RIP

My baby fish have dwindled down to only 2, from the original batch of 17. That's not entirely unreasonable, as the life expectancy of a platy is only 1-3, and they were born in January 2006. Several of them were never quite normal looking; with a less squeamish owner they would have been culled for their crooked tails and lumpy bodies.

Today's loss was a female that lived with a slightly twisted body almost from birth. However, in the past few weeks she began to lose mobility in her lower body until she basically was floating upside down in the tank, tail and lower extremities pointing up, head down. Somehow she managed to propel herself around, and my inability to kill made it impossible for me to put her out of her misery. Was she miserable? I think in the last few days, when she barely moved, resting behind rocks and against the side of the tank. But whenever I made a move toward the net, she would madly flutter her fins, as if to tell me, "I'm still okay." I just came home and she was still, quiet, finally.