If Angels Could Talk
by Bart van Dijk
First published in the newsletter of the Vancouver Aquatic Hobbyist Club
Aquarticles
"Hey Hubby, what did we forget this time? We started out with
at least two hundred little ones and look at us now - only one month later and twenty left
at most.
'Well, that really is not too bad Mom - if only two or three make it to
spawn next season the Angels in this creek will survive for another year. I know it's
disheartening…. every year you think you have a little more experience and knowledge,
and you're sure that this time you can tell what it's all about. But don't blame yourself
too much Mom, this living in water is a risky business.
'Yeah, I know that's why we have so many babies, but it still hurts to
see them go.
'Yeah, it sure is a bummer. Before we even lay the eggs, we worry and
worry and make sure everything is perfect. But I have to hand it to you Mom, although I
was sure getting plenty mad at you. You told me straight away that you loved me, but boy
oh boy - all those conditions! … Are we in the right spot?… Can we defend
this?… Is there an upswelling of water in the gravel to ensure plenty of
oxygen?… You made me clean that leaf until my lips hurt so much I thought I might
never be able to eat again… All that moving of rocks, sand and debris, no matter how
many times I said 'We'll be able to find plenty of pits to hide our young in overnight.'
But you kept saying 'If we don't do it now, we won't have enough time once the young ones
are here,'… and as usual you were right.
'Wouldn't it be nice to have a better way to predict the water
conditions? So much depends on the right stage at the right time. Our old folks must have
been pretty clever to be able to figure out how to use the length of the sunshine in the
daytime, coupled with the stage of the moon, and then wait until thunderstorms are getting
less. And even be able to slowly change each year according to the local conditions. Can
you imagine having to make the connection to what happened the year before? Hey, that must
be why we are having this talk now.
'Were you ever right about that cleaning I was complaining about, but
we still lost some thirty five eggs to fungus. Incidentally, thanks for picking those off
straight away before the fungus could spread to the other eggs. And I don't think we'll be
able to do much better next year either. It's such a chaotic time… To begin with, all
those tons and tons of fresh water when the run-off starts. You could swear that the whole
creek would be void of any microscopic size life forever. Even when we laid our eggs the
water was just barely getting enough hardness back, to stop our eggs from popping. Hey! -
maybe that's what happened to those thirty five eggs: they popped first and then the
fungus was able to start growing in them. That makes me feel better. Next year not more
cleaning, but just wait another day or so until the hardness catches up.
'Let's think about that a bit more though. Let's see… we lay our
eggs, they take four days to hatch, and the young then have a four day supply in their
yolk sacks to use while they learn to eat infusoria. They eat these for about two days,
and then the young daphnia and copods have to be there by the thousands, and you know how
fast those daphnia grow. If we get only a little bit ahead in the cycle the infusoria will
have been eaten and the daphnia will be too big. But I admit that having the eggs during
the bacterial growth period is a bother. The bacteria before the infusoria eat most of
them and use most of the oxygen, and all that fanning and fanning makes you dog tired.
Even though we lost about half our young right away, when that herd of cattle decided to
use our creek as their washroom, I have to congratulate you on picking our spot below that
little side stream. The inflow of ammonia into the main creek was enough to kill even full
grown Angels, but although it was not easy we were able to get a lot of our young over to
the little fall where the side stream comes in. That steady dilution sure is marvellous
isn't it ? Yes, it gave the bacteria in our creek a fighting chance to get things under
control again. Can you imagine what life would be like without those critters ?
'Should we try to get a little closer to this creek next year ? I've
been thinking about that. Somehow that side creek is not as stable as our main stream -
every now and then you feel your gills burn just swimming past there. Most of the time it
tastes like any creek would around here with water flowing through the peaty pools, but
sometimes it washes the slime right off your scales. Maybe it's to do with the great
flocks of flamingos we see flying over after visiting the pools, or the crocodiles letting
their food rot. But whatever it is, it causes huge fluctuations. I think we're sure lucky
to live in this creek, because somehow it has some strange chemicals, I think it has to do
with all those white stones lying on the bottom, that can absorb enough of these huge
fluctuations so that we can stand it for a while. Our young ones wouldn't have a chance
living full time in that side creek water.
'All I can say is that I'm happy we're Angels. Can you imagine
what would have happened if we'd been Discus ? They need such pure water that they
couldn't survive in this particular creek at all."
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