I know you are thinking to yourself, Actual Fish, What kind of a name is that? Well I will tell you this, I was not consulted in the naming of the fish. I suggested Walter, George, or Frank. All of these very sensible fish names were rejected. The toddler's suggestion was Actually Fish and that is the only name he would consider. So Actual Fish it is.
Actual Fish is a little shy. He really didn't want his picture taken at all. Do you know how hard it is to take a picture of a fish in water. I took 30 pictures of this fish and this is the only one that turned out even decent. And it is not that great.
I can see why our fish is a little apprehensive with me. You see I have a history with fish. It isn't a good one either. I got my first fish when I lived in the dorms in the AF. We did pretty well together. I kept him for about 1 1/2 years. Not bad for a fish. When he died, I went through a mourning period like you do when any pet dies. I decided to move on and got another fish. That started what is known in all of fishdom as the dark ages. I went through a fish a month for about six months. It was a very sad time. At the end of which, I decided I would never have fish again. I got rid of my bowl and declared myself done. Then we had kids and I started yearning for a fishy friend again. I wanted to share the watery world with my kids. Jason called me a fish murderer and I have to admit that hurt. I cried myself to sleep a few times. But I got over it. I decided it was time.
We went to the pet store and picked out a lively specimen. We got him a bowl, some rocks and of course a good fake plant. What fish bowl is complete without a fake plant. We brought him home and all the way Jason told me I would kill it. But I am not listening to him. He is mean. I think our little friend will do just fine here.
There are no bounds to how much Mark enjoys the fish. Every morning he comes down the stairs and yells at the top of his lungs, "There is the fish." I wonder if he is surprised Actual Fish survived another night in my care. Maybe Jason has been talking to him.
On a side note, I am looking for suggestions. The chlorine neutralizer I am using makes the water cloudy. Does anyone have a suggestion of something that won't cloud the water. It makes the water look dirty and it isn't. I just changed it. I really want him to live.
Another side note. It is Farmer's Market Friday. I love Farmer's Market. We always walk up and pick out all of our veggies for the week. I plan to take my camera this week. So check back later for pictures of our findings.
6 comments:
Wooo-weee is jealous. And he misses Mark saying hello every morning.
Your first fish was actually won at the state fair. He did not live long - a couple months I think - but we comforted ourselves with the fact that we had taken him [her?] from a sordid life as a carny fish and let her [him?] spend his [her?] last days in a nice Christian home.
I think Actually needs a middle initial. I suggest A.
You both really made me laugh! I have a pet fish at work. I will try and send you pictures soon. You're right though, they are not easy boogers to take pictures of. Her name is much more exotic ... Helena Azul. Nathaniel, my 6 year old wanted to name her Jeffery but when I told him it was a girl, he came up with Helena (I kinda think there was a cute Helena in his preshcool class). She is a very pretty deep blue (azul). I have been quite pleased that she has lived in my care for three months. She is a Betta and she is quite well behaved. Nathaniel was disappointed when I brought her to work. But I did take her home on Memeorial Day weekend and he enjoyed that. I'm contmeplateing a 30 gallon tank at home for Nathaniel and I to have together .... we'll see .... Bettas are easy .... tropicals are not. Good luck with A.F.! Or shoudl I say A.A.F.?
Jason is really mean! You go girl, I bet Actual Fish will actually live!
Goldfish usually tend to be pretty resilient. Well at least the ones my brother had. I mean come on he fed them cheerios and milk. I kid you not. When my mom realized this she went about moving the fish out of the bowl and cleaned it and put them back. I still laugh about that. As far as the cloudy water when I had my Beta I used distilled water so I didn't have to worry about the chemical stuff. But other than that I have no suggestions. Beautiful sky watch photo the pinks in the clouds are beautiful.
Hi Ellyn,
How’s Actual Fish doing ?
I’m in at work today, working overtime, and I just changed Helena’s water and it reminded me that you asked about Dechlorinator. I use Top Fin Tap Water Dechlorinator and it works fine. I have not had any problem with cloudy water. Someone here at work told me they got a gold fish for their kids recently and their water was always cloudy and they thought it was the gold fish that did that. I’m not sure. If you do a Google search, I bet you could get some answers. That’s what I did when I first got Helena and I found out just what I needed to know about caring for a Betta, mainly from pet store blogs that have some good information. A betta needs their water changed once a week. One thing I do that helps is always have a 2nd bowl ready to go. I get the next fresh water ready the week or a few days a head of time in another bowl. Actually, I use two big vases that I got free somewhere. I have green and blue marbles in each of them and the wonderful fake plant. It was all very cheap. When I get the bowl ready ahead of time, I still treat it with the dechlorintator but that gives it time to get room temperature too. Every Monday, the first thing I do is use a little net to scoop her up and put her right into the flesh bowl. I then clean out the old one and refresh the water at some convenient time during the week.
I hope that helps some.
1st... You left out the turtle. He lasted for a while and was really cool.
2nd... try letting the watter sit out in an open cotainer for a day or two before you put it in the fish bowl... the clorine and florine will turn in to gas and float away and will not have to use other chmicals.
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