Fishsitting Wilbur

I've finally crossed the line.

[pageoneresults]

Okay, so my 7 year old daughter is off to Hawaii with her mom for a week. I was nominated the fishsitter.

So, they brought Wilbur over yesterday before leaving. Wilbur is a Betta fish and is housed in what looks like a lava lamp (has that same shape). At the base of this container are clear smooth rocks (for Wilbur's safety, he's a fighting fish).

In addition to the arrival of Wilbur and his home, I was given one bottle of water conditioner and one container of Betta pellets.

So, what did I find myself doing first thing this morning? Talking to freakin' Wilbur! "Yo dude, what's up? Sleep okay? Do you have enough room in there? Ya hungry? Okay..."

I'm told I can only give Wilbur four of these tiny (size of pinhead) pellets once a day. Poor guy, he devours those things in less than 5 seconds. I almost feel like he should get more, but no, those were not the instructions.

Now, about this damn container. I'm sure I look like an absolute horror to poor Wilbur when I come by. Due to its shape and material, there is a distortion in the view which enlarges everything. Add to that the circular shape and it really makes for a distorted environment. I think I'm scaring the crap out of him each time I walk by.

I'm almost tempted to go down to Petco and put him into a new enviroment. You know, optimize his living arrangements a bit more. Give him some breathing room. Maybe even find a mate. Because he is a fighting fish, they say he loves live brine shrimp. I'm going to go get him some.

Anyone else got a Betta? I only have Wilbur for 6 more days, I want to make sure his stay is a comfortable one. ;)

Fishsitting, Fishsitting, Fishsitting

[edited by: pageoneresults at 7:35 pm (utc) on July 30, 2007]

[steve40]

whatever you do dont let it die

and if it does quickly go to all the pet stores to find the closest looking one to wilbur

worked for me when the goldfish i was sitting died

only owned up many years later much to the horror of my daughter

steve

[pageoneresults]

whatever you do dont let it die.

You know, that thought never crossed my mind until you brought it up. Just great. ;)

Help!

[jatar_k]

we just had ours die a week ago, which wasn't too bad since I spirited him away during the nap

he wasn't feeling well so we put him in the pond ;)

I think I would just leave it as is and not tempt the fates

[GaryK]

Help!

Hire a professional fish sitter. :)

[pageoneresults]

Hire a professional fish sitter.

You Googled that before you posted, huh? There's actually an occupation out there for Fish Sitters. Talk about wearing many different hats.

Fishsitter, Fishsitter, Fishsitter

[Marshall]

Talking to freakin' Wilbur! "Yo dude, what's up? Sleep okay? Do you have enough room in there? Ya hungry? Okay..."

You have too much time on your hands. Solution to problem! CAT ;)

Marshall

[appi2]

Lived with someone who kept fish, or as I saw it, bought fish, killed fish, bought fish etc.

Betta fish? googles.. oh siamese fighting fish. Ah wilbur definately doesn't want a male friend, you only make that mistake once. Told my friend he should have found a gay one. Beutiful fish just not your social animal, although wilbur could have his own hareem. The females are pretty boring looking though.

Problem with getting wilbur a bit of fluff on the side is she might not be that healthy, dirty girl sort of and then Wilbur goes ill and dies and you have to explain the sex change. Its the risk you take with every new fish.
Don't go changing tanks water etc, stresses them out, as long as the filters work ok he's fine.

All the fishys love the shrimps.

And no late night partys while the missus is away, Wilbur needs his sleep ;)

Get a lobster.

[weeks]

Let me second Steve's advice: If you're going to the pet store, shop around for a replacement. Or, be prepared to have this brought up time and again, for the rest of your life.

(Think about the toasts at the child's wedding dinner many years from now..., the kid take glass in hand, looks you in the eye and tells all the story of...)

[steve40]

dont want to make you paranoid or anything but killed my daughters by getting someone in to clean the carpets and the fumes killed it

so no cleaning , partying, drinking , or other things with strong pungent.

all could kill that little wilbur

but at least if it dies make sure it dies couple of days prior to your daughter getting home , difficult to find replacement with just few hours to go

have fun
steve

[GaryK]

You Googled that before you posted, huh?

Yep, that's what I did. ;)

Long live entrepreneurship! Oh, and long live Wilbur too. :)

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

My next door neighbour (retired) went away for three weeks holiday in May. When he was away I was left to take in the mail and feed his fish ... EVERY DAY! I set a reminder in MS Outlook, didn't forget once and the fish survived.

He is going to visit his daughter in Italy for four and half weeks quite soon and I know that I am going to get the call again .... AAAARGGHHH!

<wicked laugh>
He only has common or garden goldfish. I was thinking of having them on toast the day after he goes away and replacing them from the pet shop the day before he comes back
</wicked laugh>

[Habtom]

He only has common or garden goldfish. I was thinking of having them on toast the day after he goes away and replacing them from the pet shop the day before he comes back

It is a good idea not to try this with dogs. :)

The only excuse you will have is to tell them while they are away the dog must have forgotten them and as a result it is barking at everybody now.

