I've been fascinated for a long time by the Betta lover's affair with Siamese Fighting Fish. I've always thought, "Yeah, they're pretty, but so what?" What is it about the Betta, particularly Betta splendens, that ignites such devotion and spawns so many converts?

I can attest to certain motivations. They're fun to watch (mesmerizing). Their colors are often otherworldly. They live well in small tanks.

My yet-unnamed new short-tail Betta is midnight blue with dark tourquise highlights in his scales. He doesn't have the long, veil-like fins of the popular Betta, and I like that. I was after a Plakat Betta and couldn't find one, so I'm particularly pleased with this little guy. He's about 2.5 inches and seems healthy. I bought him from one of the little cramped Betta drawers at Justin's Ocean Aquarium. He was one of the few who exhibited some oomph.

Instead of a drawer, he's now got a 0.5-gallon tank all his own, with a small 7-watt incandescent bulb to help keep the water temperature closer to 80 degrees Farenheit, they way they like it.

Ady, Justin's wife, turned me on to the small Anubias barteri var. nana. She graciously tied it to a small piece of lava for me; all I had to do was settle it in the black-pebble substrate across the tiny divide from a couple of dark river rocks for contrast. The plant is very green and healthy. Even with fertilizer, I don't suspect it will do well in such a small, CO2-deprived environment, but that's OK. I don't mind swapping out plants every few weeks for such an otherwise low-maintenance tank.

As soon as I have pictures of [yet-unnamed Betta], I'll post them.