10.19.2012

Meet Murray!

This week the Tucker Tells All family gained a new member ... meet Murray!
As you can see, Murray is of the finned, rather than the furry, variety.  He's a male Veiltail Betta, and the first fish I have cared for since I was about ten years old.  

Murray was an unexpected, rather dubious, gift from an office colleague, and I found him swimming around in circles in his little plastic cup when I returned from lunch on Monday afternoon, with a container of Betta food sitting next to him.  After work that night, I went to the local pet supply store and got him a Betta tank, a Peace lily plant (which is so far resisting all my attempts to keep it upright), some decorative rocks for substrate, and some disgusting-looking dried mealworms for treats.   

While there, I got some instructions from an employee about how to successfully transition Murray from his cup to his new tank, and I must say, he looks pretty darn happy in there, and I quite enjoy watching him swim around, and the white noise of the filter is actually very soothing.  

My concern, though, is that according to the directions on the jar of Betta food, he should be fed three times a day, which is fine during the week, but what about weekends and holidays?  So I guess this afternoon I am going to have to go back to the pet store and ask about some kind of automatic feeder?  

Meanwhile, does anyone with fish experience have any tips to share?  

11 comments:

Unknown said...

Yep they go nice with chips! BOL sorry we have no fish experience so cannot help. But welcome little fishy and we look forward to seeing you again.
Best wishes Molly

♥♥ The OP Pack ♥♥ said...

Murray is beautiful, what a gorgeous tail - guess that where the name comes from. We don't know anything about fish, other than we love to find it in our dinner bowl. But we don't think you will find that very helpful.

Lots of luck with Murray.

Woos - Phantom, Thunder, Ciara, and Lightning

Anonymous said...

Hi Murray! I think you have a very nice family and you are a lucky and beautiful fish.

I have something delicious for you all to share :) http://onebluedog.wordpress.com/2012/10/19/297/

Ruby said...

Murray is gorgeous!! I, too, have not taken care of fishies since a child, so I'm sorry I'm no help there, but I do hope to see updates from Murray! Good Luck!

Kisses,

Ruby

houndstooth said...

We have a Betta here and he's pretty happy in his bowl. I think if you put a little extra food in on Friday, he'll be fine through the weekend. You can get weekend feeders to put in the tank if you want to, as well, but the truth is, he'll probably survive on the algae that normally grows in the tank. We have a fish tank at school and even after our three week breaks, the fish are fine, and the feeder I put in there usually barely has a dent in it.

Tucker The Crestie said...

Houndstooth, this is GREAT information, thank you!

CATachresis said...

Ooooh! Lunch! :) >^..^<

tubby3pug said...

Well I have to say that I have a BAD track record with fish. I have bought a number of fish for my students in my classroom and generally with not so stellar results despite careful reading of manuals and listening to pet smart employee instructons. Good luck

urban hounds

GreatGranny said...

Murray is pretty, but I have nothing to add..sorry.

The Island Cats said...

The only experience we have with fish is that which is in our stinky goodness!

bichonpawz said...

Welcome Murray! We think you will love your new home!! Sorry...we can't help out with the fish care either...haven't had any around here since my daughter was little...a LONG time ago! xoxo Chloe, LadyBug and Jeanne