New pet at work..

[dangletsbang]

So, I decided I want to liven my desk up at my work..I'm thinking a pretty little fish [or two]...

 

 

What type of fish would be best?

 

I won't be here on the weekends, so..Beta fish..? I've never had experience with fish, so...advice on caring for my next pet?

[CallingAllAngels]

how about a goldfish?

[dangletsbang]

I would love to have goldfish..but don't they require an oxygen pump? I think they do but i'm not positive.

[CallingAllAngels]

I would love to have goldfish..but don't they require an oxygen pump? I think they do but i'm not positive.

 

I'm not real sure either.........

[Cognitive_Canine]

Betta fish naturally live in low oxygen, mucky water.

 

So, they need little care. Just give them a big jar and change the water once every two weeks.

 

I think that would be your best choice. Plus, the males are pretty.

[yellowcal]

I say betta fish as well. Easy to care for and are pretty

[dangletsbang]

hm, betta's are also only fed every couple of days..correct?

[Binoo]

Get a male Beta fish.

I have one. He sits here with me at the computer.

For two weeks I went without cleaning his bowl and his survival is nothing short of a miracle.

[Binoo]

hm, betta's are also only fed every couple of days..correct?

 

I feed mine every night but only maybe 5 seeds of his food. If they eat too much, they'll die.

But every other day should be fine as well.

[Cognitive_Canine]

link removed

 

Can you not take it home with you on the weekends?

 

Half a gallon is a small amount of water. It'd probably be easy to take from work to home and such.

[hers]

Beta fish can live quite a while and you feed them every few days. You can also put a plant in the water in their bowl with them so it looks pretty. Do some googling on them. It'll be a nice addition.

[dangletsbang]

Get a male Beta fish.

I have one. He sits here with me at the computer.

For two weeks I went without cleaning his bowl and his survival is nothing short of a miracle.

 

haha, It'll probably distract me more but oh well.

[JadedStar]

Get a Betta if it will be left over the weekend.

 

And they should be fed everyday, however, they are more apt to be able to go the weekend w/out food than a gold fish.

 

What gets me tho is that because they CAN live in low oxygen, small areas and minimal food doesn't mean they necessarily WANT to live that way. personally i think these poor fish are subject to a lot of abuse simply because they can survive in subpar conditions. Just because something CAN survive that way doesn't mean they want to or that it isn't cruel to make them.

 

If you do get one refrain from the tiny little fancy tanks and get one at least two gallons and if you can put a live plant in it that will help keep the tank cleaner as it will provide oxygen naturally and fight algae.

 

Also, you can buy a small timed feeder from the petstore. I used one for my betta as i dind't want to keep it going all weekend without food or for days off of more than a day. They run on a AA battery and are about ten bucks or less. You put a tiny amount of pellets in each slot that will be deposited in the water every 24 hours. As with any other fish, do not overfeed.

 

Oh and if you want to see your betta thrive in its beautiful splendor add a small tank heater. THEY LOVE warm water. If you have a betta that is listless and looks like a drab lump hanging on the water it is likely that the water is too cold. YOu should have at least a 2.5 gal tank to use a heater. Get the tiniest one the pet stores sell. Like the feeder they are under ten bucks.

 

The warm water will have betta's strutting and fanning out their gills and fins on a regular basis. I enjoyed so much watching mine when i added the heater. THEY DO NOT like cold water. They also do not like hard current from filters....so its best to keep the water oxygenqted with live plants and a snail (IF he does'nt bother it. Some betta's do not care for the snail, others dont notice it).

[Binoo]

haha, It'll probably distract me more but oh well.

 

Mine is such a sh-t disturber! He's always flipping rocks around in his bowl and taunting the cat

[Cognitive_Canine]

I remember doing tests on betta fish. The males would eat the females if the females weren't laying eggs. Those poor little females would be chased around the tank trying to dodge the male. The only thing that kept the female safe was that she'd hide herself in the gravel at the bottom of the tank.

[Qut81]

I love those Japanese fighting fish. They last a long time too. Also, what are the fish that eats off of a plant and you dont have to feed them as much? They look like goldfish but they arent. My cousin had one, the thing lived forever. Poor thing never had a clean fishbowl either. lol

[Scorpion Fury]

do they need to be fed everyday?

