One of my Christmas gifts this past Christmas was an aquarium starter kit. I had been wanting one for a while, and knowing that Sprout likes to watch moving things, I thought it would be especially fun for him.

I set it up last Saturday, and had lots of fun doing that. Picking the rocks, and tank decor, filling it with water, setting up the filter and the heater were all the first step. After letting it acclimatize at least 24 hours, I headed out to PetSmart to get the rest of the pieces, and the fish.

After talking with one of the staffers at PetSmart, I picked out some orange SwordTails, and a Plecostomus. Once home I got them adjusted to the water, then set them free into the tank.

It is fun having an aquarium so far, but the Plecostumus died already. 🙁 I will replace him eventually, but not for another couple weeks. Not sure what kind of fish I will get next, but the 3 Swordtails definitely need some friends. I did see some black striped fish that were quite colourful. The PetSmart guy did mention to try and fill the different layers of the tank. Each fish has a preference for water depth it seems. The Swordtails are middle tank fish, yet they seem to be all over the place.

I did have a scare yesterday with the Swordtails though. When I got up I went down and was ready to feed the fish. They were all on the bottom not moving. I though they had all died. I turned on the light, and two of them started moving right away, but the male still didn’t move. Fearing he was dead I started to go get the net. That was when he started swimming like normal again. I guess they were still sleeping!

So far, Sprout likes watching the fish. Most nights when I turn on the light we sit in the chair and watch then swim for a few minutes. Bright colours are key though.