My husband is laid back to the point of near coma. We have been married for thirteen years, and together for sixteen, and I have twice seen him get excited over something. Once, it was the iPod (music is manna from heaven to him). The other, it was a Welsh corgie (which we will get when we have fewer terrestrial animals).
I get excited over many things. I squeal and plaster myself to the fish tank glass. He nods and says, "That's interesting." His scale of excitement goes from, "Mmm." to "Cool." to "That's interesting." to "Yes, honey, it's very nice."
We're at the pet store last night, looking at their new additions to their salt tank. The first thing he says is, "Oh, look hon, there's a blenny. That one's nice." I blink. He knows what a blenny is. Stranger, he knows it's a blenny, not a goby. (It was a starry blenny, and one I drool over.)
Then he says, "That hairy mushroom is really cool. I like that." Eh? Thank goodness I'd been intending to get one anyway, when the tank is running.
And then...the shock of all shocks, he says, "Honey, what is that fish? That one, that one! That one there. Look, it's purple and yellow, and kind of flat. What is it? I really like that one. That one's beautiful. Can we have one of those, when the tank is going?"
He's picked out a coral beauty angelfish.
In the space of ten minutes, he has rearranged my stocking plans, because if the man is interested in a fish, I am keeping the bloody thing. I've been trying to get him interested in my hobby since I kept freshwater when we first got married. If he wants a fish, I don't care if it's a sohal tang that I have to fill the living room with water to keep, I am keeping that fish.
Starry blenny...wanted one anyway.
Coral beauty...okay, so, I'll take the royal gramma out of my stocking plan and add the coral beauty, and keep the 29 gallon on standby if it nips corals.
Sunset wrasse...uh-oh. Not reef safe. Um, okay, I was going to make my 125 a FOWLR tank someday, so that I could keep a humu trigger and a porcupine puffer. I'll put the wrasse on that stocking plan. He likes that tail spot wrasse too, put that in the reef.
Hairy mushroom...put that early on the coral stocking list.
Niger trigger...got an "eh". That's off the list.
Emerald crab...I got dragged across the store to see it. I'll keep a crab, then.
On the drive home, he was the one talking about fish and corals, not me. I believe I am making progress.
How have your spouses affected what you stock?
I get excited over many things. I squeal and plaster myself to the fish tank glass. He nods and says, "That's interesting." His scale of excitement goes from, "Mmm." to "Cool." to "That's interesting." to "Yes, honey, it's very nice."
We're at the pet store last night, looking at their new additions to their salt tank. The first thing he says is, "Oh, look hon, there's a blenny. That one's nice." I blink. He knows what a blenny is. Stranger, he knows it's a blenny, not a goby. (It was a starry blenny, and one I drool over.)
Then he says, "That hairy mushroom is really cool. I like that." Eh? Thank goodness I'd been intending to get one anyway, when the tank is running.
And then...the shock of all shocks, he says, "Honey, what is that fish? That one, that one! That one there. Look, it's purple and yellow, and kind of flat. What is it? I really like that one. That one's beautiful. Can we have one of those, when the tank is going?"
He's picked out a coral beauty angelfish.
In the space of ten minutes, he has rearranged my stocking plans, because if the man is interested in a fish, I am keeping the bloody thing. I've been trying to get him interested in my hobby since I kept freshwater when we first got married. If he wants a fish, I don't care if it's a sohal tang that I have to fill the living room with water to keep, I am keeping that fish.
Starry blenny...wanted one anyway.
Coral beauty...okay, so, I'll take the royal gramma out of my stocking plan and add the coral beauty, and keep the 29 gallon on standby if it nips corals.
Sunset wrasse...uh-oh. Not reef safe. Um, okay, I was going to make my 125 a FOWLR tank someday, so that I could keep a humu trigger and a porcupine puffer. I'll put the wrasse on that stocking plan. He likes that tail spot wrasse too, put that in the reef.
Hairy mushroom...put that early on the coral stocking list.
Niger trigger...got an "eh". That's off the list.
Emerald crab...I got dragged across the store to see it. I'll keep a crab, then.
On the drive home, he was the one talking about fish and corals, not me. I believe I am making progress.
How have your spouses affected what you stock?
He's only ever been in the LFS once. I like it that way.
