If you could have something named after you, what would it be?
A couple of years after marriage as I settled into my new home, in the hope to replace Butch and Tara, influenced by the younger siblings dexterity with raising fish, I procured a fish tank. I started with a small rectangular tank, with a beautiful blue background. In the first round, I got a few guppies. I used to feed them fish pellets once a day, clean the tank once in three days and yet, these tiny fish did not last longer than a week. This was a recurring bill I incurred, visiting the aquarium shop every ten days to get fish. Eventually, the younger sibling recommended either getting Pacu’s (belonging to the Piranha family) or the discus, which is what she had in the tank at home, that influence me into this hobby in the first place. When I brought this up as a general conversation with mum, she responded with a combination of pride and irritation. Pride because, finally the sibling had brought home fish that did not die fast, but irritation because, the damn fish required live worms to be dropped as feed almost every day, and that had become her chore.
Two dogs and 4 big fish meant Mum visited the pet-shop frequently to pick up nonsense. If she went alone, the bills were minimal, but now with either older or younger siblings going with her, the bills were always so atrocious. And then she discovered the Arowana! Between the dogs I’d left behind when I moved home post-marriage, the Pacus and Discus the younger sibling had brought home, and Mum’s sudden interest in all things FengShui, the Arowana came home a month later, in a new tank, all its own. Now mum, was super excited to go to the pet-shop to stock up on worms and filters, and sponges and gravel and plants and all things aquarium. And all this while, I had not moved slightly higher on the size chain of aquarium fish from Guppies, to Gouramis and fighter fish. I was hesitant to get the Pacu, and the Discus seemed too meh! for my taste. The Arowana hit the exotic button on my list and got ruled out automatically. At that time in my life, I was anti-Feng Shui, anti-traditional beliefs, and anti-Mum’s recommendation. But the Gourami’s and Fighter Fish did not last long either. So back to the pet shop I went, looking for something interesting to put in the tank. The Gouramis had given me the courage to try to get something that would grow and therefore would last a while. I updated the tank, and increased its size from a 2ft, width to 3ft and placed a couple of koi carps in it. The pet shop had only two carps with them, one a flawless typical koi and the other had a cut gill flap, more a birth defect that the fish had learned to adapt and live with. I do not know how to identify a male fish from a female fish, but I have always picked an even number. Like Noah’s arc, my tank had two of everything I purchased, no odd numbers. So, along with the Koi carps, I also introduced a couple of Catfish and a couple of Tiger Sharks. I monitored the water frequently, changed the water every fortnight, and fed them worms regularly.
The tank looked beautiful, the blue backdrop and the fresh aquatic plants with the scuba bubble man, blowing bubbles at regular intervals calmed the senses. The fish swam to and fro and were slowly growing. At this point, I realized I had to increase the size of the tank and I went back to the pet shop. We had a deal, if I purchased the upgraded tank from his store, he would swap out my smaller tank at a minimal cost. While making the reservation to have the bigger tank built and delivered, I was introduced to ghost shrimp. The pet shop had them in a bigger 4-foot tank and the size of the fish and the backdrop made it look ethereal. I would never use this word in this context but, you had to have seen that tank, it was mesmerizing. The ghost shrimp were the largest species in that tank and it was filled with numerous fish, guppies, gouramies, tetras, neontetras, gold fish, bettas, chichlids, and the backdrop was stunning. There were two or three bubble making machines inside the tank and the lighting was muted to highlight the beauty of the neontetras. But the effect ensured that the tank looked ethereal. And the darting shrimp just added to the mystery. So enthralled was I, that I also ordered three pairs of ghost shrimp to be delivered with my tank. As was the practice, the new tank came, was installed and the water added and the shrimp were left in the water after a couple of hours, I added the fish from the smaller tank into this new tank. I’d done this a couple of times before when I had increased the tank size by a few inches, so I knew the drill. I added the fish before I crashed out that evening, and fed them the live worms, and switched off the light. We continued this a couple of more evenings. On day three I had to remove the filter to clean it, and when I moved the filter, I noticed that the shrimp had been hiding behind the filter, and they vanished under the sand in the tank.
A couple of evenings later, while staring at the tank, the spouse told me that there were no shrimp to be found. I was surprised. I thought they were hiding behind the filter and I jiggled the filter, and moved the sand around, but there really were no ghost shrimp to be found. Thinking they must’ve jumped out of the tank and been cleaned by the maid because she did not see them, I went back to the store and got a few more shrimp. The pet shop was of course thrilled to have me back at the store, to pick up something more than just live worms and he packed 6 more shrimps. That evening, we were thrilled to see the ghost shrimp flitting around the tank.
Again a couple of evenings later, we noticed that the shrimps had vanished. At this point, the carps had also grown bigger, so we assumed that the shrimps were just not visible in the foliage. Back to the store I went and while he was packing the shrimps fo me, I enquired about the mystery. So he asked me, what kind of fish I had in my tank, and I told him, I had Carps and tiger fish and catfish. And then he laughed. He then told me that I had not just been feeding my carp, the live worms, but also the shrimp. The ghost shrimp were a great addition in a nursery tank, but in a tank with bigger fish, they were just the prey. I then decided to get more worms to feed the larger appetite my fish had grown accustomed to and also introduced the shrimp. This time the shrimp lasted all of four days, but eventually, the carp got them. I refused to buy more shrimp, but the carp continued to grow, so much so, that guests often wondered if we were pescatarians who grew what we ate. Eventually, after almost a year in our tank, the carp died due to unknown causes and I gave away the tank back to the store, to be donated to a more enthusiastic owner.
In all these years after the sudden demise of my pet carp, I’ve constantly tried to find a reason on why they became floaters. And while I’ve wondered on the cause I’ve also visualised that mesmerising tank he had on display. The sheer number of fish ensured that the floaters were never missed. But that tank had a piece on display, of the many bubble making machines there was one, of a troll, sitting atop a rock in the middle. The troll just sat for five full counts, and then would open its mouth to burp a bubble. That bubble was the largest bubble produced in the tank and every time the bubble erupted it disrupted the fish swimming in the tank. For all of five counts the fish swam, flitting about here and there and then the bubble would erupt and the fish would scamper. This happened every five counts. If something has to be named after me, it should be that big bubble, the one that erupts every five counts and disrupts the fish swimming seemingly aimlessly in the tank.
Just a little more 