05.25.05 - 10:28 am

i skipped class today because what i thought was going to be a quick and easy addition to my aquascaping turned to aggressively irritation. i had every intention of going to class, all i wanted to do was add a few rocks under my anemones to lift them up higher and away from some of my corals. but then...i discovered most rocks, and especially those with established corals on them, just dont want to go where you want them. instead they want to fall once youve placed them. they want to break off corals as they go. they want to sit nicely for a few moments and only after youve stood back drying your arms do they decide to fail and collapse. your fish really enjoy the constant stress too. and when its all over, when you cant take enough, your jeans are soaked, your shirt and the crappy desk chair youve been standing on is dripping, you stand back and are able to say with confidence, "that looks like crap. i am never doing that again."

so now my water is all cloudy with sand and detritus. my corals are all sloughing off their slime, some in lay in pieces. my fish are all breathing heavy and hiding. my clothes are soaked. my room smells of ocean things. only a lone pom pom crab crawls around unaffected by the tumultuous storm ive left in my wake.

how i love you reef tank, oh how i do.