By Jackson Forman

“We have a fish problem,” Mrs. Sauer said frantically. 

It was the afternoon of December 5. I was working on a Social Studies project in WIN when the science teacher ran in to ask for my help. I am known as “the fish guy” because I am an avid fisherman as well as a maker of fishing hooks.

The problem was with one of the tilapias in our aquaponics tank. He is bigger than the rest, and a lot more mean. He is everyone’s favorite. His name is Butterball. He had been pushing all of the other fish into a corner and attacking them. And on December 5, he tried to eat one of his tankmates.  

Mrs. Sauer and I walked over to the tank, down in the primary hallway, and I saw Butterball with a fishtail hanging out of his mouth, struggling to breathe. I assumed Butterball was trying to eat another fish, either because he needed more to eat, or just because male tilapia can be very hostile. 

I filled up a bin with tank water. Because the sink water is much colder than the tank water, if I were to get water from a sink or a water fountain, he would have gone into shock or could have even died. I had to use tank water because he was already acclimated to it. Now I had to net Butterball. Because it is such a big tank (90 gallons), and he is so small, it took a few minutes to get him in the net. Once I got him in the net, I put him in the bin. I could see that he was moving slower than usual. Now it was time to get the fish out of there.

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