During lockdown, I discovered some past times that have now somehow become a part of me. One of the many activities I indulged in was caring for my own fishes. Just at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020), I impulsively walked to a pet store close to my apartment, with no specific desire (or so I thought), and walked put with a cart full of fish related things. In the days leading up to this impulse purchase, I had been on Google many times, searching for fishes for first time aquarium owners. I also checked for the most resilient fishes that survive indoor aquariums.
On the impulse purchase day, to mine and my roommate's surprise, I walked home with a 10 gallon fish tank, four gold fish, fish food, treatments, and other aquarium accessories. This was the start of my fish tank journey. To be honest, I think this was a moment I satisfied one of my childhood desires to own a pet. This day, I felt my inner child leap for joy at the fulfillment of this internal, lifelong, subconscious desire. My success and failures with my first owned fish tank are not the main concerns of this story. I eventually gave away the aquarium when I had to move cities in 2021.
Fast forward to 2023, I am back in an apartment in South Bend, and the desire to own an aquarium resurfaced. Torn between the financial and stability concerns, I pondered on this decision for many days. Eventually, I followed my happiness and again walked down to the pet store to purchase another aquarium, fish, fish food, and other accessories.
Less than a month into my fish tank purchase, I had to leave town for over a week. I was concerned about the fish and sought way to sustain them while I was away. I found some feeder alternatives online, but I was skeptical about buying them for my 5 gallon tank because I thought they would over feed the two gold fish in the tank. So, I begged my roommate to help me feed the fish while I was away. Between my roommate and I, there were about 3 days where the fishes were not fed, but they survived. However, due to the lack of aquarium maintenance while I was away, the tank got cloudy and really messy.
The first thing I did after getting back to my apartment was to clean the aquarium. It was really messy. It took many hours to clean out the dirt, and to change the water. The filter was also very messy that I considered throwing it out. I actually did take out the filter for many days because I thought I could manage the aquarium without it.
In one week after my return (without the filter), I have had to change the water in the tank, twice because the water kept getting cloudy.For tank owners, you know how frequent water change can be unhealthy for your pets. So, I started seeking alternatives to the stress of changing tank water, and to keep my fish alive. Out of frustration, I thought to reuse the filter I had cleaned out previously. To my shock, few minutes into connecting the filter, the quality of the water in the aquarium improved significantly.
I am literally typing this note sitting in front of the aquarium watching the filter do its job. I start to wonder which areas of my life would dramatically change for good if I put some sort of filter in place. This experience makes me think of filters, not just for water tanks, but how filters could significantly reduce toxicity in any environment. The fishes "look" happier and are now swimming all around the tank.
This was a huge learning moment for me. It inspires me to evaluate my life and productivity systems. It motivates me to actively seek out filters that improves my work life balance, while optimizing the resources available to me. What filters would you put in place to improve your output, and overall, the quality of your life?