023 | NONFICTION | FISH KEEPING | MEMORIES | STORYTELLING
Remembering Garth the Snakehead
The demise of my beloved pond protector
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My heart is heavy today because Garth — my beloved snakehead — has passed away. Garth was the protector of my koi pond. Do you remember my koi pond? The one filled with Koi, Malawi, Swordtail, and my supercool ‘Blackmoor Telescope Goldfish.’
Garth’s duty was to keep it free from the frog eggs. Otherwise, it would overrun it with tadpoles. A frog lays more than 1000 eggs at a time, and almost all eggs may result in a tadpole.
Some tadpoles are poisonous to fish and collective waste from 1000 tadpoles creates a toxic environment. Since, those tadpoles also compete for food, space, and dissolved oxygen in the water, they have to be removed from my pond.
However, I couldn’t bear to kill them, So I needed a natural solution. That is when Garth came into the picture. Garth is a Dwarf Snakehead known as ‘Channa Kelaartii.’ In Sinhala, we called him ‘Mada Kanaya’ because he loved to hide in the mud. Hence, the name ‘Mud’ (Mada in Sinhala).
He is an apex predator in his natural environment and can eat any living creature smaller than his mouth. There are plenty of them in paddy fields during the rainy season, swimming here and there despite the risk of being a menu item of egrets.
Two harvesting seasons ago, I found Garth at our paddy field with a companion. Unfortunately, his partner did not survive, and Garth became the sole survivor. Over time, he grew to almost 9 inches long and displayed early signs of becoming a magnificent creature. He had a few more months ahead of him to reach adulthood and continue to flourish.
Garth liked to hide most of the time, but he would come out when it was time to eat or sometimes to show off. Maybe he was swimming around to make sure everyone knew he was the boss of the pond.
Perhaps, Garth is responsible for the disappearance of a few juvenile fishes, I can’t be sure. However, he mostly kept his duty which was to protect the pond free from the frog eggs.
You see, our very long new year vacation starts today. So I was in a good mood when I returned home. But I was beyond devastated after my sister broke the bad news.
Yesterday, while my mother was feeding the fish in the pond, she spotted Garth swimming at the bottom. However, this morning, my sister found Garth’s body at the edge of the pond. Before burying him, she took a picture. There were no visible cuts on his body, which rules out a bird attack. So his death remains an unsolved mystery.
I have to find a replacement for the post of protector, but it won’t be the same without Garth. He was more than just a fish. He was a friend and a guardian.
I will miss you Garth, the pond protector. Until we meet again, I wish you to be born in a good place in your next life.