I decided to do something I have wanted to do for a long time: feed small goldfish and minnows to Yertle and Myrtle. I bought five comet goldfish and five rosy red minnows. They were 13 cents each. I put the fish in a five gallon tank (it used to be for the turtles but I moved them into a ten gallon).
After a short time I put the smallest fish into the turtle tank. Soon the chase was on! We all crowded around to watch. The fish was caught and eaten. I felt sorry for the fish.
Since I didn't expect the fish to live long, I had no filter for the fish tank. In order to aerate the tank, I poked holes in a container, filled it with water, and placed it on the top edge of the tank. When the water drips into the tank, it mixes air into the water.
That evening I dropped another fish into the turtle tank. I left the room for a minute and when I returned, the fish was gone.
Before this, I had been watching the fish. They each seemed to have a different personality, and I was learning to tell them apart.
The next day my brother found the minnow in the turtle tank. It was unharmed. The minnow had been hiding somewhere in the tank. The turtles ignored it, so I returned the minnow to the fish tank.
Today I fed another minnow. There was not even one lunge at it. The minnow eventually found a hiding place. When I put this minnow where the turtles could see it they still ignored it.
It looks like the fish have taken up a longer residence here than I thought. I have gotten attached to them. I like one red and white goldfish with orange on its long tail best. My brother likes a black and gold fish. I have even gone so far as to give them names!
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