Aquaria: Outward serenity hides lurking savagery<\/p>\n
By James Penha<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): In contrast to pet dogs who constantly make
\ndemands on their owners (Touch me! Feed me! Comb me! Let me sleep
\non the couch, the bed, your arm), or pet cats whose independence
\ninfuriates their hosts (I'll be out prowling the neighborhood; if
\na Tom calls, tell him you never heard of me), fish are pets that
\nsoothe, calm and relax their owners. That's why dentists and
\ndoctors so frequently install fish bowls opposite the lava lamps
\nin their waiting rooms. Patients of psychiatrists -- I am told --
\noften face aquaria as they recline on couches unburdening their
\nsouls.<\/p>\n
The huge and beautiful fish tanks exhibited by aquarium
\nmerchandisers at Jakarta's various malls do distract frenzied
\nshoppers from their sprees and cause them to pause and follow the
\neasy swirls of an angelfish or the languorous waving of an
\nanemone. The price tags on these massive menageries are less
\nrelaxing, though.<\/p>\n
Shopping the supermarket bulletin boards, I found a fully-
\nequipped second-hand aquarium for sale at a reasonable price --
\none much lower than my total annual bill for Relaxa, herbal tea,
\njamu, massages and weekends at Sambolo. If this setup could calm
\nmy jittery Jakarta nerves, I figured I had found a bargain.<\/p>\n
Pak Ikan Hias, the aquarium specialist I hired to organize and
\nmaintain my fully-equipped sea world, persuaded me that if I
\nwanted my fish and coral to live long, contented lives, I should
\nprovide more lighting, more powerful air pumps, and a big black
\nmachine to simulate ocean currents. I of course wanted to make my
\nfish happy so they could keep me happy. Now, as the owner of an
\neven more fully-equipped and expensive set-up, I felt confident I
\nshould soon be even more fully relaxed.<\/p>\n
I made a deal with Pak Ikan Hias. For a flat fee, his service
\npeople would visit my house every month to replenish the water,
\nclean the tank and replace the plants, coral and fish.<\/p>\n
Replenish the water? Apparently, pumps replenish the air in an
\nartificially fishy environment, but domesticated sea water wears
\nout in time.<\/p>\n
Pak Ikan Hias left me with fifteen friends. I lugged my lounge
\nchair close to the glass, curled up and watched life glisten for
\nhours. I slept well that night, even through the electrical
\noutage that terminated my air con at 1 a.m.<\/p>\n
The fish slept too. Very well. Permanently. Not only the
\nair conditioner had been terminated. When the electricity shut
\ndown, the aquarium pump stopped oxygenating the water; my fish --
\nall fifteen -- smothered to death. Dead fish, like Salvador Dali
\nclocks, draped the rocks and coral.<\/p>\n
Pak Ikan Hias's guarantee was as good as his word. By phone,
\nPak Ikan Hias said his crew would replace all the fish when it
\nvisited me again in a month. A month? Yes, that was the deal, but
\nI didn't think I could bear watching a lifeless tank for 30 days.
\nMemorials have a way of making me remember.<\/p>\n
I made my way to the Mahakam aquarium center near Blok M and
\nbought twelve new fish: a couple of cute clown fish, a zebra, two
\npretty blue fish, a triggerfish with a perpetual smile, and six
\nother fish I don't quite remember since they died within the
\nfollowing week. More blackout victims? Not on their lives. For I
\nmade sure to invest in a battery-powered emergency air pump. No,
\nthis time my tank was attacked -- by fungus, the milky way of the
\ndeep.<\/p>\n
Over night a galaxy of white specks appeared on the fins of my
\nfish. Within hours the plaque spread to bodies and eyes. Every
\nsuccessive morning, I transferred another stiff fish or two from
\ntank to toilet. In those sad days, salad tongs calipered more
\nthan just anchovies in my house. I learned to use a long kitchen
\nfork to get at the corpses nestled under rocks. Maneuvering my
\narm in these funeral rites, I also learned that mourning
\nschoolmates bite -- even the hand that feeds them.<\/p>\n
A friend who has had an aquarium for years urged me to buy a
\nspecial fungicide with which to treat the tank daily. I did. When
\nI saw those telltale spots on Smiley (as I had named the
\ntriggerfish), I netted him and forced him to live for a day in a
\ngayung (water scoop) I had fashioned with fungicide and sea water
\ninto a medicinal Jacuzzi. Smiley survived, as did five other
\nhardy soles.<\/p>\n
But the psychological and emotional effects lingered in me.
\nWhenever I passed the aquarium, I nervously examined every fish
\nas if the tank window were a magnifying glass. I needed to assure
\nmyself that all fish were safe. Any bit of detritus clinging to
\ntheir skins, any abrasion from a run-in with a coral, looked like
\nfungus and sent me pouring more powder into the tank. It took one
\nfully deathless fortnight to convince me that the epidemic had
\nbeen conquered.<\/p>\n
Hoping to anticipate other catastrophes, I bought an apparatus
\nto keep the water temperature constant, and I learned how to
\nassure the right pH for the pHish. Only then did I try to
\nintroduce a new animal into the tank.<\/p>\n
I spent Rp 10,000 (US$4.33) for an intriguing iridescent fish.
\nIt lasted one hour in its new home. Over invigorated by his
\nreturn from the brink, and perhaps a bit overprotective of his
\nfragile environment, Smiley took it upon himself to defend his
\nborders against the new immigrant. It was over in an half hour.
\nThe body of the new fish sparkled briefly under the fluorescence
\nbefore it plummeted to the gravel below. Smiley showed no
\nremorse; he failed to understand the irony I discerned. I stared
\nat him. Was this how Dr. Frankenstein glared at his monster?<\/p>\n
Smiley has never ceased serving as a self-ordained St. Peter
\nprotecting his heaven against interlopers who belong elsewhere.
\nAny fish I introduce to the tank is bumped and cornered by
\nSmiley. But he kills selectively. It took me several weeks to
\nunderstand the pattern: if I bring home a fish costing more than
\nRp 8,000, Smiley dispatches it immediately. Cheap fish do not
\nraise his ire.<\/p>\n
It occurred to me that I might have a calmer environment if I
\nwere to exile this self-declared lawman from the tank. Alas,
\nSmiley wasn't the only vigilante.<\/p>\n
Smiley paid no mind to the pigfish I bought for Rp 5,000, but
\nan old blueband took an immediate -- and deadly -- dislike to
\nhim.<\/p>\n
A placid utopia to soothe the savage breast? Hardly. An
\naquarium is more like a penitentiary filled with savage beasts.
\nAnd the inmates are in charge. The warden can only stare,
\nbefuddled, and seek solace from... perhaps an ant farm might
\nprove relaxing.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/aquaria-outward-serenity-hides-lurking-savagery-1447893297",
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