Should I get a fish? -- Upd, got one at lunch! :)

[Rajah]

For some reason, ever since seeing Finding Nemo, I've been wanting of all things a fish. Probly a beta as I've heard they're fairly easy to care for. It would go in the office (except during vacations) so (s)he'd be safe from the kitties. By being at the office, that necessitates having a small open non-powered bowl instead of a tank with a filter. I can't remember ever really having a fish in a *bowl* as opposed to a fish in a small *tank*.

So let's hear from you fish people... pros? Cons? What type would you get? I'd only want one (and before I get flamed without having said anything, if I do get a beta, it won't be one with the flower in the bowl or if it is, it'll be one of those flower-vases that leave enough room for the fish to have both real food and good air supply. ). I'm thinking one of those V-shaped or heart-shaped beta-bowls that you can put a small layer of the pretty colored marbles in.

What do y'all think?

 

[Pat_Elliott]

We got into fish for a while, everything from exotic to goldfish. They keep dying. I can't take all that death! So now, we keep a really fancy tank that's absolutely beautiful, with colored gravel, plants, a black light for night time, and a really loud airator, which helps me sleep at night. We leave the fish on the plate. For this purpose, I can suggest getting a flounder or scrod.

Pat

 

[Rajah]

LOL Pat! I can't stand to eat fish, and half the time I get sick on it when I do, so I try to avoid eating them.

 

[JoNo]

Well, if you're looking for an open jar kinda fish, yeah, stick with a beta... They're not HIGH-maintenance, but they do have to have some care. Just whatever you do, don't get a saltwater tank b/c of finding nemo! Those are really difficult at times to keep up with.

 

[Meriweather]

My DD had betas in her dorm room.
they are pretty indestructable.
Very popluar for dorms.
She has left it for days with no food, let it's water get really low.
And still it lived on.

We never had good luck with any other fish. I think it was our
water, even though we treated it, so we finally gave up.

 

[Pat_Elliott]

Originally posted by Rajah
LOL Pat! I can't stand to eat fish, and half the time I get sick on it when I do, so I try to avoid eating them.

Ok, then you can put them in the tank. But don't say I didn't warn you!

 

[bekkiz]

I've had my betta for almost a year now. He's very easy to keep healthy and alive

I have him in a 1 gallon (smallest reccomended) bowl with marbles and three small silk plants. As their fins are very delicate, make sure naything you put in would, say, snag a pair of hose.

I clean his tank on average once every two weeks (although for the first few months it was once a week on the dot)The whole process takes under 10 minutes, plus time to let him get used to the water. I use "betta buddies" fizzy drop tabs to keep the water right. They come with a sample of food that looks like little pellets. I use this as nightime food and give about four in the evening

I feed him HBH betta bites in the morning. Due to their build/metabolism it is reccomended you feed 2x per day. I use a toothpick to move the food from the container to the bowl

He's very interactive, if you can believe that, for a fish. He watches me was dishes then swims around the bowl as I walk around it. He also knows where I keep the food, so when he sees me reach for it, he gets very excited and starts flaring. The mirror trick only works sometimes, he flares more if I put my face or a finger near the bowl.

 

[pumba]

a few betas in the lsat two years........I have two left......OTIS and INDIANA JONES.....INDY for short.....I had to flush the Governor and of course the famous Mr. Feeney......Otis is my longest living Beta....he is two and a half years old ........but on the other hand Indy is just eight months here....Mr. Feeney I got fancy and got one of those filter tanks and I cooked him .....do not get those pretty marbles for the bottom of the tank.....all they do is collect their food garbage and their ........droppings.......a simple beta tank at Walmart is 3 dollars.....and Otis has been very contented in his for the last two and a half years...

 

[JoNo]

Here's a little known fact about betas... the ones you usually get from pet stores aren't "bred" in america.... in africa, after the rainy season, people find betas living in shallow puddles (hence being able to give them little or no food and them living in shallow water), and them send them to america!

