We all like to brag about how wonderful it is to keep fish(properly I might add) to friends and family whenever the subject of anything "water" related hits the table. But make sure that you don't get careless about it. In my case, my loud mouth led to the misfortune and mistreatment of a poor betta fish to a death of bleach.
So, I've met some people at my church that wanted to go to the Everglades to bass fish. I have a secret location that's unmarked on the map guide. This family had some teenage siblings about my age and the youngest who was 5 at the time. We fished and walked the path and somehow by the end, I was talking about aquariums. This must've struck the little guy's mind as being the best thing ever! *just add water. And he was convinced that by the end of the day, he needed a pet fish... I was given the stink eye for the rest of that month by the mother and the older siblings.
I tried to give him the standard "keeping a fish is a big deal and a lot of responsibility" bs talk, but it flew in one end and out the other while his mind was trying to find a name for his future best friend. I knew, the older kids knew, and the mother knew that there was no stopping this train wreck that I single handedly caused, so I wanted to make sure that I would try to tell them the most I could to keep a betta happy: 5 gallon, plants, filter, heater, regular partial water changes... There response was basically "wait, that costs money! We don't need that! We've got a vase and some water, and it'll be fine". So they moved a few months after. About I'd say, three months after that, there was a facebook post by the mother, which should've been read in the facetious, sarcastic, southern voice: "Oh what a pitiful day, a family member passed today and was sadly flushed into his grave. Tears were shed as the last few minutes we saw Beauty until he disappeared in the pipes". A few comments later she stated the the vase might not've been thoroughly rinsed of the bleach she used to clean it with.
I was pretty bummed out by the fact that it was pretty much my fault and pretty much after that, I carefully rearrange how I manage my words when I talk to different people about aquariums.
Moral of the story, don't open you mouth too wide, or you might just kill a fish.
So, I've met some people at my church that wanted to go to the Everglades to bass fish. I have a secret location that's unmarked on the map guide. This family had some teenage siblings about my age and the youngest who was 5 at the time. We fished and walked the path and somehow by the end, I was talking about aquariums. This must've struck the little guy's mind as being the best thing ever! *just add water. And he was convinced that by the end of the day, he needed a pet fish... I was given the stink eye for the rest of that month by the mother and the older siblings.
I tried to give him the standard "keeping a fish is a big deal and a lot of responsibility" bs talk, but it flew in one end and out the other while his mind was trying to find a name for his future best friend. I knew, the older kids knew, and the mother knew that there was no stopping this train wreck that I single handedly caused, so I wanted to make sure that I would try to tell them the most I could to keep a betta happy: 5 gallon, plants, filter, heater, regular partial water changes... There response was basically "wait, that costs money! We don't need that! We've got a vase and some water, and it'll be fine". So they moved a few months after. About I'd say, three months after that, there was a facebook post by the mother, which should've been read in the facetious, sarcastic, southern voice: "Oh what a pitiful day, a family member passed today and was sadly flushed into his grave. Tears were shed as the last few minutes we saw Beauty until he disappeared in the pipes". A few comments later she stated the the vase might not've been thoroughly rinsed of the bleach she used to clean it with.
I was pretty bummed out by the fact that it was pretty much my fault and pretty much after that, I carefully rearrange how I manage my words when I talk to different people about aquariums.
Moral of the story, don't open you mouth too wide, or you might just kill a fish.
