Aqua Life Aquarium is a small pet shop and tropical fish collection located at the intersection of Wickenden and Hope street. The owner and "Fish Doctor" George Goulart has been running it for 35 successful years. He started on fish at the age of six, and alongside the 110 tanks in his shop, he now maintains a private home aquarium numbering 145 tanks.

 

The following are quotes from him and his dedicated staff, overheard amidst the bubbling of countless filters.

 

"I specialize in getting fish from the Amazon before they die."

 

"My grandchildren wanna see 'em alive, not just in books."

"See that big one there? He's seven years old. This one here is his girlfriend."

I asked, "Why is this one bent like that?"

 

The reponse: "See how [George] walks all slouched like that? That's what's wrong with this fish.

 

"...I'm kidding, he's not that old yet. But that's what it is. He's old and crippled. Old age really gets 'em."

(When I returned the next week to show them this illustration, he mentioned that I'd "even got the sick one."

 

"I can't bring myself to throw her out. She's still alive and kicking, swimming around and looking for boyfriends."

"I try to keep humans away from my fish. They're the ones that ruin 'em."

 

"You rush, make mistakes, things happen."

"We wanna sell ya the fish...

...but we don't want ya coming back the next day sayin' my fish died."