New Family Members

I bought 4 more fishes, 3 Kois (well, mini-Kois) and another veiltail.
But that's not it! We also got a second dog. We thought it would be good for Nala to have a friend. Cristian wanted another American Stafford, but I didn't really want to have another dog with that strength and that stubborn character. Nala can be very friendly, but she can also be a real bitch. She doesn't really like strangers coming to our apartment. I guess, it is natural for a guard dog, but it makes receiving visitors a bit difficult. Plus she is also scared of a lot of things and when she pulls on the leage or growls at somebody, she is just enforcing the bad reputation that fight dogs already have.
That is why I wanted to have a dog that's very intelligent and a big people-lover. And the first dog that came to my mind was a Labrador. I am not a big fan of the yellow ones, but would love to have a brown one. However, we have an apartment which is not exactly huge and therefore a labrador didn't seem to be the best idea.
Cristian wanted to have an English Bull Terrier, but I was completely against that. They are fairly aggressive, ugly and incredibly expensive.
But then I saw an ad on the internet where they were selling a 2-months old Pocket Beagle. It's a small Beagle and he was so cute!!! So, we went to see it and bought it!
Nala has always been very friendly with other dogs. But when we brought the little Beagle, she was a bit angry. She doesn't like new living beings in her house. But within minutes she realized that this could be a new friend and she became all excited. So excited that we were afraid that she would hurt the little one while playing. But she also understood that she has to be more careful with the little one. I know, it's hard to believe that a supposedly so mean breed of dog (like an America Stafford) can be so lovely with such a little creature.
By that time we still didn't really have a name for our small Beagle. At first we wanted to call him Frodo because he is small and Hobbits are also small. But then Cristian's sister said: "He is like a stuffed animal with batteries." Because he is so cute and has so much energy. From that moment one we only called him Peluche (which is the Spanish word for "stuffed toy animal").
So far Peluche has tried to chew and eat everything, is continuously playing with Nala and peeing in the house. For housebreaking him I will need lots of patience because Beagle are said to be stubborn! (Didn't I mention I don't want another stubborn breed? Well....)

And here come the pictures:

Peluche:

Nala and Peluche saying Good Night to each other:Nala and Peluche very tired after having played all day:
Peluche and Peter (the 11-months old Golden Retriever of Melissa, Cristian's sister):

Piccolini (a 2 cm "big" veiltail):Pocahontas (the red Koi) and Bambi (the yellow Koi):

Shiva (also a Koi; all my Kois are only about 4 cm long):

No luck...

And another fish died. This time our bala shark Bagira. Why? Well, I blame it on the petshops. Everytime we buy a new fish we always ask if it can live in a small aquarium and if there is something special this kind needs. We are just beginners and don't know a lot of aquariums.
The petshop told us that the bala shark (Bagira) and the shark catfish (Chispa) will grow to about 20 cm, but that it will take about 20 years. The petshop didn't say anything about other special conditions. Well, in the future we were planning on getting a bigger aquarium anyway, so we were fine with the fact that the fishes will grow more.
However, 5 or 6 days ago, Bagira started to spend lots of time hiding in a corner and not moving much. He also didn't eat. Sometimes he would start floating, but with the head down and tail up. I once took him out of the aquarium and put him into a bowl and fed him seperately. After that he seemed to be better, swam more again, but would still float in that weird position. That was when I started reading about his kind. It turns out that this fish needs an aquarium of about 1,5 m (even when they are small), a lot of oxygen, sand on the ground and that they do not want to live alone. Well, our aquarium is a very small one, we have stones on the ground (like the petshops as well who sell those sharks), we have our oxygen pump on low and there are often electricity blackouts and we only bought one of his kind. So, did he die because he didn't get enough oxygen during one of the blackouts or did he swim so fast that he hit the wall and hurt himself? I don't know, but sure is that we definitely didn't have the right place for him.
Yesterday, I looked at the aquarium and saw all the veitails in one corner...attacking Bagira. I chased them away, but Bagira couldn't turn around anymore; he was swimming with the belly up now. And the other fishes continued attacking him. So, I took him out and he was barely breathing. After 5 minutes, he had died.
So, now we have 3 veiltails and 1 shark catfish left over. And here a little story about our shark catfish. The petshop told us he would grow to a size of 20 cm and that he is a very peaceful fish. In reality, he will grow to up 1 m and when he is big enough he will probably start eating the smaller fishes. I guess, we will have to sell him than. For now I want to keep him; at the moment he is only 4 cm long.

And here the pictures and little explanations (but I am not so sure about some of the English names):
Chispa is an albino shark catfish (Pangasius hypophthalmus var. Albino). As mentioned above: Right now only 4 cm long, but will grow A LOT!
Nakoma is an orange veiltail (Carassius auratus var. Red Comet). She is the biggest. Around 6 cm long and very fat; she eats a lot! (Brida was as big as her.)
Balu is an calico veiltail (Carassius auratus var. Calico). He is the smallest with only 2,5 cm. He only has one eye, but is doing just fine.
And Sophie is a (normal) veiltail (Carassius auratus). She is a bit smaller than Nakoma, around 4,5 cm. But she also likes to eat.
Nakoma, Balu and Sophie belong to the group of goldfishes and are easy to take care of, but they will all grow more. Chispa belongs to the group that is supposedly the hardest to take care of, probably because of the size.
But they are all oriental fishes.

Sophie:

Balu:
Balu and Nakoma:

Nakoma and Chispa (Bagira is hiding in the corner):

Nakoma and Bagira:

Bagira:

Balu, Chispa and Sophie:

Chispa, Bagira, Balu, Sophie and Nakoma: