Lt. Dan
We’ve been at my parent’s house for almost two weeks now. And we all seem to be adjusting to the situation pretty good, all things considered.
Everyone that is, except Lt. Dan.
Our new fish, Lt. Dan, is turning out to be a royal pain the rear. Apparently, I have the only demanding beta fish known to man. From what I can tell, Lt. Dan is upset that he has been moved. Though, I cannot fathom why. He has been relocated to the kitchen table in my parent’s kitchen, right next to the bright, big front window. Who wouldn’t want to sit in the warm sunshine?
Apparently, Lt. Dan.
He is none too happy about this situation. I know this because he just keeps laying on the rocks in the bottom of his bowl. There is no swimming, no frolicking, no smiling, no singing. He just lays there on those rocks. All. Day. Long.
And before you ask (Chris…), yes, he is alive. When I poke him with the bamboo shoot in his bowl, he suddenly comes to life, thrashing and splashing around as if I have just stabbed him in the heart with a toothpick. But after his little protest, he drifts to the bottom of his bowl again and resumes his stance on those rocks.
Well, not a stance really. Cause Lt. Dan ain’t got no legs, remember?
He also seems to be protesting the new fish food we have here. In the hustle and bustle of the move, I left Lt. Dan’s fish food at our house. Which isn’t a huge deal because my parents have beta food at their house, too, so I have just been feeding him that. But I guess Lt. Dan is a food snob now because he is completely opposed to the flakes he now gets, instead of the pellets he had at home. Perhaps I should go out and buy him the food he prefers, but I’m refraining from that on principle now.
Lt. Dan, you are a fish. Act like it. You will eat what I give you or you will die. Now, get up off those rocks and EAT THESE FISH FOOD FLAKES!
I’m not really that mean to him. Actually, I’m being overly nice to him, given his awful attitude these days. He sits right next to my computer and so even as I write this post I am talking to him, soothing him, pointing things out to him. And yet, he lays there. On those rocks. Ungrateful like.
Lt. Dan better get his act together and start swimming around or something here very soon. Dude’s here to entertain Bean. And even Bean knows that laying on rocks is not the way he wants to spend a day.
Maybe we should strap him to the back of the golf cart and take him for a joy ride. That always seems to lift Bean’s spirits.
43 Comments
Katie's Grandma
You’d better get the “Last Rites” ready for Lt. Dan!
Katy @MonsterProof
Maybe the water’s gotten too warm? I don’t know anything about fish…probably not helpful.
Laura
Sounds like Lt. Dan is dying, hehe. Maybe his bowl is getting too hot in the sun? Fish are picky about their water temp.
Shannon
His water is getting too warm due to the sunshine. 🙂 Maybe try moving him to a cooler place in the house, then I bet he’ll start to eat and swim, too!
Jessica @ How Sweet
Time to move him! I’m telling you, my beta lived forever!
Lisa
Hmm, ehow.com says he should like being near the window as long as the water doesn’t get above 85 degrees. It also suggests feeding the beta pellets and doesn’t mention fish flakes. I don’t know. My beta fish died after only a few months. I think we both got bored with each other. 😉
Jen at Cabin Fever
hahaha.
I just got why you call him Lt. Dan.
That made me laugh so hard!
Cabin Fever in Vermont
Alaina
I love his name. Too funny…I’m going to go with what everyone else is saying and guess maybe the water is getting too warm. That or he’s on his last legs…
Erin
I bred betas for a while and it sounds like his water is to warm. Put him somewhere less sunny. Some betas don’t like the temp of there water to change at all. Find a place where the sun won’t shine on his tank so the temp doesn’t change. Also, don’t poke him or move his tank around to much. It disturbs the protective film that fish have around them. When they are stressed or poked it gets thin or disappears and they are more at risk of getting sick. Good luck! And luckly fish are cheap if Lt Dan doesn’t make it.
Leslie
I had a beta for 3 years and I moved it about 6 times. The poor guy went to college with me and came home every break in a cup. Betas are sturdy, but lazy. Mine would swim to the bottom and try and bury himself so he wouldn’t have to put any effort into not floating. Its just how they are. If he isn’t loosing his color then don’t worry about it he is fine. Oh and let him eat flakes till you have a chance to retrieve your old food… he’ll eat if he is hungry.
