By:
The Dude on the Right
It was a sad day at The Dude household last week as I lost one of my "kids."
I’m really not sure exactly what caused the untimely death, but my best guess is
that it was one of my crabs. Yes, Bill, one of my fish, died last week.
Bill was a good fish. A Court Jester Goby by birth, Bill was actually the
third addition to my family, following the adoptions of Steve, a Clown Fish, and
then Ashley, a Blue Tang. When I got him he came as part of an algae
cleaner pack, complete with some crabs and snails. Immediately part of my
family, Bill didn’t seem to mind his new friends, but I saw something sort of
strange going on: Bill was moving the coral gravel under one of my lava
rocks. I was a little perplexed, but as I read a little bit about the
Court Jester Goby, I realized he was just building a home because my aquarium
set-up really didn’t have an instant nook or cranny for him to call home.
So,
there he was, one little piece of coral at a time, sucking it into his mouth,
then spitting it out, and ever so slowly he built himself a little cave under
the lava rock, and for a couple of years, this is what Bill called home, except
when I did a major tank overhaul, cleaning out the gravel. Not seeming sad
or anything, he just started the home building process over again, until, alas,
he had his new little cave to call home again, at least until I destroyed it,
again. But Bill would poke his head out every now and then, swim around
the tank, nibble on some algae, and enjoy breakfast and dinner when I served
them to the rest of the family.
But then, early last week, something didn’t
seem right. Sure, every now and then, I wouldn’t really notice Bill for a
day or two, or maybe just catch a glimpse of him, but it occurred to me I hadn’t
seen him in a while, and I became a little worried. So I removed the lava
rock over his home, and there was Bill, still alive, but not looking well,
especially since he didn’t swim away in fear when I removed the rock. I
knew something was wrong, but fish-tank wise, all the levels were good, so I
decided to set up a quarantine tank for Bill so I could get a closer look at
least, and if something needed to be added to the water to help him, it wouldn’t
affect the other kids. With that tank set up and Bill transferred over, he
still didn’t seem well, and I noticed what looked like a cut/injury to his
underbelly. I was going to try and take him to my favorite fish store, but
sadly, by the next day, Bill’s time on this earth had come to an end. Bill
had gone to that great aquarium in the sky, where all of the brine shrimp is
free.
With my tank quality being okay, and no visible signs of a wacky fish
disease, the only thing I could really come up with was that somehow one of the
crabs must have snagged him. Or maybe he just died of old age. I
really didn’t know how old Bill was, I mean, it’s not like I gave birth to him
and actually had his birth day, but he was about 2 1/2 inches long, so at least
I hope he had a fairly decent life.
I’ll
miss Bill. Like I wrote before, Bill was a good fish. He was rarely
skittish (Ashley still freaks out every time I walk in front of the tank), just
seemed to like to rebuild his house after I destroyed it, eat when he was
hungry, and take the occasional dump in the tank, kinda like what most good fish
do. Steve and Ashley seem to sense something is different, but as a
parent, I really don’t know how to tell them that one of their siblings is gone,
especially since you can’t really have a funeral for them to attend (although I
suppose, I could have scooped them out of the tank into a plastic bag, and had
them see what happens to fish when they pass away), that and the fact that I
don’t speak Clown Fish nor Blue Tang. I think Steve and Ashley will get
over it, and at least I have a nice picture of Bill to remember him by.
Goodbye Bill. I’ll miss you buddy.
That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!