Last year at school, one of the goldfish in our classroom was attacking the other goldfish so he needed to be separated from them. I wanted a fish for home so I took him in and named him Bully. We called him Bull for short (plus, it sounded tougher). He was the most spoiled goldfish in town, I think. He had a whole 7 gallon tank, fancy dual-filtration system and various decor in his “cage” (as we called it). Eventually we got an algae eater to keep the growth down in the tank but Bull did attack him a bit and now FishFace (the algae eater) is missing some of his tail fins. Bull has also annihilated two snails in the past year. He was not a nice fish.

The thing was, when I originally wanted a goldfish at home, I wanted two of those pretty fan tailed goldfishes that look so cute in the tanks at Petsmart. I used to have one like that - black with the bulging eyes - who lived in the outdoor pond that my dad built at the house I grew up in. I named him Bubbles. If I stuck my fingers in the water and splashed a little bit, he’d come up and “dance” around my fingertips. I also had him trained to eat from my fingers. That was cool. He was a pretty fish.

So anyway, last week, the algae was getting out of control in Bull and FishFace’s tank so I took it all apart and gave it all a thorough cleaning. In the process of transferring the fish in and out of their tank for the cleaning, I must’ve injured Bull somehow. It looked like he had an infected scale on his side the day after I returned them to their newly-cleaned home. Later that night, I found him lifeless and had to conduct a burial at sea. I’m sorry that Bull died. But I am glad that now it means I can have the two pretty-tailed fish that I wanted!

Now we have those two. One is black like the aforementioned Bubbles — this new one’s name is Marley — and the other is white with gold and black speckled spots all over — her name is Calypso. They’re tiny compared to the gargantuan Bull had turned into. And I think FishFace is safer with these two around.

I know what you’re probably thinking….you’re thinking, “This chick is nuts! Who gets so excited over freaking FISH?!!?” Well, the answer to that question is: ME! And my dad. I inherited my love of fish and plants from my dad. He and I can waste hours just talking about both subjects in detail: how to water, feed, change, clean, propagate (the plants, not the fish), etc. So, here’s to you, dad, for teaching me all the wonders of fish and plant care in the home!

P.S. Did you know I am always working on Feng Shui’ing our home? The fish tank has been set up prominantly in the CENTER section of our home, providing the constant movement of chi and now, instead of a singular mean bully fish, we have two, cute and loving (A PAIR — like me and Honey!) of fish in the CENTER. Horray!