Goodbye Nemesis

Last night my marbled angelfish Nemesis passed away. He was 11 years old and, frankly, gorgeous even at his old age. I have and have had hundreds of fish and few make me cry when they pass away. Nemesis is one of those few. :(

Nemesis moved to my tank together with a few other marbled angels in 1997, when he was about 3 cm (a little over an inch) in diameter. From such a tiny little fish he grew into a 16 cm (6 1/3 in) long, handsome male. Despite his large size he never harmed his smaller tank mates, though he'd shown his strength in territorial disagreements with other angels.

He was always curious and seemed to watch us as much as we watched him. When I moved into my own place, there wasn't any room for his big aquarium and it stayed at my parents' place. It is placed in the hall, across from the front door, and he would come out and greet all family members when we got home. He was a bit wary of visitors, but would eventually come and check them out too.

Nemesis lived with his mate Hobart until about a year ago, when she passed away from old age, suddenly but peacefully. She was found in one corner of the tank, with no external signs of any trouble, with Nemesis by her side. For about a week after her death, Nemesis stayed in that corner and wouldn't come to eat. I won't go as far as to say fish grieve, but it was clear that Nemesis was stressed and felt something was wrong. Understandable, considering Hobart and Nemesis had been together for 10 years.

Nemesis himself passed away just as suddenly and peacefully as Hobart. The day he died, he had come to greet my mother when she came home from work, as usual. He showed up around feeding time too, even though he had no appetite. When my mother checked up on the fish one last time before going to bed at about midnight, he had passed away.

Goodbye Nemesis. We miss you.

Nemesis a week before he died.