Let me begin this story by telling you, I never wanted any fish swimming in a bowl, let alone a tank, ever.

 

But then came Bruce, which we saved out of the pond of the garden of my mother in-law. Clinging on for life in the last bit of moist mud that was frozen of the dried up pond. He was a true survivor, and that appealed to me. So, we took him home, and thought we would give him a nice warm life, for as long as he would live. Never, ever expected him to stay alive for this long.

 

 

He changed from a variety of accommodations, with the last one being a fish tank holding 100 liters of water.

 

All for his lonesome. Because he grew out of his last one. Did I tell you already he is about 25 cm long, and probably is about the same age as his length? And he is very domestic.

 

 

So my Brucy is my special little goldfish.

 

But now comes the part where it all went so terribly wrong. Well….not wrong, but I told you earlier, I never intended to own a fish…

 

Bruce his new fish tank had enough space to plant some greens and a piece of decorative wood, to make it feel extra homey. But after a while, an algae started to bloom. Up to a point, that I really got annoyed with cleaning the fish tank almost daily, because of the turbidity. I even got scared Bruce would be tangled up, panic, and then, maybe, even drown!!! Well… not actually drown off course, but you smellin’ what I’m sellin’, right?

 

After a huge search on the web, we decided to go for the most bio friendly way to deal with this particular kind of algae. We would purchase some platy fish. They eat the algae, and can coexist with a goldfish.

 

We went to the local store, and we were advised to buy three platies. Two girls, and one boy. That would be the ideal combination. I was amazed how tiny they were, and bought a tiny English bus for the safe side; where they could hide if they got scared of Bruce.

 

When we let the platies in with Bruce, I sat with my knees together, back arched, and bottom tucked. What if Bruce decides he loves Sushi. Then we have served him a dream platter…..

And then I really need to make a new appointment with my psycologist….

 

 

It seemed to go very well. The algae stayed clear, and Bruce didn’t like Sushi, thank God. We named the platies Bobbette, Bobbine, and Bobbère.

 

And they all lived happily ever after.

 

Except for Bruce…

 

The Bobberts enjoyed their new home a little too much, and dominated the fish tank and harassed Bruce by continuously poking him. And to make matters worse, Bobbette was pregnant….. of at least 40 baby platies……

 

 

What the fuck!!!!

 

You let a stranger in to help a hand, and then they take over your home, steel your food, harass the local, and multiply like crazy. Poor, poor Bruce…. What have we done??

 

 

Bruce showed signs of severe stress. So I bought a scoop-net, and had a good talk with the Bobberts. I showed them the scoop-net, and threaten them to remove them from the fish tank if they keep harassing Bruce. I told them Ramon wanted to kill them even, by putting them in a bowl of cold water and a drop of oil. So they’d better behave!!!

 

But they didn’t.

 

And Bruce got in worse shape. But I couldn’t get myself to allow Ramon to kill them. I can’t kill three fishes and a baby!

 

 

Baby Bobby was born. But all the others were still in Bobbette her belly. That is just mass murder!!

 

I will never ever go past Peter if I die….

 

So, the Bobberts have their own little villa now. Along with their own little warmth regulator, so it’s a nice continuous 24.5 degrees Celsius. Just the way they like it. Because they complained they had it rather nippy at 21 degrees Celcius up with ol’ Bruce.

 

 

And when we bought the new villa for the Bobberts, we also bought a new goldfish to keep Bruce company. Because in our read-up on Google, we read that a goldfish doesn’t like to be alone. So now Brucy has Lucy as a companion. And we couldn’t have chosen a better one. They are so graceful and polite to each other.

 

 

And so we have 6 little fish…..

 

And 39 more coming…..

 

I never ever want a fish, I once said….