Cassi @ Miles from Suburbia
So, um, are you me? Because I also had a beta in college that I would transport home and back – are you ready? – in a cup! He’d travel in the cup holder of my 1990 Honda Accord, and as you described, try to hide in the very bottom.
It would also take him a while to recover. Every trip was traumatic. Once I had to slam on my breaks to avoid being caught up in an accident in front of me, and I swear it took him months to recover from the Great Sloshing of 2001.
Katherine
Oh Beta fish, they can be so finicky! My current one, Lil Jon, has been hanging around for more than 3 years now, but his predescor was like Lt. Dan and became first depressed, then anorexic, then suicidal. It wasn’t long until the pokes returned no movement at all, ack! 😛
Lisa
I don’t call myself an authority on fish by any means, but we’ve managed to keep a goldfish alive for many, many years, so…
It’s possible there might not be enough oxygen in the tank; that can make the fish pretty lethargic and eventually die. Maybe buy a bubbler if you don’t have one already?
And this one is a bit far out, but apparently mashed frozen peas brought back Speedy from death’s door once. I don’t remember how or why, only that it did. So that might be something to try as a last resort.
Tabitha (From Single to Married)
Poor Lt. Dan. 🙂 Now I have Forrest Gump lines running through my head! 🙂
Michelle
In my experience, betas tend to sulk for a few days after being moved — don’t let anyone tell you they don’t have personalities! I hope that’s what’s going on with Lt. Dan!
Casper
Betas are known to become attached to the food they get daily, if you suddenly switch it on them they may avoid it. Both Betas I have had it took them a couple days of being at my house to adjust to eating the flakes I gave them versus what they were used to getting at the pet store. Just a thought though 🙂
Ivette
He could also be bored. We had a Beta and set up a little mirror next to his bowl so that he could look/fight with himself.
Ashley
I’m not going to be help – I kill goldfish. =/ not on purpose, honest, I just can’t seem to keep them alive for the life of me!
Your post DID make me giggle at my desk, so thank you =)
Good Luck with Lt. Dan!
Isabel
Wasn’t Lt Dan really really grumpy in Forest Gump? Maybe he is just living up to his name… 😉
Nikki
Poor Lt. Dan! I’m having a problem with one of my tequila sunrises right now too. He’s active, but he just doesn’t look right. He’s survived a few massacres so I’m cheering him on.
Elizabeth
From what I have read, Betas are VERY picky about their temperatures. I got a cheap tank with a light (the light seems to keep the water a bit warm) from Petco and Sushi (my mother named him. She has a sick mind….sadly, I think it is hilarious and so it stuck with him.) is a pretty happy fish.
Betas love pellets so you may want to switch. Mine already got the begging down. He gets really excited when I walk in my room.
Betas are pretty cool fishes due to many reasons. I hope all the advice that everyone has given to you helps. 🙂
Brenna
My beta did this and died about 2 weeks later. Not sure what his problem was–but it wasn’t water temperature.
Nate's Mom
DON’T DIE, LT. DAN! DON’T DIE!!!
Melissa
My college roommate and I had a beta that did this for a week or two, and then he lost all color. It looked like his color was fading away and his scales were flaking off. However, when we poked him, he would get up and swim around. Eventually, we flushed him because he would only flop, not swim; we couldn’t figure out what his problem was and he was depressing us.
I like to think that we didn’t kill him, because the toilet had water, so he could still be alive in the college sewer system. Maybe he’s the biggest, bestest, happiest beta of them all. Or perhaps, he’s a monster beta that has mutated, grown arms, legs, and has hatched a plan to hunt me down and flush me.
Wow, that took a disturbing turn that I didn’t see coming. No more freestyle commenting for me.
Tressa
I’m going through this exact same thing right now with our beta, Swirly. I moved him from the bathroom counter to the living room and he’s been pissed ever since! And I do mean PISSED! Everytime I talk to him he flares up like he’s fighting!! I told him to watch it or I’d flush him!! 😉
I thought the hairspray and such from the bathroom was making his water get dirty faster, but seems to be getting cloudy in the living room too. But I’m not going to let him win and move him back, he’s staying in the living room til he drops the attitude!!!!
colleen
Mario (because I got to keep the fishbowl after I drank all the beer in it from Mario’s Bar in Phili), my beta, flew from CA to CT in a water bottle and lived for 3 more years. Those suckers are sturdy. Perhaps the computer is warming the water too much- it might not be the sunshine but the warmth from the electronics bringing him down?
