Chapter 119: Chapter 119 Goodnight Xiao Ni and Xiao Mo
Clownfish are named for the one or two white stripes on their faces, which resemble the painted face of a clown character in Beijing opera, and they are a type of tropical saltwater fish.
Little Taotie treasured the fish like a prized possession, tightly holding the transparent bag all the way home, and the life assistant’s efficiency shone through at such times—he quickly bought a transparent glass aquarium.
The old man, wearing reading glasses, inspected the breeding guide, muttering to himself, “The water temperature for breeding should be 26–27°C, salinity of the seawater 1.022–1.023, pH of the seawater between 8.0–8.5, and water hardness 7–8 dH.”
The life assistant quickly mixed the water, having already consulted the store owner while buying the aquarium, not returning until he had learned how to do it.
Tao Mo marveled, “You take care of these fish better than you take care of me!”
The life assistant wiped the sweat from his brow and began preparing the feed, consisting of brine shrimp, seaweed, fish meat, and pellet food, washing and chopping them before sealing them in transparent, airtight cans. He earnestly advised Little Taotie, “You can’t feed too much, although clownfish won’t burst like goldfish if overfed, they’ll vomit it out, but it’s still not good for them to do it often.”
“They stop eating when they’re full. Why would goldfish die from overeating? Don’t they know when they’re full?” she asked, tilting her head, disbelief filling her big eyes, her small eyebrows furrowed in a bit of seriousness.
Little Taotie, the fierce beast that could never be sated, simply could not understand that other creatures in the world could eat themselves to death.
“Perhaps… because goldfish have a very short memory, they forget they’ve just eaten, and when they see food, they eat again. They’re kind of silly.”
“Help! Don’t mislead my little sister!” Cheng Guodong hurried forward, pulling Little Taotie next to him, and crouched down to explain patiently, “Goldfish are poikilothermic animals. Their feeding increases when the water temperature rises. If they eat too much, the need for oxygen increases due to metabolism, hence a greater demand for oxygen. The leftover food can worsen the water quality, and the decay of uneaten food consumes oxygen, leading to a gradual depletion of oxygen in the tank. So, the death of the goldfish is actually caused by a lack of oxygen.”
Listening intently with her head cocked, Little Taotie waited until Cheng Guodong finished his explanation before soul-searchingly questioning, “If they don’t eat that much, they won’t lack oxygen. So, it’s still their own fault they eat themselves to death!”
“Uh! That makes some… sense,” Cheng Guodong conceded defeat.
Xiao Tao Ti smiled joyfully at the clownfish in the tank, “Still, my Xiao Ni and Xiao Mo are the smartest, much better than the goldfish. They spit out the food if they eat too much and won’t eat themselves to death!”
Wild clownfish are highly territorial and will often kill each other over territory, whereas domesticated clownfish show less territorial aggression and engage in more playful interactions.
And at that moment in the transparent tub, the two clownfish were entwining and frolicking with each other, swimming cheerfully back and forth.
Each of these two clownfish was less than 2 centimeters long, tiny, about the size of the pad of a thumb, with an elliptical body, a pale orange color, and three silver-white bands on their flanks, located behind the eyes, at the center of the dorsal fin, and near the tail stalk.
The big brother coach told her that these two clownfish are domesticated, so their color is paler than the wild clownfish seen in the ocean.
In the future, it will be necessary to place the aquarium on the balcony to bask in the sun on sunny days frequently.
Little Taotie picked up the aquarium and declared, “Xiao Ni, Xiao Mo, I’m taking you to bask in the sun!”
Little Taotie stayed by the aquarium all day, watching the little fishes until bedtime. When everyone thought she would go to sleep quietly, they heard her, with her baby voice, clutching the aquarium, “Xiao Ni, Xiao Mo, it’s dark, and time for us to sleep!”
Turning around, she took the aquarium back to her room, placing it on her bedside table. Before closing her eyes, she said to the aquarium, “Xiao Ni, Xiao Mo, goodnight!”
After Little Taotie fell asleep, Tao Mo was surrounded by Cheng Guodong and Qin Xin, and the interrogation began.