Perhaps this story is proof I am in need of psychiatric help BUT I need to share it .

I have a large 150 Gallon Aquarium with Cichlids ( African Fresh Water Fish ) of all different shapes and sizes

About 5 years ago One of my “Dolphin” Cichlids and one of my Yellow Lab Cichlids mated …I was watching them do a swirling dirvish like dance for hours on end . I found out how it works later .Apparently the female lays the eggs then scoops them up in her mouth and the male fertilizes them there ( oral sex ? ) The eggs incubate for a couple of weeks…and then they “hatch” . One day I noticed a small “cloud” in a small protected corner of the tank. On closer inspection there were like 100 almost imperceptible fry . I watched every day as they slowly started to move about the area..Every day there were fewer of them . I have cat fish and plecos ( bottom feeders) . I was told it’s rare that any new borns can survive with all the adult fish savaging around . But after a month or so there were still 3 little guys darting in and out between the rocks and plants …i watched them grow a little every day ..still really small but they all had distinguishing features.
I called them Teensy Teeny and Tiny . Soon they grew to be big enough to say they were going to make it. They slowly got more bold and then they were accepted as part of the community. Teensy and Tiny were best Buds ! They hung out together . Teeny was more aloof and a loner but he made friends eventually with some of the bigger guys. Tiny got sick last year and he was struggling but Teensy was loyal to him and stayed with him though his lengthy convalescence…sometimes nudging him to get up and move around and eat when it was time.. always with him. When the inevitable happened I saw Teensy nudging Tiny’s lifeless body staying right with him ..willing him back…After the Funeral Teensy seemed ok for about a week when one day he Died Suddenly . I was shocked..I think he died of a broken heart . I told my Fish Guru from the fish Store the story and he had many more similar stories. Cichlids are smart and the express emotions . They have a real social life apparently . Anyhow the remaining guy Teeny grew up to be the Boss Fish of the tank..he carved out a little area and patrolled it . he also made a friend who was getting a little lethargic as well. This much bigger fish wasn’t eating for a while and was “breathing ” hard. I swear this is true Teeny would hang around the bubbler in the aquarium and breath in some oxygen then rush over and seemingly blow it into this bigger fish.. Big Blue’s… mouth …After some medication in the water and several tank water changes..Big Blue recovered and the 2 of them were inseparable. Alas Today after a long slow decline Teeny passed away .What happened was purely the law of the jungle …my Biggest and most docile fish “Bumphead “who hangs out almost always in the hull of the ornamental sunken ship..had been coming out and signalling out teeny and chasing him relentlessly around the tank. Today it got violent …Teeny had a will to live even though he was struggling for enough oxygen at rest…But he swam like a maniac to get away and I guess his old heart just gave way .I cried of course and took him out and pet him for a while. He’s in the freezer awaiting spring where he will get a proper burial beside his brothers ( may be sisters..cant tell ) . They all lived thru many crises like the time the tank started leaking and I scooped all of them out into buckets and rushed them to the fish shop where they baby sat them while we rebuilt a new tank…They survived the transfer both ways. And the time I lost half the colony to a parasite called Ick..which melted the skin of the fish before I learned how to treat it . Big Blue and another friend Fancy Fin are looking for him..they are in his area sniffing around and mourning I believe . And life in the Aquarium will never be quite the same without Teensy Teeny and Tiny …but life goes on .
NOTHING in this life is insignificant if you take the interest and time to observe …Love and Drama is everywhere.

Yes I guess I need a good shrink

Fully Nuts .