Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Learning things the hard way

Last week the boys and I went to the pet store in search of  an algae-eating fish. As we walked into the fish department, we saw the "fish working employee" so we quickly cornered her to ask her all about what is best for us. We told her that we had a goldfish and a tank that is in a sunny spot in our house so we are in the market for a helpful snail or fish to clean up the extra algae. She showed us a fish they call an Otto fish. She recomended him because he does such a great job cleaning the tank. Then we asked about the snails she said that they aren't as good of housekeepers. 

So we bought a fish upon her recommendation. Jacob named him WallE from the movie. Jacob loved the idea of a friend for his goldfish Guido. The two fish were friends for about a week. Then today we couldn't find WallE. WE COULD NOT FIND HIM! We had to clean out the tank in search of WallE. We found him wedged in one of the plants. He was very beat up. He never had a chance. So Jacob and I had a little talk about how all things die. Following that we had a toilet burial. Then Jacob said, "Now WallE lives with all the poop." I should have thought that through a little better. 

After all this I called the pet store to ask about the Otto fish. The gal on the phone said that goldfish only live with other goldfish. Because I put the Otto fish in with a goldfish, that was my own stupidity and the 30 day warrenty is null and void. So we spent $1.99 for a "Punching Bag" for Guido and $5.99 for algae-eating fish food in case WallE ate all the algae in the tank and was still hungary. We just tossed $7.98 out the car window! I love working with employees that don't know what they are talking about! Yeah for waisting money.

Algae-eating fish: $1.99
Algae-eating fish food: $5.99.
Teaching our son about the circle of life: priceless

Here is a photo of Guido after the day's trauma. --emily

7 comments:

Jason and Wendy Pynn said...

How sad!! Yeah, he didn't last long did he? A good learning experience... too bad the salesperson didn't learn the lesson as well!

Colleen said...

Oh no! I can't believe they didn't give you your money back since someone at their store suggested the fish to you! We've had some toilet burials, Finding Nemo always helps...all drains lead to the ocean!

Who Knew . . . said...

My favorite part is that you bought food for a fish that you bought to eat the over abundance of food already in the tank. I don't know why that made me laugh but it did. Thanks for sharing the story.

Darci said...

Life after death includes living with the poop for fish - that is pretty funny. That senario is aggravation at it's finest. It seems like a basic thing to know if you work in the fishy area. At least their beloved Guido is okay.

CJAllred said...

OK, so how about the dork employee who recommended the fish EVEN AFTER you told them you already had a goldfish in the tank AND asked specifically about a snail? Sounds like customer no-service to me. Very disappointing. I would think that good-will is worth more than $1.99. It sounds like Jacob took it all in stride.
Kimberly has a fish in her very dirty tank that will eat all living things that are put in with it. Nothing can live with the Terminator. So his punishment is living in a green tank.

Anonymous said...

Don't tell Jacob that we all turn into fertilizer eventually! Who knew that cute little Guido fish was such a bully. Well, after all that Guido's fish bowl is sparkling clean, good job Mom!
momAKAgrandma

Sara @ Our Best Bites said...

Oh my goodness Em. That whole post was hilarious!