Cured! Ick be gone

It appears that a week of intense medicinal treatment has rid our fish of the dread fungus Ick, which so far has claimed the life of one fish and affected the health of countless others.

"We are concerned but hopeful," said the tank veterinarian, who prefers to remain anonymous.

Toby: Rest in Peace

Toby the catfish died Tuesday after a brief struggle against the Ick fungus.
Private services were held Tuesday evening for the little fish that loved his corner, and who stayed there almost until the end.
"Toby will always be remembered for the energy he brought to the tank," said one fish mourner. "He will never be forgotten."

ICK! Disease infiltrates aquarium

As often happens among newly established aquariums, an outbreak of ick has turned our community aquarium into a hospice for ailing fish. Among the most critically injured is Toby the catfish, who at this hour is resting comfortably in the Quarantine Zone. His hospital room is filled with enough medication to treat the entire aquarium.

Such a radical treatment is really the only hope for Toby, who has already lost his whiskers to the dread infestation. Ick are tiny white parasites. They most commonly occur among fish who are under stress, such as fish that have recently moved to a new environment. Our aquarium was pre-treated with an ick preventative, but such measures are obviously far from fool-proof.

"I'm deeply concerned," said one fish-watcher who prefers to remain anonymous. "Toby is near death, and all of our fish have been exposed. We could lose everyone over this. They could all be dead tomorrow."

Frog's secret life as a supermodel

There were little hints. The sparkling blue eyes. The trim figure. The adoring fans.
But on Wednesday, with a diagnosis of anorexia nervosa, the truth was clear -- Frank "Blue Eyes" Platt the Frog is a supermodel!

"There's no denying that he's a hot amphibian," said Chloe, a toad from Gardner, Kansas. "He can hop onto my lilly pad anytime."

Frog owner Rachel is concerned about the frog's lack of appetite.

"At first I thought he just didn't like the food I was offering," Rachel said. "I mean, nobody looks at a bloodworm and says, 'Yum, yum, gimme some of that!'"

Powder snuffed out

Just to be fashionable, Dana's goldfish Powder also died over the weekend. Powder jumped from his bowl and was discovered dead on the floor this morning.

The suicide occurred on the same weekend that two mollies died in the big aquarium.

"This is a clear case of a nerdy fish trying to emulate the cool fish and failing miserably," said an unnamed guppy.

Police initially suspected Powder's involvement in a murder-murder-suicide but has since come to the conclusion that the suicide was unrelated to the molly madness.

Good golly, dead Mollies! Two fish die during first weekend

Our aquarium community was stunned to discover the partially-eaten corpses of two mollies this morning. Coral, a female marble molly, and Darf, a male black molly, were found dead near the right-front corner of the aquarium.

Both corpses were removed and, following aquarium ritual, were immediately flushed. No autopsies were performed, but the medical examiner cited "natural causes" as the official cause of death for both fish.

"We observed some abnormally distressed breathing patterns coming from Coral on Friday," the tankkeeper said Monday, "but we attributed that to stress caused by chasing Darf around the aquarium, as she often did with Aubrey, the other marble molly."

Aubrey and Fatty, the surviving mollies, appear unfazed by the weekend deaths of their fellow mollies. All other fish (and frog) appeared in good health today.

Day two and we're fine: how 'bout you?

Well, we made it through our first night in the new aquarium. And to think those punks at PetSmart said we'd be floating upside down by morning. What do they know?

We have all been busy marking our territory. Irwin the Bala Shark is really the only adventurer in the bunch. Fatty and Frozone like to hang near the heater and plant. What hiders they are! Frog and the loaches cling to the bottom for the most part. Then there's Toby the catfish shark. Why does he keep swimming up and down the far right corner of the aquarium? Talk about an exercise in futility.

We gained a few new members today at lunch-time, too.

One Fish, Two Fish the neon tetras, owned by Cari Heelan.
Luke and Leia the blue dwarf gourami, owned by Wade Sisson.

I am Andy's loach, and my name is the artist formerly known as Phish. I even have my own symbol.  

Tracy Benbrook is very proud of me. I'm her loach. My name is Whino. 

We are zebra danios owned by Traci "with an i" Robinson and Sarah McMeans. We need names.

I am Fatty Arbuckle the Big Bellied Molly. Cari is my owner. 

I'm Leia, one of the dwarf gouramis. My brother Luke and I love our new home. Wade is our master. 

We're neon tetras named One Fish, Two Fish. Cari is our proud owner. 

I'm too busy swimming to talk. (Toby the catfish shark, owned by Eric) 

Hi, there! This is Darf the black Molly. Tim bought me and brought me here. 

I'm a ghost catfish named FroZone. Nourisha is my owner. 

My name is Frank "Blue Eyes" Platt, and Rachel is my owner. I'm an African Dwarf Frog. 

My name is Irwin the Bala Shark. My owner is Jamon.  

My name is Luke. Welcome to our aquarium community. 

First impressions

Yesterday we said goodbye to old fish friends, sending our goldfish off for a new start in Brad Beach's garden pond. We also said hello to some new fish friends, courtesy of the nearest PetSmart. More than 10 of us journeyed to the pet stores at 3 p.m. with lists, ideas, hopes and dreams about the kind of fish we wanted. Some of us were elated -- Rachel got a frog! Some of us were excited -- Jamon and Eric got "sharks." Some of us were disappointed -- Andy and Cari's big fish was declined (it would eat the others).

Our PetSmart helpers were not so pleased with our zeal -- or our numbers. Too many fish, too fast, they said. I finally had to take one of them aside and said, "Look, I've been keeping fish for years. It's going to be fine. Stop killing our buzz." And so it was.

We left with lots of great new additions to our community aquarium, including:

Irwin the bala shark, owned by Jamon Abercrombie.
Frank "Blue Eyes" Platt the African dwarf frog, owned by Rachel Platt.
Frozone the glass catfish, owned by Nourisha Wells.
Whino the looach, owned by Tracy Benbrook.
Unnamed loach, owned by Andy Schiller.
Darf the black molly, owned by Tim Baxter.
Toby the catfish, owned by Eric Bowlin.
Aubrey and Coral the marble mollies, by Terri Spears and Andrea Turner, respectively.
Fatty Arbuckle the Balloon Belly Molly. owned by Cari Heelan.