I had several hobbies I really enjoyed before my major depression became as severe as it eventually did. One of those hobbies was fish. Not fishing for them, but raising them in fish tanks. I enjoyed everything about their care, and maintenance of the tanks. I enjoyed watching the fish swim. I enjoyed watching them eat, and how they reacted to me in a limited way. The type of fish I kept varied from the extremely gentle and colorful – like neon tetras – to the extremely aggressive – had to be fed live fish. When depression ruled my life, I took no interest in my fish, their care, and maintaining of their environments. I honestly was not sure if I would ever enjoy that hobby again.

On one of my trips to my old house, I did retrieve a couple of my fish tanks. One was a bow front 55 gallon tank, and the other was a little two gallon tank with a cool lighting system. When I had time I set up both tanks. In the past, I decorated my big tanks with a natural looking theme. This time, I decided to go with a completely different theme for my 55 gallon tank. I have decorated it with bright colors. There are still many more things I would like to add to it – bubble treasure chests, more bright plants, and etc. – but I am going to have to take my time – money issues. I have enjoyed what I have done with the tank so far.

I want active – but not aggressive – fish. What I decided to go with is what people often call fancy gold fish. Specifically, I want a black moor – has big eyes – and a bubble headed gold fish. Since they can get fairly large I will only have 1 of each in my big tank. I have not decided what I want to go in the little tank.

Yesterday, my mother – she was out with a friend – brought me home a surprise. A pretty, little black moor. Instead of being the usual all black, he is black, with gold markings. He looks so small in the big tank, but I think he is enjoying himself. He is extremely active – swimming all over the place. I have decided to call him Otto. I picked that name because of a book I had when I was a child. I cannot remember the name of it, but I remember how the story goes.

Basically, the little boy in the story gets a goldfish. He is warned not to feed it too much because “something” could happen. He names the fish Otto. The boy – like any kid, especially me – decides he would really would like to find out what the “something” is. So he dumps a bunch of food in the fish bowl. It is not long before the little boy figures out what the “something” is. The fish begins to grow, and grow. Soon he is too big for his bowl. The little boy puts the fish in the bath tub. Very quickly the fish is too big for the bath tub. The fish continues growing too big for the various things the little boy places him in. Eventually, the fish is placed in the town swimming pool. It is at the point, that the man who sold the little boy the fish – and warned him about feeding him too much – shows up, and is able to shrink Otto back to his normal size.

I am finding it very exciting, and wonderful that I am taking an interest in an old hobby again. I did not realize how much I had missed it until I started setting up my tanks. What a glorious mark of progress in my depression treatment.

55 gallon tank

Otto

2 Gallon Tank with blue lighting