As the Aquarium Cycles...

So, I was cleaning the living room the other day and I paused to look at our new fish tank. Steve has gotten on the fish tank bandwagon with me and together we have set up a really good looking tank. Its about 30 gallons, and its got live plants, a first for me, but Steve really wanted to give it a shot, and so far so good. Only one type died on us but all the others are growing like sea weeds. Its teaming with life, our tank and that is what I was thinking about when I took a moment to watch the fish. Less than twelve hours after adding the first two guppy fish to the tank to help it get through its nitrogen cycle ( the first crucial few weeks of a new tank) I looked up and saw baby fish swimming around the tank. You can see one in the top photo. 5 have survived from the initial brood and they are hale and hearty and doing fine. We have since added 5 danios, 5 tetras, 2 otocinclus and 3 angle fish, and I enjoy watching them all. The baby guppies though are special. They will live out their entire lives in the middle of my living room... Think about that for a minute. There are five fish downstairs in my living room right now who will live out the entirety of their existence in the middle of my living room. That is

an odd thing to consider, no?

It might seem sad at first except I know these fish are many hundreds of generations removed from their wild ancestors and so for captive bred fish they are living large. I don't mean to brag, but really, look at that second picture and tell me those baby fish were not born into the lap of watery luxury!