Originally intended to document my experience of DeLorean ownership, focus is often radical and strange, boring and obtuse.

Friday, February 16, 2007

So Fragile

He went belly-up, literally.My 50 gallon aquarium is home, primarily, to Sir Glubsalot, my Sailfin Gibbiceps pleco from South America. He is one-and-a-half feet long (a bit longer than a keyboard) and 5 inches wide. 2007 marks his 13th birthday. I doubt I will have a party for him, although, I might pour some Jack Daniels into the tank for him.

But I also have some smaller fishies which I take care of as well. I think a lot of people take fish-owning too lightly. If a $3.00 fish dies, the consensus is usually “who cares? He was only $3.00.” He then rides the porcelain bus down into the city’s bowels as a final farewell.

I feel differently. Just like any pet, I am responsible for their lives. I am responsible for the environment they live in, and if they suffer, it’s entirely my fault.

When we returned from our trip, I decided to relive my childhood by purchasing a pair of dwarf underwater frogs to enhance the lives of the small amount of fish I have. I didn’t realize this was an instant death sentence.

My filter is an Aquaclear 200. Although it’s a reasonably powerful filter, I have, on a regular basis, watched it struggle to pull even the smallest shit particles in. Any living creature with fins or webbed feet could escape its pull.

Sadly, Frog #2 wasn’t so lucky. It’s not that he couldn’t resist the pull of the filter, but rather, an unfortunate case of bad luck.

One day, after work, I discovered his lifeless body wedged into the filter tube, head first. My conclusion? He either had a catastrophic webbed-foot malfunction, or, swimming up to the surface for air, he must have slipped into the suction of the filter and swam straight up into it.

Hopefully, he died instantly, and didn’t suffer. Suffering sucks.

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8 Comments:

Blogger mmat said...

truely a sad story. my frogs do not have a filter, so we change the water in their tank quite frequently. but also, i think our frogs are a bit bigger than yours - about the size of a loonie, so i don't think they'd be swallowed by the filter if we did have one. i think they're somewhere around 5 years old now.

9:05:00 PM

 
Blogger Ellie Creek Ellis said...

umm, was he helping Nemo to escape?

Sorry for your frog, he is so little...I'm sure you felt bad. Did you bury him?

12:45:00 PM

 
Blogger Rainypete said...

That's a bit of a crummy welcome back. If he was coming up for air then at least it was a quick end.

12:38:00 AM

 
Blogger Ellie Creek Ellis said...

poor little guy, just look at those arms and feet! :o( you need to blog something happy or i'm going to cry for that dang little guy!

3:33:00 PM

 
Blogger X said...

That's sad :( But that's a freaking small frog! It actually freaks me out a little :P

12:36:00 AM

 
Blogger Martini said...

In an attempt to get something happy on here, and stop everbody from freaking, I won't blog about the burial and the 128 frogs, toads and salamanders who showed up to pay their respects to Denis. You know, Denis Hopper.

11:00:00 AM

 
Blogger Ellie Creek Ellis said...

har har har. boooooooo
hissssssssssssss

time time time for a new post!

2:28:00 PM

 
Blogger Louisiana said...

i'm sorry. my condolences and my daughter Weesie's too. she loves animals and reptiles even more so. it doesn't matter if an animal is worth .25 or 1000000..the treasure is the joy of what they give us. how wonderful of you to see it that way. you are such a sweetie. that sounds like a heck of an aquarium. And Sir G is some fish, wooo, he is magestic alright..

9:54:00 PM

 

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