Bully, the Malawi Cichlid

When I got him, he was just under an inch long.  Bright blue with black stripes and eyes that glared just as boldly as they’re doing in the photo above.  Bully was one of four mixed breed Malawi Cichlids I purchased in 2001 to replace the three that were killed by an Auratus that dominated the brand new aquarium in my study in San Diego.  For the first few days, little Bully hid in the crevices of river rock that lined the bottom of the tank, just like the rest of the cichlids.  After a while he got used to his surroundings and was brave enough to guard his little hiding hole whenever another fish swam nearby.  But the Auratus still ruled.  It killed one more fish right in front of my eyes just two weeks after I brought the lot home.

One day, about a month later, I left for a three-day weekend to the Bay Area.  I bought one of those slow-dissolving food pyramids for the tank and dropped it right down in the middle so that all the fish could access the food when it was released.  Bully watched me drop it in from the safety of his hole.  Crazy little guy.  Guess he was still afraid of that Auratus.

I spent the entire weekend wondering how many fish would remain in the tank when I got back.  I was betting on two, maybe three.  But when I got back home, all of the fish had survived.  They were all hiding.  Even … the Auratus?  Really?  Yep, it was hiding in the top right corner of the tank behind the thermostat.  Bully, on the other hand, wasn’t hiding.  He was hovering – right above the near fully dissolved food pyramid, fins erect and eyes emblazoned.

Three days later Bully killed the Auratus.

He’s been my number one fish for eight years.  He survived three failed filters, an incident with a malfunctioning thermostat, water chemistry imbalances, a swim bladder infection, swollen eyes, and even a 10-hour drive up the length of California in the front seat of a moving truck four years ago when I moved out of San Diego.   It was always fun to watch him re-landscape his environment.  He’d blow the silver sand around to hollow out a bowl-shaped space below his home under the rocks.  He’d even try to push the thermostat and airstone out of the way.  His last few years were calm and uneventful. Mostly because I didn’t bother him with other tankmates.  He’d killed a total of ten over the years.

Bully died last week while I was in the hospital.  I was told that he went peacefully, that there was nothing wrong with the water chemistry or filtration or heating.  He had no visible injuries or anomalies.  He just plain died of old age.  It was probably a good thing I didn’t get to see him lying belly up in the bottom of his tank.  It would’ve seemed surreal to me, this fish that survived so much with its fighting spirit.  At the time of death he was six inches long and one and a half inches wide.  Bright yellow and eyes emblazoned as always.  I’ll miss him.

It’s been a while since I last posted a reading list.  This one I’m really excited about because the books came highly recommended from the staff at Book Passage and Green Apple Books.  There’s also two titles from Powell’s Indispensible Book Club, plus one pick I found while surfing Borders dot com.

1. The Halfway House by Guillermo Rosales – a novella that I’m currently reading in chunks because the scenes are quite vivid and intense.
2. Alive in Necropolis by Doug Durst – San Francisco’s current One City One Book selection with a story based in Colma, CA.
3. The Tenant by Roland Topor – something about the premise of this book reminded me of Kafka’s The Trial, one of my favorite novels.
4. A Good and Happy Child by Justin Evans – the cashier at Book Passage told me to brace myself before diving into this one.  I’m intrigued.
5. City of Thieves by David Benioff – saw this title sitting on three different staff pick tables at three different book shops, so naturally I went for it.
6. Atmospheric Disturbances by Rivka Galchen – read a couple passages while browsing at Green Apple and got sold on it.
7. Into the Beutiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea – if it’s anything like The Hummingbird’s Daughter, then I’ll be a happy reader.
8. How to Paint a Dead Man by Sarah Hall – got it in the mail from Powell’s and I trust their judgment completely.
9. Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard – just in time for Halloween.

Eventually I’ll write a review about one or two of these books.  Until then, it’s back to reading for me!