One December day, before I had the hectic lifestyle of being a full-time office employee and student nurse thrust upon me, I decided that I wanted a fish tank. My boyfriend had no idea what to get me for Christmas and it was too early in the relationship to ask for anything “sparkley”, so I decided a small, 5-gallon fish tank would be cool.
A few months and countless guppy deaths later, I had a tank with 5 happy Danios. I decided that all I needed was an algae eater to clean the tank some, and bought what I thought would be my final fish, a Pleco.
Well anyone who knows anything about aquariums knows what happened next…the Pleco outgrew the tank. So suddenly, mid-semester in nursing school hell, I was buying a 29-gallon tank to try to accommodate one damn fish (whom I really do love very much). With the extra room in the tank, I was able to purchase some of the fish I had wanted but never had room for. I literally stumbled upon these adorable Balloon Ram Cichlids, whom I had never heard of anywhere, and they are now tied with Plecs as my favorites. I also got another Danio, along with 2 Dwarf Gouramis whom are a little too boring for me. Anyway…
Sometimes it’s a lot of work to care for; like when I come home exhausted after work and need to do a water change or I need to run out to the store for zucchini for Plecs because I ran out. But, I do enjoy it. The fish are the only pets I have in my apartment, and I love coming home to them.
So, as any proud “mommy” would, I decided to show off my little guys. Hope you enjoy!
*Click on photos to enlarge
The orginal Danios, zipping around
My Ballon Rams, Spike and Spikette, playing tag
A lone Danio
Spikette
My man Plecs, with Spike and a Danio
Spike, a Dwarf Gourami, and a Danio
Plecs cleaning the Tiki wall for me
Plecs eating his algae wafer
Spike pecking, trying to get a nibble
Life as a Student Nurse 
