andiuk

Hey well... so errr, I was at the pet store an hour ago, listening to some slightly banshee-ish old lady talk the poor kid behind the counter to death, when I noticed in the tanks some of the loveliest Bettas I've ever seen... (I think we all know where this is goin...)

Anyhoo...

They had some awesome colourings, they had a couple with jet black bodies and bright blue tails, a lovely bright pink one, a white fish with a creamy tail, a dark red fish, a couple of bright blues... and then... this cute little fish, kinda maroon body, with bright red fins with flecks of blue in... and I started discussing with my partner whether or not I should get a new tank to host the little guy... and then my ears tuned into to the old woman again "...i don't know... i only have 3 fish left now... that other fighting fish died the same day i got it... and the other two died, i didn't know they fought each other... oooh, he's nice (pointing at the afore mentioned cut fish)... can i reserve him? will he die too? can you test my water (producing a bag of water with a dead betta in it) coz this one died yesterday..."

at that point my heart leapt into my throat, something had to be done - so i quickly through together a set-up for a new small tank... fortunately the woman wasn't allowed to reserve the fish, and as soon as she walked out i asked if i could buy the cute little guy, who was facing almost certain extinction at the hands of some serial fish killer...

soo, i'm now the proud owner of my new little red betta! hoorah! at the moment he's currently living in one of my peacful set-ups until his tank is fully cycled... but i'll post some pics when i can!

now all i need is a good name for him... something red...

COBettaCouple

Congrats on your new Betta.. looking forward to pics.. we had to pass up a lovely double combtail red betta yesterday. You could name him St.George or George (for the red in the flag)? Or something fiery.. Fiero.. Flame.. etc. ? Maybe Ferrari (as those should always be red )?

sirdarksol

Heh. Banshee-ish. Very accurate. I like it.
Ares (god of war, which is fitting as bettas are fighters. His color is red, too), Sangra (Spanish for "blood"), Vlad (kind of gruesome, but it involves the color red), if it was a female, I'd say Carmilla for the same reason I suggested Vlad, but if it was a female, it wouldn't be brilliant red. Those are all I can come up with right now. (Kind of sad. I'm a writer and pride myself in my ability to pick names)
Thank you for saving that poor fish. It's too bad some people are so difficult to approach. I think that, if some of the basics of fishkeeping could be explained to the woman, her problems (and her fish's problems) would end. But I know that I wouldn't be able to talk to someone like that, so I don't expect anyone else to be able to.

COBettaCouple

Sure you could talk to her.. just take a handy role of duct tape and stick her in a chair... jk.. although they make you feel like doing that sometimes.

andiuk

the girl that sits next to me at wrk suggested the name Jupiter (I guess coz Jupiter is red?) - I quite like that name...dunno thou, i'll have to give it some more thought!

Tom

Go for it, there is already a betta named Neptune on here and I don't know about the other planets/Roman Gods.
Tom

youngest-fish-nerd

hahaha,
sounds like my local petco, an old lady there talks her tonsals out about anything,she isnt very good with fish,
luckly i know peeps there and im assured the fishy's are heathy, exept the poor gold fish ,
reminding me of goldfish, along time ago at a walmart when i was like 12, i saw a 2" fantail goldfish being beat up badly,
i glanced to the right and the punk kid that worked there saw his friend and wanted to show him how cool the oscars were,
i told my dad we should report that,i dont know why we didint,

Tom

Hiensight 20-20. I hate when you think of something and then when you have the chance, you forget about it.
Tom

youngest-fish-nerd

yes i hate when that happens,
to me it happens all the time exept verbally**