life after goldie and crystal: the happy ending

If you've been following our betta fish saga, then you know I left you hanging regarding the state of affairs. First my daughter Campbell lost Goldie, her fish of two years, and then she lost her new betta, Crystal, less than 24-hours after bringing her home. When I woke up early that morning and made the discovery, I had no idea what to say to her.

I had only moments to gather my thoughts. She came down the stairs, wrapped in her Mimi, ready to greet her new fish.

I intercepted her.

"Campbell, come here, please." I lifted her up and sat down in the dining room, putting her in my lap. I gave her a big hug and some kisses.

"What, Mommy?" she asked. "What's wrong?"

"I have some sad news, Cam. Some really, really sad news."

"What?"

"I'm not sure what happened, but Crystal died during the night." 

"WHAT?" she cried. "Oh, no!" She jumped off my lap and ran over to the shelf where she expected Crystal to be.

"I moved him over here, Cam, because I didn't want you to see him before I had a chance to tell you." I indicated to his tank on the kitchen counter.

"But..." she said, looking at him. 

"I know, baby. I looked online, and it seems that the baby bettas require a lot more care than the guy at the store told us. They are really fragile." 

Campbell was just super sad. She went through the whole mourning process, again, the same as before, so if we didn't clog the toilet the first time, we had a second chance. Once Cam settled down, I had a moment to deal with my own feelings. Not only had we inadvertently killed a creature, my child now would have to go through the morning process a second time. I was pissed.

But I decided to be polite when we returned to the store. I asked for the manager. I told him the whole story, though I didn't know what he could possibly do to make it better. "I would have preferred that your associate tell me he didn't know rather than this, " I explained.

The manager was kind. He apologized briefly to me and explained that he would speak to all of his associates about it, then went on to address Campbell. "What's your name?" he asked.

"Campbell."

"Well, Campbell, I'm really sorry for your loss. You must be very sad."

She nodded.

"I don't know if you're ready, but if you'd like to choose another betta fish, you're welcome to take any one you choose. I'll go over the care with you and your mom in detail so we make sure things work out this time."

"Thank you," she said. She set off to the betta display, and the manager escorted us, explaining about all the different types of bettas and their characteristics. He left us alone to deliberate, and my only rule was "no babies." Campbell thought and thought and looked at every single fish. She finally and decicively settled upon a "Rose Petal Male" with a silvery-turquoise body and large, crimson, petal-like fins and tail. The complete opposite of Crystal. The manager told her she made a fine selection. "That one's a $20 fish," he announced. She looked at him, confused, and though it wasn't the point, I still felt a slight bit of satisfaction in that.

When we got into the car, Campbell asked "is 'Roosevelt' a boy's name?" 

"Not only is it a boys's name, it's the name of two of our past presidents!"

"Really?! Then his name is Roosevelt, 'cause he's a rose petal fish." 

"That is the perfect name," I said. 

Roosevelt made it home safely with us, and he's been thriving on our betta shelf for a couple of weeks. Every morning when she wakes up, Campbell assesses his health. "Whelp, it looks like Roosevelt is doing great," she'll declare with a smile. Adult bettas are definitely easier to take care of than baby bettas."

And that, folks, is the moral of the story that finally seems to be having a happy ending. 

Roosevelt, our happy ending. 

Roosevelt, our happy ending. 

life after goldie: a harsh lesson in betta care

As you know, my daughter, Campbell, lost her betta fish, Goldie, a couple of weeks ago, and then promptly asked when she could get another fish. In an attempt to cheer her up, I took her the very next day to choose a new companion. 

She looked and looked at all the options and considered which ones were looking at her longingly and which ones looked half-dead already. She declared that she'd like a baby betta. A red flag went up in my mind. Though we've successfully cared for adult bettas, we'd never tackled a baby, and I wondered what additional care might be involved. I told her that we'd need to speak to someone about it before she made a final decision, so the lady at the register sent someone over.

"How may I help you?" he asked.

"Well, my daughter has her heart set on a baby betta. Before we choose one, I want to make sure we can care for it properly. We've done well with adult bettas...is a baby much different?"

"Oh, no. Aside from feeding them one pellet per day rather than 2-3, the care is just the same," he answered.

"So we just feed it less, and we're good to go?" I confirmed.

"Yes, exactly. Let's set out all of the babies so she can choose the one she wants." 

Sounded simple enough to me, so we proceeded with the selection process. And–bonus–the babies were a mere $1.99. I could find that in my couch. Campbell selected a silvery-white baby and declared him a boy and named him "Crystal." She also selected a new pink plant and disco-style multicolored gravel for his dwelling.

We went on our way, and Campbell made sure to keep Crystal very still in the car. She took her mommy skills seriously. 

Crystal 

Crystal 

When we got home, we gave Crystal a chance to get used to his shelf, then transitioned him into his new little tank with all the trimmings. He swam around and seemed very happy. Campbell asked me how to spell "I love Crystal," and proceeded to decorate his shelf with paper cutouts of the phrase, along with some other cute ornaments. It was love at first sight, and my girl seemed really happy about the new addition.

Before going to bed, she tucked Crystal in and told him goodnight.

The next morning, Big and I were up at 4:00 a.m. for some such thing. "Oh, you got home late from work last night...you didn't see Crystal, yet." I was excited.

"I'm calling him Billy Crystal, by the way," Big announced as we walked over to the baby fish. "Oh, BLEEP," he said. "Please tell me he's sleeping." 

I made my way over to Crystal and gave the tank a little tap. And then I broke into tears. This could not happen again. "What do I tell her?" I cried. He didn't know. Crystal was on his side at the bottom of the tank.

I relocated the tank so Campbell wouldn't go right to it when she woke up and I'd have the chance to break the news to her gently. Then I hopped on the computer and Googled "baby betta care." What I found was not at all what the man at the pet store said. 

Betta Care Central said:

Unfortunately stores such as PetCo often times sell "baby betas" properly called betta fry. The reason I say this is unfortunate is that these fry are too young to be sold, most people do not know how to take care of them properly, and baby bettas have a weak immune system making them more prone to illness and disease. Baby betas have special requirements."

Betta Adventures said:

Like every other animal, babies are more high maintenance to take care of and require extra attention...

And so on. You get the point.

Though I should have done my own research before taking on the baby, I felt confident that the people helping us in the store would give us correct information. The gentleman who helped us seemed confident and gave no indication that I should seek other assistance. I felt angry. But I could deal with that later.

There was a more pressing matter at hand: how to break the news to Campbell.