Hi All. I've been anonymously lurking AC for a about a year—figured it was about time I joined!
Here's my story. (I haven't kept fish since college, when I kept a nano5/freshwater live planted setup in my studio space.)
In '06 my momma had a stroke.
While we waited for days in the emergency room for her to emerge from her 'coma' like condition, friends and family trickled through the waiting room in a blur. It was at this time I discovered Mr. Fishsticks—one of those bettas-in-a-cup, left unceremoniously among the flowers and balloons that crowded my mother's emergency room windowsill.
On his cup was a note: Get well Linda, we love you.
Now, I have no problem with the well-wishes, but come on. Who leaves a live animal in a hospital room with a patient who cannot take care of herself, let alone her new 'present'? (Feel my anger.)
Everyone, including the nurses, just ignored the fish. But I began feeding him little bits, and by day three I swore he could pick me out of a crowd...as he always acted frantic when he saw me sit down.
So here I was with a new pet I did not want.
I brought him home, gave him a name, and set him up in a 1.5 gallon with live plants, did research on Betta Splendis (and to the disgust of my neighbors and husband,) began raising a controlled jar of mosquito larva on my patio to provide Mr. Fishsticks with his meals. I fell totally in love with him.
BTW, Mr. Fishsticks outlived my mother by 6 months. I'm helplessly hooked. I cried when he died. He had graduated from fish-in-cup, to a 1.5, then a 3, and a 5 gallon...I bought home a 20 gallon just two days before he croaked. :irked:
Oh well. No reason to waste all the daphnia I'm rearing, so I went out to my LFS and picked three female bettas out of their femme betta tank. Stupid me. Two of them have turned out to be male plakats, (!?!) but that's for another rant. I will never buy anything living from a pet store again if I can help it. Guess I'm learning a lot the hard way.
But anyway, here I am. Spending way more money and time than I'd ever have dreamed—heehee...
Nice to meet cha
Here's my story. (I haven't kept fish since college, when I kept a nano5/freshwater live planted setup in my studio space.)
In '06 my momma had a stroke.
While we waited for days in the emergency room for her to emerge from her 'coma' like condition, friends and family trickled through the waiting room in a blur. It was at this time I discovered Mr. Fishsticks—one of those bettas-in-a-cup, left unceremoniously among the flowers and balloons that crowded my mother's emergency room windowsill.
On his cup was a note: Get well Linda, we love you.
Now, I have no problem with the well-wishes, but come on. Who leaves a live animal in a hospital room with a patient who cannot take care of herself, let alone her new 'present'? (Feel my anger.)
Everyone, including the nurses, just ignored the fish. But I began feeding him little bits, and by day three I swore he could pick me out of a crowd...as he always acted frantic when he saw me sit down.
So here I was with a new pet I did not want.
I brought him home, gave him a name, and set him up in a 1.5 gallon with live plants, did research on Betta Splendis (and to the disgust of my neighbors and husband,) began raising a controlled jar of mosquito larva on my patio to provide Mr. Fishsticks with his meals. I fell totally in love with him.
BTW, Mr. Fishsticks outlived my mother by 6 months. I'm helplessly hooked. I cried when he died. He had graduated from fish-in-cup, to a 1.5, then a 3, and a 5 gallon...I bought home a 20 gallon just two days before he croaked. :irked:
Oh well. No reason to waste all the daphnia I'm rearing, so I went out to my LFS and picked three female bettas out of their femme betta tank. Stupid me. Two of them have turned out to be male plakats, (!?!) but that's for another rant. I will never buy anything living from a pet store again if I can help it. Guess I'm learning a lot the hard way.
But anyway, here I am. Spending way more money and time than I'd ever have dreamed—heehee...
Nice to meet cha
