Tails from the Bark Side

The introduction of five electric blue guppies into my tank has led to some dissension in my previously docile (read: boring) silvertip tetra ranks. They only came out of the corner at dinnertime. Now, they're zooming about all over the place, and two of them in particular seem to hate each other. I did a water change today, and at the same time I moved everything around so that there would be no established territorial issues involved in the initiation of said blue noobs, and I think it's confused the poor tetra. I'm sure I saw one of them spit out a scale. Beef. The first paragraph on Wikipedia's entry on silvertips says they're known for their aggression, so it seems pretty normal. They're so much like dogs; it's fascinating to watch.

I keep spending too much money. Since last year (when I went to America) I've racked up quite a debt on my credit card, groooan. It's so easily done though! Like, today for example, I needed some compost (£20). And some more fish tank bits (£30). I've spent so much on this new hobby, and I haven't even got any fish yet! Groceries for this week came to about £20 as well. I bought a new plant pot as well, for my lounge windowsill. That was only £1.35, but still. Oh and I've been needing some indoor greenery for ages so I splurged a little bit on some houseplants. £15. I need to ban myself from garden centres! I am quite a thrifty person, though. I always shop around, for everything, and always know where the cheapest stuff is. Even while standing in the aisle of the supermarket looking at the product in question, when it would just be easier to just pick the damn thing up and go home, I'll be comparing prices on Google Shopping. It's false economy really, because I'll often go and sit down somewhere to compare prices and I'll end up buying a coffee or lunch or whatever. Haha.

It's incredible though, the difference in prices from place to place. I got a water testing kit today and in the local Pets at Home/generic local pet shops it was £30-33. Online, it's £15. Crazy! Of course you then have to spend another £5 getting it to your house. In my (sort of) local aquatics shop it was £21.99, so I went there this morning to get it. I think it's easy to get carried away though. Like with my filter, which retailed for about £35; I shopped around a little bit, found it locally for £24.99 and I went to get it. Then I went to the next garden centre that didn't have a website and it was on sale for £21.99. ANNOYING. But of course by then there's no point taking it back because that would mean driving another twenty miles and that really is false economy. And silly. Took me a while to get over the annoyance, though. Grrr.

I have also given up on charity shops! I left Didz at home and went browsing today - I'm looking for any old battered plant pots, mirrors and picture frames - and everything was so expensive! A normal, small indoor plant pot ranged from about £2 to £6. I could get three new ones for that! Picture frames too - didn't find one any cheaper than £2. Might as well just get new ones, which is a shame because I like being green and recycling and upcycling and all that malarkey. And they were all shit and/or fugly. Maybe it's just me, being too cheapskate thrifty? I've just had to spend another £33 on my car too - new indicator stalk and I needed a rubber boot mat to help stop the dog-slidage. Also, someone whacked my mirror in while I was parked last weekend. I've gaffered it up for now but that's something else I'll have to look for. Bastards! I hope my plants grow.