My beautiful Bǎoshí was not granted the most auspicious start to her life.
One day, during her ravenous search for ways to "bring the outdoors in" at the afterschool program where I work, my boss had the idea to buy a couple fish that the kids could feed and admire. I was against the idea from the get-go, since I know our kids and the things they were likely to "feed" said unfortunate fishes, but my boss wouldn't hear an argument against her. She never has.
I hoped, naively, that getting a couple of fish meant maybe a shoal of guppies in a ten gallon with all the trappings of a well-maintained aquarium.
NOPE.
A few days later I walk into work, and there, in a two-gallon fish bowl with a single plastic plant, are two fantail goldfish.
Guys, I almost strangled her.
Immediately I went on a (desperately civil) tirade about how fantails can grow to six inches long, that it's a myth that fish only grow to the size of their tank (because they die), that a large tank and powerful filter media were necessary due to the amount of ammonia they produce, every single thing I could think of to convince her that this was, in no uncertain terms, abuse.
But since she'd spent $50, which apparently she thought was a lot, she ignored me.
That day we did a name draw for the two fish with the kids, and the pair were named Jack and Jewel.
I did my very best to protect those poor fish, explaining to the kids in detail about their care and that no, putting crayons in their bowl is not okay, trying to keep up with water changes, but they were getting sick fast.
When Spring Break rolled around, my boss assumed without asking that I would be the one to take the pair home and look after them while the program was closed, and I gladly did. While at home with me they were moved into a 40-gallon that I found for free on Kijiji, and in that single week they thrived like never before and grew an amazing amount. When Break ended I reluctantly put Jack and Jewel back into their awful little bowl, because there was no way we could have a 40 gallon at work when we're constantly having to move things around, and brought them back to their nightmare of screaming children and dirty water.
Tragically, the transition back stole Jack's life away when he was still only a baby.
Then Summer Vacation came, and again I was given Jewel to babysit.
This time, I didn't bring her back. I would never let her go through that again.
With her new life came her new name, 寶石 (Bǎoshí) -- Gem. She was moved into a 75 gallon planted aquarium,and after a while she had a new brother, 金龍 (Jīnlóng).
Jīnlóng thrived and grew like a weed, having never been subjected to suffering, but Bǎoshí was still sickly, and suffered almost constantly with swim bladder disease. Her vet ruled out environmental factors, telling me that her water was perfect and her diet outstanding, but she wasn't healthy like her little brother.
For four years now, Bǎoshí has been fighting, and I've been fighting with her. But in the end it was all too much, and today she passed away.
I'm heartbroken. I was really hoping that one day we'd get her strong again, and she'd live out a long and full life. I miss her terribly.
Goodbye, my darling. I love you.
One day, during her ravenous search for ways to "bring the outdoors in" at the afterschool program where I work, my boss had the idea to buy a couple fish that the kids could feed and admire. I was against the idea from the get-go, since I know our kids and the things they were likely to "feed" said unfortunate fishes, but my boss wouldn't hear an argument against her. She never has.
I hoped, naively, that getting a couple of fish meant maybe a shoal of guppies in a ten gallon with all the trappings of a well-maintained aquarium.
NOPE.
A few days later I walk into work, and there, in a two-gallon fish bowl with a single plastic plant, are two fantail goldfish.
Guys, I almost strangled her.
Immediately I went on a (desperately civil) tirade about how fantails can grow to six inches long, that it's a myth that fish only grow to the size of their tank (because they die), that a large tank and powerful filter media were necessary due to the amount of ammonia they produce, every single thing I could think of to convince her that this was, in no uncertain terms, abuse.
But since she'd spent $50, which apparently she thought was a lot, she ignored me.
That day we did a name draw for the two fish with the kids, and the pair were named Jack and Jewel.
I did my very best to protect those poor fish, explaining to the kids in detail about their care and that no, putting crayons in their bowl is not okay, trying to keep up with water changes, but they were getting sick fast.
When Spring Break rolled around, my boss assumed without asking that I would be the one to take the pair home and look after them while the program was closed, and I gladly did. While at home with me they were moved into a 40-gallon that I found for free on Kijiji, and in that single week they thrived like never before and grew an amazing amount. When Break ended I reluctantly put Jack and Jewel back into their awful little bowl, because there was no way we could have a 40 gallon at work when we're constantly having to move things around, and brought them back to their nightmare of screaming children and dirty water.
Tragically, the transition back stole Jack's life away when he was still only a baby.
Then Summer Vacation came, and again I was given Jewel to babysit.
This time, I didn't bring her back. I would never let her go through that again.
With her new life came her new name, 寶石 (Bǎoshí) -- Gem. She was moved into a 75 gallon planted aquarium,and after a while she had a new brother, 金龍 (Jīnlóng).
Jīnlóng thrived and grew like a weed, having never been subjected to suffering, but Bǎoshí was still sickly, and suffered almost constantly with swim bladder disease. Her vet ruled out environmental factors, telling me that her water was perfect and her diet outstanding, but she wasn't healthy like her little brother.
For four years now, Bǎoshí has been fighting, and I've been fighting with her. But in the end it was all too much, and today she passed away.
I'm heartbroken. I was really hoping that one day we'd get her strong again, and she'd live out a long and full life. I miss her terribly.
Goodbye, my darling. I love you.
Ryukin have a much higher back and more compact body shape.
