CATCHING A GUPPY

 CATCHING A GUPPY

 

LT COL NOEL ELLIS

18/III/2024

 

Some of us would be maintaining aquariums. They would know that it takes a great effort to catch a particular fish. Especially, when there are fish galore in the tank.

Fish are clever. They may look innocent and cute but are super intelligent, according to my experience. They know and anticipate danger. Fish in water are not easy to catch. They know if there is something amiss.

Let me give a little story of catching one guppy which was evading me and my fish net for almost a month. How hard I tried, it was all in vain. All the other fish got caught, but this smart fishy managed to wriggle out. Once she got caught but then jumped back and hid herself for many days.

Why I was after this particular guppy was because she was the ‘odd man’ out. This tank had only mollies. The two species can coexist but then it was not fair.

Spotting this guppy was like finding a needle in a haystack. I wanted her to live with her own kind.

Once in a while we used to fish out ‘fingerlings’ at random from the main tank. When the fish are very small it is difficult to make out the difference between a guppy and a molly fry. So they might have got mixed up.

The main tank has an assorted mix of all kinds of fish. Out of the other two tanks, one only has Guppies. The other only Mollies. Fish which I could identify in the ‘wrong tank’ were shifted to their designated tank. It was a herculean task to segregate them. They are so agile in water that one has to be lucky to catch a specific one.

They were less than half an inch when they were introduced to these tanks. Their fins and colours have now matured. The ‘males’ have started chasing females with their dorsal fins in full display.

This one guppy always gave the ditch. For it to breed and multiply, I thought it would be prudent to shift it. Everyday, I would dip a small fish net in the tank. She would swim past. Normally, she would surface to eat food and play around. Moment it saw the net, it would dive & hide amongst the rocks below.

Then I tried another trick. I left this net dipped in the tank overnight so that the fish get used to it and do not get startled with its presence. Rightly so, they started to frolic around the net and even nibbled at it. Moment my hand came over the tank, the fish would dash for cover and vanish.

One had two choices. One, to let it be or two, empty the tank and pick this one out. It was a tedious process and time consuming too. What if guppies and mollies cross bred? It might endanger this lone guppy’s life. It had to be segregated.

I siphoned off half the tank water and started scooping out the fish. It was in the twelfth attempt that I could finally lay my hands on it.  As usual she put up a show of trying to jump out of the net. I was ready and covered the mouth of the net with my palm. While I put the other fish back, I lowered this guppy into the guppy tank.

Guppies in the tank came to greet their new friend. Suddenly, there was a transformation in this guppy’s behaviour. Her shy and elusive nature vanished. That is when I spotted one black molly in the guppy tank. How did it get in there? Should I do the same exercise in reverse again? I wonder!!!!!!!

 

JAI HIND

© ® NOEL ELLIS