight inches in length, possibly
nine,   And she's the biggest one of the bunch, with some smaller
Plecos, of five and six inches. And one of the Bala sharks is about five
or six inches. Then there are the five Clown Loaches, comin' in at
between four to five inches in length, with all of the rest being much
smaller.
  As far as the age of the feed, I have no idea, but the packaging
looks new, with the price sticker identifying it as sold by my local
'Mom & Pop" pet shop, the same one who, when they learned that I was
buying Bettas from them, and giving them, along with any spare ten or
twenty gallon aquariums that my homeless person friend Eric was finding
in the area trash sites and dumpsters, to shut-ins, and to kids whose
parents were too poor to afford a regular pet, they donated 17 or 18 ten
gallon tanks for me to give away, and a thirty gallon tank "for me to
play with.", because they had decided to upgrade their equipment, which
they most definitely did.  Since then, they have given me 'at cost'
discounts on both fish food, and especially live stock, Betta splendens,
to give to those in need.  Too bad other folks are not so generous.  
  By the way, all of this, including me, a man who worked with the big,
dangerous animals, as a zoo keeper, et cetera, for most of his life,
getting into taking care of all of these little harmless fish, et
cetera, would never of happened, had I not one day had a lot of extra
home-made stew [I tend to make lots], and gave some to a street person
pulling along a rather long conglomeration of wheeled 'things', two
shopping carts, and other stuff, all hooked together in like a train,...
Almost six months later, he showed up at my window, which borders the
back alley here, asking if I wanted an aquarium, because he and I had
spoken of my past work, and how I had never had taken care of fish, but
would like to.  I answered him, saying sure, and he then presented me
with a 10 gallon tank.  The next day he gave me a 30 gallon 'Bow'-type
aquarium, and, as they say, the rest is history.
  I tell you folks that, to give you something to think about,...Sort
of that old saying about tossing a pebble into a pool of water, and the
effect of the ripples.  You might even give thought of trying to do
something similar, with the help of others, because you know just how
much pleasure your fish give you,...Pass it on to those unfortunates who
have little, and who knows what it might lead to.~Dean.

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
~~~Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi~~~