Lisa1

LisaRastogi

ProfessorCruz

English100

18August2016

HowIcametolovetheunderappreciated

The rows and rows of colorful fins and scales and every child stopsto stareat
one. Parent tries to pull them away as an employee rushes over and enthusiastically
exclaims,miss, do you needanyhelp?Theparentisabouttomouththewordno,but
the employee insists by saying, What a great choice for a first time pet! Now the
parent is listening with the childs dream coming true, everything seems just perfect.
Until, the employee attempts at tryingto explain how tocarefor one but it just doesnt
seem to add up. Unfortunately, the clueless parent doesnt know any better andtakes
the advice,findsagoodsizebowlandmaybeafewplasticdecors.Thekidgoestograb
onethatishalfdead,gulpingforair,andtheyheadtotheregister.
That is an classic example of how Bettas are usually sold at pet stores. How
many of you guys owned one and have kept them in bowls/glass vases? In reality,
Bettas,also known as SiameseFighting fish,aretropicalfishthatdeservespropercare
like anyother animal.Keepingthem ina bowl withinfrequent water changesonlyadds
to the stress of the fish as ammonia level can increasegradually. Anarticle published
back in 2004,
titled The Water Dancer, written by PattyEpperson,makesclaims that
are absolutely ridiculous such as house the Betta in a bowl or a vase thatcarriesat


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leastone gallon ofwaterClean thebowlevery810days.Nomentionfortheneedof

heaters or filters are informed. In nature, they live in warm waters of Thailand so a
steady temperature 7882 F is needed in your tanks with a filtered 2.5 gallon tank or
larger. In captivity, their diet includes pellets, freeze dried or live bloodworms, brine
shrimp, or daphnia. Using silk plants or real plants are recommended compared to
plastic ones as itmayinjuretheirscalesorfins.Beforeaddinganyfishtoyourtank,you
would want to place the container or bag they comein andletthem accumulate to the
temperature ofthewater fornotmorethan30minutes.Usingtapwaterwillimmediately
killthem from chlorine so you needtousewaterconditionersorregularbottledwater.It
is recommended to keep one Betta per tank but you can set up dividers or set up a
community sorority tanks with several females ina 10 gallon or larger.Inlargertanks,
you can house other nonBettas like snails, shrimps, bottom feeders, Neon tetras,
Platys, andmanyothers.Compability isthe key andyouwant tofindalessaggressive
Bettathatdoesntmindhavingcompany.
According to several sources such as Bettasource, Bubbles & Bettas blogspot,
and The AquariumGuide,there are 7 commontypes of Betta. First isPlakat,they can
be identified by their shorter tail compared to other breeds and is the closest to
traditional wild Bettas. Personally, Plakat is my favorite breed as theyre the hardiest
and has a higher chance of surviving diseases. They also have the tendency toshow
vibrant colors when bred. I currently own three Plakat male Bettas and they were all
Petco rescues. Their names are Bartholomew, Kaleidoscope, and Mixie. Second is
Crowntail, one of the easiest ones to identify due to their unique tails. Their tails are


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shaggyand spiky, oftenmistakenfor beingsickbecauseofthisreason,whentheyrein

fact perfectly healthy. Third is HalfmoonBetta,theseBettastail expands180 degrees
and forms into a shape of a letter D when fully expanded. Fourth is Doubletail Betta,
andthey canbeidentifiedfromtheirtwotails split which is actually a geneticmutation.
Fifth isDeltas andSuper Deltas, they areverysimilar to HalfmoonBettasbuttheirtails
donot expandas muchas180degrees.6thisRosetailBetta,whichhasalargetailjust
like Deltas and Halfmoon but instead, it purposely looksruffled at theedges.And last
but not least,7th isVeilTail.Themostcommononeyou canfindinretailstores,theyre
a lot less flashy compare to other Bettas and has a skinny tail that drapes downand
looks generally smaller. Others notmentioned includes Combtail,Roundtail,Half Sun,
OverHalfmoon,Spadetail,King, andKoi. Bettasare uniquebecause theycanbebred
in so many ways and the variations are endless. What makes them popular among
aquaticpetowners is the variety theycomein,andyouaresuretofindoneyouwilllike
even if you dont find the common ones appealing. Many breeders sell more exotic
Bettas online and ships them overseas to customers. In 2006, three Researchers
named Ethan D. Clotfelter, Leslie J. Curren, and Caleb E. Murphy, performed an
experiment where they hypothesized, ... that females would prefer large males and
males with high display rates, because these characteristics are correlated with nest
building (Bronstein 1984, 1985) and, presumably, male parental quality. However, we
also predicted thatoverlyvigorous maleswould disruptspawning andnegativelyaffect
female reproductive success (see also Reichard et al. 2004). Third, we predicted that
maleB.splendenswouldpreferlarge(andpresumablymorefecund)females,butavoid


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overlyaggressive females as indicated bytheir high displayrates.Theyused21 male

