One Fish, Two Fish

a couple of weeks ago reed and i went to the fish store to get a few new pals for the tank. we got two firefish, three snails, one scooter blenny, and one angel fish. they were so cute and they added so much fun and excitement to the tank! we were nervous at first because adding that many fish can be a little disturbing to the rest of the tank. they get a little petty when someone else comes into their territory. so selfish-mind the pun. but everyone seemed to be doing great! everyone was eating and sharing and playing nicely. but then, tragedy struck. you know that angel fish i was talking about? it had another angel fish friend. one who had been in the tank a long time. well, the two started getting on each other's nerves and one day they both disappeared. we couldn't find them anywhere. we determined they must be behind the rocks somewhere. so every day reed and i would search for them. we looked and looked for probably four days which is a long time for a fish to hide in such a small space. as we were searching reed suggested/demanded i hurry and look in one tiny space. such a silly idea-how could they fit in there? but sure enough, there they were! the more established angel fish was blocking the newcomer fish in this tiny hole so he couldn't get to the food! it's horrible, really. so, we moved some barnacle around and let the fish free. but the hostility didn't end there. for some reason the two of them kept chasing each other around the back and hiding for days. then one day, the new fish emerged from the rocks and he plopped himself down on the barnacle as if he had just used up his last ounce of energy to get there. his fins were all shredded and his coloring was faded and he could barely move. i wanted to cry, it really was quite dramatic. at this point, there still hadn't been any signs of the old angel fish, he just kept hiding back there. i didn't really care because i was rooting for the new fish all along (i picked him out). after a while the new fish made it's way to the back for what i'm assuming was the final battle because today was the day we found the remains of those poor fish floating at the top of the tank.

dead fish, blue fish.