 

[Rajah]

JoNo -- Thanks. I know it would require *some* care, there's no living thing including plants that don't require some care. I just don't want the larger time investment of a huge tank with a very very complex ecosystem.

Meriweather -- That's a good report. I know I wouldn't be able to keep a goldfish for very long.

bekkiz -- they're actually interactive? Interesting, I've never seen one that did much more than just kinda sit there. My roommate at school had a goldfish that was interactive and we went through several other types of fish, but she didn't get a betta until she moved out of the dorm.

Pumba -- Thanks. I wonder if I can get a small bowl/tank thing that is two-parts that would allow me to put pretty decorative rocks separate from the actual fish...

 

[Rajah]

Well, I got one at lunch today. I've been wanting one for long enough (Nemo just resparked the interest) and now was a good time and they had nice-looking supplies at Petco.. so I now have a pretty betta (one of those whose body is blue/purple depending on how the light hits it, then he has a pretty blue top fin with red tips and red lower fins) and a nice 1/2 gallon bowl (it was a full betta kit actually -- bowl, gravel, plant, conditioner, and food). I've filled the bowl with water now and am letting it adjust to room temp, then I'll add the conditioner, then the fishie. I haven't named him yet and if I remember to I'll bring my camera in tomorrow so I can get a picture of him.

 

[Pat_Elliott]

Originally posted by Rajah
Well, I got one at lunch today.

Me too! I got mine at Long John Silvers. Want a picture?

Can you tell I'm getting loopy from lack of sleep?

 

[Rajah]

Originally posted by Pat_Elliott
Me too! I got mine at Long John Silvers. Want a picture?

Can you tell I'm getting loopy from lack of sleep?

ROFL!!!! I was wondering if you'd come back with that reply. *hugs*

 

[Pat_Elliott]

You mean I'm getting predictable? I guess I should have used the line about him refusing to swim when I threw him in the tank....

 

[RUDisney]

My BIL taught me a long time ago that if you name a fish, it will die. We have two clown fish now (like Nemo) that won't die because I want to take down the tank and because I never named them. Naming fish works for some people... just not us.

A coworker had a beta that was really interactive and would get especially huffy when I would wear a red sweater.

 

[pumba]

Otis jumped out of his tank and into Jays.....we laughed so hard.....my daughter was putting her finger at the top of the water and he was jumping at it.....and he jumped alright......right into the next one.....Otis is very friendly.....I pat him once in a while.....he loves it...I know I need another doggie......but Otis fills the bill.....hahaha

 

[Rajah]

Pat -- ROFLROFLROFL!! You're making it hard to breathe

RU -- True. I'll see what happens, give him time to adjust and acclimate to his new place.

I still can't believe how active he is -- he keeps swimging around his cup (still haven't put him in his bowl yet because the water hasn't adjusted to room temp yet) . All the bettas I've seen at the stores and stuff barely move, but he isn't sitting still for long at all. He especially starts moving if I come over to see him.

 

[katerkat]

Oh, Raj, you got the kitties' some dinner! (My DH tells our annoying cat that he's gonna get Tycho a pirhana! )

 

[Rajah]

Originally posted by katerkat
Oh, Raj, you got the kitties' some dinner! (My DH tells our annoying cat that he's gonna get Tycho a pirhana! )

Oh, you should have seen my DH's reaction when I told him yesterday that I might go get a Betta fish today! LOL! His reaction was priceless, and he couldn't understand why I wasn't at all concerned about the fish with two kitties (who *would* really hassle the fish!). I finally broke down and told him that if the kitties wanted to get at this fish, they'd have to travel about 9-12 miles to do it, and then he finally understood!

 

[RUDisney]

The first nice fish we ever put in our saltwater tank was a yellow tang. We named him Tuesday because that's the day the trash is collected. He lasted through 3 Tuesdays before he met his trash collectors.