A Eulogy for Brutus

In January of 2004, my housemate Dion brought home two little fish. Brown and orange and super active they both swam around playfully in their huge tank, or so it seemed. After about 3 weeks, we noticed that one fish seemed to always chase another fish, and a few weeks later, the other fish stayed only in one corner of the tank, under the filter. Soon enough, this fish started to tremble. Ive never seen a fish tremble, and it was scary because we realised that it was being bullied and suffering miserably from stress. And so it was, one fish was left and I named it Brutus (Dion called it Rex) Brutus was a cute little aggressive Oscar. Oscar are special fish as they are extremely territorial and dont like other fish in its hood. So, Brutus stayed in our big tank all by himself.

As months progressed, Brutus grew larger and larger from 2 cm to (before his death) roughly 25cm. He became more aggressive and would splash,gulp and snap during feeding time and also had a nasty habit of smacking his head on the glass ceiling of the tank. Perhaps it was this constant damaged that caused Brutus to behave so aggressively.

Last week, Brutus started swimming strangely and would often stay in a corner for hours upside down but still moving. Then he started swimming normally so we were unpreturbed. Then he started to lose his appetite and did not eat. This was worrying considering his usual voracious appetite. Two days ago, i noticed a white area on his belly that was never there before - it looked like mould!!! We knew his days were seriously numbered. Today, as i sat in my room, i heard a loud bang (usually signalling Brutus smacking his head on the ceiling of the tank) and when i went out to investigate, he floated slowly to the bottom and sank upside down for the last time.

I must admit, i shed a tear as he has been our proud pet since i moved into the apartment. Sigh....

Rest in peace Brutus.