A
Perhaps Lt. Dan is suffering from PTSD ?
Kelly @ The Startup Wife
My husband is really, really into betta fish (and guess who gets to take care of them all day?) (and yes, you’d be surprised how much I actually mean ‘all day’ sometimes …) and one of ours was exhibiting similar symptoms, and then died. And then a second one started exhibiting similar symptoms, and for that one we got this antibiotic dropper thing for the water, and he’s doing much better now. It’s a few bucks, if you’re ever in a pet store.
Dana
We have had many Betta Fish adventures. We have had water temp issues and food issues. We had one that ate only pellets and then just stopped eating. So we tried flakes and he loves them now. They are full of personality, for fish. And we have had some tudes, too. I have also tried the pea thing that someone else mentioned.
Good luck! And I love hearing all about Lt. Dan. And while I was reading, in my head, I always pronounced it just like Forrest.
Dawn
You just tell him that he and Lt. Dan will have something else in common besides just the name if he doesn’t straighten up soon. 🙂
Jessica
This website has a lot of useful information about bettas, hopefully you can find something to make Lt. Dan more lively to entertain Bean
http://aquamaniacs.net/forum/cms_view_article.php?aid=130
Megan @ Red Dirt and Crazy
Sounds like Lt. Dan is a little depressed. Maybe he just discovered that he ain’t got no legs.
lol…
🙂
Megan
Chloe
OMG! My roommate and I had 2 of those darn things in college. The first one did fine till he went home with her for Xmas break and committed suicide by running into the wall of his bowl over and over till he died. The second one I named Emo because he was so lame and moody. Sat at the bottom of his tank all day long.
Nessa
Bettas don’t like sunshine! (even though it brings out their lovely colors) In the wild betta fish live under shelters of overhanging leaves or other shady spots. I keep mine (his name is Sushi 🙂 on a shelf next to a window which has sheer drapes drawn all the time.
Please move him/shelter him before he goes belly up!
Jody
Just so ya know, beta fish travel very well. We strapped ours into the truck with seat belts whenever we’d go camping, which is pretty much all summer. And even when dh drove away with him on the trailer’s table and his home smashed when dh parked it again, 10 km away, he lived on and on and on … and on.
Enjoy the pellets Lt. Dan!
Maggie
I read online somewhere once to feed a betta peas if he’s not acting right and it will “normal” them up. I’m not sure how reliable that source was, but whenever mine is acting wonky I smoosh up a pea and drop it in his tank. He gobbles it up and is fine within hours. I’d try moving him first, as the other commenters suggested, but if that doesn’t work, a pea might be your ticket.
Andrea
AAAAAaaaahahahahaha!!! “But you ain’t got no legs, Lt. Dan” My favorite thing about this post was reading the whole thing using Forest Gump’s drawl. SO FUN!!!!
Good luck with your fishy 😛
Hilary
Perhaps Lt. Dan is actually Lt. Danielle and she is going through “that time of the month.” Do fish do that?
Sarah C. H.
Aww, poor Lt. Dan. I’m thinking about getting a beta fish soon. I have this cute vase with a bamboo shoot in it that needs a fish to complete the picture.
pamtastic
This is one needy fish!
RACHEL
lol you do know you arent supposed to keep fish in the sun? also if its different water (supply) that could also really upset them, we cant keep fish here coz that water isnt fish friendly, good luck with him though xx
Jen C
maybe he feels that since he has survived “The Break In Incident” he is due some better food or some more benefits. He’s a survivor now, a veteran, if you will. If he starts acting like the real Lt. Dan I’d start to worry.
Tiff
I had a betta do this and as someone said previously, he died shortly thereafter. I talked to the lady at the pet store and she told me that the pH was probably off in his tank. You may want to consider going to the pet store and buying some betta water treatment drops. It’s pretty cheap. You just add the amount specified to the bowl each time you change out the water.