Bettazoids

Photo of a typical pet store Betta fish

SATURDAY 8/14/04: I did something I did not think I would ever do...I purchased a betta. betta as in betta fish, a.k.a. "Siamese Fighting Fish." Why did I buy such a silly thing? I don't know, but it's been an adventure.

I have a 2.5 gallon all glass aquarium at home that I wasn't using for anything. So I thought it would be cool to put a betta in it, along with a little gravel along the bottom and one or two aquarium ornaments.

Well, I purchased the fish, but soon realized that the fish tank needs to have a light shining in it to see the betta's rich colors--otherwise the fish looks like a dark shadow. I could not find a proper light for my mini-tank, so I found myself getting a new 2.5 gallon "Mini Bow" tank, because it included a light as well as a power filter. (I got the "'lectric lime" color...)

SUNDAY 8/15/04: I purchased some special betta fish food when I got the betta, but my betta wouldn't eat it! He'd take some in, then spit it out! Doing a quick search of the 'net, I found out that almost all bettas (along with almost all tropical fish) really like brine shrimp. So I went to the pet store and purchased a package of frozen brine shrimp to keep the betta alive and swimming. At first, he spit the shrimp out too! But I left some sitting on the bottom of tank, not knowing what else to do. Checked back a couple of hours later, and it seems as if he all the shrimp (either that, or the filter sucked them up...)

MONDAY 8/16/04: I went out and purchased a real, live aquatic plant for the betta's new home. The plant is called a "moneywort." The betta took to it immediately, and occasionally will rest on the leaves of the plant. Surprisingly, the real plants cost much less than the fake, plastic plants for aquariums.

I decided to name the betta "Aqua" because of this amazing turquoise-blue color that he has. Beautiful fish. I will try to post a picture of him in the near future...