I have a betta living in a one and a half gallon happily. I cycled the bowl. That is I grew the good bacteria needed to make his waste nontoxic. Walmart sells these aquarium decorations made out of real clay. I put a pothos plant, the clay decoration which the bacteria seems to love, and a fake plant in the bowl.^You can add gravel to the bowl too. Then I started to add good bacteria. You can buy cycle. there is also stability by Seachem, and that is the one I used. I added this to the bowl and did daily small water changes to deal with the rising ammonia and nitrites. I bought walmarts 5 in one water testing kit and their ammonia testing kit and it took about 20 days for the bowl to cycle. Read on the internet about the fish cycle. You do not need a filter as long as your cycled and you keep up on little water changes.I change about two cups of water every other day, and I use a turkey baster to suck up the organic goo. Wish I had a camera I would put on the net what my set up looks like. It is very attractive and the plant is growing a lot because of the fish waste. Pothos trails down so it grows right out of the bowl. I was lucky to find a bowl from Big lots that had a wide surface area I paid about 9.99 for it. I have my attractive pothos plant sitting tall above the bowl and trailing down its side.I still have an open swimming area for the fish and at the bottom is his little house made out of clay. Summer water temps for him are 80 degrees and winter temps 70 degrees. Only had problems with him when I changed the water completely as they direct.Never clean out a tank or bowl completely only suck out the goo and a little water and add fresh. When was the last time you saw a pond that looked steralized. Fish like it a little mucky. After I took the time to cycle the bowl he has become very healthy. I do have to change the water 2 cups every other day. I would never have him in a vase there is not enough room for a fish . I believe if the bowl can not hold a house and plant with swimming room it is not good for the fish. I have clear water any particles that are in the water fall to the bottom qand clump together and my partial water changes take care of it. I feed my betta frozen blood worms which I slice off only what I need with a knife, betta pellets, and pea bites very important it keeps them from dying from food impaction in their internals. You still could have a buddy for your cube if you think this out and create a natural bowl. All you would need after cycling is water from the tap that is treated with say nova aqua plus or aqua safe, and good food. Also I do not treat my fish for little nicks and splits in the fins and every other little problem. Let their immunity system heal them. Aquarium salt is good for healing when they are sick and keeping those water changes going is the best method to prevent sickness. Often fish medicines only make them weaker and more sick and what you are treating for only comes back. I only keep aquarium salt and the liquid maracyn plus ( seven drops per gallon) antibiotic on hand nothing else. Look at Big Lots, places like that for unusual bowls. I have a cat that never touches any of my fish. They do not like water and I just have not had a problem. I have a ten gallon , a betta bowl, and an indoor open 125 gallon goldfish pond and no problems. Even the sound of the water frightens her away. Also if I catch her near I always shoo her away which shows her even more that these are no no places. Good Luck PS. if you buy a pothos plant( saw at Walmart) remove the stem with leaves and wash it really well under water then place in the bowl. It will take about two to three weeks to see roots sprout from the stem.

Yes it is a living hell. We do have paid help that comes in to stay with my father from 9-4 weekdays but after 4 and on weekends its me. I work full time and then go home to take care of dad, cook an evening meal, do laundry, clean kitchen, give him his evening meds and put him to bed. Plus I have horses, dogs, cats and a teenage daughter to take care of. It's like having a second job. Weekends, I'm stuck at home with Dad, maybe I can leave him for a few hours to do shopping, but that's it. I can't sleep in on weekends because I have to be down at Dad's house to get him up, give him his shower, meds, breakfast, etc. I hate being a caregiver. I hate changing his urine soaked diapers, I hate the constant smell of urine, I hate having to wash his urine soaked clothes and bedding. I hate giving him a shower and dressing him. Because he and my mother refused to do any advanced planning, a nursing home is out of the question. He has too much property to qualify for Medicaid and not enough money to do private pay for a nursing home. I have lived on property owned by my parents for the past 20+ years and have helped them all that time. They were supposed to deed the piece of land that I live on to me in return for the work that I did on the place but they didn't do it. Now its too late, Medicaid goes back 5 years. I was a fool to buy a mobile home and put it on that land without having a deed. I realize that now but I wanted to live in the country and I thought I could trust my parents. Hah! My mother is dead but I resent her and my dad. I have 2 siblings, a brother and sister, both younger. My brother lives with my dad but does very little to help with him. He will occasionally help put him to bed or get him up in the mornings but that is it. He has a girlfriend that he met on line and goes off on weekends to be with her. My sister lives 80 miles away and comes over a couple of times a month for a few hours and then leaves. She was supposed to come over for a long weekend a few weeks ago and look after dad while my daughter and I took a short vacation. What does she do? She takes him camping! So when I get back from my vacation I have a ton of dirty laundry and an exhausted 85 year old to deal with. The camping trip made his CHF worse and I have to deal with it. She went behind my back and got POA but she's never here to deal with anything. My dad owes taxes on the sale of his farm. I tried to work with his attorney and his accountant to get them paid. That was when sister got POA because I "was trying to take over". The taxes haven't been paid and interest and penalties are accruing. My sister does nothing but she's quick to criticize what I do. I am "mean" because I don't consult my early stage dementia father about every little thing. I make decisions and do what needs to be done. I don't have the time nor the energy to ask him if he wants to get rid of the soiled sofa. So yes, caregiving is a living hell. God help me, but when my father dies, I won't be sad. I'll be glad because I will have my life back and I will never have to see my b-word of a sister again.

