I bought myself a handy little digital kitchen scale. It measures both in ounces and grams and is quite sensisitve. I bought it just in case I am going to have to regularly treat my water with the acid/alkaline ratio I mentioned below. Besides, I can use it for cooking.

I don't really know the answer to that question, but my little Neon Tetras, when they are all assembled and cozy in their new tank, already have names. (No, I still haven't bought my damned fish -- I'm ejercatin' myself about water chemistry and maintenance. Haven't you ever just wanted to play with vials of toxins?)

Auric, Durey, Honegger, Milhaud, Poulenc, and Tailleferre. Sounds like something out of Dumas. Instead, these were the young composers who rallied around Cocteau when Surrealism was something special and spelled with a capital S. They were dubbed Les Six. Under the mentorship of Satie, they produced works ranging from the inaccessible to the sublime. Poulenc and Milhaud are the composers with whose works I am most familiar. I don't recall liking Honegger, but it's been so long since I heard him, or the others, that I can't quite recall.

I went back to Nippon Goldfish for a few supplies. Because of the GH problems I've been having, I bought TetraFish's version of pH and GH test kits, just to make sure the aberrant readings weren't associated with my Red Sea freshwater kit. Results were the same: pH that goes back up after dropping to levels I want; GH way too high for a variety of Tetras.

One of the cool staff said I should try a balance of alkaline buffer and acid buffer. I had simply been dumping small amounts of acid buffer in the water to get the pH down. The buffers are designed to work together so that a ration of 1:1.3 acid:alkaline should produce a more stable result. I also replaced the filter, which is today two weeks old.

Finally, I swapped out 20% of the tank water (2 gallons) with newly treated tap water to see if perhaps the problem is associated with the amount of time I've let my habitat stew. The water change, with the help of my handy-dandy battery-powered gravel vac, was a cinch. No muss, no fuss: 2 gallons out, 2 gallons of treated water in. New tests and readings tomorrow.

I am also turning up the temperature in the tank. Right now, it sits steadily at 76 degrees Farenheit, but Nippon recommends 80-82 degrees for Tetras.

If I solve my GH/pH problems with this water change and the buffer controls, it's just a matter of days before my little fishies can come home. Yippee!

On one hand, the books say, get your pH and GH and KH right to bring out the best in your fish. On the other hand, conflicting reports from store operators and other aquarium hobbyists say, get it kinda sort of right and you'll be fine. Well, what the fuck?

Last week, my pH was 7.2 (too alkaline) and my GH was 7 (the upper end of soft, before it's classified as medium hard). I bought an acid buffer and got the pH down to 6.6. Good show! But an apparently unrelated thing happened on the way to proper acidity: my GH jumped two points. Nine is way too high for even a freshwater stalwart like the Neon Tetra to endure without stress.

The weird thing is that the GH out of the tapwater faucet is a deliciously low 4, although the pH is too high. To one of the smart guys at Nippon, I wondered aloud if there is a correlation with plumetting pH and spiking GH. The answer was roundly no.

My KH doesn't register at all, which, I was told, is a positive indicator of the water's desired softness. When I tested a second time a few hours later, the GH, instead of 9, registered at 8 -- better, but not perfect. Why the significant fluctuation in so short a time?

My substrate is basic, pet store large gravel that I rinsed vigorously. I would find it difficult to believe that the substrate is responsible for the odd high-mineral readings.

The water is a little milky from the pH readjustment, which I was told is not uncommon -- the milkiness passes. I'm left with assuming that the radical changes in acidity are somehow skewing GH results, although I understand that they're not supposed to be related. Doh!

A friend, Brian, upon hearing about my new hobby, wrote to tell me that I should try out a couple of stores that specialize in pet fish. He recommended that I buy livestock from one of them instead of from a huge pet store chain.

At his suggestion, I raced right out to the Richmond to the Nippon Goldfish Company, a two story shop with everything an aquarium hobbyist could want. The ground floor consists solely of fish tanks, stacked three levels high. Aside from in a book or in a public aquarium, I've never seen such a variety of fish.

Upstairs is supplies, supplies, supplies. Since my pH, at 7.2, is higher than I'd like it to be for the Neon Tetras, one of the super helpful staff recommended Seachem Acid Buffer, which will lower the pH, based on dosages, until I get the pH I want (6.0 to 6.5).

Brian suggested another place in Chinatown that I plan to check out before actually buying my fish. Brian, thanks for the advice!

Here is the definition of the weberian apparatus.

Today, on the 7th day of my newly installed tank's stabilization period, I went and picked up a few supplies:

- A water-quality testing kit
- 15-watt bulbs to replace the hot bright 25-watt bulbs that came with the aquarium
- A replacement filter cartridge
- A motorized gravel vacuum and some tubing

Fun stuff. The bulbs, called Aqua-Glo, are specially designed to bring out the radiance of colored fish (or is that fish of color). Since I've decided on bright Neon Tetras, who like a little less brightness, the lower-watt bulbs should suit them nicely.

