2.15.2012

Meet Berry and Azulia ...

... the newest members of the Perlman household.

They are my, Matt's, the girls betta fish. Also known as Siamese Fighting Fish. Because apparently, we don't have enough fighting going on in our house already.

These "pets" were earned because both girls got straight A's on their latest report cards. So last Saturday we went to Petco where they each got to pick out their own bowl, fish, plant and rock color.

Of course, it would have been FAR easier, and much less expensive if we were able to get just one tank, and put both fish together. Except the kicker about owning betta fish is that they can't be put together because they're aggressive ... and you know ... will fight and possibly kill each other.

Much like the girls attempted to do when they had to share a room.

So double the price of everything later, we left the store with a laundry list of do's and don'ts for the girls to remember. Do change the water every week or two. Don't feed them more than 2 - 3 times a week. Do condition the water every time you change it. Don't put the fish together when you change the water.

Lots of things for the girls to remember. Because, you know, they ARE going to be taking care of the fish themselves since they ARE their fish. Right?

Of COURSE right. In fact, they are SO attentive that I'm actually worried that the fish aren't going to die from lack of care. They're going to meet an early demise because of either over feeding or over handling. I mean, how much can these poor fish stand to have their bowls shaken by a 7 & 9 year old to ensure that they're still alive? Or worse, from a 2.5 year old!

We've been told that the lifespan for these betta fish are 2 - 3 years. And with any luck they will be.

Just as long as I'm able to flush a floater while the girls are at school and replace it by 3pm.





L: Azulia ... named after the color blue and our favorite Lebanese restaurant

R: Berry ... named because of a mixture of the fish's raspberry, blueberry, and blackberry coloring. And not difficult at all to replicate should this fish die young ... right?

5 comments:

Robin said...

Just in case you should someday need this information, not that I'd know anything about this personally of course... ;)

When blue betta fish go on vacation they become sunburned (red), and then after a few weeks the burn fades and they revert to being blue.

Just sayin'...

Issa said...

I wish you much luck with those things.

I had one explode once. I guess it got an air bubble and I wasn't home for two days and yeah....if you don't gently squish it out of them, they explode.

Lisa said...

I had a Beta in college, and it lived for two years. Based on my "parenting" skills back then, I'd say their pretty hardy fish.

Mom24 said...

Awesome. :) Good luck. I'm all for replaceable pets.

A Daring Adventure said...

This is the CUTEST THING!! And brings back so many memories!

I had Betta fish while I was growing up. It was so crazy awesome when they blew their bubble nests. I felt bad having to change their water after that, because I knew I was getting rid of so much of their hard work!

Congrats on the straight As! Of COURSE your children are crazy brilliant... they're yours and Matt's! :)

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