Siamese fighters

Betta fish. Betta splendens. One of the easiest fish to care for. It's a myth that they like small spaces. They don't originate from puddles. They come from rice paddies, which may be shallow, but they're huge. Vast even. And they're tropical fish, so they need heaters. They don't really need a filter, but it's nice to give them a gentle sponge filter. Since their place of origin is murky, stagnant, and oxygen-poor, they've developed a labyrinth organ that lets them breathe atmospheric air. Since they stay near the water's surface, they like to rest on plants and stuff near the top of the aquarium. The plants and decorations in a betta's habitat should ideally be silk or something soft; plastic will tear their delicate fins, which can lead to fin rot and other health problems.

I love bettas. They all have different personalities. Even though Gary has had fin rot for the majority of the time that I've owned him, he doesn't seem to care. He doesn't seem to mind being in a smaller space than he had when I first got him. As long as he sees me every day, he stays pretty happy. Rowdy mostly kept to himself. He didn't seem to like me very much at all, and he wouldn't eat until I was away from his tank. Setsuki was amazing. She always loved getting attention, no matter who it was from. Liberty, though she's cute, definitely likes food more than she likes me. I'm fine with that though. I didn't have Sherbet for long enough to get to know him very well. JayJay never stops swimming when I'm near him. When I'm out of his sight, he sulks in the corner behind his little sponge filter; he seems to really like me.

On the very last day of July, I got another betta. He was an orange halfmoon and he had blue and brown bi-colored eyes. He was the prettiest betta I had ever seen, so the $15 price was understandable. I named him Sherbet, like the ice cream thing, because of his brilliant color. He died four days after I got him, which was really upsetting. But it happens, and you get over it.

So I took him back to the store and looked at the other bettas that they had. I saw two metallic-looking super deltas that were gorgeous. So I held them up next to each other and the copper one flared while the goldish one didn't. So I took the copper one, and got $9 back. I asked a few friends what to name him, and I picked the best suggestion. JayJay is actually short(ish) for Jesse Junior. JayJay sounds better too. He's got the normal brown eyes, but he shines and shimmers in the light, and he has different colors from different angles. I'm very happy to say that he's still alive.