Nice human (um, fish?) interest story

[javasaurus]

Nice story, it made me smile. The info on how bettas live naturally was interesting.

Not just a fish story

Comments

[xpioti.livejournal.com]

Bettas are intensely cool. "Dory" is probably a male; it's hard to buy females, most people don't find them very attractive. They can be colorful, but don't have the fancy fins -- and are agressive little wenches, to boot. I've had three female bettas, over the years; one liked to fling herself into the trash can. I finally got a heavier lid and moved the trash, because hearing odd rustling sounds in my trash can was freaking me out.

The information on Bettas isn't completely accurate; I don't remember enough details to ramble on about it, though. BettaTalk looks like a pretty good resource; alternately, just do a Google hunt for betta or betta splendens. People that put a betta in a small (less than 5 gallons) bowl, however, are missing a lot. Flutterbye (he's a red butterfly -- red body, mostly white fins) is in a 38 gallon group tank with catfish, danios, tetras, neons, and one remaining mollie, and he's fun to watch. Rearranging plants or rocks can be difficult, because he bites -- and Bettas have teeth. It doesn't hurt, but having a fish attached to your arm can be unnerving. Netting other fish (dead or alive) is also difficult; Flutterbye's never been removed from the tank, so he fears no net -- and constantly tries to get in any net put in the tank.

I had two Bettas, but lost one due to exhaustion and illness; I had Firebird in the breeder net in the big tank, and he and Flutterbye spent all their time, 24/7, flaring impressively at eachother. Both were exhausted, then we accidently put a very agressive fish in Firebird's home tank. Poor guy spent all his time hiding, not enough time eating and recuperating, and when the tank went extremely bad it took him with it. :( Flutterbye, however, likes to pretend that he is a Moray Eel, or flopping sidewards on things; Housemate L periodically things he's dead. (Firebird was more of a one for playing dead, though.)

I did let both male Bettas lose in the 38g tank, closely supervised. Firebird saw Flutterbye first, then they danced around the tank (synchronized swimming), flaring out gills and fins, brightening their colors, to establish who was The Boss. Flutterbye was more experienced with the tank, Firebird was stronger, better colored, and more agressive. I separated them with the fin-nipping started; we got to watch The Pursuit, the Flaring Contest (mushroom-headed fish!), Synchronized Swimming, Baring Teeth, Flutterbye nipping at Firebird (missed), then Firebird removing a section of Flutterbye's finnage. I netted Flutterbye (he's easy to catch, see above), Housemate L netted Firebird, and into the breeder net with Firebird.