A Woeful Tale of Fish :)

When you find out that you are going to have child, your world changes immediately, and in a very good way. You know that there isn't anything you wouldn't do for your child...

...and then you fast forward to a year and a half later, when your little one shows a keen interest in something. And what do you do? Why, you nurture that interest in every way, shape and form, of course.

LBB loves fish. I believe I've mentioned that before...but just in case I haven't, let me elaborate. It's not a passing fad. Not a ho-hum kind of love. He flat out adores fish. He loves watching them. Talking to them. Showing them to people. So, of course, as soon as we moved into our apartment, we got him a fish.

LBB's fish was named Allis. A cute little goldfish that was a wonderful first pet. :) She seemed slightly lonely (meaning, she was getting a tad...boring and lethargic), so we went and got her a friend. Days after getting her the friend, she took a trip to fishie heaven, and her friend, Shelby, continued about his merry way. Until he decided to take a trip to fishie heaven as well. Sigh.

So, along came Google. One of those big eyed goldfish (the actual name is Black Moor Goldfish, if I'm not mistaken) who looked extremely goofy but are always fun to watch. LBB loved Google. Even learned how to say his name...about a week before Google decided it was time for him to go to fishie heaven as well.

This was pretty recently, and LBB still likes to walk around the house says Goo-ga. We quickly went and got TWO new fish, convinced that the reason behind our fish issue was lack of companionship. Into our home we welcomed Thing 1 and Thing 2 (LBB's room is going to be Dr. Seuss themed...it fit.) They were such fun fish. Active. Playful. Very good friends. And LBB adored them. He was learning how to feed them and loved to show them to Daddy every day that he came home. Then Thing 1 got this funky red around his nose and a white cottony growth.

After a little research, I not only came away with what was wrong with Thing 1, but that our whole tank set-up was completely wrong. You know how you always see goldfish in a bowl? Well, here we were keeping them in a nice little 1.5 gallon tank with a heater, but no filter, and thinking it was ok. Yep. It's not.

Apparently, goldfish are known to be some of the most fickle fish to keep. Not to mention dirtiest. So, without going into the details...it turns out we were essentialy "killing" our poor little fish.

So, we went and got a bigger tank with the whole setup, took the advice of the pet store clerk, and put Thing 1 and Thing 2 in their new tank immediately.

The pet store clerk was wrong.

They seemed to love their new home. LBB spent the rest of the evening watching them swim around and explore their new digs. He didn't want to go to bed, but, I put him to sleep, we said goodnight to Thing 1 and Thing 2, and LBB fell asleep watching his fish swim around. Later I checked on LBB and the fish, and all seemed fine. And then when Dear Sweet Hubby got home, I went to go show him how happy the fish were...and they were both dead. :(

I cried all night. Who would've thought that two little fish could affect a grown woman so much? Well, when they're your little guy's fish that he adored, it doesn't come as a surprise. :)

Now...to get back to what I was saying at the very beginning, I could easily say "No more fish!" Drop the tank off at goodwill. Go about our merry way sans fish. But no. As a mommy you know that that won't do. :) You do whatever you can for your little ones. So once again, I spent the afternoon rinsing rocks, cleaning plants, washing decorations, and scrubbing the tank. After LBB wakes up, I'll be putting water in and treating it. Installing a new filter cartridge. All that fun fish tank stuff.

But this time, we're doing it RIGHT. We are waiting 3 to 4 days to let the tank cycle through. Bringing the water to the pet store to have it tested.

And NOT getting anymore goldfish!

Something different this time. LBB will love it...he's been pointing to the fish tank, so I know he is wanting his fish back. Soon enough, little man. Soon enough. :)