Saturday, February 2, 2013

The Black Plague and a Hopeful Revival

Nefertiti

Messala
Akhenaten

RIP

I have countless tragic deaths to report. My tank was stricken with an untreatable, deathly disease. Fish after fish, The Aquatic Kingdom nearly fell to ruin. It started out with the unnamed (let's call him Sparta) fish. He died the night after I got him, the next day, I noticed Constantine was acting very strange. His mouth seemed to be stuck open. He was hiding and staying close to the heater. That night, I found him floating around. He appeared to be dead, but as I got out my net, he twitched! He was alive! What could I do? He was paralyzed and beyond my ability to help. It was so very miserable and painful to watch him suffer. I later found him dead, discolored and still. Because I had gotten both the fish only two days before, I brought the corpses to Petco for a refund/exchange. I didn't leave with any new fish. The next week, I lost the two baby Pachuses. They exhibited similar symptoms, so I did some research and found out it was incurable  A couple days later, the last and oldest Pachus died, also showing the same symptoms. I was devastated. I couldn't bear to buy more fish. The ground was frozen solid so (like Hades) I froze the bodies. Just as I was beginning to recover, yet another died. This is probably the most tragic and heartbreaking death yet---- this morning I found our dear Xerxes dead. Unlike the others, he showed absolutely no symptoms. He was the favorite of many, with his adorable mustache and 'hair'. He was one of the original fish, and probably the most dear to my heart. We will miss him. Okay, so are you feeling really sad now? Because now I have some good news! I welcomed three new guppies today! Their names are Nefertiti, Akhenaten, and Messala (From Ben-Hur)  I am most hopeful that they will live long, happy lives in my tank.

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