The skinny on the fatties...

Ichthyoidus Butterballus

Sometime around the end of June we decided to purchase some fish to help keep the horse's water troughs clean. After doing some research (and talking to some folks that were already doing it), we bought six itty bitty goldfish. Three for The Girls and three for the Moo Crew. Since Goldfish are essentially domesticated members of the Carp family [a.k.a. vacuum cleaners with fins] and will not outgrow their environment - in this case a 70 gallon stock tank - it seemed to be a terrific and inexpensive green solution. If you'd like to read a bit more about the whole process, I made a lens about it here: An Epic Farms Fishtail.
A stickler for the rules, (remember Harvey and Elwood?) I gave them names on the way home in the car. Since we are a non-profit, Faith, Hope and Charity seemed to be the obvious choice for the Girls' fish. As for the Moo Crew? Why, Larry, Moe and Curly of course (it's SO them :o)

When we first added the fish to the tanks they looked awfully darn tiny in there. Even so, I must admit to worrying whether or not the little guys would have enough to eat after a while (although the horses do dribble an awful lot of "stuff" into the tanks with each visit). To the right is a picture of the Girls' tank on the first day we put the fish in; isn't she tiny? 
Apparently, my fears were groundless. Our little fishies have tripled in size; now they look more like Gobstoppers with gills. Dang. Even my husband (a self-proclaimed obliviousness enthusiast) stated that the fish looked like they were "ready to bust". Thankfully there have been no *kaBOOMs* (well, not yet anyway). Shadow came to see what we were doing when we added the fish to their tank - of course you know he was afraid of the baggie and stood back eyeballing it suspiciously *sigh*.

According to the experts - which would not be me - a fish's activity is directly related to their state of mind. In other words, the more they swim around the happier they are. Cool. Considering the fact that we get dizzy watching ours zip and zoom around in the tanks, I guess it means we may have unintentionally created Fishtopia (we'll call it a happy accident, 'kay? :o) For those of you wondering just how well it worked, here's a before and after of the Moo Crew's tank taken a couple of weeks apart (I left the dates on there for you). You can't even see the fish in the "before" shot; and do I need to tell you it's the one on the left? I didn't think so...

When we first put the fish in the tanks, anytime anything "loomed large" over their little world they would hot-fin it (haha) toward the bottom of their habitat. While it was good to know that they were not in danger of being slurped up anytime soon, it also made it pretty darn difficult to get pictures of them since they were initially quite small. Apparently time cures all in the fish world too though, as it wasn't too long before they figured out where their food was coming from (in this case it's Supermarket Sarabear ;o) Guess that explains why every once in awhile one of the Girls (or Moo Crew) would suddenly pop their head up from the water with a snort of alarm and head for the hills. Since horses cannot see underneath their chins, I imagine our little food finatics (ooooh, that was bad! Did you catch it?) gave them quite a start with their curiosity and enthusiasm. *Grin*  It's amazing how fast they've grown, too!
Of course then I had to see what would happen if I put my hand in there. The answer? They all came to investigate, and Charity even gave my fingers a bit of a nibble (it tickled).

Must be nice to have your food brought to you at home for every single meal, don't you think? I have to admit, I'm duly impressed by their complete lack of fear when it comes to the delivery method...A la Bella this time. Wow, right? So thanks for reading to the end [my friend] and I hope you have a terrific weekend!