"oh where, oh where"

something has been boggling me these past two weeks. about 2 months ago, i bought a pair of janitor fish in a pet shop to help "clean" our aquarium. the pair was of the albino variety, so-called because instead of the usual black color, they were somewhat whitish with red spots. i chose the smallest pair since we had an experience before wherein once the janitor fish were bigger than the goldfish, angelfish, etc, they tend to fight or run, oops...i mean, swim after the smaller ones. so i thought, getting the small ones would take some time before they really grow.

our aquarium's other inhabitants were a pair of small redcaps (a variety of goldfish), a pair of goldfish (the regular type), a pair of angelfish and a giant redcap which was the oldest one in the group. the others were bought a week before the janitor fish. and so the peaceful co-existence of the janitor fish with the other fish went on for about a month. they were fed regularly, although at times, a little overfed when my nephews and nieces come and visit. the cleaning part was courtesy of the janitor fish...which they were doing nicely.

now, the part that has been boggling me. about two weeks ago, as i was watching the fish while feeding them, i couldn't see the pair of janitor fish. i know they usually hide in the sands or in between rocks so i tried to look at every nook and cranny my eyes could see. but still, i couldn't find them. i asked everybody if any of the fish died and took them out, or if anybody had cleaned the aquarium yet. the answer to both questions were no. so i asked our helper to clean the aquarium to really find out if they were just hiding somewhere. they weren't.

my brother told me they could have jumped, and so i looked around the area of the aquarium, still no janitor fish to be found. another said, maybe the giant redcap ate them. hmmm...i thought this was possible but somebody told me janitor fish' skin were too hard. good point. and i suppose, if they were eaten, there would be some debris left?

just like how P's favorite song goes...

"oh where, oh where did the janitor fish (little dog) go?
oh where, oh where could it be?"

naglahong parang bula!