I've never done anything like this before so I thought I'd give it a shot.
After my battle with depression finally coming to an end around November I started to want a pet of my own to take care of, I knew a cat was out of the question, so on January 22 I decided to look at what it took to care for a frog. Needless to say I decided very quickly a frog wasn't for me, and opted for a fish. Debating between a Betta or a Calico Shebunkin. Here comes Friday the 23, when my mom and I are out in town our very last stop was PetSmart, as I'm looking at the fish a very nice lady asks if she can help, I told her what I was looking for and she suggested a Betta. We walk past the shelf with Betta cups and she picks up one from the second or third row and says 'He's a real beauty, I have several at home, if I had the room I'd get this one.' When I saw that turquoise and red fish I knew he was the one. So she shows us all the tanks and stuff and I settle for a small 1 gal. (which would be replaced within a month with my 5 gal. as somefishy got big), a (pretty sad) blue plastic plant, a small blue castle, and some crushed shell substrate. I check out and (spending only a little over $50) take him home. The lady that checked me out told me to bring him back if he doesn't last for more than 2 weeks. (no pressure) When we get home (having no clue what the heck we were doing) we put the tank together and get him settled. After a few weeks of calling him Dangerous, the name just stuck.
This is what he looked like in his new home when we bought him;
Could you blame me for falling in love?!
The weeks following I do so much research on Betta disease, spawning, behavior, ect. I'm surprised my brain didn't pop! I ended up freaking out over some growing fins thinking it was rot, so I added Bettafix for a week (he reacts so well to it) and all was well. Until I realized that when I turned that sorry excuse for a filter on for 1 hour each night it would throw him around the tank (I felt SO bad) it would fling poo everywhere and he'd try to eat it (eww) needless to say that's about when I decided to go for the big tank. (and it was getting time for a water change, *one month later* I'm surprised my little guy made it through all my mistakes LOL, but that's probably why we have such a strong bond)
Somewhere around month 2 or shortly thereafter I decided I wanted another Betta. So we check out PetSmart and PetCo. and I find the sweetest EEHM! (I also saw a marble DT at PetCo that my mom liked, but I thought one of his gills looked a bit inflamed.) So I get a 1.7 hex tank for this little guy and some substrate and decor (that I bought at PetCo.) and take him home and get him settled. I named him Angel;
Now at a different PetSmart I had seen the most gorgeous peach VT that I wanted and should have gotten but oh well. The following Monday we went to PetSmart to look for the VT who wasn't there. On an Impulse I found Chili a super cute red VT and brought him home. I probably did it because I was prepared to bring the peach VT home but didn't find him, so I settled with Chili. Que a few days of regret (which has since faded)
I got Chili home and set him up in the temporary 1 gal. with every other day water changes. At the end of the week I have him in a heated filtered 5 gal. and he becomes very anxious and starts tail biting. ( this is also around the time I move Angel into his new 2.5, he loves it) So this Friday we're going to find Chili a smaller tank. Probably a 2.5, some red substrate to match him, and some decor to match his personality. Then I'll have a 5 gal. open! :twisted: With great planning and prep (and learning from my impulse buy mistake) I'm planning on getting a King!
Here's my sweet but feisty Chili;
(his poor tail is half that size now)
He was actually much happier in the 1 gal. He's even much calmer and mellow in his cup! :shock:
I hope you've enjoyed reading and I'll keep all of you updated on everything. :-D
After my battle with depression finally coming to an end around November I started to want a pet of my own to take care of, I knew a cat was out of the question, so on January 22 I decided to look at what it took to care for a frog. Needless to say I decided very quickly a frog wasn't for me, and opted for a fish. Debating between a Betta or a Calico Shebunkin. Here comes Friday the 23, when my mom and I are out in town our very last stop was PetSmart, as I'm looking at the fish a very nice lady asks if she can help, I told her what I was looking for and she suggested a Betta. We walk past the shelf with Betta cups and she picks up one from the second or third row and says 'He's a real beauty, I have several at home, if I had the room I'd get this one.' When I saw that turquoise and red fish I knew he was the one. So she shows us all the tanks and stuff and I settle for a small 1 gal. (which would be replaced within a month with my 5 gal. as somefishy got big), a (pretty sad) blue plastic plant, a small blue castle, and some crushed shell substrate. I check out and (spending only a little over $50) take him home. The lady that checked me out told me to bring him back if he doesn't last for more than 2 weeks. (no pressure) When we get home (having no clue what the heck we were doing) we put the tank together and get him settled. After a few weeks of calling him Dangerous, the name just stuck.
This is what he looked like in his new home when we bought him;
Could you blame me for falling in love?!
The weeks following I do so much research on Betta disease, spawning, behavior, ect. I'm surprised my brain didn't pop! I ended up freaking out over some growing fins thinking it was rot, so I added Bettafix for a week (he reacts so well to it) and all was well. Until I realized that when I turned that sorry excuse for a filter on for 1 hour each night it would throw him around the tank (I felt SO bad) it would fling poo everywhere and he'd try to eat it (eww) needless to say that's about when I decided to go for the big tank. (and it was getting time for a water change, *one month later* I'm surprised my little guy made it through all my mistakes LOL, but that's probably why we have such a strong bond)
Somewhere around month 2 or shortly thereafter I decided I wanted another Betta. So we check out PetSmart and PetCo. and I find the sweetest EEHM! (I also saw a marble DT at PetCo that my mom liked, but I thought one of his gills looked a bit inflamed.) So I get a 1.7 hex tank for this little guy and some substrate and decor (that I bought at PetCo.) and take him home and get him settled. I named him Angel;
Now at a different PetSmart I had seen the most gorgeous peach VT that I wanted and should have gotten but oh well. The following Monday we went to PetSmart to look for the VT who wasn't there. On an Impulse I found Chili a super cute red VT and brought him home. I probably did it because I was prepared to bring the peach VT home but didn't find him, so I settled with Chili. Que a few days of regret (which has since faded)
I got Chili home and set him up in the temporary 1 gal. with every other day water changes. At the end of the week I have him in a heated filtered 5 gal. and he becomes very anxious and starts tail biting. ( this is also around the time I move Angel into his new 2.5, he loves it) So this Friday we're going to find Chili a smaller tank. Probably a 2.5, some red substrate to match him, and some decor to match his personality. Then I'll have a 5 gal. open! :twisted: With great planning and prep (and learning from my impulse buy mistake) I'm planning on getting a King!
Here's my sweet but feisty Chili;
(his poor tail is half that size now)
He was actually much happier in the 1 gal. He's even much calmer and mellow in his cup! :shock:
I hope you've enjoyed reading and I'll keep all of you updated on everything. :-D