Thursday, February 01, 2007

he's still alive

so heres the news. I haven't been putting anything in his water, by the way. I did some research an I think Shvown has something called "the bloat". In normal people terms, its fish constipation. You may laugh and say "ew." But it's actually not that uncommon and can kill them. I tried helping Shvown out yesterday by warming his jar up some because he has been lethargic and it was discovered that bettas, being tropical, prefer warm water. It doesn't take a scientist to tell you (well it might) that when gasses are warmed up they will expand more than liquids. So, for example the gas stuck in Shvown would expand more than say, the water he is swimming in when the whole system is warmed up (this is also why cold water can hold higher concentrations of air). So, in conclusion Shvown became more boyant (spelling) when his jar was warmed. I figured his "near-deathness" had something to do with the temperature change and allowed it to cool, and apparently that did the trick. Now I just got to fix his "being plugged up". The best system I've heard is don't feed them for a few days to a week. Don't worry animal lovers, that isn't a big deal for a fish, he'll be fine, or at least better than dead.

2 comments:

Sarah said...

Wow John, fish constipation? Have you ever thought about being a vet, you seem to have a good understanding of the inner works of fish lol...

Rachael said...

ha, i love it. next year when i have a house, my roommate and i are getting a beta fish together.