Fish is Dead, RIP Fish

 

In September 2006, at St. Monica’s final Octoberfair parish fair, we won a goldfish in the classic parish fair ping-pong ball in the fish bowl game. Last weekend, 18 years later, that fish, known as Fish-Fish or just Fish for short, crossed the rainbow bridge. This hearty fish lived his 18 years in a cubic foot of water on our kitchen counter.

Fish was small when he started his time with us. Here he is in December 2007, just over a year old.

Fish in December 2007

 

Fish had quite a personality. For a fish. He would greet us each morning and evening at feeding time. Once, when I was traveling and my wife had forgotten to feed him, he banged against the side of his tank to get her attention. Here he is in 2010.

Fish in June, 2010

 

As he grew, I had to reduce the number of plastic plants in his tank. By 2017 he was much larger and was down to one plant.

Fish in February 2017, still with plastic plants

Perhaps you wonder what Fish did all day. He mostly moved the rocks around in his tank. He did sleep, hanging vertically in the water without moving. We knew his time was coming when he began to slowly move upside down when he was sleeping. Here is a short video of Fish enjoying tending his rocks.

I cleaned the tank about once every five weeks. I started taking pictures of Fish and his cleaned tank so I could keep track of when I had last cleaned it. Here is Fish last month, in his ultimate romp around a clean tank.

Fish in September, 2024

RIP Fish Fish, September 2006 – October 2024.

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  1. Jimmy Carter Member
    Jimmy Carter
    @JimmyCarter

    You didn’t replace Him so the Family wouldn’t notice, like on tv shows?

    • #1
  2. Clavius Thatcher
    Clavius
    @Clavius

    Jimmy Carter (View Comment):

    You didn’t replace Him so the Family wouldn’t notice, like on tv shows?

    Where would I find another 18-year old goldfish?

    Also, he died while we were away and we heard the news from our pet nanny.  So everyone heard.

    I think Mrs. C is relieved.

    • #2
  3. Judge Mental Member
    Judge Mental
    @JudgeMental

    Clavius (View Comment):

    Jimmy Carter (View Comment):

    You didn’t replace Him so the Family wouldn’t notice, like on tv shows?

    Where would I find another 18-year old goldfish?

    Also, he died while we were away and we heard the news from our pet nanny. So everyone heard.

    I think Mrs. C is relieved.

    A square foot of prime counter space?  She no doubt has plans for that.

    From the title, I thought you had gotten a replacement.

    • #3
  4. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Judge Mental (View Comment):
    From the title, I thought you had gotten a replacement.

    Ditto.

    • #4
  5. Clavius Thatcher
    Clavius
    @Clavius

    Judge Mental (View Comment):

    Clavius (View Comment):

    Jimmy Carter (View Comment):

    You didn’t replace Him so the Family wouldn’t notice, like on tv shows?

    Where would I find another 18-year old goldfish?

    Also, he died while we were away and we heard the news from our pet nanny. So everyone heard.

    I think Mrs. C is relieved.

    A square foot of prime counter space? She no doubt has plans for that.

    From the title, I thought you had gotten a replacement.

    I suppose the title does suggest that.

    There is a parish fair coming up at our current parish, Visitation.  They will have a goldfish game….

    • #5
  6. Clavius Thatcher
    Clavius
    @Clavius

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Judge Mental (View Comment):
    From the title, I thought you had gotten a replacement.

    Ditto.

    Hmm.  Perhaps I should edit the title.

    • #6
  7. Clavius Thatcher
    Clavius
    @Clavius

    Title changed.

    • #7
  8. GLDIII Purveyor of Splendid Malpropisms Reagan
    GLDIII Purveyor of Splendid Malpropisms
    @GLDIII

    Well now that he has gone to the great fish bowl in the sky, does that mean he can start voting for the Democrats now?

    • #8
  9. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    GLDIII Purveyor of Splendid Ma… (View Comment):

    Well now that he has gone to the great fish bowl in the sky, does that mean he can start voting for the Democrats now?

    Whether he wants to or not, and he was over 18.

    • #9
  10. Gossamer Cat Coolidge
    Gossamer Cat
    @GossamerCat

    I am sorry for the death of Mr. Fish.  He lived a long life though and I am impressed.  Someday I will tell you our Church fair ping pong gold fish story, but this is a time for remembering Mr. Fish and your many years together.  

    • #10
  11. Clavius Thatcher
    Clavius
    @Clavius

    Gossamer Cat (View Comment):

    I am sorry for the death of Mr. Fish. He lived a long life though and I am impressed. Someday I will tell you our Church fair ping pong gold fish story, but this is a time for remembering Mr. Fish and your many years together.

    I look forward to hearing your story.

    • #11
  12. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    All I can think of it, why on Earth didn’t he get much larger tanks over time?

    • #12
  13. Gary McVey Contributor
    Gary McVey
    @GaryMcVey

    A fine and oddly moving post. 

    The Irish do believe in emotional funerals and memorial services and yet we usually leaven the bitter herbs with laughter, to mix my ethnic metaphors. 

    In the Thirties and Forties, IIRC, Rep. Hamilton Fish was a New York congressman. Some will recall FDR making fun of his name in a campaign speech denouncing Republicans. He repeatedly intoned their names with mock solemnity, each time getting a bigger laugh: “Marton…Barton….(longer pause) and Fish”. That’s the context. 

    A waggish proofreader at a New York paper swapped the congressman’s picture into a story about a rare tropical fish on display. The editor got an angry call and started to apologize. “Congressman Fish, we fired the man who did this, and we’re sorry–”  The voice at the other end of the phone sputtered,  “Congressman Fish?? This is tropical fish!” and hung up. 

