This Just Sucks

There is really no other way to put it. It's been a rough week for aquariums at our house.

Mother's Day weekend, Evan lost another frog. He had been absolutely fine, and then Saturday morning Evan found him on his back in the tank. We thought he was dead, but when we went to take him out, we realized he was not, which resulted in a 24 hour watch in his own little tank before he finally passed. Meanwhile the other frog got a fungus, which we were thankfully able to cure pretty simply thanks to the google and the most stressful twenty minutes of my recent life while I gave the little guy a salt bath of just the right duration. For the record, any cure that states, "If done correctly, your frog will recover beautifully. If done for even a moment too long, he will die," is not my idea of a cure.

With the frog restored and the tank cycled, we started the process of replacing the dead frog. It always takes a couple of tries. It seems them live a week or a year--not much middle. But...the second replacement seemed to be doing okay.

Then this weekend, we noticed poor Bubble/Bow was not looking so good. Granted, he was a three year old betta, but he was noticeably struggling to breathe. At several points, we thought he was dead only to see him swimming by the time we got the net to get him out. It was awful. I recognize he was just a fish, but he was my dish-doing buddy, and I hated knowing he was in pain. Finally, he really did die yesterday. I think he was just old, but it was a hard day.

The kids and I decided we didn't want an empty tank, but we also knew Bubble/Bow couldn't be replaced. He was just one cool fish. So...I checked the google for other options for a tank our size and with our set up. Meet the Shinies:

The picture is awful, but we now have three neon tetras, all named Shiny, and I have taken to collectively calling them The Shinies. It's like our own little fishy rock band. They are fun to watch dart around the tank, and the kids are enamored.

 

With the Shinies nicely settled, we gave Bubble/Bow a burial at sea. I will admit I think I cried more than any one else. And then...we went upstairs...and we found new frog belly up. I want the Mom of the Year award for not saying what I wanted to say. Poor Evan just crumbled. It was too much. I asked if he wanted to give up on frogs, and he doesn't, so we will go get a new frog under warranty again this afternoon. I am praying for a long life for the little guy, though, because I don't think we can take another froggy funeral at our house right now.