the ballad of Buddy
the journal of Michael Werneburg
twenty-seven years and one million words
This is the ballad of Buddy the plecostomus, a fish I had to give up.
Buddy was a tiny fish when I found him at an aquarium store in Azabu-Juban. Just 3.5 cm long and slight of frame, I thought he'd be a good tank mate for the tetras and loaches that I was assembling. I hoped to add him to our 58 l community tank both as an algae-eater and because I identify with plecos; like me they're largish and generally peaceful and solitary—but can are short-tempered and spasmodic.
Buddy upon arrivalBuddy was a solitary fish, and he only congregated with the others when it was time to feed. But he was so distinctive that Kenny took an immediately liking to him. Somehow, the fish was even named, the only fish to get a name.
That was at the beginning of November. But now it's early January, eight weeks or so after Buddy came into our lives. This was buddy on the ninth of January.
yes, that's the same fishThe fish had doubled in length and was maybe 4-5 times heavier than it had been when I bought him. This fish was growing faster even than our son, to say the least.
I realized that something was clearly wrong. Why was this fish growing so fantastically quickly? I've had plecos for years, back in Canada, and they didn't show that much growth in a year, let alone two months.
Then when re-reading the entries in my fish book for the various types of pleco, it finally got through my head. I'd always had dwarf plecos, and this was of the Sailfin variety. Right there in black and white where my uncomprehending brain had seen it several times was the answer: this fish is a different variety altogether. One that grows to 50 cm long.
50 cm of plecostomus in a 60 cm aquarium?
Even at eight centimetres, I knew it was going to barely fit the little net we've got; how was I going to get it out if—when—it once again doubled or tripled in size?
And yet, how could I get rid of the fish? Kenny always wants to see Buddy when he comes home from day care, and this morning Mari told me that "Buddy" was the first word that Kenny said to her. What would happen if I took Buddy from Kenny?
What would happen if I left Buddy in that aquarium!
This afternoon I swallowed my distress over parting ways with the rapidly growing pleco and did the right thing for the fish. I found a good home for it.
A rather good store in Higashi-Ginza agreed to take it in when I explained the situation. I'm thankful to Sasi for his introducing me to the place, because they were really good to me*. I'd tried taking it back to the store that sold it to me, but that store proved to be closed when I got there. The "good store" won't be reselling the fish apparently, they'll be keeping it around. I suppose there's lots of glass to clean. They told me that I could come and visit the fish. Not sure I'll tell my son that.
We now have an aquarium that's loaded with plants, fish, and shrimp. I may be overstocked a bit, but the fish health seems generally quite good and the water quality consistently checks out. Here's the population count:
4x cardinal tetra
4x rummy-nose tetra
3x clown loach
3x tocinclus
2x ram cichlids
8x amano shrimp
That's a total of 24 fish/shrimp and 60 "fish-centimetres" in a 58 litre tank.
*P.S. In helping me out in a pinch, the "good store" just earned a faithful customer. I don't see any need to go elsewhere, now.