ahhh...summer....time for ridiculous adventures and inventive things to do when you're extremely bored. so here's my (mis)adventure into the world of pet care:
Ok, so a month ago I won these two goldfish at Monopoly Night in the dining hall at school. I named them Ren and Stimpy. They were cute little goldfish, and I really wanted them to live. But the temporary tank I had them in was too small. Ren died the next day. But Stimpy still hung on, and he managed to survive the trip to my house. The cat totally ignored him, which was a good thing. So I still had Stimpy in this tiny little betta tank, and he was starting to freak out. So I got him a whole 1-gallon tank to enjoy, with spiffy blue gravel and an air pump. So Stimpy was living in the lap of luxury...but he was lonely. I think he missed Ren. Plus, a single goldfish swimming around in the tank wasn't a lot of fun. So I decided to go back to the pet store and buy a friend or two for Stimpy. I looked at the fish in the store, but they weren't cool enough, and I wasn't sure if they would be good friends for my goldfish. So I put my faith in the salesperson working in the fish department and asked her for suggestions. She said that they had other goldfish, some (ugly) guppies, and they had bettas in that case over there. I asked if a goldfish and a betta would be ok together. She said that it would probably be ok. (cue ominous, death approaching music) So I looked at the bettas and picked out this lovely dark blue one. I named him Midnight because of his color. I took Midnight home in his little plastic cup along with a little information sheet that gave me some information on how to care for my new pet. "Bettas, also known as Siamese fighting fish..." That should have been my clue to turn around and return the fish. But I didn't think twice about it, and continued on home, eager to introduce Stimpy to his new roomie. (more ominous music...this is the part where everyone screams at the movie, "you stupid bitch, take the fish back!") I got the fish up to my room and put his little cup next to Stimpy's tank so it could see its new friend. I let them sit for a little and get accustomed to each other. So far, so good. Then I put Midnight in the tank. He and Stimpy just kinda stayed in one place, observing each other some more. So I left them alone to get acquainted. I checked back about an hour later, and Stimpy was bugging out. He was all up on the sides of the tank, trying to get as far away from Midnight as possible, but Midnight wasn't doing anything. I had come to the conclusion that Stimpy was a naturally neurotic fish, so I figured that he just needed some time to get used to his new friend and then they'd be getting along fine. I went out to go get some food for Midnight, and when I got back and fed him, he didn't eat. He just kept watching Stimpy, who was still trying to get out. Half an hour later, Midnight was chasing Stimpy and they were swimming in circles! Not good! I had to save my dear goldfish, so I ran and filled up the tiny betta tank with filtered water from the refrigerator door. Water that was probably about 35 or 40 degrees. I scooped Midnight out of the big tank and dropped him into the small one. He took one little gasp, then rolled onto his side and sank to the bottom. I killed him! So I put him back in his little cup and put it on the counter so I could take him back to the pet store (thank goodness for 14 day guarantees). I went upstairs to get my keys, and when I got back to the kitchen, the fish was moving. No, I'm serious. But he kept having these little near death episodes, so I decided to keep him overnight so he could decide whether he was going to live or die. After researching on the internet (hooray for Google!), I realized that I had but my betta into temperature shock! Lovely, huh? The next morning, he was swimming about like nothing happened. I took him back to the store, and after explaing what happened (conveniently leaving out the part about me nearly killing the damn thing), they said, "Oh yeah, you can't put bettas and goldfish together. Bettas will attack anything with fairly large fins." So no thanks to the stupid chick at PetsMart (yeah, I said it), I put my poor Stimpy in the same tank with a killer fish! Stimpy will never be the same...
I got Stimpy two new, safe friends yesterday: A tiger danio named Muddy Mudskipper, and a tiny little neon tetra that I haven't named yet. All three fish are ok, but Stimpy's still a little wired...probably scarred for life.
So that's the story on my adventures in pet care. The next installment of my summer series might be about me bringing my old computer back to life, but I might decide to spare you all. Toodles!
