Siamese Fighting Fish & Peace Lily Plant Aquariums

As an early Christmas gift, on December 9, 2001 a dear friend that I work with, knowing how much we love fish, gave Stan and I this beautiful freshwater Siamese Fighting Fish and Peace Lily plant aquarium. I was surprised and stunned when she gave it to us, and very touched. Although a touching and lovely gift, I didn't have the heart to tell her that from what I had heard, these types of aquarium set ups are not the best of environments for fish to live in. Even so, I happily excepted our new gift and I have been enjoying it sitting on my computer desk since I brought it home, with these instructions that were passed on from the person that sold it to her:

• Keep the water level just below the bow.
• Feed the fish dried blood worms every 5 days. That's all it will eat.

That's it? Nothing else? Being saltwater enthusiasts, Stan and I know very little about the care of freshwater fish, and the scant instructions received were of no help. My first and only experience with freshwater aquaria was with my goldfishes, Cleo and Patra, when I was in my teens. Needing to know more about Siamese Fighting Fish, what better place to go than to Shirlie Sharpe's About Freshwater Aquariums GuideSite to get information on it, as well as this type of fish bowl setup.

I learned some interesting things about this fish's characteristics, and needless to say, my instincts were right. I discovered that these plant and fish type aquariums were quite a national fad, but they are not appropriate for keeping fish in, and if you do, they demand a lot of attention and care! Rather than me going into all the details here, I strongly urge anyone that is considering buying one of these so-called aquariums, or who may get one as a gift, to read the following information.

• Siamese Fighting Fish Facts from Shirlie Sharpe.
• "Why the Siamese Fighting Fish Should NOT be Kept in a Peace Lily Vase" by Shirlie Sharpe.
• "Peace Lily and Fighting Fish" by Debbie Simpson, About Gardening Guide. Even though she gives instructions on how to build one of these aquariums, The Facts she provides about this type of setup are important to read, and you can learn about Peace Lily plant care at the same time.

Our new Siamese Fighting Fish is truly beautiful, and doing fine. In fact, it took up nibbling on TetraMin enriched flake food right away, which is not the proper food for this fish's dietary needs, but that was the only food we had to offer it when we got it home, and no blood worms were provided when we received it. I have to say that although our friend gave this wonderful gift out of love, we will be removing it from its vase as soon as we buy an aquarium with proper filtration for it, which is the environment we feel any fish should have to be happy! This was a gift of good intentions, and the way we look at it is that we now have a nice new plant in an eye-catching vase for the living room, along with a new family member.

I will be passing on all the information that I have learned to my friend, others we know who have these aquariums, as well as contact the person making them here on Moloka'i, so they can at least provide adequate care instructions when they sell one.