Fish!

I got a new betta fish yesterday, and I’m going to share with you how to take care of them, based on my one day of experience. =)

My fish’s name is “Firenze”, which is the Italian name for the city of Florence. It also looks like the English word “fire”, which is what my fish (sort-of) looks like.

Yeah, he's pretty awesome.

According to the guy at the pet store, a betta fishes natural habitat is muddy icky areas. So, a small bowl with (sometimes) poor water conditions actually mimics their natural habitat. This makes them the only fish that you can really get to live in a small bowl (less than 5 gallons). Apparently, their gills also don’t work like normal fish gills, and they actually get air from the atmosphere and not the water, which is why they don’t need a filter.

So here’s the basics if you’re gonna get a betta: You need a tank (mine is 1 gallon), rocks/decorations, water conditioner, a fish, and food. Make sure you rinse the tank and all decorations before using – then set up your tank as you wish, and let the temperature adjust to room temperature. Then, dechlorinate the water using the conditioner. Don’t just use normal tap water, or your fish will likely die. Then, add your fish! Voila! Also, feed it at least once a day. Bettas don’t eat very much. (At least, mine doesn’t. It mostly just plays with its food).

The whole setup

On a side note, happy birthday to my super-cool sister Emily! She's 19 on the 19th, which makes it her golden birthday. =P