This is a tail tale of a fish! See what I did there? Okay, this really isn’t about a fish tail, but it is a story! We have had fish in the past, a lot of fish. In fact, we had a very large, beautiful fish tank full of gorgeous fish that were blues, yellows, reds, etc… However, my daughter really didn’t show a great deal of interest; she was much younger then. Recently, we welcomed a new member to our family, a Betta fish, named Princess Cherry.
Princess Cherry is a very beautiful, pink and purple Betta fish. Boy is HE gorgeous. Yes, I said HE because all Bettas are male; however, my daughter believes that our Princess is a girl and who am I to stomp on the hopes, dreams, and creativity of a 4 year old? Our daughter was so very excited to get a fish. She has a puppy but, “Please, please, please mommy and daddy, I’ll feed her … pppplllleeeaaassseee!” Who could say no to that kind of cuteness topped off with a gorgeous smile and a bat of her eyelashes? Yeah, she totally knows how to work us! Any ways, as soon as we brought Princess Cherry home from the pet store, our little one couldn’t wait to have a hand in helping us get the tank ready to go.
As a National Geographic Kids Insider (how cool is that!), we received everything that was needed to create the perfect oasis for our new pet thanks to NatGeo’s new line of specialty pet supplies at PetSmart. Even better, right now, all National Geographic pet supplies are ON SALE at PetSmart. PLUS, there is a printable PetSmart coupon for 20% OFF any National Geographic Purchase! WIN! WIN! WIN! This coupon is valid through September 30, 2014 but I’m not certain when the sale ends. Hurry, grab your car keys, and get shoppin!
Now, I want to make note that the National Geographic Aqua Oasis Betta Aquarium that we received contained an Egyptian face as background decoration. I also want to make note that we removed it almost immediately. Why you ask? Well, Princesses don’t need Egyptian anything, what they are looking for is a beautiful castle! We splurged and bought a castle; let’s not discuss how much I cost! We love the tank. It is made of plastic and was so easy to setup that my 4 year old put almost everything together herself. The bag of gravel that we received was a little too heavy and to be perfectly honest, mommy didn’t want to clean it all up off the floor so daddy stepped in and flexed some strong muscles. 😉 We also received a red faux plant which creates the perfect backdrop for our beautiful castle. Princess Cherry spends a lot of time swimming about between the plants branches and in and out of her castle.
Since the Betta Aquarium is designed for one Betta it is on the smaller side which makes it easy to clean. As a busy momma, I LOVE this! We simply add water, a little tablet that takes care of conditioning the water so it is safe for our Princess and we are good to go. There is also an optional light that you can get for the tank. We plan on purchasing the light and moving Princess Cherry to a more permanent location but for the time being she enjoys basking in the sun on a counter near a window. We want to make sure the Princess is as comfortable as possible! In an effort to protect the fishy from a rambunctious toddler and puppy we plan on keeping he(r) up higher which limits our options but the size and shape of the tank makes this need easy to accommodate as it doesn’t take up a great deal of space.
Remember, when adopting a Betta, they don’t play with others so only get ONE! Bettas come in a variety of colors and there is an assortment of different styles of fins. This is the perfect, low maintenance fish to give your child as a first time pet or even to purchase for yourself if you want to ease yourself into being a pet parent. Bettas are much cleaner than your average Goldfish and even prettier to look at!
Just keep swimming…swimming…swimming… (Sorry, I couldn’t help myself!)
BUT WAIT … there is more!
Right now, National Geographic Kids is holding a Funniest Pet Contest. Do you want to make YOUR pet a rock star? Simply click HERE!
Disclosure: I am a National Geographic Kids Insider and received free product to facilitate this review. Regardless, all opinions expressed are 100% my own.
