Just keep swimming

When I first started blogging here, I told you all that I'd be writing about my range of hobbies and interests. Unfortunately (for some), everything to date has been about LEGO. So it's time for something different!

Those that know me, know that I've got many hobbies. Many, many hobbies in fact. You would have to be made of money to be able to sustain all of them continually, so they drop in and out of my lifestyle basically. For many years my family has owned aquariums, streaming with tropical fish and sometimes turtles. I remember as a kid tracing my finger across the glass as the Tiger Oscar followed. Two years ago my girlfriend bought me a small five litre tank to get me back into it. Only last week I finally got around to upsizing to a thirty litre tank.

Boring box photo doesn't need to be big

Busy with work, it was until Monday that I had the chance to start filling the tank (which has been running water through the filter for over a week now) with gravel and some plants. I'm not a fan of buying from pet shops. I'd much rather buy from an aquarium, or specialist, but sometimes it just isn't feasible. Anyway, I found the perfect piece of planted driftwood from my local Pet Barn. The grey gravel, which I bought from a dodgy little "aquarium" in the low socially-economic area to close to my hometown for my liking, was clearly taken straight from the ocean as it was full of seashells. This made it extra difficult to clean, but once added to the tank, it looked great. It was now ready to hold my prized piece of driftwood that had set me back $45 and backseat covered in smelly fish tank water.

I had to have this piece of driftwood the minute I found it

Back to Pet Barn I went on Tuesday (my local aquarium is closed on Tuesday's) to buy some more fish for the tank. I already had two White Cloud's, two Neon Tetra's, and a Black Widow Tetra that I was transferring from the five litre tank. At this point I should probably mention that fish can go by many different names. You'll find if you follow the link, that what I know as a Black Widow Tetra, is in some countries called a Black Skirt Tetra. I ended up coming home with five Guppies (both male and female), a Rummynose Tetra, a Harlequin Rasbora, and my now prized fish, a Phantom Glass Catfish. They might just sound like funny names to most people, but trust me, they are some seriously cool and colourful little fishies!

The new fish are introduced to the old fish

I've just about dribbled enough for one blog post, but I just want to tell you a little about the Phantom Glass Catfish (I've included a not-so-good photo, but if he swims still sometime I'll snap another and replace this crappy one). The fish gets it name because it is genuinely transparent. Like all catfish, they are scaleless, and catfish within the genus Kryptopterus lack body pigment. With most of their organs located near the head, if you use a magnifying glass, you can actually see their heart beating. When they're not in hiding (not very often), and the light reflects off of the fish just right, it creates a rainbow-like shine. Oh, and apparently when they die, they turn white...

The Phantom Glass Catfish was $15 well spent