What follows is the history of the Houck 215 Zoo. Read on, and be amazed!

*please note that any dates with asterisks are not exact, as I did not realize the complete hilarity of this project until long after it had already started

10/01*
My roommate is from Illinois. We go to school in Ohio. The fact that a fish tank would have to go somewhere over our month-long winter break did not occur to her. One day in the fall, a small fish tank appeared in our dorm room, complete with rocks, water, a filter, a light, plants... but no fish! The fish would not arrive for another month...

11/01*
The fish have arrived... I think there were five - they all had names. One died. Winter break arrived, and suddenly my roommate became aware of the problem of winter-break storage. One of my other roommates graciously offered to take the fish over winter break.

01/02*
After returning from winter break, only two of the fish had survived. They returned to their happy home to die after a short period. You know how fish are.
Our room remained pet-less for some time, although my roommate did receive a plant in the mail. I doubt she ever watered it, because it dried up and died...

04/02*
Spring quarter brought new ambition. After months without animal companions, my roommate tried a brief arrangement with mice (which are not allowed in the dorms, by the way). One of the three mice "didn't get along with the other mice" and had to be traded in for a new one.
I didn't mind the mice until they started to smell. For a while, our room reeked of pet-shop. One of the mice spontaneously died. My roommate and her friends gave it a burial ceremony under a tree. The hall director shortly found out about the other two mice, so back to the petstore they went. I think my roommate still hates the authority in this dorm for taking away her mice.

05/02*
My roommate refilled her small fish tank and was at it again. Complete with rocks and plants, the tank would soon house a crayfish, a snail, and some guppies. The only reason she bought the guppies was to let the crayfish catch them and eat them.
Eventually more guppies, this time male, were added, in hopes that the guppies would breed and have little baby guppies for the crayfish to eat.
At some point (I'm still not sure of the exact date - I hadn't yet started keeping track) a little shark and a sucker fish were added to the mix, bringing the fish count to 11.
The shark, being very playful indeed, often jumped out of the tank and landed on my roommate's desk. This went on for a few days, until one day it happened when she wasn't in the room. She later found it dead on the floor... fish count 10.
Due to rampant guppy sex, two of the guppies had baby guppies, which now inhabited their own little baby pool. The rest of the fish moved into a bigger tank (that was previously housing the mice) to be put on display. At some point, a beta fish showed up on the shelf above my roommate's desk. fish count 13.

05/11/02*
The fish count reached its maximum so far. My roommate was babysitting one of her friend's fish. On the shelves above her desk was a fish bowl with 3 unknown fish inside, a small tank with 2 beta fish, a tank with her own beta fish, and the small tub with the two baby guppies. In the tank with the two baby guppies were random brine shrimp that the guppies could eat. In the large tank were the snail, the crayfish, the sucker fish, 7 guppies, and 4 goldfish. fish count 22.

05/12/02
My roommate had the crayfish in a separate tank, convinced it wasn't eating and was going to starve. She also had a goldfish in a net, which she would periodically hold out of the water to kill it and then feed it to the crayfish. But each time, she couldn't bring herself to kill it. I must have watched her ALMOST kill it 5 times. When I came back later, it was floating at the top of the crayfish's tank. I don't know if she killed it or if the crayfish did. fish count 21 live and 1 dead.

05/13/02
The crayfish died, so it and the dead goldfish were disposed of. Some of the other fish were returned to their owner. We now had the snail, the sucker fish, 1 beta fish, 3 goldfish, 7 guppies, and 2 baby guppies. fish count 15.
"I'll have to buy some more..." -my roommate

05/14/02
True to her word, my roommate did, indeed, buy more fish. But not several this time, just one, which I don't know the name of. When I came in this afternoon, she said something along the lines of "I seem to have misplaced two fish..." We will undoubtedly find those two fish dead and rotting somewhere within the next week...
Also, the fish have been moved into separate containers. In what I like to call "the breeding pool" now reside 5 guppies. The other guppy must have some genetic defect, as he is not in "the breeding pool". In their own little tub are the two baby guppies and some random brine shrimp. In its own container is the beta fish. In the large tank are the other guppy (1 guppy is missing), 2 goldfish (1 goldfish also is missing), the new unidentified fish, the snail, and the sucker fish. fish count 14.

05/15/02
One of the guppies has been moved from "the breeding pool" to the large tank. He, like the other alienated guppy, must have some form of genetic defect. Each of the baby guppies now has its own tank; one is accompanied by brine shrimp, while the other is in solitary confinement. According to my roommate, the new fish that I mentioned yesterday is a "firemouth cichlid", so that is how I will now refer to it.
So today, in the large tank: 1 snail, 1 sucker fish, 1 firemouth cichlid, 2 goldfish, 2 propagationally inferior guppies. In its own tank: the beta fish. In another tank: a baby guppy. In yet another tank: the other baby guppy and some brine shrimp. In the breeding pool: 4 propagationally acceptable guppies. fish count still 14.

