never thought this would happen

gravity · Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2006 1:51 am Post subject: never thought this would happen

So... I'm at work today, thinking about what to eat for lunch when my roommate calls me and says "don't be mad at me... it's not my fault. My ex-girlfriend just knocked over one of your fish tanks." I'm sitting there trying to think if he's kidding with me, but then he tells me that she was throwing things around his room, he asked her to leave and on her way out she pushed over the 10 gallon tank near the door. I realized he was telling the truth when he asked how many fish there were and what to do with them. I came immediately home and found my apartment in shambles. Broken glass, gravel, pieces of my filter and heater, decorations and water were everywhere. Water damage to my couch, coffee table, entertainment center, tv, Playstation, carpet, walls, endtable and fireplace. Plus my roommate hadn't found 2 fish. We eventually found them behind my tv smashed against the wall. 2 glass catfish with very visible internal and external injuries. The betta, 3 cories, and otocinclus were stressed but doing ok in the cup he'd put them in, but I think the glass cats are done for. I put all the fish in my other 10, but it's now severely overstocked (thank god I just did a water change). So now I'm waiting for a police officer to stop by so I can file a police report. We took pictures before my roommate started cleaning the mess up and I went back to work.

But here's the kicker: She had actually tried to push over a 29 gallon tank BEFORE she moved to the 10. There's no excuse for her damaging my property, much less hurting my completely innocent fish. But she actually [i]thought it through[/i] before pushing over the 10. The 29 could MAYBE be heat of the moment, but after failing that she moved to another tank she knew she could push over. I don't even want to imagine the damage from the 29g tank... besides having mature brichardi in it and only having my mbuna tank to put them in, the water and glass would just... jeez. If I ever see that girl again, I'm going to punch her dead in the face.

t_chelle16 · Moderator Joined: 22 Mar 2004 Posts: 3436

How horrible! Definitely get that police report filed.

-Chelle

dbltrubl98 · Member Joined: 24 Nov 2005 Posts: 68

Wow she's mean... Im sorry your fish were the victims here. I hope you get a new tank set up soon...Good luck with all the fish.

HazeX · Member Joined: 02 May 2006 Posts: 21

Wow. I'm a brand new (and beaming w/pride) fish owner, and . . .I'd just go slap off if that happened to my new kids. Smile

Please do follow through with the criminal complaint. She deserves what she gets. It was clearly malicious and she needs to learn (the hard way) how to act like an adult.

gravity · Posted: Tue May 02, 2006 7:28 am Post subject:

Well, I've filed the police report, and the officer said that I can go after her criminally for destruction of property for the value of the tank and the 2 fish that died. Everything else would be 'aftermath' and therefore a civil issue (lawsuit). My roommate has been talking with the girl's father, and I told him $250 for damages and for dealing with all this crap to begin with. $110 should cover a new tank set up and replacing the fish, and the other $140 keeps his daughter from a criminal trial. I figure I'm being rather lenient considering what I could do to her, but we'll see what the father says.

kc5gvn · Moderator Joined: 15 Mar 2004 Posts: 1147

The girl definately has some serious issues. I hope she gets the help she needs, maybe some anger management counseling. I'm glad to see that your roommate has enough presence of mind that she is an EX-girlfriend. This almost sounds like something you would see on one of those television court shows (People's Court, Judge Judy etc.).

HazeX · Member Joined: 02 May 2006 Posts: 21

2manytanks · New member Joined: 02 May 2006 Posts: 12 Location: Canada