Well it's been a sad story here. I have a small tank I used to try to grow duckweed in, that I rigged up for a temporary nursery. I was afraid the little guys would be sucked out of the drain so I made a guard for the drain out of PVC. Due to the uneven surface of the bottom of this tank the guard would not fit squarely to the bottom leaving space enough for the little ones to get through. So I put my little fish net over the drain and then put the guard over that. Satisfied that they would not get out, I retired for the evening. The next afternoon I go downstairs to check on the fish and plants only to find there is only about 25 gallons of my 175 left in the big tank and the small tank overflowing a little at a time onto the floor and leading to the drain. Panic time! Looking at the problem at hand I figure out the net did not allow enough drainage to drain as fast as it filled. Out came the net, down went the water in the nursery so water loss solved. Now to add more water to the main tank so I would not loose any of the big guys. I added about 20 more gallons, not wanting to shock them to bad. This seemed to get the big guys to moving around again so I now turned to the little guys. I now only have 2 of the little guys left. I don't know if I was sad that I lost my grandbabies or pissed at myself for doing something so stupid. Well today the 2 left are growing well and I have my water levels back where they need to be.

Now the coloring of my fish changed over the winter as the water cooled some. They turned darker over the winter and have now turned pinker with the warmer water. Momma fish was one of the pinkish of the bunch, only barely being able to see where the stripes were on her body. The males seem to maintain their coloring better that the females. As far as spots I will have to go down and inspect them here in a while and let you know. With my bad back I avoid the stairs as much as possible.

Thus ends the sad tale and the "stupid tax" I paid for it. Genocide by mistake. Shame, shame on me.