Second Chances

This is an update to the April 23 post titled "Questions" - http://isfulloflife.blogspot.com/2013/04/questions.html

UPDATE – May 31, 2013 – Five Weeks Later

Five weeks ago you may have read about a mystery in our house.  We had suspicions that something fishy was going on in with our carp.  We had three separate but consecutive deaths in our aquarium with only one witness, and he wasn’t talking.  We obviously had questions about his role in the mishaps but could find no proof.

With only circumstantial evidence, we could not convict our goldfish, Gary, to life in prison for murder.  (My daughter changed her mind about his gender – once again we think he really is a Gary.)  Since we couldn’t declare his innocence either, we agreed upon a sort of probation.  We would give him a few weeks of solitary confinement to work through any problems he may have had.  Who knows what might have pushed him over the edge; anger management issues, a traumatic fry-hood, frustration over gender confusion?  Whatever it was we hoped that time for reflection would solve the problem.

After a month of confinement he had earned our confidence with his mellow behavior. Once again we ventured down to the Feed & Seed to find a hearty companion for Gary.  Selecting this carp was no easy task.  Most of the goldfish tanks were filled with smallish, frail looking fish that could not defend themselves against a large and menacing goggle-eyed fantail.  At last we found a tank with larger egg-shaped fish that looked seasoned enough to share an aquarium with our rough-and-tumble bully (at five times the price, of course).

We brought it home and floated the large plastic bag in Gary’s tank so they could acquaint themselves from behind the barrier.  So far, so good.  After a few minutes we let the new white fish with the bright red bulge on its head explore the tank and meet Gary.  This carp was slightly larger than Gary so we were confident.

For the first day Gary chased and goosed the new fish, but it didn’t seem to mind.  That’s when Ella decided that Gary-etta was acting like an alpha-male and we could call him Gary again.  She also insisted that we not name the new fish until we could observe personality and gender characteristics…we didn’t want to make a mistake.

After a week this is what I know:  They are both aggressive eaters, which is good.  Aside from Ella’s initial reports that Gary was shoving the new fish against the filter tube, they appear to have settled down and are coexisting just fine.  I don’t know if Gary is cured of his violent tendencies, or if he is too busy belly-laughing at the new fish’s hideous “hat” to make trouble?

 

Although Ella hasn’t given final word on the gender of this new pet and therefore has not named IT, I’m beginning to think it’s a bad-ass SHE by the way she is unwilling to flatter Gary by allowing him alpha status.  She deserves a strong and beautiful name.

In conclusion, it appears that felonious goldfish can, indeed, be rehabilitated and returned to society.  We cannot yet determine whether Gary will be a productive member of this society, but we have faith in his goodness.

Fish may be larger or smaller than they appear.  Do you know how hard it is to get two goldfish to pose for the camera at the same time?