Fish

Some sad news to report. Some of our fish recently got sick with a parasite that commonly effects aquariums, called ICH. I attempted to treat the tank with chemical designed for this purpose, which apparently carries with it its own risks. Unfortunately, either the ICH, the treatment chemical or a third unknown substance caused a large number of our fish to die, including our large Parrot fish, Wilbur. It seems like the remaining fish are stable and will survive, but we'll need to wait awhile before we can consider adding new fish again. Unfortunately, after a lengthy discussion with the aquarium shop experts, it seems likely that we'll never know exactly what occured to wipe out so much of our tank so quickly. All and all, Mei Mei seems to have taken it pretty well.

The toughest part of the situation is the frustrating feeling of having made a mistake. In the past Mei Mei and I have had fish die, but typically only a single fish will die at a time and, as their relatively short life spans would suggest, they pass at random times with little or no warning. In these cases the feeling of loss is countered by the sense that it was the fishes “time to go” and nothing really could have been done about it or even to predict it. Unfortunately in this case, with so many fish passing almost immediately after I introduced a chemical into the tank specifically designed to help and cure them, there is little doubt that this action caused their deaths.