There's a dark side to its beauty.

[Canon EOS 1300D, f/5.6, 1/100, 43mm, ISO800]

The blue Siamese fighting fish originated from Thailand and Cambodia. It usually grows to a maximum length of 6-7cm. They have been bred for years to produce the long colorful fins of deep blue and red. The males have the long fins and the females are less colorful with short fins. Vendors usually say this fish belongs to a class of an easy care level. -They don't even need water aeration.

I really like its color but only one male can be kept in a tank or they will fight to their death. Fighters occasionally nip the tails of other fish such as goldfish Guppies. -They're better left alone.

I initially put it in a glass jar but the curved, uneven glass distorts the image and makes it extremely hard to focus on the fish. I transferred it to my aquarium for a minute just to take photos. I was a bit anxious and I wondered what it would do with four Koi fish and five goldfish. Fortunately, they didn't actually fight but it appeared to threaten all the others. Brave fish!

Its dark head necessitated the use flash. -No amount of ambient light would make its face and eyes clearly visible. Without flash, I used multiple LED-lights around the jar but as you can see, the result was still unsatisfactory. - The photo above has already been through extreme adjustments in terms of clarity and brightness. What I thought would be a quick photoshoot actually took an hour!

Nevertheless, I took advantage of low light in this photo, so you can see the reflection under the surface of the water. I was a bit unprepared for a clean shot even with the tank since it hadn't been cleaned for almost a week and there were many specks of dust clinging to the glass inside. I had to edit the spots and manually remove them, prior to uploading.

Comparing it with other pictures online, I could tell that fishes of this kind are all look-alikes. -Many have exactly the same color and they're almost of the same size. Many others had to use flash as well to in their photos.

Nonetheless, its fins and tail really stand out so I don't think it needs another colorful companion. I'm planning to buy a glass divider for my 15-gallon tank though. That way, I will be able to keep all the fishes in one tank divided into two sections and I won't have to go through the trouble of keeping another smaller tank or jar for "The Fighter".

Proof of Fun and Authenticity

Please stay tuned for my everyday favorite photos and the lessons I learned behind the scenes.

Thanks for reading/viewing!

[Credits to the Author of Life]