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The Fi$$$h Tank

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My daughter recently turned 15, which isn’t a particularly special year (still a year away from a driver’s license), so she wasn’t really expecting much. We went out to a nice dinner and agreed to let her get a betta fish.

If you’re unfamiliar with betta fish, they are a small brightly colored fish that were quite popular several years ago, primarily because they are pretty and fairly low maintenance. Most are kept in a very small bowl not much bigger than one you’d eat cereal out of.

And that’s just what I was expecting when my wife, my daughter and I rolled into Petco the other day to pick out a nice looking betta fish, a little home for him, some fish food and some rocks and such to decorate the bowl.

Pretty simple and straightforward. You figure, what, $40 or so, right?

Well, you sir or madam, have greatly underestimated the high price of becoming the owner of one betta fish. First off, the fish was $12, which seemed about twice as much as I was expecting. And speaking of twice as much, apparently my daughter’s online research told her that betta fish prefer to live in a 2-gallon tank! Did they survey the betta fish? So, a tank that big needs a filter… and more decorations… oh, and hey look Dad! This one has LED lights that change colors! Oh, look, you can get him little dried worms as a treat! And a snail to keep the tank clean! Well, anyway, $130 later and we’re driving home with Kai the Betta Fish and a luxury fish palace fit for a fishy king. Ridiculous!

It is a nice-looking fish though…

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