They don't live very long. Have you noticed that? And yet they are among the most interesting of aquarium fish. They can be. Not always. But sometimes. I've had a few that are genuine pets. My tank is a room divider and they position themselves on either side to be nearest me. They meet me when I approach the tank and not just because they are hungry. They observe me whenever I'm in the rooms that they can see me. They are as interested in me as I am in them. Some even didn't mind being held. I could put my hand in the water underneath them and they'd tolerate me lifting them out. Anything for interaction with me. They showed trust. While a few other betta fish kept to themselves and hid under rocks. The females were actually more interesting this way than the males.
But when they breed, and that's another incredibly interesting process to witness, it nearly kills them. If it doesn't actually kill them. It's exhausting for both male and female.
They rarely live beyond a few years and yet give decades of fish-interaction. This tribute is in loving memory to my all-time favorite betta fish.
5 comments:
Think you mean betta.
Jeepers, it looks like Doug had a close call on the chopping block.
Bettas are sweet fish. I think about having an outdoor fish tank in the summer.
Ed, you're right. Corrected. Thanks for that. I wonder why I was so sure about it being different from the Greek letter and having them both wrong.
I like to think I'm observant, but it took me until today to see Pierce's holes, recognize them as unnatural and then realize all the fish had or had been artfully given a mark or feature that went with their name.
The last to be found was Nick's nick which wasn't apparent until I started looking for one.
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