Yes, because my daughter is 28 and has multiple developmental birth defects, I recently went back to college to get a degree in Human Services so I can level the playing field. After 28 years of doing what I do, I consider myself an expert on programs and entitlements at least in a couple states where we've lived. I have been through it all including widowhood and 2 marriages while raising my daughter. My goal is to keep her OUT of institutional living. I have fought all the way to the governor and won. There is no fortitude like a mothers! My daughter has her own home ( I designed it wheelchair accessible) and she qualified for every program under the sun. She has limited income, in-home caregivers and lots of technology to make this work. If there is any one out there who would like some advise I may be able to help. The whole thing is "equal not more" I have been working in this field for 28 years and I give away my input support and encouragement because I can. There are many of us out there raising adult disabled children.

Hi... i've posted my story on the stepfamily forum- am currently breaking up with BF after 13 months- came to realization that he is a controlling person. Just posting here to vent about his terrible gift giving. Some of this may be selfish of me: Birthday - his daughter's birthday was 2 weeks before mine. For her birthday, he told ex he would pay for the party ($300). Ex bought snacks for the kids (?$50)We went together to get her birthday presents- he picked out at least 5 or more outfits for her, wanted to make sure she had lots of gifts to open (his own words), spent $150? My birthday two weeks later: I got flowers sent to my work. Got home, he gave me a birthday card, handed me a small box & said "Sorry, I kinda ran out of money, but I wanted to make sure you had something to open". Inside the box was a decorative coin jar, the lid had a baker figurine, and the jar was titled "Extra Dough". I was very disappointed, but hid it. He explained that since cooking together was a thing that we liked to do together, he thought it would be cute. Then took me out to dinner at a really nice steakhouse (I don't eat meat except for seafood- which they had), and given his money comment, I was very budget conscious that night. I tried to let go of if, but it kept eating away at me so a few days later I brought it up that I felt he didn't place much importance on my birthday - compared it to how he basically spared no expense for his daughter (didn't ask ex to split cost), but then when it came to my birthday it was "sorry, i ran out of money". Wanted to make sure she had lots of presents to open, but got me a coin jar! He then told me I was wrong for making him feel bad about spending money on his daughter. He told me that he could have chosen not to take me out to an expensive dinner, and not to get me flowers. I just felt that he could have budgeted better - knowing he had two birthdays, he could have asked ex to split the party costs, but chose not to (another issue that always came up). 1st Anniversary - relationship was already on the rocks. The week before, I mentioned I was thinking of buying myself some jewelry (had some gift cards to use). He didn't want me to, said that he was thinking of doing something nice for our anniversary and buying me a necklace to match a ring that I have. I said he should do that if it's what he wants to do - me buying a necklace for myself would not be as meaningful as something from him, and that besides I hadn't bought anything with the gift cards yet, and might still choose to buy something else. I didn't have much enthusiasm when discussing the anniversary, but since he brought it up, after that i kept bringing it up - asking him what he would like - should we go out for dinner, cook a special meal, etc - he said we'll play it by ear & never made any definite plans although I kept bringing it up. Day of our anniversary, he said "happy anniversary" in the morning. We met up after work. I had my gifts and card laid out for him on the bed. He got me nothing. I was furious and hurt. Even afterwards, he didn't make it up by planning something for us, or even getting me a card or a gift. His reason - he didn't think I was very interested in celebrating b/c I didn't seem very excited about it so he didn't plan anything (true I wasn't all energetic & excited, but I did get him card & gift b/c I thought it was the right thing to do), and he didn't "want to be the jerk who shows up with a present" when the other person doesn't (so I was the jerk?), and that he never made it up afterwards because I made him feel so bad about it.