| It started with a ‘dragon fish’ and a small sturgeon –
when they died I thought their bodies were so unusual that I put them aside to dry out
instead of flushing them. Then I found a little frog, which had escaped from a tank ,
perfectly preserved in the dust of my furnace room. So I started putting other small sized
"failures" aside to dry out and found that they retain their eyes, body shape
and some colour quite nicely, if simply left to dry on a non-absorbent surface. What to do with them? …. I decided to mount them in a ‘shadow box’ (a deep picture frame for three dimensional objects) and display them on the wall of my fish room. 
Some years ago I once saw some ready made shadow boxes for sale. Not too thorough inquiries in local picture frame stores failed to turn up any suitable ready made ones however, so I decided to have one custom made. I went to a framing store and selected a frame style and matting material. I took a piece of matting home, placed the fish in the positions required, and then carefully stuck them to the matte using a clear adhesive (Elmer’s Fix-All). Back at the framing store they had never seen anything like it, so they took extra care (or so they said). They certainly did a good job, fitting the matting material around the edges of the ‘box’ and sealing everything off air tight. I didn’t use it, but a friend suggested that I might have added a little pack of silica gel to absorb any moisture. I now have a unique conversation piece as well as concrete memories of fish long gone. It cost a little over $100. Cost depends on size and frame style. |