I am Rosie Meets World and I am on a world tour for 6 months. Right now I am in Hong Kong, China. Hong Kong is a bunch of different islands and a piece that's actually connected. Hong Kong has markets to sell things like flowers and electronics and stuff. One of the markets is a goldfish market! This paper is to tell you, you do things you never thought you would do when you love a fish!

Of course I went to the goldfish market. I found lots and lots of cute little puppies right next to it. I have an idea that you are thinking the goldfish market is just one big shop where there are lots and lots of goldfish. But no, the goldfish market is like a whole block where there are big bunches of just goldfish.

It is Chinese New Year and fish are good luck, I asked my Mom if she thought our apartment could use a little good luck? She said…………YES!? At first my sister World Rings Bell thought maybe, but not really. But my other sister said, "NO!" and that's it. My Mom was thinking then I said something I really meant over and over again I said, "I will take care of them. I will feed them and throw them into the toilet when they are dead." The next thing you know we are doing a vote if we should get them or not and my sister (World Rings Bell) said yes, I said yes. My mom did not vote (like always) and my other sister (Captain O) said, "NO!" (Again). My Mom thought a while, we were all quiet then she said…Ok which fish do you like! Me and World Rings Bell cheered we were so happy!

The next thing we did was pick out the fish. There was more than one type of fish. Some were in a bag and some were in a tank. My mom said we had to choose a fish that was in a bag (because she THOUGHT they don't need oxygen pumps or lights and those fancy things). I got a bunch of little fish (15). Since we are going to all the markets (the flower and bird markets) the fish were carried around for a while. Happily we bought a bag with 15 fish in it and when we FINALLY got home we still had a bag with 15 fish in it (what I am trying to say is after all that time of carrying the fish around none of them died). When we got home we put all the fish inside the tank and found a place for them right next to World Rings Bells bed.

Then my sisters and me had quite a big fight because my sisters didn't think it was fair that I got to feed the fish. So Captain O made a chart and it told us what who was feeding the fish each day. I thought it was really helpful. One fish died and I was the only one who volunteered to pick it up and flush it down the toilet. Well I didn't want to do it but I was the only brave one so now my Mom says I have earned the right to always feed the fish and they are all mine.

I researched the name of my fish by typing in the space bar, What is the fish called that is small that has a reddish goldfish body and a mark on its tail that looks like Mickey Mouse's head? I found Mickey Mouse Platys next to a picture and I knew in my blood that that was my fish.

We went on another day and no fish died but the next day one was dead. I had a terrible problem. We found out the fish DO need oxygen and they are probably dying because they have none! We think this because they are going to the top of the tank (maybye to get oxygen). The next day my favorite fish Mazy died. I am so sad that I can't take her out of the tank and my Mom does it for me. We try to go the goldfish market to get help to make oxygen but the man downstairs (at the security desk of our hotel) who is so nice to me says it is closed because of Chinese New Year. My Mom starts looking online for ideas on how to give the fish oxogen. Here is when I start to do a lot of things I didn't think I ever would do just to keep fish alive! Like… use a cup to give them oxygen. If you pick up water from the tank and drop it back in from up high it makes bubbles with oxygen in them.

My sisters want a turn to do it too and GUESS WHAT! Captain O see Mazy come out from the sunken ship in her tank. She did not die! It was another fish that did! I can tell it's her because she is the only one with no mickey mouse on her tail because she is too young.

HURRAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My Mom gets more ideas and I use a thing you get dish soap in to give them oxygen. We clean it out and fill it with air and blow bubbles in. I bubble the fish like 4 or 5 times a day now maybe even 6 if they don't look well. For a minute we even think to blow air through a straw but then my Mom realized we blow out CO2 not oxygen so that's a no.

The big part of Chinese New Year ends and we finally go to the fish market and get a small little bubbler with a filter so the water isn't cloudy anymore and some chemicals too. We did this all with the help of one nice man. I find the Chinese very respectful and kind. We can go away however long we want now because I don't have to make bubbles for my fish!

I then started researching my fish even more. Here are some of the things I found. It's so easy for Mickey Mouse platys to breed! This is how you tell if the platy is male or female. The female has 2 little fins on the bottom of her. The male instead of a second fin has a spike thing that points to his tail. We have 3 females and 5 men right now. We only have 8 fish a lot of them died.

The Mickey Mouse platys are capable of reproducing at three to four months of age. Reproducing means making babies. When they have babies you can barely even realize but a little orange spot just plops right down to the ground of the tank then starts swimming around. When the females have babies they don't just have one they have alot. One time on youtube I saw one that had 22 babies in 30 minutes another time I saw 10 babies in less than 1 minute. This really freaked my Mom out. It says they are the easiest fish to take care of but maybe they are the easiest fish to have babies instead?

The Mickey Mouse platy gets its name because there is a mark on its tail that looks like the head of Mickey Mouse. There are 2 types of Mickey Mouse platys. There is the blue Mickey Mouse platy and the golden one. We have a golden Mickey Mouse platy. The Mickey Mouse platy is also known as the southern platy fish. That would be good to know if you want to look them up to see a picture! The male Mickey Mouse platy is smaller and brightly colored than the female. Platys are known for crossbreeding which means they can breed with a different kind of fish. The Mickey Mouse platys scientific name is Xiphophorus maculatus. The Mickey Mouse platys are on the poeciliidae family. They can grow up to 2 and half inches. Fish will eat until they explode so if you give your fish food they will eat it no matter what!

Everything was going well and they all had enough oxygen until one night I had a nightmare that I didn't know about until the morning. Mazy died for real this time. I was really sad. We had some great times together! My Mom asked me more than 1 time do you wish I said no to getting the fish? But I said the same thing every time. "I like that you bought me the fish!" then my Mom says, "Better to have loved and lost then to never have loved at all." I believe her, she is right. I had lots of fun doing things with Mazy (my favorite fish that died).

God decided that it was time for Mazy to die and I accept that. God will give me a day that I will die too. This is how I give my fish to the earth when they are dead. When a fish dies that isn't my favorite fish I just flush it down the toilet because the toilet water will go to the sea then the fish will turn back to the earth or become part of a fish if someone eats them. When Mazy died I had a full funeral. My Mom, and my sisters, plus me went down to the park with Mazy wrapped up in a paper towel with some flowers. I looked at a lot of spots and I picked a Red Powder Puff tree because I love fuzzy snuggly things and that tree had a bunch of big poufy spots where it was nice and fuzzy and it had a beautiful view I think. My mom buried Mazy in the dirt because I didn't want to see my Mazy dead. I did look at her before she buried her. I should tell you that coming back to life one time wasn't the only surprise I got from Mazy I also found out when I did my research before she died that she was a boy. I call her a girl anyway but that is not the exact truth. My sisters and me put flowers next to where Mazy was buried. I got the flowers from Valentines Day my Dad sent all the way from Gibraltar.

I know from all my research now that Mickey Mouse Platys need a lot of things to keep them alive that we don't have. Like…

Inside their cage Mickey Mouse platys like plants like fern and java or even java moss… and you are supposed to have a tank with 10 gallons in it but only 4-5 fish but we have 8 platys and a half of a gallon tank. Well now we have 7 because Mazy died.

I feel like I learned a lot from Mazy and all the other fish that died and are still alive. I really had fun with them. To me the fish that are dead are still alive in their spirit. I hope you learned a lot just from reading my experience.