[MamaDawg]

I'm almost tempted to go down to Petco and put him into a new enviroment. You know, optimize his living arrangements a bit more. Give him some breathing room. Maybe even find a mate. Because he is a fighting fish, they say he loves live brine shrimp. I'm going to go get him some.

I used to have one - as fish go, they're pretty good survivors. Still, if it ain't broke, don't fix it - if he's healthy now, I wouldn't change a thing.

But you may want to talk to your daughter about the potential tank-induced psychosis in his current living quarters.

Want to see him get really mad? Hold a mirror up to the side of the tank!* (You'll also understand why you shouldn't get him a friend!)

*not saying I tortured mine by doing this to the poor thing all the time, but it was a good joke to play on him every now and then

[edited by: MamaDawg at 12:48 pm (utc) on July 31, 2007]

[pageoneresults]

Update: Wilbur is doing just fine. He seems content in his existing environment. I've been doing some Betta research on the side when time permits and this is a rather interesting fish.

Want to see him get really mad? Hold a mirror up to the side of the tank!

Hehehe, beat you to it! He got all bent out of shape seeing himself in the mirror. Started showing off his fins and colors. This one is red with blue highlights.

I found out that you can feed them twice a day. I started his new feeding schedule yesterday, once at 0600 and again at 1800, 12 hours inbetween. He's still a ravenous little thing but I guess that goes back to his roots. He's a fighting fish.

I'm off to Petco today for sure to do some looking. Maybe a new environment, one with a mirror so he can play. ;)

[gmac17]

a guy in my fraternity in college had a 55 gallon tank, ie very big. He had a lot of fish in it, and asked our cook to have her son feed the fish over the 3 week winter break. He said to her “Diane, please just feed the fish – don’t let him do anything else to the tank” (he was paranoid the 13 year old kid might mess with the tank) So we come back and the entire fraternity house smells like rotten garbage & dead fish – absolutely horrible. The fish tank is covered in 3 inches of thick sludge.

The guy asks Diane what happened and she says “a bunch of fish died the first day. My son wanted to take them out but I told him you said not to touch the tank..” (she was very proud of herself for enforcing the rules as well). The lesson: Central Pennsylvania fraternity cooks, though pleasant – are generally not the sharpest knives in the drawer….

[FlwrLdy]

I found out that you can feed them twice a day. I started his new feeding schedule yesterday, once at 0600 and again at 1800, 12 hours inbetween. He's still a ravenous little thing but I guess that goes back to his roots. He's a fighting fish.

Double input = double output. Have fun with those water changes. ;)

[Tastatura]

I had one of those waaaay back; askd my father to watch over it for a month while I was out of town. Gave him specific instructions on how much food to give to the fish. Apparently he thought I was trying to starve it, so he wanted to be generous soul and gave it more food. Do I have to tell you what happened?.... :(

[edited by: Tastatura at 4:25 am (utc) on Aug. 1, 2007]

[rocknbil]

Maybe a new environment, one with a mirror so he can play

P1R I hope you didn't do this, and am surprised none of the the other fishkateers here didn't bring this up.

A Beta does not like bigger environments. That's why you see them in those teeny bowls in pet stores and carnivals. They do very well in smaller spaces, and even like their water bordering on brackish. They are tropicals after all.

I donno, maybe larger tanks clue them in on how insignificant their lonely lives are, or the smaller bowls are just plain cozy. But they will live a very long time in a small bowl.

[pageoneresults]

P1R I hope you didn't do this, and am surprised none of the the other fishkateers here didn't bring this up.

No I haven't. I've not had the time yet to go down to Petco. Now that you've responded, the Petco trip is nixed.

He appears to be doing well. I was told to change the water once while I had him. Guess what? Not a whole lot of instructions. I don't know what temperature. I'm not sure how I'm going to handle him while I clean his home. I do know to use only water and nothing else.

I'll be doing more research this afternoon on how he likes his water.

I swear, Wilbur has a personality. We've been chatting regularly now. I think he is listening to me. Damn, I've watched Finding Nemo too many times with my daughter!

[Lilliabeth]

pageoneresults, You should go to Petco and get a couple of Oscars. Now those fish have personality! They are very playful!

Oscars eyes move. It's cool.

They're carnivores though, so a bit of a hassle. I always fed mine a staple of frozen brine shrimp, and I would occasionally toss in a bunch of live minnows (you should probably use goldfish though).

I'm a former fishkateer, I got a 55gal tank for my 18th birthday and I kept it going constantly for 17 years, but then it broke during a move. Oscars are the best.

Now I'm thinking of going to Petco myself!

[digitalghost]

>>I don't know what temperature.

The same temp he's currently sitting in. So fill up some jugs and let them sit out until the temps match. Don't forget to dechlorinate.

Oscars are great by the way. They'll even let you pet them. If you put them in big tanks they get BIG though.

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

(you should probably use goldfish though).

