Fables of a fish tank

It was my mom who brought this topic up, when she was home last year. She was telling J, Vincy was crazy about fishes even when she was a child. And look at her, she is continuing it well into her adult life. And that took me to a trip down the memory lane, to my childhood days.

In Chalakudi, Kerala, at my grand parents’ house, I used to go fishing in a little canal with my brother during my summer holidays. When I say fishing, don’t imagine the sophisticated fishing rods and hooks. It was always me, being the oldest who would sneak our fishing essential of those days. A Thorthu mundu. Typical white cotton bath towel used in Kerala, which would be drying up in the clothes line. 

A few hundred meters away from our home, crossing a few paddy fields, we would reach the snaking canal. Wading through the chill waters, which was little above our tiny knees, that would wobble in the mild flow, we would catch those shiny swift fishes by dipping the thorthu mundu, waiting for unassuming fishes to swim in. When they do, we hold up the thorthu mundu above the water and we have our catch. And its not as simple as it sounds as the tiny creatures are difficult to catch as they are pretty swift. I remember squealing in delight holding them between my fingers, the sliminess and the wriggle giving a happiness, nothing in the world parallels to.

The fishes are then transferred into cones made of Colacasia leaves. Making sure the water does not leak and fishes do not jump out until we reach home, was an arduous task, until we put them into a bottle. I made a trip to the canal almost everyday and most days I just love watching the fishes and wading through the waters. On the days we didn’t have our thorthu mundu, we simply scooped our hands together to catch fishes, play with them for some time and let them go.

Elders in the family were not happy, but they couldn’t stop me from going and I always wheedle my younger cousins or my brother to accompany me to the canal. To a point, even when I grew older, if I am not seen around at home, the others knew where to look for me.

After marriage, I remember taking J and showing all the happy places of my childhood, crossing those paddy fields, which had a lot construction by then, and to the canal, much to the amusement of my grandparents.

Strangely, I hadn’t in all these years connected my childhood craziness to the fish tank that I am maintaining now. Moms, I tell you, they connect the dots precisely.

After we moved into the house we are in, Dennu insisted on having a pet. With both J and I working, and also travelling being part of our work, having a pet was not a practical idea. Having grown up with a dog, I know a pet almost equals having yet another child at home. I came with the idea of having fishes as pets, and isn’t it a bright one at it?

A good scrub and a fresh coat of paint

Lot of thought has gone into how we would sustain one, amidst our busy schedules, our holiday trips and trips to Kerala. That’s how I chose an open to air fish tank in the little space we had. Made of cement in the shape of a flower, it can hold almost 50 litres of water and quite a number of fish. Though many think crows and cats may catch the fishes, they don’t. The fishes would swiftly swim into the depths of water and save themselves. 

Maintenance of this fish tank is not easy though. Since it is open to sunlight green moss grows and covers in the insides of the tank, which I scrub out so I can watch the fishes clearly. This is a ritual I follow almost every week, except when I travel. The gentlemen at home cannot be trusted to feed my little ones regularly and they may have end up starving. Based on my travel plans I would allow the moss to grow on a couple of weekends, and if the two gentlemen forget the feeding, the fishes still can eat something and survive.

A bit of recycling happens with the water too as I have mentioned in an earlier post. The residual water of the purifier gets into the fish tank and the nutrient rich murky water from the fish tank is used to water my plant babies. Environment friendliness. A big tick.

After my surgery, the moment I start palpitating, ( which was one of the side effects) I would come down to the fish tank and watch my little fellas swim around and it used to calm my anxiously beating heart. They turned out to be my therapy.

Right now, I have guppies, white and black mollies and few angel fishes, a total of around 50 of them in the fish tank. I still love holding them and squeal quietly when they wriggle in my hands. I don’t think I would ever grow out of my love and fascination for fishes.

Here are few pictures of my fish tank, with a fresh coat of paint by none other than Dennu during the lock down period.

Notice the gang of guppies?

The Fish tank that keeps me going - almost 15 years old