Mr. Fish has his say
Mr. Fish had a lot to say about cleaning his habitat when I asked him. He was a beautifully elegant royal blue Betta, who lived in a small habitat in the apartment of Jerry and Ashely in central California. They purchased him as a pet for their daughter who often visited them. The couple used the fish to teach their daughter Deva about his species and about the responsibility of taking care of an animal companion.
I admired his stunning color, flowing fins, and ultra-sensitive nature. Mr. Fish was very willing to let me know just what he thought and it was one of the first times an animal had called out to me rather loudly before I had a chance to ask him any questions. He was by no means shy, which made communicating with him easier.
Genus: Siamese Fighting Fish
The Betta fish, genus Siamese fighting fish, is a tropical freshwater fish that’s popular as a pet. They’re on display at the front of many chain pet stores because they’re affordable for even the most frugal of households.
Constant changes in the betta’s natural environment resulted in the development of this little fish’s ability to take in oxygen both from water and air. That evolution allows the species to live in water that contains very little oxygen. Native to areas like Cambodia and Thailand, the wild Betta inhabits rice paddies and canals. But Mr. Fish was a Californian.
Cleaning the Habitat
Reluctant to empty his habitat of water and replace it, his people told me he was a wild thing, and would thrash around if made to vacate his bowl while they cleaned it. They said he would even bite!
“He’s impossible to catch and that’s why we just clean out two-thirds of the bowl and leave him in there,” they reported to me, but they were willing to let me give it a try.
“I’ll have a chat with him,” I said.
A Chat with Mr. Fish
I let Mr. Fish know that I was going to care for him by cleaning out his habitat and filling it with new, fresh spring water. I told him I understood he needed a lot of space, and that his swimming area would be severely restricted to the size of a large glass of water while we cleaned the habitat. As I made changes to his mini-aquarium, I kept him informed about what would be taking place.
My first move was to put my hands on either side of the aquarium and just hold them there.
“This is what the energy of my hands feels like,” I told him, “and I will need to put them into your water.”
He swam back and forth nervously, feeling a bit confined by my hands on either side of the Plexiglas, and told me he understood but that the space felt restricted when I placed my hands there.
“Human hands are scary things,” he told me, and I said I understood.
Catching and Transporting Mr. Fish
Next, I let him know with mind pictures that I would be lowering a glass down into the water and I requested that he swim into it. I relayed that I was doing it that way so he would be surrounded by the same water he was already used to.
Ever so slowly and gently, so as not to make waves, I lowered the glass into the little aquarium. Mr. Fish immediately swam right in. I pulled the glass of water and fish out, setting it on the counter.
“I will position you where you can see the entire cleaning operation,” I told him.
Scrub and Soak
His human mom Ashley and I scrubbed and soaped all of the items in the tank as well as the aquarium itself, being careful to rinse it thoroughly and several times before filling it with fresh, room-temperature spring water.
“I’ll be adding a few things to your habitat,” I said, sending him images of new aquatic plants I had purchased that would supply oxygen and keep the tank clean. He reserved judgment on the changes, waiting to experience them before sending any information back to me about his preferences.
I had been watching
I had been watching Mr. Fish for a few days and I noticed that when he came into contact with a plastic plant in the habitat, he recoiled. He said it was like a sticker bush to him. So I removed the plastic plant and replaced it with a real aquatic plant as well as 3 Marimo algae balls. A natural betta tank cleaner, these moss balls absorb the nutrients that other algae need to live, preventing algae from growing. As filters, they suck up small amounts of debris, phosphates and ammonia. Bettas like to move stuff around so they also provide entertainment. They’re a great toy!
The aquatic plant gave Mr. Fish a place to hide and retreat, as well as a softer surface to slide by as he swam around in the aquarium.
Reunited with the Clean Bowl
I submerged the entire glass of water containing Mr. Fish into the habitat and asked him to swim out once the bowl was clean. He navigated the edge of the glass and going from one kind of water to another with trepidation. It was a little traumatic for him, but he managed to do it quickly. He was soon exploring the changes.
There was one final touch still to be put into the aquarium: his mirror ball. Floated by an empty plastic ball that made the little looking glass float in mid-air, the toy was a little round mirror.
Ashely cleaned it up nicely and I lowered it down into the water.
Not What I Thought
Mr. Fish was clearly agitated. He swam around and on top of it, jumping over it into the air and coming down on the other side of it, then swimming away quickly and nervously.
“That’s for you, not for me,” he blurted out.
I opened the conversation up to him, a little taken by surprise at the intensity of the feeling he was sending.
“We like to see your fins flare out so we put mirrors into your habitat to put you in fight mode,” I told him.
“Yes,” he said, “and it keeps me in a high state of anxiety. So that mirror is not for me, it’s only for your entertainment. It keeps me on edge,” he said, nervously swimming away from the mirror. As soon as I pulled the mirror up out of the water, he relaxed visibly.
“But it’s just a mirror,” I told him. “What if you were to relate to it not as another fish, but as a mirror?” I asked, and began to lower it back into the aquarium. He clearly became agitated again. I withdrew the mirror.
Over the next day or two I checked back in on him. He thanked me for the changes in his aquarium and seemed much happier and more serene than ever before. I left him to enjoy his new digs.
