Fish tales..

We are finally all moved in at our new house.  It's not a new house by any means, it's a really old house, but I love it.  It was once a farmhouse way out of town, but since our city keeps growing, it now sits one block from city limits, which I love.  The house is very private, with lots of wildlife running around outside and it drives Peditos crazy, but...yep, you guessed it..we LOVE it!  I have a collection of rooster decor for the kitchen that I've had for years now, and I'm glad I never got rid of them because they are perfect for this old house. (:  Anyone that has physically moved their belongings from one house to another knows how bumps, scrapes, smashed fingers and bruises are to be expected...and trust me when I say that I think every single one of us has some physical reminder of our move.  Armando finished the last of our things late last night and one of the things he brought was the fish tank.  And our 2 goldfish.  After he got everything inside, I filled the fish tank and put the fish back in their tank when I noticed that the smaller fish wasn't acting normal.  I watched him for a little while and noticed that every once in a while he would flip over and float around on his back!  I felt terrible and kept flipping him over the right way and he would swim away, but pretty soon he'd be belly-up again.  I flipped him over once again before going to bed and when I woke up this morning, I went to check on him again and was so sad because he looked dead...just floating at the top of the tank.  I was going to scoop him out when suddenly he starts flapping around and swam off!  I was so excited!  I've been watching him all day and most of the time he'll float belly-up and then he'll flip himself over and swim for a while.  I even caught him eating while floating with his belly-up today.  For the longest time, he'd float on his back and eat.  Crazy fish!   When we got that little one, he was about 1/2 an inch long and so very tiny.  Now, he's about 4 inches long and so FAT!  I think he'll be fine.  My fish are pretty tough.
The big fish, and I mean BIG is also a gold fish the kids got at the carnival 5 years ago.   Every single fish they had ever won at the carnival before ended up dying the very next day, but not this one!  He was tiny when we got him.  He was probably about an inch long at the time.  I secretly think he's a cat that disguises himself as a fish.  I'm not kidding...I think he has 9 lives!  About  4 years ago, the kids were going to clean the fish tank so they put him in a smaller fish bowl so they could clean the big tank.  The kids were much smaller at the time and they ended up putting HOT water in the smaller, temporary tank they were using.  When I walked into the bathroom, Marko was standing in the bathtub washing the big tank and Tita was watching the fish floating at the top of the small bowl.  She asked me why he wasn't swimming and I touched it and the water was even too hot for my finger!  I hurried up and dumped some of the hot water out and filled it with cold water and the poor fish was still floating on it's side.  By now, Marko AND Tita were crying because the fish was literally cooked!  I was desperate to help the fish and comfort my children, and didn't know what to do, so I flicked the fish with my finger.  When I flicked him, he ended up at the bottom of the bowl and then slowly floated back up to the top.  I flicked him again and again to no avail.  I had to tell my kids that their beloved fish was dead.  They were devastated!  I flicked him really hard 3 more times and guess what??!!  He started swimming around the tank!  My children's little faces lit up like it was Christmas!  We were so excited and happy!  The fish has thrived and is humongo now!  He weighs about 2 pounds and is about 9 inches long!  So there you have it...I am CPR certified for humans and for fish.  I think I officially gave my fish CPR!  And it worked!  If our smaller fish needs CPR, I totally know how to do it,,   (:
I think the little fish's gill was injured during the move.  I'm not sure, of course, but that is what I think.  Does anyone know how long gills take to heal?