Testing the water was great fun, reminiscent of my mad scientist days with boyhood chemistry kits. My nitrites clocked in at 0, my ammonia at 0, my chlorine at 0, and my general hardness (the water's, that is) at 7, which is soft, although I'd like it a tad softer for the Tetras. Unfortunately, my pH is 7.2, which is quite a bit higher than the Tetras will enjoy (6.0 is ideal). So, I'm going to have to order a pH adjuster and use it, along with a conventional treatment for ammonia, chlorine, and chloramines, every time I do a water change. We'll see how the addition of life forms changes the readings I get.

Because I live in a very small space and I have no furniture or floor support for a much larger tank.

Because I am a beginner.

Because I want to get really comfortable with stocking appropriately before I even begin to think about greater aquarist ambitions.

I understand that environmental deviations are harder to correct the smaller a tank gets, but I have to try, and I have to be dilligent. My future fishies' lives are at stake!

OK, so here's my plan for the next step: populating the tank. I've got over a week left until the waters in my tank are normalized for fish habitation. At that time, I'm going to buy three Neon Tetras. That's it.

They're the pioneers who, with the food I feed them, will pollute, interact with, and modify the habitat so that the BIO-Wheel filter and friendly bacteria can thrive for the addition of new fish.

I will give my three pioneers 36 days to make their mark. After that, I will add three more Neon Tetras. Beyond that, I have no plans. 6 Neon Tetras creating a home in a 10-gallon tank will be precisely how I want to start: slowly and carefully.

I'm now 6 days into the development of my fish habitat. Of course, I still have no fish, but that's not the point of this important period. You don't wait until a day before your child is born to build a nursery, do you? Although you could buy a crib, diapers, blankies, rubber nipples, bottles, and some mobiles the day before a kid is born, you won't. Distraction in the face of responsibility will require preparation.

Right now, I'm just waiting for the water pH and hardness to get where I want them (about 6.0 acidity for Tetras, in anticipation possibly of Kribensis or Cherry Barb (months down the road, of course, if ever)).

Temperature (77F) is generally where I want it. I don't like the fact that the bulbs, when on, increase the water temperature by as much as 4 degrees. It's one of those environmental details I'm going to have to change. A lower power bulb should do the trick.

I've just finished Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and with one running story thread in particular I can identify closely: studying your ass off.

On Tuesday, I loaned from the library Tropical Fish: Every Important Group of Freshwater Fishes Covered by Neal Pronek. Fishes? Mmm-kay. It's a great book full of strong opinions and clear guidance. It's 64 pages long, filled with gorgeous photography. I read it in less than an hour, craving more.

Over the last couple of days, while on a mini-vacation at Wilbur Hot Springs, 120 miles north of San Francisco, I pored over two fascinating books, one of them -- seminal -- co-authored by Mr. Pronek. Aquarium Fishes of the World, at over 1,000 pages, is biblical in scope, the type of full-color reference book reference-book geeks like me gobble up.

The other book, Aquarium Owner's Guide: The Complete Illustrated Guide to the Home Aquarium, by Gina Sandford and published by the always impressive Dorling Kindersley press (renowned for their clear information design and beautiful photography), is a marvel of instruction and advice. Cross-referencing the two books is as much fun as learning the concepts.

I have a new hobby. Aquarianism, or tropical fish hobbyism. Whatever you call it, I went to Petco today and bought a 10-gallon Marineland tank, 20 lbs. of large blue gravel, assorted pleasing artificial shrubs and sea grass, a couple of standing stones with holes in their middles like Utah's Arches, diamond clusters, a heater, a couple of nets, some water purifiers, a BIO wheel filter, a tank thermometer, and lights.

Tomorrow, I'll fill the tank, crank up the filter and heater, and let the water purify for about two weeks. After that, I'll go fish shopping. I'm doing some research on tropical fish and have found some candidates worth noting. The Neon Tetra seems to be a favorite and they're beautiful, especially in clusters of half a dozen or more. About an inch long, they have highly reflective teal, red, and silver bands, which makes them appear to be luminous. Other suggestions have included a Zebra Danios school, perhaps about 8 or 9. They're community fish and thrive socially in each other's company, but they're not spectacular to look at. African Rift Lake Cichlids are handsome and colorful, but they may be a tad too large for the populous, school-like effect I'm after.

I'm leaning toward one type instead of several types living together. Esthetically, I like the idea of identical fish in numbers weaving through the rocks and flora. But I'm still open to the idea of mixing it up with gorgeous Tiger Barbs, Cardinal Tetras, Harlequins, Platies, or a delicate mixture of a few small and a couple of larger fish, all compatible, of course.