These are not bettas.
I went shopping for fish this weekend (my betta named Luna had passed on to the big tank in the sky), and decided I no longer wanted a betta. I was moving on.
In case you aren’t too familiar with the species of fish, bettas are pure attack fish. Sure, they look pretty, but you can’t put them in a tank together with each other – or any other fish. They would just get angry and kill. But the thing is, if they don’t get angry, they don’t like to swim much either. So mostly Luna just lay down on a rock or plant because he couldn’t be bothered, while I had to move the tank or hold a mirror up to get him to move his lazy ass fins around.
This time around, I wanted fish who swam, who liked other fish, who could play nice in the tank with others. When I walked into the pet store, there was a large chart by the fish tanks with color-coded graph, indicating how socially well-adjusted each type of fish was: there were those who got along great with anyone – the so-called “community fish,” and then it started getting tricky – the “semi-aggressive,” “aggressive,” and saltwater fish. I didn’t have the cash or inclination to maintain a saltwater tank, so that pretty much left me with the community fish – some guppies and tetras. Though they’re small and seem like they’d make good fish food, they are friendly with everyone. They’d probably even try to play with the bettas (only to be killed in a few seconds).
I don’t really have a point to this except that I thought about people and the world of dating in terms of this fish chart. Wouldn’t it be great if potential dates walked around with labels indicating whether or not they played nice with others? At least you could have a heads-up if someone was antisocial or mean – (or if they placed the blame squarely on the other fish around them rather than doing some self-examination) -and save yourself some heartache. I wouldn’t have wanted to date Luna. He was too much work. And we’d have to have separate tanks.
So, I’m looking forward to hanging out with my new community-friendly fish: guppies, tetras, and sucker fish. Surprisingly, the bottom dwellers really have their s*** together. Go figure.
About Kelly Seal
Kelly is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles, CA. She blogs about dating, relationships, personal growth and what "healthy living" means to her. You can follow her on Google+, Twitter @kellyseal or through her website www.kellyseal.com.
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