Thursday, May 06, 2021 (20 days before May’s “Flower Moon” rises fullest to Earth)
My couple of small well-established freshwater aquariums are populated with gentle fish. They’re such as White Cloud Mountain minnows, Harlequin rasboras, Kuhli loaches, and one has a pleco that hides and keeps growing. Each tank also house a couple of snails and in each is a male Beta.
Betas, both females and males, display often and spectacularly in a community tank. These are my current boys, and unfortunately, capturing the blue in all his glory isn’t easy, but his photo suggests the possibilities.
These tanks have been active several years, are pretty, and best, the creatures get along. During the pandemic lockdown, I toyed with wanting to learn more about creatures of the deep and became intensely interested in octopuses. An octopus requires a large salt water tank, so instead, I settled on aquatic frogs, because they’re gentle little beings, and decided to add one to each tank.
That’s when I learned that one doesn’t just buy a frog, one adopts a frog. It’s the real thing, completing adoption papers, promising to adhere to care standards, and all else associated to adopting a living being. It’s because frogs are air breathers. The aquatic types hang out on bottom for long periods, periodically scooting to water’s top, grabbing a breath, and zip-returning to bottom.
My tiny weird-looking pet frogs are difficult to capture in a photograph.
Blue frog 
White frog
These photos, which don’t capture their colors, show each reflected in aquaria glass. As is typical, Blue’s hanging out on the bottom, and White’s shooting up for a gasp. Actually, they’re cute and fun to watch.
Like all frogs, aquaria types can leap, and bigly. I understand they also are escape artists. Early on I learned how quickly one can disappear, for while transferring one into my tank, it made a big jump, got past my hand and landed on the tile floor. Luckily, I recaptured the creature without harming it.
I’m glad we can feel somewhat more free than during last year’s lockdown days. Otherwise, I’d probably already have begun setting up and establishing a large saltwater tank. I’d be searching for an octopus.
Dear Friends: Knowing what you do, and if one could start over, do you wonder what you’d study? Diana
Diana's Morning Blog 