A Surprise Visit

The thing about having a tank that's 125 gallons --aka 6 feet long-- with a ton of hiding places with many many decorations all over the place....

Is that fish tend to disappear.

There are fish that just one day vanish....and you never see them, never find a body....

While there are other fish that just....don't come out....to the point where you think they have died. 

In this category are specifically the catfish and loaches I have. 
Honestly...I can't tell you how many bumblebee catfish, nor kuhli loaches I have.
At one point I had like 5 and 3. 
Do I still have 5 and 3 of them?
No idea.
If anything I would think I had 1 and 1.
Because if I do see either one...
It's only one at a time.

lol I mean, I could know for sure if I took out every single decoration from my fish tank and then looked...but that's sooo much work....lol. 
--Though I have been tempted to do so more than once in recent weeks. Redecorate and such. 

However. 
I got a surprise today.

So back in July.
My manager gave me three fish before he went and moved to Washington. 

Those three fish were two clown loaches and one angelfish.

The angelfish? Totally easy to see. I know where he is basically at all times.

But the clown loaches?
They're just like the other loaches and catfish.
They hide.

And considering these loaches were like 6 inches long and two inches tall at least....
It was amazing how thoroughly they could disappear.
I'm pretty sure they hide out in an octopus decoration or in one of the ships...

But after like maybe under a month?
I never would see them.
Before that I would see one or two of these clown loaches whenever I turned on the lights and fed the fish.

Yet after a while...I never saw them.
So I kinda assumed that they hadn't taken the transition to my tank very well....
And therefore had died and their bodies had been claimed by the tank, never to be seen by my eyes.

Until today.
MONTHS later.
When I turned on the lights to feed the fish.
And one of the Clown Loaches swam out of the ship to Greet me!!!!


WHAT?!?!??!?!?
ITS ALIVE?!?!?!
WWWWHHHHHAAAAAATTTTTTT?!?!!??!!?

And just as quickly as I saw this clown loach.
He vanished again, to who knows where in my tank.

....I probably won't see him again until March or so now lol.

Until you next see these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi