A couple of weeks ago when Clive and I were taking a walk we came across a pile of stuff with a chalk outline around it marked “FREE STUFF”. We came out with a lamp (without a lampshade) and a large fish bowl. Last weekend when we were coming home from the wedding, we thought it’d be fun to go to a pet store and pick out a fish that was 1. cheap 2. pretty and 3. inexpensive to maintain, so we bought a betta fish.
His name is Alpha.
Get it?
I have been feeling sorry for him all week, feeling more like a captor who’s holding him hostage than his kind owner who feeds him freeze dried bits. He can’t have any fish friends in his tank because betta fish are very territorial, so we looked at what else we could stick in there. We found certain kinds of snails we could put in there that would help clean the tank, and a java fern to help with some part of keeping the water stable or healthy or something. Clive came home with them today, and the fish already seems happier, and I no longer feel terrible about having him in my home instead of his native Asian waters.
PLUS! Betta fish can eat live insects, so last night I found an ant on the floor and put it in the bowl for him. He was very excited and swam around and got poofy and then the ant was gone (though we didn’t see him eat it).
Congrats on your first male betta fish! I love bettas! We have two, a red one that we’ve fittingly named ‘Red’ (short for Red Bull) and a crowntail male betta that we call Spike. We keep them in one tank that has a clear wall divider to seperate the two. It’s so hilarious to watch them flare up and get mad at each other:lol: . 
