One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish

“One fish, two fish,
Red fish, blue fish.”

I’ve always been fascinated with fishes.

As far back as I can remember, I looked and stared at fishes in aquariums in hospitals, hotels, and resorts, and in fish tanks in restaurants and supermarkets.

We couldn’t afford to buy an aquarium and fishes as maintaining them would have required considerable costs so I played with the live fish bought by my mother from the market except those I bought – little fighting fishes.

I was always amazed at the toughness of these little critters.

They didn’t need any aerators or filters that other aquarium fish require, out of water they didn’t die easily and could go on for days without food. No picky eater, they accept their food, dead or alive. Remarkably adaptable fishes, fighting fishes are known to survive in varied water conditions ranging from rice paddies in Thailand and Cambodia to polluted puddles of water.

Due to the wide spectrum of colors
produced through selective breeding,
bettas have been affectionately nicknamed
“The Jewel(s) of the Orient”

The term “fighting fishes” actually refer to a variety of species of small, brightly colored, long-finned freshwater fishes of the genus Betta, found in Southeast Asia.

Such species include the Siamese fighting fish, Malayan betta, Sumatra fighting fish, Java fighting fish, Veil tail fighting fish and Borneo fighting fish. Though most of the fighting fishes found in their natural habitat are colored brown or green, artificial breeding has produced fighting fishes whose colors have been enhanced or changed to include the colors blue, red, turquoise, pink, orange and even some tints of purple.

But the highly aggressive fighting fishes are best known for their intense male rivalries. Fighting fishes are also known as bettas, a term derived from ikan bettah (which means warrior) taken from a local dialect in Thailand.

Among the nearly 50 or so kinds of bettas, the Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens) also called the pla-kad or trey kem, is known to be one of the most beautiful species due to its brilliant color variations. Comparatively, they are a very inexpensive way of entering the world of aquarium fishes. As descendants of wild bettas which lived in oxygen-poor environments, Siamese fighting fishes can continue to live in smaller containers of water even without the filters or aerators other aquarium fish need to survive. It is therefore not surprising to also be one of the most popular species of freshwater aquarium fish, especially among aquarium hobbyists in the United States.

     Since many bettas are slightly iridescent, they can appear to change color

                               with different lighting or viewing angle

In recent years, my kids acquired a similar interest in fighting fishes particularly Sonny Boy and Joshua.  

We bought several types of aquarium fish including bettas in the last two years. Since we didn’t have the aerators or the aquariums many of them needed, they came and passed away quite quickly. The kids liked them but most of the time I was the one who took care of the fish.

The most recent two were bettas bought last September 15, 2008 and June 29, 2009, respectively.

I’m sure many people would agree with me when I say that having fish in your home is therapeutic. In the evening before I go upstairs to sleep, sometimes I would just look at them swim in their containers for a few minutes and get a feeling of calmness or relaxation. Conversely, the aggressiveness of the bettas against other fishes including its very own reflection also brings a feeling of entertainment.

One fish, two fish,
red fish, blue fish
Two dead fish, no fish

I had wanted to write about my bettas as early as July of this year. Sadly, time ran out on my latest red fish. When my family arrived two Monday nights ago from our Baguio sojourn, I immediately noticed its already weak state. Normally he was a spunky fellow. Now it swam irregularly, preferring to stay at the bottom of the container.

One of its fins seemed to have been injured but since I’m no fish expert, I really didn’t know what happened.

By the end of the month, it had expired.

Soon after, in less than a week’s time, my blue fish had also died.

I had wanted to share our joys at least with these two last bettas in my blog; I just didn’t think it would be a post-mortem write-up.

If there is an afterlife for fishes, I’m sure they would both be enjoying themselves there, basking in the 25 to 27.77 degree Celsius waters of that heavenly aquarium up in the sky.