Well, Now I've Committed Murder.
Yesterday evening I went up to my office to clean my saltwater tank that I keep up there.
In the tank I have a large piece of fake coral as one of the directions. I turned it on its side to clean the gravel under it, then put it back upright.
A few hours later I noticed that my spotted hawkfish was missing. After checking the usual hiding places, it hit me that I forgot to make sure no one had swum up inside the coral before I put it upright. I lifted the coral and out dropped the hawkfish -- dead.
Unsure whether I had crushed it or if it had asphyxiated after so long in a confined space, I attempted Fish CPR on it with a gentle but rapid compression of its body as I moved the fish rapidly through the water to get oxygen across its gills. But no luck, I called the code and pronounced the fish dead at 10:22pm last night.
Burial was in commode #2 of the 15th floor men's restroom in Commerce Tower.
I briefly flirted with the idea of not flushing just to create a surprise for someone on Monday, but decided in the end to respect the dignity of the fish and pull the handle.
I'm a lousy fish-dad.
Comments
I am sorry for your loss.
It was indeed a sad weekend in the fish world--a friend of mine in London asked me to visit his house in Parkville to assist with a problem tank, but when I called the house it was already too late--all the pacu's had died.
I'm going to get him a betta.
Posted by: Jeff | August 7, 2006 07:27 AM