Clean Up in Aisle 2

A couple of weeks ago, I purchased a nice aquarium set-up from craigslist. The previous owner owns a larger tank and just wanted to focus on that one, so was selling off some of this other equipment. Since this guy knew his stuff, he had a nice setup and the price was great versus new. The girls were very excited about having fishies. They were a little sad when I set everything up and didn’t immediately put fish in the tank, but we had to let it cycle and settle.

This weekend, we went to Walmart (I shutter too, but I’ve had the best luck with fish from them) to start slow with three, hardy zebras. The girls were thrilled and a few days later, we went back to add three more to the tank so we’d have a school. There was a lot of excitement for more fishies! There were a few jokes to the employees we talked to about needing “hardy fish” ha ha… “hope they make it home” hardy har har… I hadn’t realized those lame jokes would be a self fulfilling prophecy.

Insert Lillian – extreme animal lover.

Both girls were riding in the back of the cart, Lillian clutching/hugging the bag of fish up to her chest while Ella tried in vain to get a peek of the fish. We were checking out and while Lillian let me briefly have the bag for the cashier, I handed it back to her and she quickly was back to hugging her beloved fish. The cashier offered me a bag for the fish, which I thought would be a good idea so I went to retrieve the bag from Lillian and she was not going to let those fish out of her grasp. She was hugging that bag so tight that she popped a hole in the bag with her little fingers. I hadn’t noticed and as I lifted the bag up, it sprayed Lily, the floor, the cashier’s station. Suddenly, it was a rescue mission! Save the fish! Another employee took the fish to get a new bag, and she also got drenched in the process. As the fiasco settled and the area mopped up, I heard Lillian’s sweet little voice from the back of the cart, with pleading eyes say, “What happened to me?” That’s when I noticed she was dripping from fish water…oh, Lillian!

After that, Mommy took control of the fish. The three made it home and were introduced back to the friends they’d watched leave a few days prior and the fish seemed excited to see one another. And on the other side of the glass were two little girls who were also excited to watch their new school of fish. The fish are kind of a big deal around here. Lillian even figured out how to manipulate the light timer so she could get the aquarium light to turn on in the morning before it’s scheduled time because she likes to have the light on. Our only goals are to keep the fish alive and the aquarium on the stand. If those two things are accomplished, we’ll be all set. And I really hope to not have to mop up 20 gallons of water and save flopping fish…