I'm determined to end the day on a positive note. When I was getting ready for bed I fed the fish in my tank and sat down and watched them for awhile. It's SSSOOOO relaxing--almost like getting a massage. Actually, better--no initial pain! Right now I've got three age groups of livebearers, then an algae-eating catfish and a male betta. (Contrary to popular belief you can let the bettas escape the confines of those little tiny bowls. The thing to remember is not to put them in with another male betta or a fish with long fancy fens that trigger the fighting response. I think gouramis are bad companion fish, for example. But he's ignoring the babies so far--they were very bold tonight, swimming just below the surface. I feed a colour-enhancing food plus a few larger pellets for the betta. The little ones, who are less than 3/4 of an inch long, were trying to take out the pellets. The algae-eater was shy, draping himself in the folds of the gargoyle statue's wings. My golden snails (of which I once had one 3 inches in diametre) are finally growing. I had a plecostomos for a long time (it was 7 inches when it died, of old age I think) that would just eat them. Now they've got a fighting chance but the fish get them when they're getting too successful. The tank is planted with java moss and some other (real, no plastic) plants, so there's plenty of room to travel and hide.

It was very relaxing to watch them. In fact, I'm so relaxed, I need to go to sleep now. Good-night for now.....