R.I.P. Kink, Blackie & Sir Faints-a-Lot
A number of years ago, I've forgotten how many now but probably around 5 or so,bardicstorm and I decided we wanted a fish tank. Just a small 10 gallon tank and a few fish. So we went to the pet store, bought the tank, and looked at some fish to decide what we wanted. We looked at the iridescent sharks and fell in love with their look. So after we got the tank running we went back to the store and talked to the guy about them.. how big would they get? "Oh, about 3" each" we were told. Perfect! Three 3" fish in a ten gallon tank, SOLD!
The guy warned us that the iridescents might "faint" when we put them in, and lo and behold, one of them did. Hello, Sir Faints-a-Lot. Another had a different tail then the other two, rounder and and bent a bit, hello Kink. The last was the darkest of them so naturally he became Blackie. And life in the tank was good.
Until the inevitable happened - they startedto grow - outrageously! So we looked them up and found out that iridescent sharks do not get 3" long... they grow to be 3 FEET long. The words "oh shit" applied here. So my parent's got us a bigger tank - 30 gallons and life in the tank was happy again. We got a couple of Plecostomus who did their job a bit too well and got just as huge, but eventually passed on like fish tend to do.
Our three continued to grow. One of them to over a foot, we measured one day. And for awhile it seemed like they'd be ok. But then what we feared did happen. They started to freak out constantly, battering themselved against the wall of the tank and the lid, injuring themselves badly. Then this last weekend we realized that they were dying after all these years. That the too small tank and our inexperience was killing them slowly.
So yesterday bardicstorm did the right thing and euthanized them. They are buried in the woods in back of our house now, and finally will be swimming in a pond big enough for them. I am sorry Kink, Blackie & Sir Faints-a-lot. I wish we could have done what others have done and gotten the 900 gallon tank you needed. I wish the store had not lied to us about you. We raised you for 5ish years, which is a long time I know, but I still feel terrible that we couldn't give you the full life I guess you are capable of.
R.I.P. Kink, Blackie and Sir Faints-a-lot and know that the lesson you taught us about researching first will be heeded. I know we did our best by you and I know the end was the right thing to do also. We will get small fish now at some point. Small fish, for beginners and we will honor your memory that way.
The guy warned us that the iridescents might "faint" when we put them in, and lo and behold, one of them did. Hello, Sir Faints-a-Lot. Another had a different tail then the other two, rounder and and bent a bit, hello Kink. The last was the darkest of them so naturally he became Blackie. And life in the tank was good.
Until the inevitable happened - they startedto grow - outrageously! So we looked them up and found out that iridescent sharks do not get 3" long... they grow to be 3 FEET long. The words "oh shit" applied here. So my parent's got us a bigger tank - 30 gallons and life in the tank was happy again. We got a couple of Plecostomus who did their job a bit too well and got just as huge, but eventually passed on like fish tend to do.
Our three continued to grow. One of them to over a foot, we measured one day. And for awhile it seemed like they'd be ok. But then what we feared did happen. They started to freak out constantly, battering themselved against the wall of the tank and the lid, injuring themselves badly. Then this last weekend we realized that they were dying after all these years. That the too small tank and our inexperience was killing them slowly.
So yesterday bardicstorm did the right thing and euthanized them. They are buried in the woods in back of our house now, and finally will be swimming in a pond big enough for them. I am sorry Kink, Blackie & Sir Faints-a-lot. I wish we could have done what others have done and gotten the 900 gallon tank you needed. I wish the store had not lied to us about you. We raised you for 5ish years, which is a long time I know, but I still feel terrible that we couldn't give you the full life I guess you are capable of.
R.I.P. Kink, Blackie and Sir Faints-a-lot and know that the lesson you taught us about researching first will be heeded. I know we did our best by you and I know the end was the right thing to do also. We will get small fish now at some point. Small fish, for beginners and we will honor your memory that way.