5:35 pm - 02.16.05
The death of my littlest friend
I came home today to find my fish, Dublin, laying at the bottom of his tank, not moving. Now often, if I just tap the glass he will come alive and beg for food.

That didn't happen. He moved but it was manic and he went limp again. I had just cleaned his water, which was dirty because we fed him far too much. I tried to clean off his "mountain" and "fallen Roman arches" and I must not have cleaned the soap off well enough. I have done this a few times before with no problem.

I ran to fill another container full of fresh water but to no avail, his little form was lifeless.

But not quite. He wasn't dead, he was dying and I watched him spurt to the surface for air(Betta fish breath air from the surface) only to float back to the bottom, for another few moments where the only movement was the slow in and out of his gills.

He spasmed to the surface a few more times, but after a while it turned into twitches and gasps of his mouth. I think he was suffocating.

His once completely red body was white in spots where the stress had caused him to bleach his color and his eyes turned a wierd blue.

I waited till I saw the last of his spasms and flushed him down the toilet.

Poor little fishie. I wish I had just waited to clean your tank tomorrow or.. done it even minutes sooner. Maybe I wouldn't have been so hasty with rinsing off the soap.

And now I have a 10 gallon tank and lots of fish supplies. But no fish. I don't think I have the time or the heart to go through that again.

And somehow I will have to explain this to my 3 year old niece who is quite fond of him.

I'm sorry Dubbs. -e

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