Livin' la BettaLoca

I live on the tenth floor in a one bedroom apartment and around this time of year maintenance shuts off the central heating on the upper levels expecting enough heat to rise from the milder temperatures of Spring. It's been off for two weeks now and yesterdays snow storm was not only my cue to put off spring cleaning another week, but to move a chilly Band of Betta's into my warm bedroom. Now, there's hardly enough room in there to swing a dead cat (which is the only form of cat I'll allow into my apt) but just the thought of waking up to a row of blinking Betta's with fins a flutter had me clearing off every surface to make room for the half dozen glass bowls. It could have been my sopping wet arm or the beep!beep! of my alarm clock that woke me that morning but Yossarian nearly went flying so I hurried down to FISH 4 U in search of a remedy. There were no tanks with partitions large enough and to buy six individual submersion heaters, even at F4U's competitive prices, would have cost me a small fortune. So giving up I wandered over to the new arrivals of Female Betta's where I found "Chi Chi" with an intense stare and "Lorraine" swimming around in circles and my thoughts turned to my celibate BettaBand of Brothers at home.

Chi Chi and NutraSweet Lorraine

Apparently females can live together quite happily in the same tank (or "brothel" as Diablo likes to call it) without attacking each other. And according to Chris at FISH 4 U, "females have much betta personalities"... whatever that means. It sounds like I got Betta-PUN-ked the more I think about it because I left the store with two more fish. And judging by the look on Lorraine's face, the state of Chi Chi's chewed off tails and the maniacal way the BettaBoys behaved when I introduced them to the little harlots it seems to me that everyone at #1005 got PUNked one way or another.

Phil and Yossarian noses to the glass waiting for the ladies to arrive.

Chi Chi with Lorraine hot on her half-eaten tails
...

I bought a ten gallon tank a while back and made a glass divider to house Diablo and Phil who stay busy making faces at each other all day. I'm still BettaSitting Phil from when Tommy left town a few weeks ago. Tommy, expecting to see his fish at the airport to welcome him home freaked out and assumed I'd killed his fish. So I invited him over to see the BFF's and while we stood there ooo-ing and aah-ing they busted out a secret handshake. Now I'm just a BettaSnatcher.

shake/fist/"Bro's before Ho's"/high five/slap!