Have you ever been chosen by a fish?

[BrainGirl]

It's true, I can now claim to have been chosen by a fish. In a pet shop.

I only went in to find a Flying Saucer for my robo (they didn't have any) but I thought I'd have a peek at the Bettas. My roommate has been egging me on to get a "friend" for Sushi for some time and I kept arguing that he didn't need one. He's a fish. He's a male betta. For all I know he'll kill any newcomer! He does have quite an engaging and curious personality though and I thought it wouldn't hurt just to have a peek at the lady Bettas in the shop. They had 5 and they all looked more or less the same. The most largest and most brightly coloured one however showed now interest in me. The smallest and dullest girl seemed really excited to see me. I've never seen a fish act like that before. So she came home with me

After adding her to the tank, Sushi showed immediate interest but didn't approach her straight away. Instead he hid behind every leaf on his way across the tank before finally revealing himself and making a big display

For those who remember, this is the same fish I adopted with the name of Sochi, after the last Olympic games. My friend misheard me and has been calling him Sushi all this time. I thought it was strangely appropriate and so the name has stuck

[Skeever]

When you start calling your hamsters names like McNugget, Royale with Cheese, and Bacon, we should worry, right?

[Esmy]

I believe it! I have seen fish be interactive. Love the name Sushi. lol I have always thought it would be awesome to have a Jack Dempsey fish! I think it has to have a massive sized tank though.

[spyro87]

To avoid stressing out the female beta - as the male will harass her constantly for fish love - you should prolly get more girls. The male to female ratio needs to be higher.
I hope little sushi has a tank big enough to share with a few girls.

He may not harass her bit generally I was always told 1:2+ (I had 1 male to
2 females but still both females got harassed and stressed

And yes, I've totally been chosen by the fish before
Cichlids are especially outside of tank aware and interactive.

[BrainGirl]

Originally Posted by Esmy

I believe it! I have seen fish be interactive. Love the name Sushi. lol I have always thought it would be awesome to have a Jack Dempsey fish! I think it has to have a massive sized tank though.

I've never been big on fish but my Bettas have always been a favourite

Originally Posted by spyro87

To avoid stressing out the female beta - as the male will harass her constantly for fish love - you should prolly get more girls. The male to female ratio needs to be higher.
I hope little sushi has a tank big enough to share with a few girls.

He may not harass her bit generally I was always told 1:2+ (I had 1 male to
2 females but still both females got harassed and stressed

And yes, I've totally been chosen by the fish before
Cichlids are especially outside of tank aware and interactive.

Hm, I did not know that! Makes sense though. I will keep an eye on their interactions; so far he's been a perfect gentleman towards her and splits his time between adding bubbles to his nest and posing in front of her

It's an 8 gallon planted tank with a mature "garden" so she has plenty of places to hide from him if she wishes. Hopefully that will be enough to keep them both happy and stress-free!

[RedSky]

I've been thinking about adding a fish for some time, but wanted something low maintenance but very pretty and relaxing to watch. Are these easy fish to care for? I guess that at 8 gallons, they really don't need a lot of space.

So glad that she has got a new home, and a new husband. Bet Sushi (great name) is very happy.

[Alopeke]

Originally Posted by BrainGirl

I've never been big on fish but my Bettas have always been a favourite

Hm, I did not know that! Makes sense though. I will keep an eye on their interactions; so far he's been a perfect gentleman towards her and splits his time between adding bubbles to his nest and posing in front of her

It's an 8 gallon planted tank with a mature "garden" so she has plenty of places to hide from him if she wishes. Hopefully that will be enough to keep them both happy and stress-free!

Keep an eye on fin nipping and stress bands on both the male and the female. I always found my females to be a bit more aggressive, especially towards advancing males. I usually always kept male/female separated. Typically, you keep a group of females in a well planted tank alone (called a sorority). I kept my boys solo.

However, I wouldn't be terribly concerned if you don't see fights/chases/fin nipping. Make sure they both eat and both have plenty of hidey holes and with supervision, you should be ok. Be prepared to have an emergency evacuation if things change as she gets older, though.

As an aside, I also wouldn't be concerned about little Sushis popping up anytime soon. Betta breeding is ridiculously complex and if they do the dance, the little lady will likely eat the eggs anyways. :P

Finally, just a rule of thumb: 1 inch of fish per gallon of water!

[Hekomi]

FISHHHHHH.

I kill them all. However, I hope Sushi enjoys his lady friend. Just don't let me fish-sit. All mine die because I cannot for the life of me cycle a tank.

[BrainGirl]

Thanks Alopeke He has decided to be slightly less gentlemanly in his expressions of ardour but she's able to hide in the dense growth at the bottom where his manly fins won't fit I do make sure she's able to eat in spite of his attentions. I'm almost certainly going to buy another one of the same tank though just in case they really fall out. Kind of like if I had a pair of dwarf hamsters

LOL Hekomi I never thought I was much of a fish keeper until I got this Fluval planted tank cube thingy. Maybe because I can transfer my gardening skills to an underwater environment but I've so far avoided any major problems with algae, the plants are healthy, and the critters that have inhabited it in the months I've owned it have thrived! I have a tenuous grasp on the idea of tank cycling but I do know that it helps to not have your filter media too clean. In fact it's a good idea when starting a new tank to get a piece of used fluff from a friend's healthy running tank and add it to yours as a starter culture. Think of it as making yogourt!

[Skeever]

This is all perilously close to PG 13 if not....well, R. Depends on one's imagination.
The image of Sushi 'enjoying' his lady friend is really a disturbing one. Twitch......

Just sayin.....