Bettas obtained from a commercial supplier and housedthem inseparate tanks.They
occasionally introducedthe female through a glasswalltogetthemaccustomed.Atthe
end, their hypothesiswas proven correctthroughtheirexperiment.Thisinformationhas
helpedmanybreederstogetmoreeffectivespawns.
So how did I come to love the underappreciated? As a child, I was always
surrounded byanimals. ItriedmybesttotakecareofallmypetsbutoneanimalInever
really considered to take care properly was a fish. Like any other kid, Iwould just put
them in a bowl and hope for the best. Several days, weeks, or months later, it would
pass away andthe cyclerepeated. Eventually, Igot tired offishes so Istoppedhaving
anyin general, until recently.About2monthsago,myparentslefttogoona10daytrip
to Japan, leaving me athome. During that time,I found anold usedPetcogiftcardand
that made me want to acquirea Bettaagain. Ialready had apreviously usedfishtank
with a decent water filter,soIendedupgettingaredcrescentcoloredDoubleTailBetta
named Oppenheimer. That was when my the whole world of Bettas openeduptome
andthat night,I spent endlessamountoftimelookinguphowtoproperlycareforone.I
came to theconclusion thatIhavebeentreatingthemsopoorlyinthepastandtheguilt
overcame me. The next following couple of weeks, I went to several different tropical
fishstores and bought moresupplies.Unfortunately,aboutamonthlater,hedeveloped
fin rot and had to be euthanized. But I eventually got two more tanks after andnow I
own 3 beautiful Bettas. Bettas eventually grew onto me somuch thatjustlast week, I


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ended up draggingmyfriendtoover7petstoreslookingforoneto buyinsteadofgoing

totheOCfairallday.
Like previously stated, I lost Oppenheimer to a very commondiseasecalled fin
rot. Itswhentheirfinsappeartornandragged,causedbypoorcareordirtytanks.Most
likely, healready carried the diseasewhenI got him which ledtohisconditionworsen.
Pet storesaretrulycluelesswhenitcomestopropercarefor Bettas.Theyreforcedinto
these tinyplasticcupswithnoheaterorfilterandwithonlyasmallbreathingholeonthe
top. Few days ago, someoneon a online forum posted her personal story ofwhat she
found at her local Petco.Iteventuallyturned intoacommunity discussionamongst the
groupandwe alltoldourpetstorehorrorstoriesandweallgotquiteagoodlaugh.Soif
youeverconsider getting a Betta, please make sureyoudoyourresearch andgivethe
yourlittlefriendthebestlifeyoucangivehim.


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WorkCited

"TailTypes."BettaSource.N.p.,n.d.Web.18Aug.2016.

"Betta Splendens Variations." The Free Freshwater and Saltwater Aquarium

EncyclopediaAnyoneCanEdit.N.p.,n.d.Web.18Aug.2016.

"The UltimateOnePageGuidetoBettaFishCare."BettaFishCare.N.p.,n.d.Web. 18
Aug.2016.

"BettaBettaSplendens."Betta.N.p.,n.d.Web.18Aug.2016.

Castro,Nidia, AlbertF.H.Ros,KlausBecker,andLouisF.Oliveira. "MetabolicCostsof

Aggressive Behaviour intheSiamese Fighting Fish,BettaSplendens."MetabolicCosts
of Aggressive Behaviourin theSiameseFightingFish,BettaSplendens(2006):47480.
OCC.Web.

Clotfelter, Ethan D., Caleb E. Murphy, and Leslie J. Curren. "Mate Choice and
Spawning Successin the Fighting FishBetta Splendens:TheImportanceofBodySize,
Display Behavior and Nest Size." Mate Choice andSpawningSuccess inthe Fighting
Fish Betta Splendens: The Importance of Body Size, Display Behavior and NestSize
(2006):1170178.OCC.Web.

Epperson,Patty."TheWaterDancer."TheWaterDancer(2004):4647.OCC.Web.


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PhotoCitation

http://cf.ltkcdn.net/smallpets/images/std/139917295x407BettaFishBowl.jpg

http://dailytwocents.com/bettafisharepetsnotdecorations/

http://imgur.com/oWmbZGD

http://www.aquariumfish.net/images_01/platy_hf_red_100606a5_w0480.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/African_dwarf_frog.jpg

http://aquariumfish.net/images_01/neon_tetra_110601a4_w0640.jpg

http://www.pets4homes.co.uk/images/articles/1865/large/bestbottomfeedersforyourfishtank
53c68bc87d1fc.jpg

http://www.reefland.com/wpcontent/uploads/2013/04/44.jpg

http://media.aquariumcarebasics.com/images/ghostshrimptranslucent.jpg

http://www.thefishwizards.com/images/full/betta_imbellis_wild.jpg

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/attachments/f72176435e552569d763ab98f02101d2
jpg.787143/

https://smediacacheak0.pinimg.com/736x/05/31/69/053169aad7003e71668aaf49c08aa655.jp
g

http://www.bettastore.com/article/141548599426042198_s.jpg

https://smediacacheak0.pinimg.com/736x/0d/6b/60/0d6b60f721ae07d3ada3615425fe22fa.jpg

http://mycbforum.com/bettas/Super%20Delta%20(SD)%20Betta.jpg

http://www.petworldrochester.com/wpcontent/uploads/2013/02/DoubleTailBetta.jpg

https://smediacacheak0.pinimg.com/564x/f2/eb/e7/f2ebe75acb57ccf8f6415c03f6ebd524.jpg

http://s731.photobucket.com/user/Fishchick/media/IMG_5950_zps537966ba.jpg.html

http://blogs.democratandchronicle.com/moms/files/2013/08/GoldFishBowlSM.jpg

http://ecocart.co.in/uploads/products/fighter_fish.jpg

http://s2.quickmeme.com/img/2d/2daac7f978e4baaab0a27851afb5b1e37db5150cf918dcf6f70fc
76e293e20b8.jpg


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http://www.geocities.ws/dcbettabarracks/anatomy.jpg

http://www.geocities.ws/dcbettabarracks/anatomy2.JPG