The Happiness Of Owning A Fish

Hello everyone, I'd like to introduce my blog readers to my new friend, Oscar. He is a baby-blue Betta. I rescued him from a teeny plastic tub at the store and put him in this high-tech underwater paradise. It was kind of expensive. I believe the grand total of the whole venture was right around $70-ish. With hindsight at my side, I think it was worth it.

Ever been to a bonfire? Did you notice how hypnotizing the fire was? For some
reason you can't look away and you don't really want to. You find yourself perfectly contented to just sit there in silence, watching the flames move about. Owning a fish, or at least a betta, has a similar effect. I love watching him swim around his tank. I couldn't even say why. He's happy and pretty, and I can't look away.

Since documenting this journey in my daily vlog, I've heard a repeat of the same phrase; fish are a lot of work. As I sit right now, I have to disagree. I feed him twice a day, turn his tank light on and off, and that's basically all the required work I've had for the last three days. I do need to add about an inch of water to his tank and in a few months, I'll have to disassemble the whole thing for cleaning. Even with that considered, it's not a lot of work. My dog requires
more effort in one day than this fish will in a month. I'm sure I'll be griping when it comes time to clean, but I'll have several easy and happy months to look forward to after.

This isn't my first time owning bettas either. I owned two a long while back. One red female and one blue male; Lucy and Ricky. I had them for a long time and they both died in the same year. It broke my heart and I swore off fish for years.

Back then I thought they were a lot of work, but I also didn't have filters on the
tanks. Which meant I had to clean often. This time I made sure that Oscar's tank came with a good filter. Live and learn.

As I write this post, I spend most of the time watching Oscar. He likes to stick
near the water's surface and likes dashing in between all the nooks and crannies. Oscar is probably the most curious fish I've ever seen. He watches me constantly. He's like a child shoving his face against the glass. I know he's watching me because he'll follow me. He's just as curious about me as I am of him. I think that's what I love best about him--all that personality.

If you're interested in seeing me buy Oscar and make a home for him, I suggest starting here: Meet Oscar! (Vlog #258). This is the day he enters my family and
in the day that follows I build his tank. They're good little videos, you'll be entertained ;-D


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