From wedding present to prized companion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/02/2018 (3026 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

About 10 years ago I won a fish at a wedding I attended. It was a fighting beta and was in a small bowl as a centrepiece at each table. I thought it was a clever idea for a table decoration and I was the lucky winner of the game each table played to win the centrepieces.

Driving home with a bowl full of water was a tricky job but the fish did swimmingly well.

It didn’t seem to be much of a life for the fish, spending the entire day in a bowl not much bigger than a drinking glass, so I decided to go buy an aquarium and all of the accessories required. I purchased a five-gallon aquarium and although the fish couldn’t express it’s appreciation to me, I knew it was happier and the expense was well worth it as I watched this colourful creature  enjoying its new home.

Krissy, as we named the fish, lasted more than five years and, after giving Krissy a proper burial, I bought another fighting beta and a couple of other fish for company but they didn’t last too long as I believe I made the aquarium too sterile for them.

I purchased another fighting beta and it did so well that it seemed to be growing larger and larger. So I purchased a 20-gallon tank and some more rock, plants and accessories. By this time I had likely spent about a thousand dollars on what started out to be a free fish.

I had a problem keeping the aquarium clear and went to see the experts with a water sample and they recommended a couple of clearing agents that I tried but which didn’t work. I purchased a stronger filter and still couldn’t get the water clear. It was so murky that I could barely see the fish, which prompted me to name this fish Waldo. (As in “Where’s Waldo?”)

The experts suggested I was likely over-feeding Waldo but I didn’t think I was. When I noticed that the water was a similar colour to the fish food, I cut back on the amount. I also changed about a third of the water and added a clearing agent and the aquarium actually cleared up. Now Waldo bangs on the glass every day around 2 p.m. for his dinner.

I’m still not entirely convinced that I’m feeding him enough as he digs around the rocks looking for any flakes that may have sunk to the bottom and he picks the rocks up and spits them out for about an hour after eating.

Hopefully I’m not starving him.   

Rick Sparling is a community correspondent for North Kildonan. Email him at ricksparling@shaw.ca