Now, lest you think I’m making this up….ask my wife, she will verify it as true. I bought some tropical fresh water fish to add to my 80 gallon tank. After giving them time to adjust to the water temp, I added the 5 rummy-nose and 2 tiny crabs into the tank. Next, I prepped my 2 Angel fish to join the tank. I scooped them up with my net from the “holding container” and added them to my tank. I saw the black Angel go swimming around and I “assumed” the white/marble one was in there too. I inspected the net to make sure that no fish was stuck/left in my net and I put it away. I sat down to watch the tube.
After about 25 minutes, I went over to my tank to inspect how things were going. I saw the 5 rummy noses and the 2 crabs. I found the black Angel and was searching, and searching, and searching my tank for the white/marble one…..to no avail….! I panicked and grabbed my net to double-check and lo and behold, there was the fish, stuck dry onto the bottom of the net. How did this happen? I vividly remember looking at the net, just to make sure in fact that there was no fish “out of place”. How could my eyes deceive me? I do wear glasses….for driving only. Wow, I examined the dead/dry fish and quickly put it back into the “holding container” that I used previously. There was still good water in there and I was hoping against ALL hope that this fish could be revived. I was also thinking that I could ultimately be flushing the dead fish down the toilet.
It’s only a small 2 inch Angelfish but I “saw” its mouth and gills moving ever so slightly. I said a quick prayer for its survival and began agitating the water and fish to get water through its gills. I fish the lakes, streams, and oceans and I know about catch and release. When you release a fish that has been out of water for a while, you MUST move it front and back in the water – so as to get oxygen going through the gills. Once the fish is strong enough, it will swim away without any problems. Mind you, this Angel was out of the water, stuck in my net for about 25 minutes +/- 5 minutes….this is a fact. I put all the fish in the tank around 6:35pm….I found the Angel stuck in the net at 7pm.
Now, I carefully tried to “nursed” the fish and kept moving it back and forth, in the water. To my Amazement, it looked to be “waking” up and moving its mouth and gills more and more. Its tail and fins were moving…..and I was feeling like the modern day Florence Nightingale for fish…ha ha. I’m not a fish killer! I eat fish but not the kind you buy for the fish tank….!!!
After a good 5 minutes, the fish seemed stronger and stronger. All the while, I was thanking Jesus and God for this small, seemingly insignificant “miracle”. My wife couldn’t believe what was happening. This fish, cost me about $5…it didn’t want to die today, and I wasn’t trying to kill it. This seems “insignificant” in light of ALL THE TROUBLES currently in our world…..BUT this was significant for THAT Angelfish.
I named him/her: Survivor, and I hope it lives forever……
I searched to see how long fish can live out of water. Walking catfish and gobi seem to be amphibious and can live out of water for long periods of time. This is an Angelfish ….it is not a gobi or walking catfish.
