Claire Buoyant

I was walking along with my mom in a mall in Seattle one day, in March of this year ('99), when I saw this pretty booth I'd seen a few times before. It said "Aquababies" at the top. I talked to the lady there about what they were and how to care for them.

They are little 4 inch x 4 inch aquariums, containing tiny ecosystems. Some tanks have one little fish, and some have many even smaller fish. My aquarium that I got that day had one small, red and white, female betta fish. There is a plant inside each tank, and there are also snails and live rocks. I was told that everything depends on everything else in the miniature ecosystem to survive.

Recently, however, I became aware of a boycott of Aquababies. I read about how these small tanks are not good environments for any living creature. Many peoples' Aquababies die shortly after they get them, or live only a few months, when they are able to live many years in a better environment.

This explains why 2 of my 3 snails and the plant in my aquarium died. The only reason little Claire didn't die is because she is a betta fish. Bettas are very hardy, and can live in poor conditions. They are labyrinth breathers, which means they take oxygen from the surface of the water into their labyrinth, a sort of lung, which is different from many other fish, who only breathe through their gills. Just because bettas are able to survive in a very small bowl, does NOT mean that they are happy or comfortable in that environment.

I felt really bad for Claire. Not knowing much at all about fish, I had thought it was a really cute, harmless product. The instructions are written and the product is advertized in such a way so that unknowing people, like myself, don't realize how easily their poor fish could die. Now, I do not believe that Aquababies is a product people should be buying. It is not healthy for the fish.

Wanting a better home for Claire, I decided to get an aquarium. I read many sources which recommended that beginners get large tanks, 20-55 gallons, so that there is room to make mistakes. I didn't want a huge aquarium, so I got a 20 gallon long and I'm very happy with it! Claire seems to be very happy too! Her color has really brightened up, which means she is much healthier. When I first put her and the snail into the new aquaium, Claire only swam in a small area. She was so used to turning at every four inches, she didn't realize it was possible to swim further! How sad is that? After a while, she realized she was in a bigger area, and now she swims freely all over the tank. I also recently added live plants, which has given the tank a very nice look. In about a month, I will start to slowly add fish, as well. The next fish I want is a guppy, I think. Hopefully I'll be able to get pictures of my aquarium on this site, too.

I believe I did the best thing for Claire, and that makes me happy. She is a cute, sweet, fish, and I love her very much. She even comes to me when I call her name. She recognizes my voice, I think, because when I talk to her, she comes right over to me, quickly moving her fins back and forth. She doesn't seem to respond to other peoples' voices.

Another cute thing she did is when she saw some droplets of water on the outside of the tank, during her transition from the Aquababies tank to her new aquarium, she tried to eat them! She is so adorable!

I'm really looking forward to keeping a nice aquarium, learning more about aquariums and fish in general, and adding new things to my tank to make it a beautiful and healthy environment for my fish to live in.