Can I interest you in my next door neighbour's? ;)

[steve40]

Oscar with fighting fish I am afraid my Oscar lives on his own can't find much that will stand up against him, and they do have personality, he moves stuff around in his tank and he is pretty smart as can see when you are approaching with food , Only problem with my Oscar is he bloody knocks himself out sometimes by hitting the glass to hard and lays at funny angle in a daze.

Oscar with Fighting Fish hhhhmmmmm fighting fish for dinner

steve

[pageoneresults]

I'm almost tempted to bring in a large aquarium after this experience. Those Oscar's sure sound like fun. Low maintenance, gorgeous tank designs, just a great overall conversation piece. Not to mention the companionship. You can pet them? ;)

[Lilliabeth]

You can pet them. I have heard that you can teach them tricks, though I never did try., except you can easily get them to jump up in the water for food. Carefully, though. One bit my pinkie and drew blood.

For years, I had 2 tiger oscars and 2 African cichlids and they did very well together. I don't remember how long they were, but I remember that people used to call them "pan-size". The Oscars would ignore if someone else was walking around the room, but if I got up they would get excited and follow me from one end of the tank to the other (I'm the person who always fed them.)

When angry, the red and black tiger Oscars quickly turn almost white, as a warning I guess. If they see their reflection, they get very mad and will charge.

Eventually I gave them away when because I was moving.

Then I got 2 small tiger oscars and 2 jack dempseys,a red-tail shark, and some bottom-feeders (bottom feeders, like catfish, will be ignored by the aggressive fish).

The jack dempseys had to be seperated from each other, but they did fine with the oscars.

[steve40]

pageone
good plan Oscars , bought current one from walfart was small and only fish in 55 gallon tank after 3 years would call it pan size ,
Tank used to be for goldfish to come in from the pond in the winter so started off with small Oscar thinking goldfish bigger than Oscar so they would be OK during winter, put goldfish in for winter all gone in 5 days ,

Watch it when you change water they jump pretty high without lid on tank

Pretty cool and intelligent fish though

steve

[akmac]

I have a Betta (named Alpha). I bought it as a replacement for the common goldfish (feeder fish) that I purchased my daughter for her birthday last year. She named the original goldfish "Beauty", while I named them One, Two, and Three.

The betta has been much more... resilient. Also, it bites my finger tip if I put it in the water. Very cute little fella-red with blue highlights, like yours.

I tend to spoil him, which tends to spoil the tank.

[WesleyC]

I used to own several freshwater fish in a 15-gallon aquarium... 10-25 gallons is a nice size; not as much to take care of but there's plenty of room for several fish. Just make sure to get a Plecostomus if you have a few other fish--they REALLY cut down on maintenance by eating algae off the walls and surfaces of the tank. Plus, they look very strange when attached to the wall you're looking through... Be warned, though, that these fish can eat all the algae in your tank and then some, to the point that you actually need to put algae tablets into the tank to give them enough to eat.

Reminds me of an amusing story--one Pleco I owned was quite the daredevil. I was sitting at my computer, as usual (yes, I'm a nerd, so sue me) and all of the sudden I hear a loud "POP", then a sort of squishy flopping on the floor behind me near the aquarium. Needless to say, I turned around pretty quick--only to find a very large Pleco on the floor (these things will grow quite large, depending on the size of your tank), desperately flopping around and gasping for air--err, water. Apparently, he had jumped out of the tank with enough force to open the lid (it was a covered tank, as most decent-sized tanks are) and fly out of the tank fast enough to hit the floor several feet away. Fortunately I had a fish net sitting next to the tank, so I quickly scooped him up and put him back.

It took me at least 30 seconds or so between hearing the tank lid get knocked open and getting him back into the water, but that Pleco not only survived it, but also the copious quantities of dog fur from my shedding friend on the floor where he landed. It lived a perfectly normal life after that, and neither before nor since ever tried to jump tank again.

[balam]

> I was told to change the water once while I had him.

As digitalghost noted, let your container of change water sit until it is the same ambient temperature as Wilbur's bowl before changing the water. Too drastic of a temperature shock can kill.

From the sounds of it, it seems you weren't given anything to treat the water. Go to the pet shop and ask for the smallest bottle of dechlorinater. (Actually, you're looking for something like a "de-stressor;" dechlorination is just one purpose of the multipurpose product you'll be handed.) Now, off to the pharmacy to buy an eye dropper. I don't think I've seen a label that didn't read like, "add 5 millilitres for every 10 US gallons." (Yes, millilitres into gallons... Metric/imperial conversions are a "fun" part of fish ownership.) Given the size of Wilbur's bowl, you now know why you need the eye dropper...

Ok, water has been treated and is the correct temperature, time to change it...

DO NOT do a 100% water change! There are (probably/hopefully) beneficial bacteria in the water that would not be good to lose (in the event of 100% change). Best to limit yourself to a 50% change.

Water changes are part & parcel with the vacuuming of poop... You do know you're supposed to clean up after them, yes? ;)

---

Clown loaches are amusing, animated, easy to keep... and edible. ;)