#goldfishunion

https://www.gofundme.com/in-memory-of-mr-b

Hi all. Here’s a little thing I made, and feel a little weird about posting…I can’t afford to lay Mr. B to rest as I’d like to, and the only option besides cremation (unfortunately, based on where I am) is throwing him in the dumpster. I really, really don’t want to have to do that. But with moving costs to pay back and an unexpected issue I’ve been avoiding fixing with my car, I don’t have money to spare for “extras” and this is an “extra”…

Thank you for any help at all. I’ve never done one of these before, so I don’t know how long it will take to raise what I’ll need - or if I’ll even get there! But even part of the way there is closer than I can get doing it alone. Share, and help if you can. If you can’t, that’s ok too, kind words are also welcome. I’ll figure it out somehow <3 

Hi, followers. I wanted to check in and let you guys know that I made it to California, and am in the process of setting up my new tank (a 55gal acrylic! should be a beauty) so pictures will resume soon! This will be a longer text post, so be warned… 

It’s with a very heavy heart that I also must let you know on the trip from Colorado - where my fish were staying with my good friend Emily (philly_goldies) - to LA, I lost both Marshmallow and Mr. B. I was (and still am) pretty crushed by both losses. Thankfully, the friend I drove cross-country with is also a member of the goldfish community, so she was there to comfort me as I cried watching Mr. B take his last breaths. I lost Marshmallow first - she didn’t look right when I left Colorado, and I’m not sure when she passed as I discovered that she’d died only after we arrived at our stopping point that night in Utah. Mr. B was still doing ok, though a little stressed, so I pushed through and rebagged both him and Chai in clean water for the next leg of the trip (Salina –> Vegas). If anything, I expected that Chai might not make it since she was barely breathing and side-sitting. 

Marshmallow was given a “burial at sea” - suggested by Dana - and we pushed on through Utah with little issue. We never left the car in the sun for too long, because my two cats were also in the car. We got to Vegas in good time, unloaded everything, and I go to check on the fish. Chai looks awful, like she’s not going to make it, so I immediately get her into clean water. I paid attention to her first since she’d been doing so badly the previous day. Mr. B looks ok from what I can see, but I quickly notice after I change his water that he’s not moving one side of his body (for reference - I packed the fish as if I were shipping them in Kordon bags, separated by layers of filter floss in a small cooler that sat on top of the center console in my car, bungeed to the seat backs so it wouldn’t move; at night I would put the fish in tupperware containers with new water, so they could have more space and air circulation). I try to add more prime, cool him down, nothing works. All I can really do is sit there and watch him die. Thankfully, he was almost gone, so I don’t think he suffered much. Of course I just sat there and kinda lost it, I started crying holding his little tupperware. I’ve had this fish for 5 years - he was older than my cats! More than anything I wanted him to make it and it seemed like he was going to…until he didn’t. I kept thinking I should have left him in Colorado - this was all my fault, the stress was too much, etc. - Dana was there to offer hugs (then we had to go to dinner…I felt bad because I made us a little late for the reservation) and make me feel better as best she could. She helped me realize that if two fish had died on the trip with me, where they weren’t being bounced around or anything, they would definitely have died in the mail. I chose the kindest option I could, to give them the best chance. 

I found a portable air pump in my car that I hadn’t used for years, and got batteries so I could hook it up in Chai’s tupperware. There wasn’t much else I could do, but I felt like I had to fight for this one last fish to make it. I bagged up Mr. B and put him in the hotel freezer - he’s in my freezer now, at my new place, until I figure out what I’m doing with him. He was really special to me, so I was thinking maybe I would have him cremated. Oddly, the thing that most put me at ease after his death - made me feel less guilty, and better overall - was my friend back in Boston who said a prayer for him and Marshmallow to St. Francis - patron saint of animals - for safe guidance into the hereafter. I’m not religious (though I do have a theology master’s! lol) but for some reason that made me feel 100% better. Whatever works, right? 

Anyway, there is a happy ending to all of this: Chai made it to Los Angeles with me! She was not doing great when I unloaded her here and to be honest, I didn’t have high hopes she was going to make it. But she rallied, and is doing just fine now. This fish has been through some shit lol…she arrived at Emily’s almost dead because the seam broke in her Kordon bag, and she had no water left to breathe in. SOMEHOW she lived through that, and a trip from Colorado to California where two of her tankmates died. Her pompoms are pretty big and I’ll need to trim them soon (they interfere with her eating), but I’m waiting to let her recover from moving stress first. One thing at a time. 

Of course, the fucking snail made it from Boston to LA with ZERO ISSUES and no water changes. I feel like it survived out of spite but whatever, it’s going into the new tank, too. 

And for a last little note…I went to a local fish store to buy some supplies the other day, and picked up my acrylic tank - the owner gave me a great deal on LED lights since I was buying a tank, too. I couldn’t help but take a look at the goldfish tanks…and my heart may have been stolen by two little babies who have yet to be named :) Pics to come soon! As always, thanks for your love and support, guys!