The Dating Game

So...

I brought home this...uh...fish, about a month ago. Carlson was with me getting crickets for the Gecko at Petco, and he really, REALLY needed a fish. (And I love my aquarium but have not set it up in this house because I'm only here "temporarily" for the past three years, but that's another blog.) So I bought this pretty male Betta and little Betta tank & rocks and the whole nine yards for, well, believe it or not, $9. And Carlson named him "Carlson" (four is the age of narcissism....come to think of it, male is the age of narcissism, but that's another blog)

So last week, while at Petco getting crickets for the Gecko, I noticed they have female Bettas. Now you can NOT put two males together or they will fight to the death, but a female...well...

So I pick out a female of the same pretty blue, grab a "care sheet" and head home with my new pet and fodder for the old "pet" (and I use the term loosely regarding the Gecko, but that's another...). I get home, and read the "care sheet" and it says. DO NOT PUT A FEMALE BETTA IN WITH A MALE. But it doesn't say why. So okay.....

And we cant find the little divider thing that came with the Betta tank. So I devise this REALLY cool way to have them together, but separated. I put her in a half-gallon canning jar, INSIDE a clear glass cookie jar sort of thing (prolly 1 1/2 gal), with him in it. So he can swim all the way around her, but not get to her. I thought (still think) it looked really cool.

So what does he do? He starts courting her. Which is really amazing. He got VERY colorful. And spread out his fins elegantly and did a little dance over and over. So I get online and look up "breeding Bettas." And....she is responding to his advances. Turned a kinda gold color and swimming with her head down.

The site also says that there will be anywhere from 200 to 500 spawn and after a couple of weeks you have to separate them--each one in its own jar. And we are leaving in a couple of weeks. >sigh< So, not knowing what to do, I do nothing for a couple of days. Then I decide I better let nature take its course. What would happen to all her eggs (she's big with eggs but wont let them go until they do their thing)...no one is saying. Meanwhile he is steadily building a bubble nest, and dancing for our lady.

So last night I dumped her in with him and he chased her around, but didn't beat her up (as the site said he would...tear her fins & stuff).

But this morning, she is dead. >sigh< She looks fine--no torn fins. But dead as a doornail. So did *I* kill her by not letting her in with him soon enough? Or what.....

Moral: Read the Care Sheet BEFORE bringing home your new pet. Or...playing matchmaker is a dangerous game.