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KNOCKOUT PUNCH


 

LT COL NOEL ELLIS

 

26/XI/2025

 

This evening, I got a little late to reach the rooftop garden. The main Ibis flock had flown home already. I caught a dove sitting on a roof with the setting sun in the background.

 

Adeniums had been drenched with water one last time this month before the ‘inch’ towards dormancy. For the next ten days, they shall not be watered though many of them are flowering. That is what the experts say. By the way this article is not about boxing so read on....

 

That gave me time to watch our fish in the main holding tank for fish and floating plants. With the immersible heater deployed, they will stay happy all winter.

 

The tub is teeming with fish of all varieties we have. The breeding pairs have multiplied generously. They say, guppies and mollies eat their newborn. However, if they have plenty to eat, with lots of hiding places, and enough fish food, they leave their babies alone.

 

Even if there is no extra food, ‘algae’ are their mainstay. People do not like algae growing in their water bodies. To have healthy fish, algae should not be done away with. We never use chemicals for algae removal. Natural food for fish is like a natural supplement.

 

One by one, the waterlily tubs were given a check. These fish now recognise me and surface as soon as they hear the staircase door squeak. Like our pets recognise the sound of our footsteps, cars, and bikes. So do they.

 

A pinch of micro pellets and wafers in equal proportions is dropped in each tub. Then there is a frenzy. Who doesn’t like an extra topping on his pizza. Point to remember is to feed them that much which they can finish in a minute. If overfed, there is wasted food.. Wasted food rots and pollutes the water. Fish die.

 

Food which settles to the floor creates toxins. After rotting, it reduces the quality of water causing fish mortality. Topping the tubs with one litre of water a day keeps them healthy.

 

Well, in one of our ‘earthen troughs’, we have a plant called ‘water mosaic’ growing. Last year, winters were extremely harsh and the plant did not survive. It had to be reordered. It is doing well this year. We have a backup plan in place. It has been planted at two places.

 

The only issue with the trough is that the water level goes down by the evening. Reasons could be many. The afternoons are warm and there is evaporation. The earthen pot is porous, so water evaporates from its surface. The plant itself needs water to live in, so it must be consuming some. The icing on the cake is that honey bees and wasps have returned to drink and take water to their hives and nests.

 

These girls came in swarms last year. This year there are just about a dozen regular visitors. We welcome them. At least they have a place from where they can carry clean drinking and hive making water.

 

To keep ‘malarial parasite’ at bay, a few mollies have been added to the trough. It must be getting cold at night for them but fish help in eliminating mosquito eggs and larvae. A natural process plus nature provides food to the fish.

 

One black molly whom I love very dearly comes and greets me everyday by surfacing from its hide. I sprinkle a ‘wafer’ for her which she relishes.

 

Today, something very funny happened as I stood to exchange notes with her.

 

A bee was sipping water on the berm of the trough and a wasp was on a hover over the trough. Blackie was swimming nearby. The bee and wasp cannot stand each other and have to get into a scuffle to shoo the other away or maybe to stake claim on the water.

 

In the bargain, this burly wasp almost stung blackie. She jumped out of the trough and fell on the floor almost a meter below. Luckily, I was witness to what happened. I picked her up and put her back in the container immediately.

 

I am sure the hit she would have taken from the fall must have shaken her up because she was breathing but still behaving like a boxer after a KO punch. I waited for a while till she swam to her hiding place. I bid her goodnight and hope to see her again tomorrow.

 

I had saved another fish which had jumped out of water the other day and today it was the second case right infront of my eyes. I could have stepped on it in the passing had I not seen her land. That would have been very painful for me.

 

Such situations do happen. Do bees and wasps sting fish? I wonder!!!!!

 

JAI HIND

©® NOEL ELLIS 









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