This weekend, Jon was back at remodeling the fish tank.
He gave the moss monster another hair cut and we got a few new plants to replace some of the older dying ones.
He sucked the detritus, that lodges in the gravel, out with a hand pump made for that purpose and replaced three buckets of fresh water that came out with it. All while I sat on the couch reading There, There by Tommy Orange.
Every time Jon rearranges the tank (I can’t help but think of it as moving the furniture around) I wonder if it’s like a new home for the fish and snails. If they wonder what happened or how they got to this new place where some of it is familiar, and other parts brand new.
It makes me wonder if the fish and snails will be smarter because they have to adjust to their new environment, figure it out all over again, instead of the same old, same old.
I recently read, in an article about animal consciousness by Ross Anderson in The Atlantic, that fish can remember things as far back as 10 days. (As interesting as I find that information, I’m equally as interested in knowing what kind of study or experiment was done to come to this conclusion.)
Does this mean that after ten days, whether Jon rearranges the tank or not, the fish see it as if for the first time after 10 days?
More questions than answers….
Anyway, I was a little concerned that Junior, our baby Mystery Snail may have gotten sucked up in the pump with some of the other small particles in the tank. So I was relived this morning to see him eating off a leaf just below Socrates.
I should just stop worrying about Junior. He seems to be a survivor and know just how to get by in our ever-changing fish tank.
I never thought fish had personalities until I took care of a co-worker’s betta while she traveled for work. Ever time the light came on in the morning, he came swimming and wriggling to the top of his bowl. He knew the lighr signaled breakfast. He also enjoyed “nibbling” on my fingers when I dangled them in the water. Every time I approached the bowl, he came out to see me. It was a transformative experience for me, because I’d only had cats, dogs, and guinea pigs.
I’m the same about fish. I never really thought of them much. But our fish do the same, they come to the top of the tank in the morning when I guess they see me or hear my voice. (I say good morning to them). One of them, Diego didn’t come to the top for a long time, but now he too comes up for feeding. I haven’t had them nibble at my finger, but I just might try it!