I'm a bad fish owner...

All my fish seem to be coming down with weird hybrid diseases! Alexander got what I think was Dropsy, then one day his fins turned completely gray and ragged, then just fell off. All in one day. It was so sad! :'( I had to euthenize him when I saw he wasn't going to get any better.

Napoleon has contracted what seems to be ick, popeye, and fin rot all at the same time! I bought him some medicine, and he's been improving. But I feel like such a bad owner!

If you have a fish that comes down with a disease and you don't know what it is, this page is a big help.

Sushi

:( About two months after I got Sushi, he caught something. I'm not sure what it was, but he stopped eating and just kind of lingered at the bottom with his fins clamped together. I thought it was some shells I put in his tank, since I found out that they change the chemistry of the water. But after several water changes he didn't get any better, and he died couple of days ago.

Sushi

I have named my fish, and his name is Sushi. :) He's extremely hard to take pictures of, but I've managed to get some.

Not very good photos, but you get the picture.

New Fishie

I just bought a new fish. :)' He's a crowntail. And he has a bright purple body with clear fins. He's beautiful! I haven't thought of a name yet though....

I'll see if I can post a picture of him soon..

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm going to catch some minnows for my fish's Thanksgiving dinner. ;)

Myths about Bettas III

When their fish is sick and suffering, a lot of people go about ending their suffering the wrong ways. Like flushing them down the toilet. The fish won't die quickly and painlessly; it will wallow in chemicals for hours, days, or even weeks!

Another unacceptable method is when some people plunge a fish into freezing cold, or boiling water to kill it. How would you like it if that happened to you? The fish may take up to five minutes to die, and those five minutes will be agony. Be kind!

You can find humane methods of euthanization here.

Myths about Bettas, II

A lot of people think that bettas are very happy and will stay healthier in small containers than they would in larger ones. This is not true. Though they can live in small cups, bigger is better in this instance because bettas need space to get excercise. Also, less space means the cup gets dirty quicker. This excerpt from my previous May post explains why bettas can live in small containers and not die:

Bettas are anabantoids, also sometimes incorrectly labeled anabantids. An anabantoid is a fish with a labyrinth organ, which is a is an organ which lets fish breath surface air, and live in very small spaces. (Wild bettas live/lived in shallow bodies of water, like flooded rice paddies.)

And on the other side of the spectrum, some people think that it is a horrible cruelty to keep bettas in cups, that they are unhappy, and will die. These people buy many cups of bettas from Walmart and Petsmart in the hopes of stopping the cruelty and giving the bettas a better life. Well, obviously we can't tell whether a betta is unhappy in the human sense of the word; and they won't die in small containers. And buying cups and cups of bettas will only make the store owners stock more of them. ;) But as I have said, it is better for them in larger containers and tanks.