Some of you may remember me tweeting about the fish fiasco but I never got around to blogging about it……until now!
For his second birthday, my Mum and Step Dad decided to buy Burton a little ‘Finding Nemo’ fish tank and two small fish. Having consulted with me first about the suitability of this as a gift for Burton, and having fish as pets, I decided that it was a great idea for a present and easy pets to have.
I mean, how hard is it to look after two fish?
My only previous experience with fish was when I was about 9. My younger brother and I each won a goldfish at the fair and we bought a little tank for them and had them as pets for a while. As it happens a very short while, because they didn’t live for very long and probably got flushed down the toilet by my parents upon their untimely deaths. I think tha fish won at the fair tend to lead short lives once they are brought home to live in your house. Or maybe that’s just my experience?
Anyway, Burton received his tank for his birthday and he recognised the Nemo illustrations which decorated it, and was very excited at the prospect of getting baby fish to live inside it. Mind you, knowing how much Burton enjoys swimming and bathing in water maybe his initial excitement was more down to having a see through box which contained water – oooh the splashing opportunities could be endless – was what he probably thought!
We had it set it up and filled with water about a fortnight before he was taken to the pet shop to choose his fish. My Mum and Step Dad took him to the pet shop to choose his baby goldfish (I cannot remember the exact type of breed now) and an hour later they bought our new house guests home in their bags. They were left inside their bags resting on top of the water in the tank for a few hours to allow them to acclimatise to the waters temperature, before freeing them from the plastic bags into their new abode.
The following morning, while our new house guests swam around their new home we thought of what to call Burton’s first pets and in the end we settled on Tom and Jerry ( I thought my first suggestions of ‘finger’ and ‘cake’ were better ha ha!). By tea time I said to Burton that it was time to feed the fish and as I looked in to the tank I noticed that one of the fish was…..well I thought kind of ‘dancing’! It was bobbing up and down so I assumed it was enjoying itself in the water! When I pointed this out to my OH, he said that the fish looked dead to him, to which I laughed and said it couldn’t be already. Could it???
But it was!
I couldn’t believe it!!
Less that 24 hours after having it, it was dead!!
So I phoned the pet shop and explained what had happened and they said they would replace it, which they did. They also offered to test the tank water if I took a sample so as to find out what may have killed it. The water passed the test though and it was deemed as being as ok, so it must have just been one of those things.
However, by the time we all returned home – a mere 25 minutes later – we couldn’t believe it! The other fish had died, I kid you not – it was floating at the top of the tank!! Unbelievable! Never mind finding nemo, just finding a living fish in the tank would be nice!
Burton doesn’t know that the fish died and being the age he is, he doesn’t realise that there is (still) only one fish in the tank, which we have now named Nemo. Well it seemed daft called it just ‘Tom’ or ‘Jerry’ it was no longer part of a duo (I still haven’t got around to adding a second fish to the tank yet). Amazingly, Nemo is still living, 3 momths since we first got it. I do have a slight panic whenever it is not moving or I cannot see it because it is hiding behind a plant inside the tank. I have no idea where we went wrong with the other two, maybe it was the stress of living with u!!? Or maybe they were just poorly fish? Who knows. it remains a mystery. I do feel mean that I haven’t got a little friend yet for Nemo. It seems happy enough though. Well, not that I know what a happy fish looks or acts like of course! I am no fish whisperer you understand!
Now, who was it who thought keeping fish was easy………!
Have you had any pet mishaps like this? Please feel free to share your stories, it would be interesting to see if I hold the record for the shortest living pet (fish)
DAY 13
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Thank you xx
Thank you xx
Oh no! I completely missed this as Twitter has fallen by the wayside. It’s almost comical. I’m sure Nemo is fine on his own. I had two fish as a teenager and they both committed suicide by jumping out of the tank and behind the cupboard, on two separate occasions! The next fish I had in my twenties was a black thing with swishy fins which got so fat that he just sat at the bottom of the tank for five years until one day he fell asleep 🙂 Fish, fish… never even thought about it for Thomas, maybe I should! x
Oh dear!! We used to have a tropical fish tank and we used to have to replace our little tetras every week because they kept snuffing it. I also looked after my friends fish whilst they went away for the weekend and they told me one had died by the time they came home! It must just be one of those things. I think it must be traumatic for the fish travelling to a pet shop then to a new home and adjusting to water changes.
I have an atrocious track record with fish. We had them in fish bowls as table decorations at our wedding and whilst some live on happily in ponds (8 years later), the ones we brought home never made it. Nor the ones I replaced them with, or indeed the ones after that. I’d bought them a filter and all the whizzy stuff – maybe we should have just stuck them in a tank and let them manage…
omg!
My mum had a goldfish that lasted over 15 years, by then we were sick of the sight of the thing.
good luck with Nemo – lets hope he lasts.
I don’t think I can better that one, though I remember the same thing myself with fairground fish as a child! Hate it when the animals on the farm die. Baby Bunnies can be susceptible in their first few days if Mum doesn’t take to them properly. My kids have grown up with births and deaths on the farm but their favorites always result in a few tears.
i think fish are a bit accident prone judging by the comments i have had! I expect Thomas would love some fish of his own – hep you have better luck though x
yes i agree and i also think fish may just be prone to short lives . thanks for commenting x
wow thats afab idea for wedding table decorations, i bet that looked amazing xx
15 years!!! wow thats very impressive for a goldfish! they must have liked your mum very much x
i like to be unique with my fish killing!! haha!!
i would have ben a lot more upset if it has been a little fluffy kitten or rabbit or something i admit (sorry fish). its good for kids to have an understanding i think of life and death of animals and the such. thanks for popping by x
Fish are incredibly difficult to keep as pets successfully. However, we had Bob for three years and he’d have kept going for ages afterwards, but I couldn’t handle the upkeep once I had The Boy so he went back to the pet shop. I’ve also managed to breed goldfish completely by accident; randy buggers!
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[…] complete with a Finding Nemo fish tank – a starter kit for children. However, we did not have much luck with the first pair of fish we had! Thankfully, Burton was too young to realise that […]