Polypterus ornatipinnus, AKA “George”, AKA “Poly poly cichlid eater”
Little is known about the inner workings of the bichir gang (let alone the inner workings of bichir girl), but it is widely accepted that George is the leader of the bichir gang… mainly because he’d eat the other members if he could.
It’s not known where George was born, but he was orphaned at a very young age. Bichir Girl found him wandering the mean streets of NJ, brought him home, and set him up in a coffee cup for the night. The next day he was sent to boarding school. This particular school was for discus only, but they let him hide behind the log and no one was the wiser.
When the discus school in Ohio closed during the great recession, George was transferred to a new discus school in Kansas and was again allowed to hide behind the log.
These years were tough on George. Discus can be very judgmental and George started acting out. The first sign of a problem was when George started carrying a cory cat around in his mouth. This sort of behavior is unheard of in a discus school, so George found himself in a cichlid half-way house… a loose menagerie of cichlids that aren’t quite big enough yet. George didn’t fit in well here and soon found himself on the outs again. Fortunately, there was plenty of space in the African cichlid tank. Here George fit in well for a few months, but then something happened.
George was suddenly not the same fish. He was sad. Always hiding. Lethargic. But he seemed to be eating… his belly was always full. All of a sudden, it was clear. Fish were coming up missing at an alarming rate and George was fat fat fat. The long arm of the fish-net finally caught up with him and he was banished to the big-house. George was so ashamed he hid his face from the camera during the prison transfer.
George fit right in with his new pals in the big-house and the striped pike taught him everything he knew.
All was well until the great-fish-move of 2013.
To be continued….
