Day 91: Don’t be too quick to flush

Between You, Me and the Lamp Post

Day 91: Don’t be too quick to flush

Earlier this week we noticed that one of our goldfish wasn't doing well. We have six in a tank, four gold, and two white ones, and for some reason, three of the gold ones were attacking the fourth one.

For almost three years or so everything went fine and now suddenly they were ganging up on this fish. Maybe the gold ones were all males and she was the only golden female, maybe the gold ones were all female and he was the only male, maybe he/she had done something to upset the others, who know, either way, there was an upset in the tank.

We decided to separate them. Dieter got a pot, scooped some water out of the tank and then removed the unfortunate fish from the tank and deposited him in the pot. He lay on his side and it looked like the end was near. I didn’t think he would make it through the night.

Fishy proved me wrong. When I went to check on him the next morning, not only was he still alive but he moved a little bit. We decided to move him to another tank. We have a second tank in the kitchen with four goldfish in it.

After putting the fish in that tank, he promptly sank to the bottom. And there he lay, on his side, on the smooth white and blue glass stones. Poor thing, he looked so miserable. The other fish left him alone though, so it was decided to leave the fish there. Let him die among friends.

During the day I kept an eye on him and it didn’t look good. If he was to die, he put up one hell of a fight. At dinnertime I sprinkled some food in the tank, and would you believe it, the fish actually straightened up to eat a little.

The next morning I once again checked if he had given up the fight, but no, he was still alive. He lay in a corner behind some bushes, but he was still breathing.

“Shall I flush him? Put him out of his misery,” Dieter wondered.

“Of course not,” I said, “he’s alive. You can’t flush a live fish!”

And it’s a good thing we didn’t. Today, that fish is alive and well.

So, the next time one of your fish looks a bit off-color, don’t be so quick to flush him. A change of environment might be all that’s needed.