I had tropical fish when I was young and gave that hobby up until a few years ago. Maria loves watching the fish, and it’s fun for me again. It’s also calming. Our tank was in crisis this week; the water turned deep brownish, and I bought a new bulb at one of those big chain pet stores that poisoned some fish, and I  thought the tank was ruined for good.

There was an almost black cloud, and some fish died immediately. We got fresh water into the tank, pumped out the crude, and changed the filters every few hours.

We cleaned it out last week but lost a third of our fish, and all of the shrimp and snails died.

The tank looks excellent again but needs time to heal, and for the first time, I ordered an artificial plant to lead the recovery and bring some color into our living room. It was the worst poisoning of a tank I’ve ever seen.

To my surprise and Maria’s, we loved the silk red aquarium plant; we needed to give natural plants (and us) a rest. I loved getting this photo in the evening when the light was gone—the blue light. We’ll keep it.