We have a casualty

Sometime Friday night, after the power had been out 18 hours or so, we shone a flashlight into our fish tank. Its lone inhabitant, a big tough algae-eater of the variety collectively known as “pleco,” was pressed up against the glass next to the (nonworking of course) tank heater. We tried tapping the glass. No response. One member of the WSB Posse grew despondent. Another member offered a theory about cold-blooded creatures going dormant when temperatures dropped. So we decided not to declare The Fish dead until and unless we saw incontrovertible proof when the power came back on.

As of midday today, we have that proof. Seems The Fish had wedged itself between the heater and the tank wall as the water temperature fell, and as soon as we lifted the heater away, The Fish fell lifeless to the tank’s briny deep.

Tears and a backyard burial ensued. It was a tough fish, procured from Petco in The Junction about three years ago. It outlived more than a dozen aquarium-mates, for a variety of reasons (in some cases, we suspected homicide, er, fish-icide, and The Fish earned the nickname “Psycho Pleco”). If we venture into fish-caretaking again in the future, we will be sure to secure a backup power source for the tank, in case this sort of thing recurs. RIP, PP.

3 Replies to "We have a casualty"

  • dave December 18, 2006 (2:54 pm)

    we lost our daughter’s beta as well. no tears. just a “now we can get a guinea pig, right?”.

  • MFishpaw December 18, 2006 (8:35 pm)

    Condolences on the loss of your fishy. During the entire power outage we have been on a vigil for our sweet kitty-cat, Jessie, who is deteriorating quickly (kidney failure). Thank goodness we have a gas fireplace, and we were able to keep her relatively warm. What a weird week this has been. (Side note: we’re in North Admiral, and our power was finally restored this afternoon!)

  • Alki readers December 19, 2006 (10:44 am)

    From some loyal readers down in Alki, we offer our sincere condolences for the loss of your fishy family member.

    Further, we wanted to thank you very much for the WSB. Since discovering it a month or so ago at the recommendation of a neighbor, we have become regular readers and really appreciate your continuing communications. It’s great stuff: appropriate, current, useful, local stuff. Thanks!

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