For Cole's 5th birthday, he got a 4-gallon BiOrb fish tank and got to pick out two fish for it. I had done intense research (of course) about the various tanks. I had to weigh in several factors including the major one which was the limited space he had in his room for it. I was drawn to the Baby BiOrb (the picture above is it but not Cole's specifically) for its aesthetic appeal and I had read a ton of reviews about its ease of cleaning which knowing I'd be the one responsible for this task sealed the deal. It had room for decorative features and a cool subtle nightlight which would allow Cole to watch his fish once lights were out each evening.
Gigi and Pop Pop were in town for his birthday and were witness to Cole opening up the box the day before to set the tank up and fill it to allow for the water to filter for 24 hours before bringing its new occupants home. We headed off to the pet store the next day and we learned a lot in 20 minutes about what types of fish worked well together, what ones didn't grow much, which ones did well in cooler water and which ones had a relatively longer life span. Cole picked out two Platys and named them Duggan and Scout (he couldn't come up with names so he asked mom for help. Both of those names were on our list when we tossed around monikers for Tucker years ago).
We allowed Duggan and Scout to acclimate and also set up a heater for the tank learning that the water had to be around 70 degrees. We keep our house 60-65 degrees during the day in the winter so not having a heater wasn't an option. Cole's new friends were bit sluggish the first 48 hours and I kept anxiously checking on them but the shock wore off and they were darting around by day 3. Cole was very excited to feed them each day.
Sadly on day 18 (3 days past the pet store warranty), I found Duggan at the bottom of tank. Duggan was fine at 4pm but not so by 6:30pm. I always thought deceased fish floated to the top and then learned that they sink initially. "Oh boy", I thought when the reality of the discussion that was forthcoming flooded my brain. I softly told Cole that something had happened to Duggan. The look on his face as he raced into his room brought tears to my eyes. I told him that Duggan had died and that we needed to get him out of the tank. He ran from his room, with tears running down his face. After putting Duggan in a cup, I went out to Cole to comfort him. He said he wanted to bury him and I explained that Duggan loved the water so it might be better to flush him. Cole yelled out "no, mommy, he'll go to where the poopy goes". I wasn't sure how to reply to that so I just said "well buddy, yes technically that is true but he'll eventually make it out to open water". We waited for Dave to come home and Cole didn't want to be there for Duggan's "ceremony" so quietly Duggan went.
I had told Cole that we could get another fish as he was worried that Scout was lonely. So we headed back to the pet store two days later. On the car ride over, Cole began peppering me with "hey mom, can I get two more fish?". I said "no, we just need to replace Duggan, okay". I could see him pondering my response carefully as I glanced at him in the rear view mirror. As we pulled into the parking lot, he pipes up "so, Mom, I think we need to get two more fish because what if Scout needs to take a rest and the new Duggan wants to play. If I had three fish then someone would always want to play. So what do you think about that!?"
We walked out with a "new" Duggan and his pal Henry. :-)
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