Fishes and flowers

Dengue fever is making a stellar comeback this year in Thailand. In the meantime, I’ve been keeping little guppies and bettas in and around my house to reduce/eradicate the mosquito population.

Plus, I like fishes and plants and flowers. So it’s a win-win-win situation (in the words of Michael Scott). Lizards of all varieties also eat mosquitoes. So it’s important to keep these little guys around! Much better than spraying pesticides in the air.

And remember to throw out standing water! A breeding ground for mozzies to lay their eggs.

fish-bowl — This is just one of four fish containers I have filled with guppies and plants.

green — I also have bettas inside the house. They, too, will eat mosquitoes and their larva.

fried-fish — This is a delicious fried fish with tempura and lemon that I had, and is in no way related to the fish that I keep as pets.

betas — Ever tried to take a picture of fish? Yeah! A challenge!!!

2 replies on “Fishes and flowers”

Eric says:

26/06 at 11:12 am

Your pics came out really clear and bright. It’s a tragedy of the English language that there isn’t a more popular way to say how much I appreciate the Lotus bowl than that I’m “jealous”. Speaking of English, and being a fish-aficionado, lemmie give you a little pedantic info on the superbly colorful specimens in your collection.

From Wikipedia:

The name Betta (or betta) is pronounced /ˈbɛtə/.[4] That is, the first part is the same as the English word bet. By confusion with the name of the Greek letter beta, the name is often pronounced /ˈbeɪtə/ in American English, and may be misspelled with one t. The name of the genus is unrelated to that of the Greek letter, being derived from the Malay word ikan betah (“persistent fish”).[5]

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1. Lani says:
  
  26/06 at 11:41 am
  
  Ahhhh. So I should correct my spelling?
  
  I’ve gotten another pot ready for the baby fishes. I might have to start sharing the wealth around Chiang Mai…
  
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