Day 4 on fishwatch
Not a good day. Yesterday I had to remove three dead fish from the tank. Obviously something was seriously wrong with the water, but damned if I knew what.
So I hauled out the testing kit, also known as hell in a box. Memories of high school chemistry came flooding back as I was faced with a pipette, test tubes and at least four booklets all containing different chemical symbols on their covers. My brain started to hurt.
I tested for pH. I tested for nitrites. I tested for nitrates. I tested for ammonia. I did all these tests, read the results admiring the pretty colours in the test tubes and still didn’t have a sodding clue what it all meant.
If your pH is X do Y. Unless of course your ammonia levels are Z in which case do A. Oh my god. After just about burning a hole through my skull with the intensity of my thinking, I finally deduced that the water was too alkaline and that the nitrites were off the chart high. That required me to remove 20% of the tank water, treat new water, add something that helps get rid of nitrites and refill the tank slowly so as not to upset the fish.
This all sounds dead easy in theory, but how much stuff to add to the water was the next conundrum. It was an impossible task and I eventually just guessed as well as I could. I held my breath and waited.
By late afternoon we had another fish casualty. Last night the boys wanted to say a prayer for the dead fish (we have fishy heaven on speed dial at the moment.) I prayed quite fervently for the rest of the fish to survive.
Apparently my prayers didn’t get through.
This morning I approached the tank with trepidation. It was carnage. Dead fish all over the place. Whatever I had done was obviously wrong. Not surprising really given the marks I got for chemistry at school.
I once again got my trusty fish net out and scooped out the little dead bodies. Ten in all. Including two that had been stuck inside the rock cave for several days and which had turned nice and mouldy. Gag. Gag. Aack.
The only good thing to come out of this exercise in mass murder is my ability to now face dead fish. I’ve stared my phobia straight in its goggly eyes and come out on the other side. The boys too have learned a valuable lesson. Things die. That’s life. And fish suck.
So despite having a To Do list that runs to several pages, I shall once again be taking time out of my packed schedule to continue ‘Operation: Saving Nemo’. I will have to find a suitable container to fill with fish tank water to take to the fish shop so that they can test it and tell me where I’m obviously going very wrong. Let’s hope that the remaining 7 fish don’t cop it in the interim.
If they do I shall be cutting up carrots in the shape of goldfish and popping them into the tank instead. Am sure the boys won’t notice the difference….
5 comments March 5th, 2009
