Poor Fishes

well, I finally had to break down and clean the fish tank. The algae was getting its own glow on the front and I couldn't take it anymore. I wasn't able to find the correct charcoal and sponge filter, so just rinsed them out, but replaced 1/3 of the water and used my brand new gravel cleaner to suck up some crap. The fish are surely traumatized, especially the two that didn't make it. OOOOPS!

It began with me taking out 1/3 of the water so I could put my arms in to do stuff and not slosh too much. The fish were getting in the way of the gravel cleaner and I couldn't see what the hell I was doing. So I took out the plants and ceramic decor...little did I know that with one of the plants came a fish. Poor guy spent the afternoon in a Wal-Mart bag - and when I replaced the plants out of it again, I didn't see him in there, threw the bag back on the floor and proceeded to step on it a bunch of times while running to the tap to refill the tank. OOOPS. So he was rather squished. I had also attempted to capture the fish to get them out of the way but was only able to get 5 of them...one got stuck in the net and I didn't see him until I was putting the fish back. OOOPS. He died too.

So after considerable MESS, two deaths, much panic and anxiety, and complete trauma to my remaining fish...the tank is now clean..er. So I called up to the pet store in Halifax, and coordinated with a friend who is in the city this weekend to pick me up some filters and a few new fish. They like to school with their own kind in groups of at least 3 so I need to replace them.

What a friggin ordeal!