It is with great sorrow I share with you today that my <a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracheirodon_innesi” target=”_blank”>Neon Tetra</a>, Smalls, passed away over night. I estimate he was born some time in late 2003, making him approximately 5 years old.<br/><br/>For those of you who do not know the story of Smalls, he was purchased at Petco in Sterling some time in early 2005. At the time, he was a runt. Since these fish require a friend, he was purchased with Biggy, the bigger of the two. Unfortunately, Biggy only survived a few months. At that time, I could see the sadness in the eyes of Smalls each and every day; I bought him a new friend, Biggy Too. Biggy Too lasted an even shorter time than his predecessor, leaving me to believe Smalls was destined to live alone.<br/><br/>Over the past three and a half years, I have never changed the water in his 1-gallon tank, he put up with our adjustable thermostat making his water a bit too cold each night (I think this finally did him in), and I never really did bother to figure out his water; if it looked cloudy, I’d add water conditioner; if it looked like algae was building, I’d add algae stopper. He didn’t seem to mind… He moved locations from Sterling, to Herndon, and twice inside Arlington, but always held strong. He had a pretty nasty curve in his spine, but it didn’t slow him down. He ate the same damned thing (not even half a small bottle of flake food) every damned day. Best of all? He never complained.<br/><br/>Smalls, thank you for being a friend.<br/>