A Tale of Five Fish: Part 5 - Yet Another Update

Mac the Fish is still on his lonesome, although his tail has almost completely grown back now. However I don't think the top of his tail will ever completely grow back.

Anyway I thought as you had been tuning in throughout this saga you might like to actually see the survivor of The Terrifying Fish Tank 2010.

So without further ado may I present...MAC!

Now the red-orange background is just the wallpaper behind his tank. And the slight blotchy look to the picture is where the tank's exterior could do with being wiped down.

My mum wants to get some more fish however she has said if and when she does they will be put in quarantine for a while before they go in to the tank with Mac - I don't think he could stand a repeat performance!

A Tale of Five Fish: Part 4 - Another Update

It has just occured to me that maybe this 'saga' should now be called 'The Tale of One Fish'.

For any of you that are wondering - MAC THE FISH STILL LIVES!!!!!

His tail appears to be very slowly growing back, and he has a couple of black marks on it that are apparently a sign of healing.

Black marks can also mean a parasite but it is unlikely for three reasons:

1. They are too big and aren't uniform enough to be a parasite
2. Mac is still alive and a parasite would probably have killed him by now
3. Mac can't be that unlucky - to lose 4 tank mates, his tail and then get a parasite!

My mum won't buy any more fish though until his tail has regrown, just in case.

I suppose this story really has become a fishy tail! *groan*

A Tale of Five Fish: Part 3 - An Update

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the fish tank...

After my last tale about the fish tank I thought that was the end of it. Mac [the Knife Holmes] seemed a little depressed at first, skulking around in the bottom of the tank. Then he perked up and was dashing around the tank as happy as ever.

But then...

The other day we noticed something strange about him. The night before he had been fine and now...he was missing most of his tail!

It would appear that Mac [the Knife Holmes] has got fin rot. :-(

So we have treated the water in a bid to save him.

Poor fishy...he has lost almost all of his tail but on the plus side that was a few days ago now and it hasn't got any worse and it does not appear to have spread to the rest of his fins.

Lets hope though that we weren't too late...

A Tale of Five Fish: Part 2

So where were we? Oh yes, first Horatio had gone, then Gibbs and quick on his tail Grissom. And now there was another body at the bottom of the tank.

Was it Mac or was it Simon [Patrick Moriarty]?

It would seem that after all that had been, good had finally conquered evil in some way unknown to us mere human beings.

Simon [Patrick Moriarty] was the next to have died, his body getting wedged in one of the plastic flowers in the tank.

Clearly Mac must be a descendant of Sherlock Holmes...although I have now taken to calling him Mack the Knife.

Mac seems perfectly OK now but he has taken to drifting around the bottom of the tank...we think he's lonely without his crime investigating friends. However until we are sure that he is OK he will have to remain alone...poor Mac [the Knife Holmes].

On the plus side he doesn't have to fight to get food any more.

Now I am well aware that this is a slight anticlimax but what did you expect? They are fish. There wasn't going to be a struggle and tumble down a waterfall now was there? ;)

A Tale of Five Fish: Part 1

 For some time my mum's fish tank has stood in the corner of the living room. It's four inhabitants floating around in there, occasionally congregating near the front of the tank. A sign that they require food.
   
The large goldfish was named Gibbs, the slightly smaller one Horatio. The darker coloured fish was named Grissom [we couldn't call him Gil could we?] and the multi-coloured one was Mac. If you watch a lot of American crime shows, like we do, you'll understand where the names came from.
   
They seemed to live quite a happy life these four forensic team leaders. I joked that we should get some more fish. Three to be exact and name them: Langston, Castle and Patrick. Again US Crime fans will understand.
   
My sister and her boyfriend recently went to a fair, and on their return we found that they had won a small goldfish. Tiny little fish he is, only about an inch, maybe an inch and a half long. In comparison to his soon-to-be tank mates, he was practically microscopic.
 The next day he was placed in the tank and my sister's boyfriend was given the task of naming him. At first the name 'Shark Bait' was considered in reference to Nemo's nickname on Finding Nemo.
  
In the end it was decided that he would be called Simon. That's ok, I thought. Simon Baker is the actor who plays Patrick Jane in The Mentalist, so I thought he would fit in fairly well.
 Simon [Patrick] spent the first few days hiding in the corner of the tank, behind the pump, as the other fish continued on with their lives.
 In the bottom of the tank is a large ceramic skull [courtesy of my brother], which during his brave moments Simon [Patrick] would swim through before returning to his hidey hole.
   
All was well in the detective fish household. Until…
   
Without warning Horatio died. He was found at the bottom of the tank. So began the mission of staring at the fish to see if they were ok. It was noted that two of the others appeared to have a reddish colour developing on them – a possible sign of ammonia in the tank.
 This problem was dealt with and again the fish went on with their lives…only now with one less. Simon [Patrick] was now less inclined to hide in the corner and would happily swim round with the others
   
However a couple of days later, Gibbs was found to be unnaturally still next to the pump, up in Simon's [Patrick's] corner in fact. After much staring we came to the conclusion that Gibbs too had died, and been despatched to that great pond in the sky.
 Where's Mac? Is he ok? He seemed it – his patch of redness seemed to be fading. Simon [Patrick], where's he?
Oh, hiding in the skull how cute. Now what about Grissom? Grissom did not appear to be all that well. He seemed ok in spirit but his scales were taking on a whitish colour…a possible sign of some kind of parasite in the tank.
   
That night Grissom was found dead. We were then looking at Simon [Patrick] in a new light. The four fish were fine until he came along. The cuteness of him hiding in the ceramic skull was replaced with something more sinister. Was he hatching his evil plans in there? Was he trying to get the tank to himself?
 I have suggested that if we get any more fish we should name two of them Holmes and Poirot so, should anything like this happen again, they have two of the greatest detectives of all time to help solve the mystery – before it's too late.
   
Maybe we should consider changing Simon's [Patrick's] name to Moriarty.
   
I returned home from work the other day and the two survivors were swimming around quite happily. However an hour later there was a body at the bottom of the tank.
   
Whose was it?
   
To be continued...tomorrow!