05/22/02
After a long period of inactivity, the aquarium is once again on the rise, or should I say, decline. We seem to be missing some fish today... The beta fish is gone, the goldfish are gone, the baby guppies are gone, the brine shrimp are gone. So are the rocks from the aquarium... Now it is just a couple random plants, the snail, the sucker fish, and the 6 guppies. The firemouth cichlid is in what was formerly the "breeding pool", all by itself. fish count 9.

05/21/02
The quantity of fish has reached an all time low! And, I must say, the quality is deteriorating, as well. The fish tank has a sterile, hospital-like quality, now that all the gravel has been removed. All that remain are a couple scattered plants, which float in the water because there is no gravel in which to anchor them. The snail and 5 guppies are now in this large tank with the random plants. In what used to be the "breeding pool" are the firemouth cichlid and one guppy. The baby guppies, brine shrimp, beta fish, sucker fish, and 4 goldfish have disappeared mysteriously... fish count 8.

05/24/02
The fish count is on the rise again. I knew we wouldn't have such reasonably low numbers for long. The tank still has no gravel, but it does have one plant. The "breeding pool" is no more. In the large tank are the snail, the 6 guppies, the sucker fish (which has reappeared just as mysteriously as it disappeared), and the firemouth cichlid. We now also have a tadpole (not a little tadpole, but a big, nasty tadpole), and another big fish, which is a Texas cichlid, according to my roommate. Yesterday there were 3 small fish for this Texas cichlid to eat. It ate one, and the severed head floated around the tank for a while, before she removed it. The two remaing fish seem to be dead, as they are stuck to the filter and don't move... Also, just discovered in the freezer: 5 dead fish in a zip-lock bag, presumably food for the other fish. fish count 11 live, 2 dead, 5 frozen.

05/29/02
We have sunk back down to the mundane world of single digits (unless you count the frozen five in the freezer). My roommate went away for the weekend, but I am of the impression that she allowed one of her friends to take care of the fish, because the mess that appeared on Friday was gone when I returned on Sunday, and my roommate did not return until Monday. On Friday, one of the guppies had died and was floating in the tank. One of the little food fish was still stuck to the filter, dead, although the other one was gone. I was wondering how this would affect them over the weekend, but apparently it did them no harm. Yesterday my roommate added a large decoration rock thing for them to swim around, although they still have no gravel, and the plant has been removed. Others have called the tank "sterile". Today we have: the snail, the sucker fish, the firemouth cichlid, the Texas cichlid, the tadpole, and the 4 guppies. fish count 9 live, 5 frozen.

05/31/02
So last night my roommate discovered that one of her guppies had been severed. Clean cut, looked as if it was done with a knife. The head/body part of the fish was still alive, while its tail lay at the bottom of the tank. The live part bobbed up and down at the top of the tank for a good three hours while some of the other fish nibbled at its flaking scales. It finally died, and she has removed it from the tank. fish count 8 live, 5 frozen.
"Do you think my roommates next year will mind if I have two fish tanks?" -my roommate

06/01/02
The fish count has more than doubled in size, in merely one day! From before, we have the firemouth cichlid, the Texas cichlid, the snail, the sucker fish, the tadpole, and 3 guppies. And now, in what is quite possibly the largest rate of increase in the aquatic population I have ever seen, comes a new plethora of underwater creatures. My roommate went to the pet store at some point today, only to return with a crab, 2 feeder fish, and 10 (not 1, not 2, not 5, but 10!) goldfish! The fish count reached a near-maximum of 21, but then the crab died, as well as one of the feeder fish (I noticed its decaying carcass caught in the filter, not the first time this has happened). But the fish count is once again at the ridiculous number of 19 (plus the frozen 5), which puts a little bit of sunshine back into my life...

06/05/02
In recent news, one of the goldfish has been mercilessly devoured by the bigger, more powerful fish. This brought the count down to a meager 18 fish, but have no fear! Sure enough, my roommate replenished the supply with two new fish. I don't know what they are yet, but boy are they cool! (Almost as cool as those frozen ones in the freezer!) So right now we have the snail, the sucker fish, the tadpole, the 2 cichlids, the 3 guppies, the feeder fish, the 9 goldfish, and the 2 new fish. fish count 20 live, 5 frozen.

06/07/02
Yesterday the fish devoured many of their little friends. Today, the actual aquarium is gone, and they are all separated into little cups to aid in my roommate's transporting them. I am happy, because it makes it considerably easier for me to count them. In the first cup - 2 goldfish. In the second cup - 3 guppies. In the third cup - 3 goldfish. In the fourth cup - one of the cichlids and the sucker fish. In what was formerly known as "the breeding pool" - the other cichlid, the snail, the tadpole, and the 2 new fish. fish count 15 live, 5 frozen. (Well, I think the 5 frozen ones are still there... I don't check the freezer much anymore, just because of that...)

The Final Chapter: