I have been pining after a larger fish tank ever since we got Nicole a fish tank for her birthday. I have enjoyed having the fish in the house more than I would have ever expected. I have never really been a pet person, but I think I have found the kind of pet that I can get along with. They don't take much time, they are fun to watch, and I get a great amount of satisfaction out of making sure I don't kill them. Even though it happens now and then. But I am getting better at this fish thing. I used my birthday as an excuse to buy a bigger tank and a stand.

As it turns out, the 10-gallon tank is not the easiest size to start with. In fact, I really think that the nice folks at Petco should warn first-time fish owners that a slightly larger fish tank is easier to regulate with regards to pH, ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, hardness, etc. In fact, the more times I have been to my local Petco, the more I suspect that they are like any large chain store (think Walmart, Home Depot, Best Buy) in that the employees are not quite as helpful as they would like to think they are. I should have assumed this at the start, but the first fellow I talked to at Petco seemed to be smart and helpful. I was snookered. Lulled into a false sense of security. All useless twits.

After I finally got my 45-gallon tank, I went hunting for the ideal aquarium stand. I called around to various stores. I visited various stores. I found nothing. Finally, at Petsmart, one of their employees told me that he bought some of his stands at another locally-owned shop. So I went to World of Wet Pets. I like it there. Nice, knowledgeable folks that really can help. They didn't have my stand in the store, but they had one in the warehouse. Oh, and their distributor was making a delivery just the next day. So I had my stand the next day at a great price without shipping.

Yesterday, Charlie, Echo, Foxtrot, Gamma, and Halo made the big move from the 10-gallon tank to the roomy 45. You might notice from the names that Alpha, Bravo, Delta and India are missing. Well, maybe not India, since he was at the end of the list. They were casualties of poor fish management. But I have learned. And like Rand Bloody al'Thor, their names are burned into my head (along with Bert, Ernie, Molly and Sammie, our original fish.) The weight that they are on my conscience is part of what drives me on to be a better fish... guy. I love my new tank. Let's just hope I don't get the hankerin' for a 135.