The Little Evil Fish

Want To Waste One Minute Of Your Life?
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I was reading PalmerBlevins most excellent blog, and posted a comment to his story in which he discusses his seemingly "evil" cat Choo. Cats can be highly territorial creatures, and unlike dogs are not trainable. Cats deal with issues of territory in terms of space, and time. Cats can share the same space with other cats, and even dogs, but they do so by carefully timing their interactions. Even a glance can start a chain of events which leads to a fight. Oh well.

But my comment to Palmer was not about cats, but about fish - rather about one fish which came to dominate and destroy all my other fish. He was the last fish I ever owned, or ever will. That one fish ruined the idea of my ever having a tank again. I have even forbidden my daughter to start her own aquarium. Here's the comment, and the story of my "evil" fish:

Cats Have Bad Days Too

I had a fish once like Choo (Palmer's evil cat).

I was new to the world of fish, so when my other little fish ended up floating lifeless at the top of the tank I didn't quite link it to the aggression I saw from time to time in the tank.

After flushing about ten little fish down the toilet I began studying up, and realized there was too much stress in the tank and I began watching with more concern.

I had eliminated everything else, except the little attacks that this one fish seemed to be at the center of.

Finally, as nearly every fish but this one aggressive fish had died there was simply no denying what was up.

People told me, just flush it down the toilet, and restock your tank, but I couldn't do it. I told myself if nature had made that fish the top fish why should I kill it.

Finally, I had a tank with only one evil little fish. I grew increasingly distant from the tank, and without any algae cleaning fish the tank became unhealthy.

I waited for the fish to die, but it wouldn't die.

I thought about not feeding it, but I couldn't do that.

Finally I ran out to the store and bought a fish that was much bigger, and has a reputation for being super aggressive - I figured it would kill the little evil fish who had killed all of my other fish.

And fight they did!

But it was only a little while until I noticed the bigger fish was running away from the evil little fish.

The big fish managed somehow to flop out of the only little space it could, and died - it was that scared.

I had had it. I decided not to feed the evil little fish, and the tank grew covered with algae. But this evil fish which doesn't eat algae according to the books started eating algae, and it was quite healthy indeed.

I began feeding it again, and realized it was some kind of superfish.

Yes, a superfish.

It lived on for many months, and I began to accept a tank filled with just one fish.

All was well until the landlord had without warning me had the entire apartment complex sprayed for insects.

The little fish died within a few days.

I had by then become accustomed to a nearly empty tank, and so the tank sat empty for a few weeks - just a few plants, and some snails.

I was depressed, and disgusted with it.

The very nature of fish had come in question.

If fish, even one, could become so evil I no longer wanted anything to do with them I told myself.

Others told me of their own evil fish, and for them it was simply a matter of saving their other fish by flushing the evil ones down the toilet.

But I could not accept that, and ended up giving the tank away.

Now I have cats.