    • #13
  14. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    • #14
  15. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Clavius (View Comment):

    Gossamer Cat (View Comment):

    I am sorry for the death of Mr. Fish. He lived a long life though and I am impressed. Someday I will tell you our Church fair ping pong gold fish story, but this is a time for remembering Mr. Fish and your many years together.

    I look forward to hearing your story.

    I’ll have to ask Mrs R to tell us again the story of the people who never forgave our pastor (now deceased) for giving away goldfish as part of one of his Sunday childrens’ sermons.   I don’t remember the details myself. 

    • #15
  16. Clavius Thatcher
    Clavius
    @Clavius

    kedavis (View Comment):

    All I can think of it, why on Earth didn’t he get much larger tanks over time?

    Two reasons. 

    1) There was no room on the counter.

    2) If he got a bigger tank he would just get bigger.

    • #16
  17. Clavius Thatcher
    Clavius
    @Clavius

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    Clavius (View Comment):

    Gossamer Cat (View Comment):

    I am sorry for the death of Mr. Fish. He lived a long life though and I am impressed. Someday I will tell you our Church fair ping pong gold fish story, but this is a time for remembering Mr. Fish and your many years together.

    I look forward to hearing your story.

    I’ll have to ask Mrs R to tell us again the story of the people who never forgave our pastor (now deceased) for giving away goldfish as part of one of his Sunday childrens’ sermons. I don’t remember the details myself.

    Come now, the goldfish in all these cases, Fish included, are all feeder fish. They are bred to be fed to carnivorous fish.  So if they die in a bowl at home in a week, how different is that from being eaten?

    And Fish did not die in a week but instead lived 18 years doing what goldfish would do.

    • #17
  18. Douglas Pratt Coolidge
    Douglas Pratt
    @DouglasPratt

    Wow. They are usually lucky to last 18 hours. Your home must be full of positive vibes. 

    I used to have a small tank with a male betta and some ghost shrimp on my desk, until the kittens started splashing in it. George was the best of the six bettas. He would pester me for food, but never took a nip at the shrimp, which I appreciated. 

    • #18
  19. Douglas Pratt Coolidge
    Douglas Pratt
    @DouglasPratt

    I found a picture of George. On the leaf to his right is one of the ghost shrimp I enjoyed raising. 

    • #19
  20. DaveSchmidt Coolidge
    DaveSchmidt
    @DaveSchmidt

    Clavius (View Comment):

    Title changed.

    So what was the title? 

    • #20
  21. Clavius Thatcher
    Clavius
    @Clavius

    DaveSchmidt (View Comment):

    Clavius (View Comment):

    Title changed.

    So what was the title?

    It was “Fish is Dead, Long Live Fish” but that implied that there was a new Fish.

     

    • #21
  22. DaveSchmidt Coolidge
    DaveSchmidt
    @DaveSchmidt

    Clavius (View Comment):

    DaveSchmidt (View Comment):

    Clavius (View Comment):

    Title changed.

    So what was the title?

    It was “Fish is Dead, Long Live Fish” but that implied that there was a new Fish.

     

    😀

    • #22
  23. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    Sorry for your loss? [But I bet your wife isn’t.]

    That is quite a fish tale, though. He must have set some kind of record for a kitchen counter goldfish.

    • #23
  24. Some Call Me ...Tim Coolidge
    Some Call Me ...Tim
    @SomeCallMeTim

    Are you going to tell us about the service for Fish-Fish?

    • #24
  25. Clavius Thatcher
    Clavius
    @Clavius

    Some Call Me …Tim (View Comment):

    Are you going to tell us about the service for Fish-Fish?

    Fish was interned beneath a statue of St. Fiacre in our backyard in a simple ceremony.

    • #25
  26. Gwen Brown Lincoln
    Gwen Brown
    @Gwen Brown

    Clavius (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    All I can think of it, why on Earth didn’t he get much larger tanks over time?

    Two reasons.

    1) There was no room on the counter.

    2) If he got a bigger tank he would just get bigger.

    So he was a kind of ‘bonsai’ fish.

    • #26
  27. Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw Member
    Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw
    @MattBalzer

    Clavius (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    Clavius (View Comment):

    Gossamer Cat (View Comment):

    I am sorry for the death of Mr. Fish. He lived a long life though and I am impressed. Someday I will tell you our Church fair ping pong gold fish story, but this is a time for remembering Mr. Fish and your many years together.

    I look forward to hearing your story.

    I’ll have to ask Mrs R to tell us again the story of the people who never forgave our pastor (now deceased) for giving away goldfish as part of one of his Sunday childrens’ sermons. I don’t remember the details myself.

    Come now, the goldfish in all these cases, Fish included, are all feeder fish. They are bred to be fed to carnivorous fish. So if they die in a bowl at home in a week, how different is that from being eaten?

    If it dies at home it’s a cheap lesson in death for the kids.

     

    • #27
  28. Doctor Robert Member
    Doctor Robert
    @DoctorRobert

    What a cruel existence, living all alone, the only Fish in his entire universe.  I’ll bet that he died of loneliness.

    • #28
  29. Mark Camp Member
    Mark Camp
    @MarkCamp

    Fish was not perfect, but who among us is?

    • #29
  30. Clavius Thatcher
    Clavius
    @Clavius

    Doctor Robert (View Comment):

    What a cruel existence, living all alone, the only Fish in his entire universe. I’ll bet that he died of loneliness.

    I don’t think so.  Look at the video above.  He had fun moving the rocks in his tank.  With an attention span of a few seconds, what could be more fun?

    Also, if he was lonely to the point of death, why did it take 18 years?

    • #30
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