THE BIRTH OF 3 FISH BABIES............................................

Yes, just since I posted here this morning, I have THREE new baby fish!  I checked the aquarium this morning and thought I was seeing things.

Emily, one of the Bronte sisters, had been acting a bit odd (odd for fish, I guess, but trust me I'm not a fish behaviorist) since I put her into her new home Friday evening.  At first she swimmed around happily like the others.  And then she staked out a corner in the upper left of the aquarium.  When I turned their light on Sat. morning, she looked pretty pooky to me.  I thought she was on her way to fishy heaven.

But I watched her all day (NO, not continuously) and although she never left that corner, she "seemed" okay.  By that, I mean she was breathing.  Well, I called my fish expert, Oliver and he said, "she could be pregnant."  Leave it to me to take home an unwed mom. 

Sure enough......this morning I found 3 itsy, bitsy, teeny, weeny little black and silver fish in there.  Up in HER corner, swimming just in that area.  Guess she staked out her claim as a homesteader.  This afternoon I fed them and she came a swimmin'.  I also noticed she keeps pushing the other fish away from "her" spot up there.  Okay, call me crazy......but "I" think she's protecting her babies.  She's swimming around the tank a little more now, but she keeps going back up to that corner where the babies are.  It's so sweet.  And yes, I'm hooked on these fish.  Didn't take me long to bond with them and get to figure out their personalities.

Two other household members have discovered the fish.  I caught Duncan and Foster quite mesmerized by them this morning.

OPPS!  Wait a sec!  As I was typing this, I see we now have FOUR babies in there!  Hmmmm.......anybody know how many a Mollie fish can have at one time??????   Cripe.......I hope I don't develop a problem with crowd control!

As I was typing this, my fish expert Oliver, dropped by and confirmed it.  Yup.......those are definitely black Mollie babies in there.  Oh......and we now have FIVE.  He said she could have a half dozen.  In a couple weeks, I was going to get 2 more fish to add, but looks like Emily took care of the addition factor for me.  The good thing is.....since it's a freshwater system, if it does get too crowded in there, a few can always be moved to the outside pond, which is about 200 gallons and plenty of room.

Well, Nurse Terri is getting back to her OB duty here, monitoring the births of fish.  See you here next time.........(and yes, I'm having a ball with this and really enjoying it!)