Post by missdiane on Feb 10, 2013 16:29:20 GMT -5
I'm hoping to eventually have a book published containing stories (fact & fiction) about my pet friends. just wanted to give you folks one to read. would appreciate any comments to improve this tale. ;D
thanks all - I love being here!
The story of Chance – as told by his rescuer
I needed one or two food items and decided to go to the local ^&%@*# store. I won’t mention the store name, but most of you would recognize it as one of several large ‘discount’ retailers that sell anything from A-Z > supposedly at a lower price than other stores. All I can say is that many of us don’t save money in this store as we end up with full carts of this & that items which we haven’t come there to buy. Impulse shopping at its best!
This said, on the way to the food section one must pass the clothing, electronics, toy, jewelry, and pet sections. In the pet aisles, one can find pet food, toys, beds, pest control remedies, and at the end of the aisle along the back wall, a line of 10 gallon (usually) aquariums. Here we can find a variety of well-stocked or dare I say, “extremely over-stocked” tanks holding varieties of tropical and goldfish. Separated from the tropical and goldfish, we can generally find a small dark shelf loaded back to front with pint-sized cups containing Beta fish. If you’ve ever taken the time to look, you already know that Betas are beautiful fish with diverse coloring and finnage. We’ve all heard Betas referred to as fighting fish, which if not kept alone, will fight to the death and usually kill its tank mates. I, for one, don’t find fighting of any kind to be entertaining - not dogs, roosters, humans, or even fish. For this reason, until this particular day, I’ve passed by the Betas. I usually opted to view the brightly-lit tanks filled with a variety of other fish. Now and then I’d show my disgust as adults with small children would entertain themselves by allowing the kids to ‘knock’ on the aquariums and frighten the fish into scattering. I suppose it’s doubly entertaining when the tanks are void of anything except fish and the fish are twice as frightened because they have no place to scatter. OH HA! HA!
Well, back to Betas…..As I said this particular day was different. There were no humans around so I felt more comfortable about conversing with fish and I stopped to speak to the Betas. They were lined up on the shelf – four rows of ‘cups’, three rows deep. The water in the cups looked thick and murky with tropical fish food flakes floating on top of the water and covering much of the bottom. There were more dried up flakes on the cup tops. The Betas? Well, I must say that they didn’t seem to care much about anything. They all seemed to be lying on the bottom of their cups – waiting. It broke my heart then, and if I allowed myself to visit, it would break my heart now.
I had just said, “Hi friend” to the fish in cup #1 (by the way, I’d recognize it today as a male crown tail) when the fish in cup #3 actively swam (?) to my side of his cup. Of course I picked up his cup. He was different from the others in several ways. First of all, he moved. His fins were different as well (double fin) and his color was bright orange with blue tips on his tail fins. As I held his cup, he looked me straight in the eye. Not aggressively, but as silly as this sounds – knowingly. I talked to him a bit, telling him how sorry I was for his lot in life, and then I put his cup back in its place. As I spoke to the other Betas, this one continued to follow my movements and watch me. He didn’t flair, only watched. At that time, another customer had ventured into the fish department. However, when I mentioned that a fish was watching me, she hurried away. (smile) I felt really bad for all of the fish imprisoned in these conditions. I’ve been an active aquarist in the past and have kept large aquariums with many varieties of fish.
These days however, I rent a small apartment with little space or money for much of anything - certainly not enough to re-start my old fish keeping hobby.
The orange Beta kept tugging at my heart and I began to justify in my mind that I certainly had enough space for one small fish in a cup. I told the Beta, “I’m going to the food section. If you look at me when I return, I’ll take you home.”
Forty-five minutes later I returned to the ‘pet’ department. Before reaching for a cup, I said, “Hi friends.” This is the absolute truth and it amazes me to this day: the orange Beta immediately came to the front of his cup and began to wave his tail fin at me just as a dog wags its tail. Deal closed - I had a pet fish. When I got home and looked Beta up on the internet, I learned that they don’t require a filter, heater or much living space. Cool deal! No problem. It was summer in Nevada and the apartment stayed quite warm.
I called my new pet “Chance.” No explanation needed. I had to drive to another city to go to a real pet store - which is another large well-known chain. The guy working in the fish section told me that a 1 gallon ‘tank’ was perfect for a Beta so I bought it, along with some smooth marbles for the bottom and a couple of artificial plants for decorations. I knew about water conditioning and food from my previous experience in fish keeping.
Over the next week or so we got to know each other. Chance always stayed on my side of his tank while I sat on the sofa. He’d swim to the other side to watch me if I got up to go into the kitchen. When I called his name, he’d come to the top for meals. I’d swear that the fish watched TV. I’m sure it’s obvious to you that we formed a close relationship. Very soon I started feeling sorry for my fish friend living in this small world all alone. So, I bought a 20 gallon aquarium and began to cycle it (fishless) while I researched Beta fish and suitable tank mates. I’m certain you realize that one google search will initiate many different opinions and answers. Realizing this, I sorted through information and used trial and error plus a little common sense to establish a new home for Chance. The bottom was covered with smooth river rocks. I added several live plants, and a lot of smooth-surfaced decorations with hiding places. Once cycled, Chance moved in with eight zebra Danios and three Cory cats. They all lived peacefully together, but I wanted to add more fish to this empty-looking habitat. Unfortunately, Chance wasn’t that fond of friends. A gorgeous male guppy lost his life before I again learned that we can’t believe everything we read on the internet where I had seen guppies on a list of compatible mates.
What did I do about this situation? I bought a 10 gallon tank and started to cycle it. It would be a new home for Chance, and I could then add other fish to the 20 gallon. Yes, this is addictive behavior!
Chance soon moved into his new home along with 3 Botia Striata. My thought: the loaches are bottom dwellers and the Beta is generally at the top. Lots of plants, rocks, and caves for hidey holes and everyone could have their own territory…..and the internet said they were compatible…….Hmmm. For a while, they were fine. After a few months, the loach family started turning into gangsters when the lights went off. I woke up one day to discover Chance badly beaten with his gorgeous fins shredded. Of course he was immediately removed and I raced to the nearest store (where I had purchased him) and now purchased a three gallon tank with a small heater and filter. Insufficient space prevented me from buying larger. Since this was an emergency situation, I didn’t take the time to cycle this new home. I used enough water from the 10 gallon to halfway fill the 3 gallon, added some live bacteria, and also some of the gravel and a live plant from the 10 gallon. To this I added fresh conditioned water and a lot of stress coat for his fins. I said a prayer and went to bed. The next morning, Chance had begun to explore and stopped only to wag his torn fins at me before continuing. By day two, he’d built a huge bubble nest across the top of the water. His wounds healed with time and much love.
It’s been three years and Chance is still here with me. We can talk about anything! Of course my dogs think I’m crazy talking to a fish.
God gave man domain over all creation. To me this clearly means that we must take responsibility to love and nurture ALL of life around us.
Love life. Have a blessed day!
Diane Mullins
2/10/13
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It is extremely sad. I "rescued" 10 goldfish that were being sold as feeders from 2005 to 2007. All are still around, greet me like cats or dogs whenever I go by, and eat from my hand. It is great that you gave this fish such a good home! 
