The fish

        More than a full week ago, Darin and I got some company to the tune of 27 fish, a mix of tetras and guppies. But all was not peaceful in their little underwater land. The guppies with their hearty spirits are not picky but tough. There is a reason that they are also known as million fish for they are almost too easy to take care of, making their beauty lessen in a way, supply and demand I guess.            
         On the other hand the sensitive neon tetras with their brilliant blue stripe have quickly died out. It must have something to do with needs, a complex combination that we cannot know or execute. They also are prone to something like paranoia or anxiety attacks, and have been known to tire themselves to death. Kind of sad, for all but one of them survived. The one known to the big eyes from beyond the glass as Loner. He never was a real part of the group and now the group is dead.
          The other tetras, not neons, but orange or gray, are quick and spontaneous. The gray one of their group, named hot stuff because he stays near the heater, is suffering from the common fish parasite Ich but has not yet succumbed to the dreaded disease. These are the facts of life in the tank, the next news from under the waterline will be about the birth of new guppies.