Wallace Bivouski

My goldfish, Wallace Bivouski, is ill. I know this may sound absurd to many of you. How does one even tell if a goldfish is ill? And who cares?

But before I address those questions, a little background info on my fish. He's been my trusted companion for the past 6 years. Yes, six years. In fact, he's likely older than that, since I "adopted" him. My friends, Eric and Jenny, got into an argument over what his name should be--Wally or Biv, and so it was settled that he'd be named both, hence Wallace Bivouski. He's been there with me through many highs and lows in my life--the wild parties when I lived in a Co-op and we hosted punk concerts in our living room, the two weeks of all-nighters that I pulled trying to finish my Thesis during my senior year of undergrad, the isolation when I first arrived in both Germany and Maryland (when he was someone I could always count on to be a good listener...). All these years, he's sat atop my desk, gazing down at me. When I enter a room, he swims over to greet me. He "dances" when I play good music (he especially likes the musical stylings of Cee-Lo) and he adores eating fresh green peas as a special treat. He's my special little guy and the only pet I've been able to have in recent years, and he's done a great job at being a companion. Watching him swim around brings me peace. And now, he is ill, and it really troubles me.

He's come down with a case of fin rot, which is a bacterial infection that does pretty much exactly what it sounds like it does--rots the fish's fins. It starts at the tips, causing them to look crinkly and frayed. He's got red streaks going up his tail. He's clearly unhappy, as he won't eat, and just sits near the bottom of his bowl. He won't swim, let alone dance (not even to Cee-Lo's "I'll Be Around") and he doesn't even glance at a single pea.

Tomorrow, I'm off to the pet store to purchase aquarium salt and antibiotics, in hopes of clearing this up. I've caught it in the early stages, so hopefully it will clear up quickly, and he'll be back to his old self in no time. Wish me luck in playing fish doctor.