[JadedStar]

I love those Japanese fighting fish. They last a long time too. Also, what are the fish that eats off of a plant and you dont have to feed them as much? They look like goldfish but they arent. My cousin had one, the thing lived forever. Poor thing never had a clean fishbowl either. lol

 

You are thinking of the betta but it was a lie. They were selling them and touting they could live off of the roots of the peace lilies in those vases. BETTas do not eat vegetation> The poor things were starved to death.

 

Just because they CAN live with little food or oxygen doesn't mean they should be FORCED to do so.

[JadedStar]

do they need to be fed everyday?

 

They should be but are more apt to go a weekend skipping a feeding then a gold fish.

[JadedStar]

The latest fad

The truth about those Betta Vase Displays!

 

There is a new fad on the market today. It is called a "Betta in a Vase" display. Might sound like a nice thing, and the price is tempting. People figure they are getting a betta AND a plant for one somewhat low price and it seems a good deal. Well, unless you are a betta that is

 

 

 

What this display is

 

if you follow the instructions that come with many of these displays, the set-up will consist of: A vase, (filled with distilled water), a betta (pet store veil tail variety) and a plant at the top. Both the betta and the plant's roots are supposed to share the small amount of water in the vase, where Mr. Betta is supposed to live his entire existence ( get this) EATING THE ROOTS. Say WHATTTTT ???

 

Wait! It gets worse:

 

Just when you thought things just couldn't get worse for Mr. Betta, they do: The diabolic display comes with a (oh so convenient) instruction to not feed the betta nor change the water EVER.

 

I want to know one thing: Who came up with that one????

 

A)- bettas are carnivorous and although out of despair they might eat roots (hey, you would eat a cockroach if got hungry enough!), they cannot survive long that way. It is not unlikely that bettas in the wild may, on occasion, munch on some near by vegetation, including some roots, but this does not constitute their entire diet. This is what their diet consists of. It's sorta like you eat cake here and there, but could you survive on JUST CAKE ??

 

B)- distilled water is not adequate for fish keeping. It is lacking all the proper elements bettas need to be healthy.

 

C)- ecosystems only work when they are large enough to allow a safety margin for fluctuations. Meaning that if one of the components of the ecosystem fluctuates, the whole system will not come crashing down. In such a small amount of water (hey, we are talking about a BOWL people!), how does one plan on preserving the ever fragile balance between: fish eating, fish pooping, plant eating fish poop and plant then cleaning water, plant being healthy enough to grow roots just enough to feed betta the perfect amount of food daily, etc... (assuming bettas would survive in such a vegetarian diet in the first place), you can see how one small change could radically affect the system and invariably cause the betta's death. I am against such set-ups. Every time I have seen one for sale on a store shelf, the betta was sick and dying, and it broke my heart.

 

People have been reporting that their bettas will die within 1 to 6 weeks. In short, they starve to death or become diseased because of poor water conditions.

[Scorpion Fury]

They should be but are more apt to go a weekend skipping a feeding then a gold fish.

 

In that case, if there is no one there on the weekends to feed it for the OP, maybe getting a fish to keep at work wouldn't be a good idea

[JadedStar]

Most fish can skip a day or two w/out problems, so if someone feeds the fish last thing before leaving on friday night and first thing when returning on monday they are fine. If longer than that, no, don't get a fish for the office.

[dangletsbang]

I'm leaning towards getting the food dispenser..that dispenses the food every 24 hrs. Not sure if I want a tank that's 2 1/2 gallons though, so I can have a heater..wouldn't that be rather large?

[Binoo]

My beta can go days without food. There have been a few occasions where I've left him alone for the weekend and he's fine.

I usually put a few extra seeds in his bowl so he has something to snack on while I'm away. But sometimes, it goes untouched.

I trust mine not to overeat but some are gluttonous!

[Seraphim]

As people we LIKE to eat every day, but we can live with not eating one day. Do we like it ? Heck no! Are we ok? Sure. I think pets, even fish should be fed everyday when they have a need to to be fed. If you are not there on weekends I would vote no fish.