r.i.p.

well, many of you might have seen my recent status comments on fb about fishie, sushi, ebi and jack the ripper.
those were the names of my beloved pets. my betta(siamese fighting fish).
let me start off by saying that i know a few of you probably think i'm nuts to be mourning the death of fish, but growning up i was not allowed pets and quite frankly, i hate cats and am scared to some degree of dogs, so when i was 16 i got my very first pet. a betta. his name was blue wednesday and i loved him so. on and off for my entire adult life i have kept bettas. this is the most i've had at once. i live in an apartment complex that forbids pets but will allow small fish in small containers. you aren't allowed to have a tank with filters and heaters, ect. last year for d's 3rd birthday i got him fishie(i know it's spelled fishy) and then last may i got sushi, in february i bought my very favorite betta ever, ebi. let me tell you, this sweet little female would let me pet her! yes, i said pet. i took the best care of my fish, with twice weekly water changes with distilled bottled water, special food and when i went out of town i used to fret over who would care for my "babies".
now, let me tell you of the tragedy that happened four days ago...
i was busy with house stuff and daylee was supposed to be playing, well, i come out to the living room and i see that in fishie's bowl there is not just fishie, but jack the ripper and sushi. anyone who knows anything about bettas knows you cannot keep males in the same tank. they fight to the death, and adding a female makes it even worse because they want to mate. ugh. *side note* bettas don't actually mate, but the females lay the eggs and the male deposits his sperm and then you remove the female and the male cares for the frys until you can remove them as well.
so anyways,
i am shocked. immediately i go to ebi's tank and she isn't there and i fear the worse knowing she isn't with the others. i walk into the kitchen and i see her on a kitchen towel, i have no idea how long she's been there and she is out of water.... dead, obviously. i break down and cry and call b freaking out and after i calm down i go in and get jack and sushi from fishie's tank, figuring there isn't a damn thing i can do for ebi at that point. i stick ebi in her water and what i see amazes me. she starts swimming! thank you, Jesus!!! i go to a specialty fish shop here in town and get medicine for jack and anti- stress solution for the others. jack the ripper had most of his fins ripped off by daylee as he attempted to put them in the same tank to play and ebi seemed to have jumped form his hand and he forgot about her. it was such a fiasco. i was frantic to try and save my beloved animals.
after many talks with fish experts it was waiting, hoping, praying and doing my duty to keep their water clean, feed them and stay away til they recovered.
well, sadly, yesterday ebi passed on first, then jack and now today sushi has passed, too. i don't think fishie will make it. i'm hoping but i don't want him to suffer any longer. it would be selfish of me. i hope he goes and quits suffering.
some people may thing bettas can't feel, or they
're dumb, but it's the opposite. bettas know their person, they have personalities and they are so wonderful.
so, i'm mourning my losses, but i won't quit adopting my favorite pet. i actually got two more females yesterday. one is black and yellow and her name is itty bitty and the other female is rust/red and black and her name is lucy. they remind me ebi. they have let me pet them, they are so curious and sweet. i just hope that nothing happens to them like what happened to the others. i know daylee didn't mean to do it but it still broke my heart and now he definitely knows fish are for looking at and we do not touch them or put them in other tanks that aren't theirs.