Heroic efforts...for a Beta fish?!?!

Background: Pierce decided to buy a Beta fish for his desk at work. He named the Beta "Alpha" and has had him for several months. Alpha has a nice little set up, is fed & receives clean water on a regular basis and Pierce likes to "play" with Alpha by posting a picture of another Beta on Alpha's bowl from time to time. (Male Beta fish are aggressive toward one another and this gets Alpha all riled up.) Alpha seems to enjoy their camaraderie too.

Pierce packs Alpha up and brings him home over long holiday weekends and recently decided to keep him home for an extended period between Christmas and mid-January due to the holidays and planned time off.

The Story: So two nights ago Colin & Pierce noticed that Alpha was hanging near the top of the water in his fish bowl...on his side. When I came to check things out I swore I'd watched him take his last breath (Alpha...not Pierce.) But alas he perked up and tried his hardest to swim around only to end up on the top on his side again.

I didn't give it much thought after that...until I went into the downstairs half-bath yesterday morning...and found Alpha in his bowl on the back of the toilet. He was still struggling. I seriously thought Pierce left him there for me to flush; that he couldn't bring himself to do it. Luckily ...I asked...

It turns out Pierce was up early looking for information on "Beta ailments" on Google. He thought Alpha might have had "swim bladder" and learned that he should have no food for a couple of days and be kept in a dark, warm environment for less stress. Less stress? He's a fish!!!

So we kept him on the back of the toilet in "The Cave" and opened the vent to warm things up...sure enough the sauna-like environment did him well and he's back to swimming vertically. Life is good that we can put time & concern into little Alpha.