Planting the fish
By Diane Ako
What is it with me lately? I can't keep a fish alive for anything!
In the last month, Olivia and I have been through the following bettas or comets:
Kuzushi
Sunshine
Orchid
Rainbow
Aurora
Kuzushi was my red betta who lived for a couple of years. So I CAN keep a fish alive for a long time.
Sunshine was the gold betta Olivia took home from a birthday party as an amenity. It lived a few months.
After those two died, I bought some replacement fish, and they all kept dying in short order. After Aurora died, I swore off fish for... at least three weeks!
Meanwhile, their bodies get planted in the yard or garden as fertilizer. I do think it benefits the plants. All plants who received a fish have seemed to get very healthy shortly thereafter.
On the latest fish, I asked Claus to carry the tank out while I picked a spot. I surveyed the yard.
"Where do I put him?" asked Claus, tiring of carrying the drum shaped tank around after me.
"I am running out of places," I said. "I put Kuzushi there, Sunshine there, Orchid there, Rainbow there."
While I dithered over the placement, Claus commented, "You do more burials than me lately."
Not a flattering observation from a funeral director!
But in my own defense, I have kept 200 shrimp alive for months now!
Small Talk
June 4th, 2012 at 5:34 am
Hi, Diane! Betas are very sensitive to temperature changes. So, you might be killing them when you change the water, or if you have them in a spot that heats up or cools off with sunlight or lack thereof, etc. Yes, fish and fish poop are really helpful to plants. Hope that helps!
June 4th, 2012 at 6:15 am
galekaminari, thanks for that tip. they didn't live in the sun or heat, so it's probably the water changes.
June 4th, 2012 at 6:21 am
At Plimoth Plantation American Indians taught the Mayflower pilgrims to plant a fish, or part of a fish, in the same hole where they planted corn. It makes sense that the decomposing fish provides nutrients to a plant.
But native cultures, including native Hawaiians, also used plants, animals, and even humans as religious sacrifices to the gods when planting a garden or dedicating a house. The more important the garden or house, the higher the rank of the plant, animal or human that served as a sacrifice.
Kamehameha The Great built the huge Pu'ukohola Heiau in Kawaihae because of a prophecy that if he built it he would become the conqueror of all the islands. One of his main rivals at that time in his wars to consolidate all of the Big Island was High Chief Keoua (who might have been his biological father). When construction was finished the heiau needed a dedication ceremony. Kamehameha invited Keoua to the ceremony. When Keoua and his highest ranking subchiefs peacefully approached the beach in their canoes, Kamehameha ordered his warriors to kill them all, and then placed their bodies on the altar as part of the dedication ceremony. Such an important heiau needed an equally important group of humans to be sacrificed.
I believe there was a missionary who wrote down his personal witnessing of a human sacrifice being placed in the hole for a corner post during the construction or dedication of Hulihee Palace (1838, long after the old religion had supposedly been abolished).
So the idea is the same whether you're cultivating flowers, vegetables, or even a household -- to help them thrive you should bury a plant, animal, or human in the same place, accompanied by a prayer of thanksgiving and request for prosperity.
June 4th, 2012 at 4:14 pm
Diane, when doing the water changes, you try to approximate the water temperature of the existing water the fish is in. Then, just to be sure, you leave the water to sit for an hour, next to the fish, so it reaches the same temperature as the existing water. Then, you move the fish into the clean water of the same temperature, pour out the old water onto the plant, and re-fill the container with the pre-prepared same temperature new water and the fish. If the containers are different sizes, like mine are, then re-fill the original and wait until it reaches the same temperature, then add the fish and the water from the interim container.
If you are confident that you can tell the water temperature accurately, then, you can do without the waiting, and just run the water until it reaches the same temperature as the existing water, and do the same routine without the wait. I once made the mistake of not letting the water run long enough to stabilize and it got warmer as I was doing my procedure and it killed my fish. I was so sad.
Best wishes!