A mommy to two beautiful little goldfish.
The day I met my new fish was the day of our annual Mountainview Golf Tournament. I wasn't having the best day, and I couldn't wait to leave the golf course and get to the ball field in Carp, where the Flyers were playing in a tournament. But first, I had to stop in at home and pick up Sue, Sarah & Brenda.
Little did I know they had a surprise waiting for me - my birthday gift was a tank, already decked out, with my little Presley and Marley swimming happily away in it!
I was so happy I almost cried.
Finally, I had my fish that I'd been wanting for months. And they were so pretty!
Unfortunately, Presley didn't seem to be doing so well. Each day, he got more and more strange. He stopped swimming around quickly (and he'd been pretty zippy that first day, so I knew something was wrong). He kind of just floated in a corner behind one of the little fake plant thingys. When I put food in, he didn't seem interested. And he just looked bad - he always seemed to be gasping or something.
But I've never had fish babies before, so I wasn't sure. After a few days of watching the fish hide in the corner, I thought, "Maybe I need to shake him up." So I stuck the net in the water, scooped him up, shook him a little, and dropped him back in.
Worked like a charm! He swam around like a maniac!
The next day? Not so much. He was kind of dead.
Apparently, signs of fish distress are hiding, not eating, and gasping for air. Ways to avoid distressing your fish? Don't net them.
Ooops.
So that left just Marley, the bigger, heartier looking goldfish. I worried about him quite a bit those first few days after Presley's death, but he actually seemed to start doing better. He swam around more and got really excited when I put food in the tank. Marley was thriving.
But still, I worry about him being all alone in there. Okay, I know - fish only have 3-second memory spans. He doesn't even notice that he's alone in there. He doesn't care.
Even so, I've been wanting to get him a new friend. And that's exactly what I'm going to do tonight. Tonight, I'm going to pick up Marley's brother, and I'm going to name him Jackson. He's going to be a black goldfish with big bulgy eyes. Ugly little mofo. But that's kind of how I've been feeling lately, and I think Jackson will make a lovely addition to my fish family.
Hopefully he lasts more than a week.
