Chapter 2: The First 6 Fish

It has been a few days. I let the tank begin its cycle. The water went slightly cloudy then cleared up after two days, showing that the bacteria starter has done its magic. Time to add fish to the tank.

I tested the water. All my levels were good. I then carefully selected 2 Cobra Guppy Males and 4 "Fancy Guppy" Females. I brought them home put the fish bag in the tank, waiter about 20 minutes then scooped the fish out of the bag and into the tank.

They swam freely exploring the huge unknown territory. I fed them then turned out the lights. It was bed time.

The next morning I turned on the lights and check on the guppies. One of the males has disappeared. I fed them to see if he was just hiding, still no sign. I began searching; checked all of the ornaments he could hide in, moved all the plants- nothing. i checked the filter, not there either. I checked outside of the tank in case he Free Willied it... nope. He is gone, has left no trace, vanished.

I believe he was eaten, fish can be savages. I now understand that the saying "it's a fish eat fish world out there" is literal. It's not uncommon that fish get eaten, just part of the game.

So now my tank has 1 male and 4 females- dude is living the dream. I keep an eye on them t see if they are getting close to each other, but don't see a lot of interaction. I decide to narrow the playing field- I remove the male and one female and put them in the 1 Gallon tank in an attempt to force them to mate. I am now waiting for them to finish their "7 minutes in heaven"...