Fishy tales

[hippybngstockng]

Well the little blue guy did manage to survive the night, and is looking much better, but still reminds me of a stressed out fish. His color is a little funny, and sometimes changes from moment to moment and looks mottled in places. I think I am going to assume that he needs something and go get it, whatever it turns out to be.

Also, I think I've solved my problem with what kind of plant to put in with them- I think I am going with "Lucky Bamboo" which are those stalks of Bamboo that just sit IN WATER! and I looked it up and found neither Bamboo or Lucky Bamboo on my "toxic to cats" list, so I think it just might work! It even fits thematically since the Betta is an asian fish. I might go ahead and try to write a post to the Betta people about it, but I still have fears because the whole vase idea is rather suspect to them- many people who don't know anything about Betta's think that vase deal you can get at Walmart is a hot idea these days, and the Walmart folks are filled with bad information, like telling them the fish will survive eating the roots and they never have to feed it. I don't want to get attacked, so I am scared... If I can figure out how to word it I will try, but I dunno... I'm feeling kind of thin skinned today, don't feel like having to defend myself to people, so I might just hope it's as good an idea as I think it is, and just do it. If any of my new Betta friends (who are probably as scared of the Betta people as I am LOL) would care to comment, please do. I think I will hold off getting the plants until tomorrow anyway since I will have to go searching for them- the couple of florists I have called are out. I saw some at the Loblaws last time I was there- but that, like most decorative things you find at the grocery store, was probably a fluke.

Well I got nothing else except that the Google thing seems to be a wash, other than perhaps writing letters or discontinuing use of it... I might choose the latter since I've been having awful results lately on whatever I search- What do other people use, if not Google, and how useful do you feel it has been for you?

Comments

[drglam]

My ex-housemate walkingundine keeps a betta; maybe she'd be a good resource.

[lisajulie.livejournal.com]

Lucky bamboo may be lucky, but it isn't a bamboo. IIRC, it is some form of Dracena, about the toxicity of which I know absolutely nothing.

My current cat doesn't graze much, but I know that aloe plants, rosemary, and tarragon are just fine for felines to ingest.

[lisajulie.livejournal.com]

OK, I didn't goole enough.

Lucky bamboo is Dracaena sanderiana. And the ASPCA site seems to discourage it.

[hippybngstockng.livejournal.com]

AGH! My list concurs... Glad I didn't buy that first! Well I guess I need to call my friend the plant expert. I hope she knows something.

And I love your icon- I love my tortie :) they are the best!

[coldtoast.livejournal.com]

"lucky bamboo" is actually a dracena...

And your fish will probably be fine. If you'd like a plant on the top of the vase, be sure and keep some air for the fish to reach. (they are labyrinth breathers and can consume atmospheric oxygen). Also, spath plants (I believe it's spathaphylum, but I'm unsure of the spelling) are ideal for the job as they don't get mooshy. Its still easter time, so they'll have em at walmart for about three bucks. Knock all the dirt off, wash them and stick em in:)

Also of note, those crazy ("animal rights" <--note my quote marks advocates) betta people are ignorant morons for the most part. You're doing nothing wrong sticking him in a nice sized vase.

[hippybngstockng.livejournal.com]

That's how I feel about it- I am giving them a gallon each! And I know that I still need to feed them, and that they need air, but I just have this suspicion that if I say the words Vase and Fish in the same sentence that they will all assume I mean to do the worst...

Unfortunately I am finding out that both the dracena and the spathaphylum are showing up on my toxic list- And the spath was the one I had trouble keeping algae off the last time.

I might end up trying to find out what the toxicity level actually IS for these options though because I certainly do seem to be running out of anything else to try...

[coldtoast.livejournal.com]

Us smart folks will just have to learn to deal with the ig'nants:)

Let me know what you find out about the toxicities there...

[cmariewt.livejournal.com]

I have a blue betta named Sapphire who has been happily living for, get this, 3 1/2 years!!!!! Once I went on vacation for two and a half weeks during which my boyfriend neglected to feed him. Luckily, they can live off of the roots of the plant I have in there with him. It actually benefitted the plant too!

[greyaenigma.livejournal.com]

Is a Google boycott likely to have any effect at all?

I know for me it's still the best engine out there, although I admit I haven't done a lot of comparison shopping lately, but everything else seems so incredibly bloated.

[hippybngstockng.livejournal.com]

I'd bet it won't change anything, unless advertisers decide to pull out. I am starting to be at a loss to think of anything that will actually help, since it isn't really Google.... They obviously are determined to fight back no mater what.

[greyaenigma.livejournal.com]

Right.

I think the only thing that will really help is a concerted effort from and army of good people trying to balance the scales in opposition to the googlebomb.

If we give up on Google over this, there will be no such opposition.

[greyaenigma.livejournal.com]

On the other hand, Amazon's search engine launched today (a9.com) -- although it is running on largely the same software as Google.