We got a bunch of new shells for the hermits.
Here they are, laid out front and center so we can watch the hermits “shop” for new clothes.

And it took almost no time for the hermits to descend on this “mall” like it was a Black Friday sale. I mean, they fought over the shells.

Here you can see one guy (in the red shell) checking out a new shell.

In the end no one walked away with any of the new ones. I guess there’s nothing like a comfy old shoe.

Finally, a week and a half after bringing him home, Chara has started eating. So far, I think he might have only had 3 pellets. Attila on the other hand is always hungry. Sometimes I just like to sit and watch them swim around. They really seem to enjoy having the plants to swim in and around and rest on the leaves.

Yesterday, Attila was laying at the bottom of the tank looking extra droopy. His fins weren’t fluttering like usual and he was laying at the bottom barely moving his gills. I immediately did a water change with water from a tank of java moss. He still didn’t look any better at all. It turns out the water from the tank of java moss had ammonia in it and I did a second water change for Attila with filtered water. Poor guy. This morning, he’s back to himself again. Eating and everything! That tank of java moss must be cycling with all that detritus from the dying plant.

Chara has been fine all this time. He hasn’t eaten since I got him last Sunday I suspect because he fancies himself to be a babydaddy. He’s been blowing a big bubble nest and even when I changed his water last night and destroyed it, this morning, he has an even bigger bubble nest. He’s too busy guarding it to eat.

I’ve been so eager to get home from work to come check out my little buddies and how they’re doing in their little homes. Small tanks or bowls can be so misleading. They look simple enough but they actually need more monitoring because the water quality can quickly deteriorate. The smaller the bowl, the bigger the likelihood that you end up operating a fish deathtrap. Bettas generally can do okay in a couple of gallons but even then, I’ve been totally paranoid about checking on them because betta are prone to fin diseases from dirty water. I’ve been monitoring these two bowls as much as I can. For right now, I’m mostly trying to get the temperature right. Betta prefer warmer water so I have heaters in them but during the day it gets hotter in the house so heaters might be too much. Last night, I left 2 small heaters on overnight and the next morning the water was 85 degrees. Chara seemed to enjoy the spa nonetheless but I wouldn’t let the water get much warmer than that so tonight, I’ll probably just plug one heater. I’ve been leaving his heaters unplugged during the day because it’s gets pretty warm in the house when the sun’s out. Unfortunately, his mini bowl heaters don’t have auto shut off. Attila’s heater on the other hand was meant for a larger tank but because it has auto shut off, it’s actually working out okay in the 2.5 gallon tank.

So far, Attila’s been the hungrier of the two. He ate the first day he came home. I’ll admit, I probably shouldn’t have fed him on day one but I wanted to try and he seemed happy taking in a few pellets. Chara on the other hand, has ignored the 3 pellets I tried giving him. I ended up fishing them out of the water. Maybe I should get a turkey baster so I don’t have to keep sticking my hands in the water.

We had a meet and greet a work and to break the ice, we played a scavenger hunt game looking for people who have never flown on a plane, own a boat, know more than two languages, have a PhD etc.

One of them was “have more than 4 kids” and one lady said she has 6. 2 dogs, a cat… and the manager disqualified her because, “it has to come out of your body.” Really? So step-kids aren’t your kids and neither are your adopted kids eh? I beg to differ.

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