Fish Palette
Jul. 11th, 2005 06:34 pmor, A new addition to the work environment
I've had a little betta fish (Peek) in a tank for a while now. My officemates have been asking me if I planned to get more and I did. One of each color. Their job is to be happy to see me in the morning and they do their job well.
They're pet store fish and the stress of the pet store after being shipped around generally has them on the edge of keeling by the time they're bought. They tend not to die immediately but rather initially look healthy but then kick off around second weekend or so after looking progressively more unhappy over several days as damage and disease catches up. I don't know if they're all going to make it yet; they look happy and energetic, but the white one has some infected fin damage. It will heal if he's otherwise healthy.
I went back to the pet store the day after getting them to pick up supplies I forgot, and a full third of the 150 or so bettas they had were dead in their tiny little cups; the rest weren't far behind. Camilla's take was 'at least you saved a few'. To me it seems fantastic that they're making money by selling a handful of fish for a few bucks each... for each hundred or two killed in the process. Just shipping the water the fish come in has to cost more than that.
I've had a little betta fish (Peek) in a tank for a while now. My officemates have been asking me if I planned to get more and I did. One of each color. Their job is to be happy to see me in the morning and they do their job well.
"As you watch the fish live in this tank, please bear in mind the following:
- They are doing the best that they can.
- The water is very salty, which is fine, most of the time, but still, every so often you have to ask yourself, What's all this salt doing to their blood pressure? Honestly, it's really no wonder they're sometimes irritable.
- Most of them come from troubled homes, and thus living in an enclosed environment with fish who until this cohabitation arrangement had been total strangers, is not always easy. They have tried to make a home here, and not to fall back into the rhythms and bad habits of their troubled home-lives, but sometimes it's easier said than done.
- They don't have cable, and complain about it constantly."
--Sign at 826 Valencia
They're pet store fish and the stress of the pet store after being shipped around generally has them on the edge of keeling by the time they're bought. They tend not to die immediately but rather initially look healthy but then kick off around second weekend or so after looking progressively more unhappy over several days as damage and disease catches up. I don't know if they're all going to make it yet; they look happy and energetic, but the white one has some infected fin damage. It will heal if he's otherwise healthy.
I went back to the pet store the day after getting them to pick up supplies I forgot, and a full third of the 150 or so bettas they had were dead in their tiny little cups; the rest weren't far behind. Camilla's take was 'at least you saved a few'. To me it seems fantastic that they're making money by selling a handful of fish for a few bucks each... for each hundred or two killed in the process. Just shipping the water the fish come in has to cost more than that.
