and then there were two

no, i havent had the baby. its far too early.

this is about fish. goldfish.

a few months back we bought a goldfish for critterbug, in hopes of.. i dont know. it was hubby's idea. something about responsibilities and hvaing his own pet? blah blah blah. we get a fish. the plan was to get a couple, but the girl in the shop suggested we get one, and if it survived a couple weeks we'd know we had the water right etc and we could get more - cheaper to replace one than many.

so we got a plain old goldfish. i decided he was attempting suicide because he kept trying to jump in the bag we carried him home in, so he was names "jumper". then the next week we got 2 more - a stripy black and orange one - "tiger" - and a sickly looking grey/white/pink/black/splotchy one. i do not find that fish attractive at all. he was named "jim" because treasure planet was critters favourite movie that day.

they lasted a while, and we got two more, along with a bigger tank. a black bug-eyed one named "beetle", and a cute little orange fantail with a black stripe down his back (the reason we got him, it was so CUTE and now its gone. grr) who was named "tank". the kid is unimaginative. he wanted to name the other one "water" or "filter" or "rock".

beetle was the first to go. he started sinking. NOT floating, sinking. hed sit on the bottom of the tank occasionally flipping his tail, only moving if he was prodded. then one day his gills were no longer moving, and he was flushed.

the kid didnt care.

everything was fine for a while, then jumper stated repeating beetles behaviour. with creepy/amusing additions. like getting stuck to the bottom of the filter. we had to turn it off so he would float away. or getting stuck upside down behind the filter. happily lying there upside down behing the filter, unable to more forwards or backwards.. he almost seemed upset when i dismantled the lid to get him out. and then one day he was slowly waving back and forth on the bottom, gills not moving, not responding when prodded with the net. he was HARD to scoop out. kept getting caught in the plants. and hubby wasnt home, and i didnt want to leave the fish in there to go bad, so i had to do it. while trying to keep the kid in the other room. im happy to tell him the fish is dead, but dont want him to SEE it.

the kid was almost excited about the lack of fish. "now we have THREE fish! we had five fish, and then four fish, and now three!! and soon we will have two fish, then one fish, then NONE FISH!!!!!!!!!!!!" should i be worried?

a couple days ago, tiger started acting wierd. he would swim frantically around the bottom of the tank, and when he stopped, he started rolling to the side. he was also still until the light turned on, and seemed unable to get to the top of the tank to eat. he responded to taps on the side of the tank, ut was generally.. wierd. this morning, he was found upside down on the bttom of the tank, not responding to tapping on the tank, or prodding with the net, and his gills were still. i refused to flush another fish, so hubby did it before he left for work.

critter hasnt been told yet. im worried about the response.