RIP Earl

About this time two years ago, Jon and I brought two $2.99-each, "fancy" goldfish into our home, Jazzy and Earl. Jazzy didn't last long, nor did Dart, nor did Franklin (the two goldfish friends we bought for Earl after each one subsequently died). We weren't sure if Earl was killing off his "friends" or if he had some deadly disease afflicting his tank-mates... After Franklin, we decided Earl needed to live alone for awhile. He didn't seem to mind, as this meant all the food went to him. He would always get especially excited when you talked to him - his body would wriggle expectantly to the top of the water.

Well, Earl started having some health issues. We tried about four different "tank" situations - first just a round bowl, then a fancy filtered set-up tank, then a large hurricane glass, then just a shallow glass bowl. He would get sick, we'd remove him from the tank and thoroughly clean it, and continue to medicate him in a shallow plastic tupperware. He'd recover, and we'd put him into a pre-medicated tank. He'd inevitably get sick again, and we'd repeat the process. His final "tank" was the shallow glass bowl, as it seemed to most closely mimic his environment in the plasticware in which he best recuperated.

Today Jon informed me of the news we had anticipated for the past several months - Earl was dead.

I have to say, after all of this, goldfish are MUCH more high maintanence than hermit crabs. We spent money on fish aquarium set-ups, food and antibiotics, and spent cumulative hours cleaning and fretting over our $2.99 fish. My hermit crabs only require water, food, and the occasional wettened sand and cleaning. But sometimes I forget they're even there - and they're fine. Happily surviving without issues. I think we will be a fish-less family for awhile now.

Rest in peace, Earl - well-fed in your warm, spacious pond in the sky. Maybe with other goldfish friends... unless you had been killing them because you prefer to be a loner.