And so we walked along the boardwalk, inhaling the thick smell of Nathan's hot dogs and wading through the crowds of tourists. After playing some arcade games (Yeaaaaa skee-ball!!), and eating fried unidentifiable foods, we decided to head back to the Stillwell Avenue subway station. OH... but what's this that I pass on the sidewalk? The good ol' throw-the-ping-pong-balls-into-the-jar-and-win-fish-that-are-marked-for-death game! Okay fine. Let's do this thing.
So five dollars and 55 ping pong balls later, I end up winning four cute, small, terrified goldfish. I believe they're just mere feeder fish that fish stores sell as live feed.
Oh shit, what do I do now? Here I am, Sunday night, 10:30pm. I have four fish in a plastic bag in desperate need of some oxygen and food. There's several obstacles in my way such as a 25 minute subway ride, lack of open aquarium shops in the middle of the night, and a very serious lack of knowledge on how to keep carnival goldfish alive.
Now, I love animals (I am a vegetarian). However I have a strict no-pets policy because of my tendency to cry every time anything with a face dies. So I clean a pasta pot with hot water (no soap for goldfish, I know that much), fill it up with cold water, put the fish in it, and go to sleep. What else could I possibly have done?
Next day, I frantically search for an aquarium shop, buy a small tank and small filter... some food, a plastic plant, I have no real high hopes for these poor guys at that point.
A month later....
My fish are as happy as can be!
No I still haven't named them, I'm a cynic like that. But so far so good. Here's what I did to keep my goldfish live in those crucial first few days.
1) Dechlorinated the water, keeping it at 76 degrees, they seem to like it around that temp.
2) Bought large gravel for the bottom, so the aquarium could start to terraform (Firefly reference).
3) Fed my fish ONCE per day. No exceptions. I've been reading up on fish enthusiast websites and they say that overfeeding is a very common way to kill your little guys.
4) Try not to shake the tank or move it around too much.... Remember the evil kid from Finding Nemo?
I'm really not an expert on fish. At all. I just kind of gained custody of them and now I'm trying to make the best of it. When I move into a bigger place I'm going to buy a larger tank. They're super cute and I don't regret winning them, even with the water changes and maintenance and the constant fear that I'll wake up tomorrow and they're all be floating on their little bellies. If anyone has any tips or information on these carnival goldfish, I'd greatly appreciate it. I've taken a liking to the little guys. Maybe one of these days I'll name them. Or maybe not, after all, Holly Golightly never named the cat.
Lindsey Jin signs off now.
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Decided to do the pale faced china doll look today. Peachy eyeshadow from Forever 21 and Ardell lashes no. 110
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