Monday, May 2, 2011

(We Didn't) Release the Kraken

Now that Kraken had no competition and the lion-share of the food, his dominion over the tank had come to fruition. He was still small, but had quite an attitude. I don't believe had harbored any ill will toward the race of man. His bites at this point didn't hurt at all and I sincerely believe that they were bites of curiosity rather than malice.

We added enough water to fill the tank up and bought him a turtle dock from the local pet store, along with a fake plant decoration and some nickle-sized smooth stones to add some character to the bottom of the tank. We also purchased a Penn Plax Cascade 400 fully submersible filter to go in the tank to keep the water squeaky clean. But something was missing. Kraken started to seem complacent to the point of lethargy. Something had to be done.

But what could make a fitting tankmate for something that would grow up to be an apex predator? It was then that I remembered my tank that I kept all those years ago when I lived in Michigan. It was a piranha tank. The only thing that could live fairly reliably with piranhas was an oscar and some of the more plated catfish. So on the way back from New Hampshire one day we purchased a small oscar about the same size as Kraken. We named him Rufus (oscars have a very dog-like demeanor for those of you unfamiliar). I knew Rufus would grow faster than Kraken and wouldn't take any of Kraken's heckling.

And together they grew. I'll get into some stories about this odd couple in the days to come.

54 comments:

  1. Any chance Rufus will challenge the Kraken for domination?

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  2. thatlooking forward to hear the storys

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  3. This reminds me of a creative writing class I took a while back. Keep up the good work, I can't wait to hear more!

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  4. KRAKEN FOR PRESIDENT 2012

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  5. Turtles are awesome man :) Kraken is an amazing name aswell for one!

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  6. This is a really good post. Thanks.

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  7. you used to have piranhas? i bet it was very cool to watch during feeding time

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  8. Kraken!
    Rufus!
    A BATTLE TO THE DEATH

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  9. hahah i lol'd with Jordan comment

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  10. if the kraken was real we wouldnt go to the ocean

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  11. "nickle-sized smooth stones to add some character to the bottom of the tank"
    so much thought into the tanks appearance lol

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  12. I already have an ocean phobia, stuff like this makes me scared to take showers lol. Enjoyed this post.

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  13. nice, get some updated pics sonn too :)
    following!

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  14. Cool story bro, waiting for more!

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  15. Compelling stuff here, waiting on your next post now.

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  16. You should post more pics. I'd love to see what he looks like as he keeps growing.

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  17. So Kraken is not that antisocial after all

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  18. Soon the kraken is going to explode that tank from being too buff

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  19. Ha, my boss has a fish named Rufus.

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  20. More stories like this. I've been a fan of the Kraken for a while. I'm going to follow just to see what other tales you have to share.

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  21. Great way to keep the creativity going, i'll keep updated of this epic story by following.

    Take Care

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  22. Haha good stuff! Never enough kraken.

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  23. definitely interesting, following so I can hear more =3

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  24. This was very interesting, keep it up!

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  25. good buildup. cant wait for the rest of the stories to come!

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  26. The word kraken mad me think of that robot chicken episode

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  27. Very interesting! Hope all works out!

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  28. I think you should put up some more pictures of The Kraken for us to enjoy.

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  29. Well I guess I'll have to say it....RELEASE THE KRAKEN!

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  30. RELEASE THE KRAKEN!!!!

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  31. Kraken is the most badass turtle I have ever known

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  32. That movie is awesome in 3D lol

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  33. Wow, Im really getting into this now, cant wait to hear more.

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  34. Haha awesome blog man. I want the kracken

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  35. hahaha thats gotta be one of the strangest alliances ive ever heard of! so keen to hear the rest of the story!

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  36. looking forward to read more of this story *_*

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  37. Would love to see some good pictures

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  38. waiting for the pictures bro

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  39. Sounds fun! Get some pictures though that'd be cool

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  40. So tempted to go out and buy a turtle now just to name it Kraken! I hope the other 2 survive in the wild, I realize that many baby turtles are killed early off :(

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  41. Lol i wanna see pictures of that

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