Ok, so a month ago I won these two goldfish at Monopoly Night in the dining hall at school. I named them Ren and Stimpy. They were cute little goldfish, and I really wanted them to live. But the temporary tank I had them in was too small. Ren died the next day. But Stimpy still hung on, and he managed to survive the trip to my house. The cat totally ignored him, which was a good thing. So I still had Stimpy in this tiny little betta tank, and he was starting to freak out. So I got him a whole 1-gallon tank to enjoy, with spiffy blue gravel and an air pump. So Stimpy was living in the lap of luxury...but he was lonely. I think he missed Ren. Plus, a single goldfish swimming around in the tank wasn't a lot of fun. So I decided to go back to the pet store and buy a friend or two for Stimpy. I looked at the fish in the store, but they weren't cool enough, and I wasn't sure if they would be good friends for my goldfish. So I put my faith in the salesperson working in the fish department and asked her for suggestions. She said that they had other goldfish, some (ugly) guppies, and they had bettas in that case over there. I asked if a goldfish and a betta would be ok together. She said that it would probably be ok. (cue ominous, death approaching music) So I looked at the bettas and picked out this lovely dark blue one. I named him Midnight because of his color. I took Midnight home in his little plastic cup along with a little information sheet that gave me some information on how to care for my new pet. "Bettas, also known as Siamese fighting fish..." That should have been my clue to turn around and return the fish. But I didn't think twice about it, and continued on home, eager to introduce Stimpy to his new roomie. (more ominous music...this is the part where everyone screams at the movie, "you stupid bitch, take the fish back!") I got the fish up to my room and put his little cup next to Stimpy's tank so it could see its new friend. I let them sit for a little and get accustomed to each other. So far, so good. Then I put Midnight in the tank. He and Stimpy just kinda stayed in one place, observing each other some more. So I left them alone to get acquainted. I checked back about an hour later, and Stimpy was bugging out. He was all up on the sides of the tank, trying to get as far away from Midnight as possible, but Midnight wasn't doing anything. I had come to the conclusion that Stimpy was a naturally neurotic fish, so I figured that he just needed some time to get used to his new friend and then they'd be getting along fine. I went out to go get some food for Midnight, and when I got back and fed him, he didn't eat. He just kept watching Stimpy, who was still trying to get out. Half an hour later, Midnight was chasing Stimpy and they were swimming in circles! Not good! I had to save my dear goldfish, so I ran and filled up the tiny betta tank with filtered water from the refrigerator door. Water that was probably about 35 or 40 degrees. I scooped Midnight out of the big tank and dropped him into the small one. He took one little gasp, then rolled onto his side and sank to the bottom. I killed him! So I put him back in his little cup and put it on the counter so I could take him back to the pet store (thank goodness for 14 day guarantees). I went upstairs to get my keys, and when I got back to the kitchen, the fish was moving. No, I'm serious. But he kept having these little near death episodes, so I decided to keep him overnight so he could decide whether he was going to live or die. After researching on the internet (hooray for Google!), I realized that I had but my betta into temperature shock! Lovely, huh? The next morning, he was swimming about like nothing happened. I took him back to the store, and after explaing what happened (conveniently leaving out the part about me nearly killing the damn thing), they said, "Oh yeah, you can't put bettas and goldfish together. Bettas will attack anything with fairly large fins." So no thanks to the stupid chick at PetsMart (yeah, I said it), I put my poor Stimpy in the same tank with a killer fish! Stimpy will never be the same...
I got Stimpy two new, safe friends yesterday: A tiger danio named Muddy Mudskipper, and a tiny little neon tetra that I haven't named yet. All three fish are ok, but Stimpy's still a little wired...probably scarred for life.
So that's the story on my adventures in pet care. The next installment of my summer series might be about me bringing my old computer back to life, but I might decide to spare you all. Toodles!
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