Riley and Avery

So, Rudi got an aquarium on the same day we got Lola, so about three weeks ago.  He comes in with two sharks, two gouramis (sp?), and a catfish.  One of the sharks died almost immediately, so he goes back to the store and buys a cichlid.  I TOLD him that aquarium cichlids are trouble.  They grow too big, they live too long, and they are aggressive.  Just look on craigslist or freecycle.  People are giving them away all the time.  It kills the catfish, one of the gouramis, and the shark.  Now we have the stupid cichlid and one gourami.  He goes out and buys ANOTHER cichlid (he doesn't remember what it is, but it looks like an oscar to me)!  First of all, cichlids are the largest group of fish.  Tilapia are cichlids.  Angelfish are cichlids.  You can't just go to the store and get any old cichlid thinking it will just get along with all other cichlids.  I mean, do you think that two cichlids will get along simply because they are both a member of one of the 2000 different varieties in the cichlid family?  Seriously?  And you can't just trust the zit-faced bucktoothed 15-year-old working at PetSmart.  So, this is a different variety of cichlid and the other cichlid starts attacking it right away.  The thing was darn near dead when I couldn't stand it any more, and pulled it out and put it in a separate bowl.  It's still on the verge of death, I just couldn't watch it any more.  So, Rudi says that he'll go BACK to the store and get another cichlid like the violent one we already have.  I say, no, what we're gonna do is wait for it to snow and throw the damn thing in a snow bank.  Exhale...