Return to Magicland

At the end of last summer, my mother wrecked her car coming home from my cousin’s wedding. We had to take our oldest girl, Desiree, who was riding with her, to the hospital to be checked out. While we were there, our youngest, Heather, was delighted by the large fish tank in the hospital waiting room, so, of course, we had to get some fish ourselves.

I’d actually wanted to get some for a while, but this was as good a time as any. We picked out a 10 gallon starter tank, filter, etc. at Wal-Mart, and along with 3 goldfish (2 gold fan-tails and one calico comet) from the same source, we went home to set it up.

Everything went fine for a few days, then it looked like the 2 fantails had gotten into a fight or something, as their fins were damaged. A day later, one became a floater. Acting quickly, before our 4 year old noticed anyone was missing, I picked up a replacement at Petsmart, and also a nice white fantail with a red spot on its head.

Shortly afterwards, the other gold fantail went the way of its original brethren. This time our 4 year old noticed, but I told her the fish was sick, and I’d have to take it to the fish doctor. Back to Petsmart, another gold fantail, and I also picked up a black moore as well. About a week later, the black moore started acting funny and not eating, so I isolated him for a few days, and his appetite picked up again, However, after rejoining the community, it was only a matter of a few days before he too was a floater. Unfortunately, Petsmart didn’t have any more (either there was a big run on them, or all of theirs got sick and died as well, as they had over a dozen in the tank when I bought mine). Off to the “fish doctor” it went. A few days later I managed to get a replacment at the Petsmart in Eatontown, and since then, everyone has lived happily ever after.

Over the last year, the fish have grown quite a bit, and were much too large for their original 10 gallon tank. I finally found a good deal for a 26 gallon bowfront on craigslist, complete with filter, light, top and several other accessories, so yesterday it was time for the fish to move.

First, I had to take all the gravel out of the old tank, as I wanted to clean and re-use it in the new one. Of course, there was all sorts of junk down in the gravel that the vacuum doesn’t get out, so by the time the gravel was gone, the old tank was a horrible murky mess. As most of the junk was actually food, the fish probably enjoyed this, but it didn’t look good.

I put down all the air hose and bubblers in the new tank, then the old gravel mixed with another 25 lb. bag, and added in the old decorations as well as some of the ones I got with the new tank. It took a LOT more water than the old one did (the dish is in there so the gravel doesn’t get disturbed when the water is poured in).

Finally, I added some of the water from the old tank (despite it looking horrible, it contained necessary bacteria which helps break down the fish’s waste. It’d take at least a week for such bacteria to grow on their own without the old water). Then it was time for the fish to move (they didn’t really like that part). However, they seem much happier in their new home, with much more room to swim around, and more things to play with.