Little Fish King

I love Rho!

*sings* Little Fish Kiiiiiiing... Ahhh King.  His real name is Pharaoh; King is his nickname. He's my lovable and cute pet Betta.  He's my company on my desk at work.  He's my entertainment when I'm a little bored.  Yet, everyone is trying to kill him off.  Ok, maybe not kill him, but they're always asking if he's still alive. I've even been asked if he dies, could we have a fish funeral a la The Cosby Show. He's alive and he's active too.

I've had King for about a year, I think. When I first got him I spent more money on him than he cost. He may be just a little fishy, but he's Rho's fishy. He was shy when I'd put my finger up to the bowl and swim away.



The best thing ever is when he dances when I come to work or make fish faces at him. Sometimes, he chills at the bottom of his bowl and watches me working. But guess what happens when I turn to look at him? You're right, he dances!

I'm going to tell you, my friends, why everyone is always asking if he's still alive. I don't know how long I'd had him when I noticed that his right fin had some spots on it and his tail fin was beginning to deteriorate. :( I googled to see what could be the issue.  It said he had tail/fin rot... I'm not sure why, I  [my coworker] cleaned his water pretty regularly. I was afraid to touch him, I still won't. Anyways, they recommended some kind of water treatment. It didn't work.  So I googled some more and found out about some antibiotic for the fish. I went and bought it, but the treatment said I needed to treat him on consecutive days. To me, that meant I needed to take him home to nurse him back to health.

Here's where my ingenious/horrible idea comes in. Instead of putting him in his original cup, I left him in his bowl.  I took King to my car, put him on the floor in the back and tried to push the passenger seat as far back as I could so his bowl would be snug and not move. In theory, it was pure ingenuity. In action, not so much. If you've ridden with me, you know I drive aggressively. At first, I was cool, but I hit a left turn a bit too hard and I heard a "whoosh." I thought, "that sounded like some beads." Guess what the beads were?? King's rocks, water and him. I panicked and lifted my left foot off of the floor. Though I love King, if he'd flopped on my foot, it was going to be a pro-blem. I called my "twin" in panic mode and asked him if he'd help me get my fish out of my car. I know he thought I was odd. Eh well.

I arrive at his studio and he brings some paper towels and other items so we can see what damage I've done to King. We move up the seat, scoop out the rocks and find him on the floor just laying there. At least 5 minutes have passed and I'm upset. "Is he dead? Is he dead?" I put his tank rock mountain on the sidewalk. We go inside... initially we fill the bowl back up with water and put King in it. The poor thing has blood running from his gills. Not gushing, but still running. :( *tears* I told Twin that I'd have to drive some more and he was nice enough to give me a cup to put him in. I was praying that my little friend would be alright.

I finally get King home to give him the antibiotics. I'm diligent about giving them to him in the suggested dosage. During his "treatment," King was a little depressed. Not because he was sick, but because he was at home by himself all day in the dark. He didn't dance, he just sat at the bottom of the bowl. Eventually, I took him back to work where he became his cheerful self again. Was all of this worth the trouble to treat him? Good question. I don't think so. He still has freckles on his right fin and his tail fin hasn't grown back. Meh. I still love him and he's still happily blowing bubbles in his bowl.