Un Cachito

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I've never claimed to be a great fish caretaker, but it still kinda stinks to have that confirmed. You may remember my suicidal Tetra from a while back. Well, he died while I was on a trip several months ago and my brother tossed him out. Then my fish had babies (and yes, those naughty guys were all siblings). They had lots of babies. I kept them for several weeks while I tried to figure out what to do with the ~17 fish in a small 5 gallon container. I finally took a couple of the adults and most of the babies to a pet store that was willing to take them off my hands for free. This left me with 5 fish: 3 adult, mostly black Dalmation Mollies and 2 toddler Dalmation Mollies, one an albino and one that was light with some golden-brown streaks. I tend to let the tank go for 2-3 weeks before I really clean it, which I find to be a pain, although I'll occasionally put in some fresh water and take out some old. Despite this, my fish have seemed relatively satisfied with their environment and I've read that Mollies actually prefer brackish water. Anyway, so fast forward to yesterday when I decided the tank needed a cleaning. The problem was that I didn't want to spend the time to wash all the gravel and everything - so I took what I thought would be a shorter route. I lugged the tank to the sink and carefully tried to dump out the worst water and floaties that had formed. I did this repeatedly while always trying to leave enough water in the tank for the fish to survive, and also trying to keep the fish from leaving with the water. Well, the problem is that my fish can jump. and while they were merrily at the bottom of the tank as I was pouring, one of them zoomed up and launched himself over the edge into the Great Wide Open of the kitchen sink and drain. I thought he was a gonner, but he didn't quite make it down the drain due to the drain guard. I tried to grab him a couple times but he was slimy and squirmy. I finally managed to get him and throw him back in the tank. I finished my water transfer and filled the tank back up, trying to keep an eye on the guy. He seemed pretty lethargic and acting suspicious, but so did everyone else. I think I traumatized them. I mean, how would you like to have your home and air supply just slip away from beneath you?Well, after the other guys started acting normal, the jumper (I think - some of them look alike), still stayed in a corner not moving. Last night I found him face down against the gravel with the gills still moving. This morning he was lying on the gravel, gills still going. I'm sure it's down to a matter of hours before he goes or I help him on his journey to fish-jumping heaven.