Such very sad news today. My wife and I decided that we wanted to get a fish for our house, something to keep her company while I am off at work. So we went to the pet store, bought a little bowl and a Betta fish. We started calling it Mr. Fish, for lack of a better name. But he wouldn't eat and two days later, he died.

We went back to the pet store and asked what we could do to keep a Betta alive. The saleswoman, who was very excited about fish, went through and picked us one she thought would do better. We took him home and called him Isda (the Ilonggo word for fish, we are very creative people). He was active, he was eating, and we thought everything was good.

Then a snowstorm hit overnight and in the morning we had to move him out of our living room. Bettas prefer warm weather and water to live in, and we think that the snow did our second fish in. He never quite recovered after we moved him, he started swimming more sluggishly, stopped eating, and finally died sticking straight up and down.

We are saddened and have decided not to try raising another Betta until summer comes along and we know the water will stay warm enough. We hope that if we can survive the first few months of summer, things will work out. We are still hopeful about adding a fish to our home, but it won't be just yet.