an end

I lost a fish today.

Was expecting it. Am still treating the tanks for ich, but Flash did not make it. He has been looking terrible for days now, crashed on the bottom, rarely even rising for a breath, not eating. I finally decided to move him into the QT tank (but that wasn't cycled so it was a big risk) so I could dose him with aquarium salt, and so if he died in the night wouldn't poison the small tank with ammonia, but he did not survive the transfer. The stress of being caught was too much. I had to move the driftwood he hides under- he twitched away, thrashed a bit, was gone. My hand doesn't fit down into the gap behind the wood so I lifted his poor body out with a gravy spoon. Even in death he still had some beautiful colors.

I'd had him for eight months. This is my favorite picture of him:

Some other nice photos:

Goodbye, Flash.