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26K views 197 replies 9 participants last post by  sabrinah  
#1 · (Edited)
Hello!:mrgreen: I'm hoping to use this journal as a learning tool and as a way to meet and learn from everyone here!

The First: Shorty Fin
I've told this story on this forum before: When I started working at the pet store, I found this little guy at the back, floating on his side. Our sick betta fish shelf was somewhere out of sight and easily forgotten. (Thankfully, now the shelf has been moved and in a place you can't miss.) His fins were short and that was why he was in the back. And you can guess why my sister and I got the idea for his name!

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For a few months, I watched him go from lifeless to active. I like to think it had to do with the fact that the shelf was moved and so my coworkers were better reminded that there are some sick bettas that need our attention!

In February 2016, I bought him home!

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I made a big mistake with this tank though; I washed it with bathroom cleaner thinking it was bleach... It used to house my sister's neon tetras before they passed and they died all suddenly. Probably from some bacteria or another so I really wanted to make sure nothing was left. Fortunately, Shorty Fin seems to be fine in the tank. I've made sure to look at the labels more carefully whenever I'm using cleaners. :checkedout:

Here's a video of my cat, Ming, meeting Shorty Fin. (Anyone know how to embed videos?)

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Here's his tank today:
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I took out the filter today in favour of his new light. I'm looking into getting either a sponge filter or the Aquatop IF-202 filter that members have suggested to me.

But I'm wondering if he'll be fine in a tank without a filter... Then again, these filters aren't too pricey and it's better with them anyway!

He's been having some fin nipping issues so I'm hoping the extra plants will help him. Before the last photo, I only had the java fern and a water lily. I added hornwort and swapped the water lily with an echinodorus ozelot. Hoping the light does better for the plants. I'll be needing to get some root tabs too this weekend for the ozelot.

Shorty's got spunk. He will flare and show himself off when you walk up the tank. He also liked to go in and out of the java moss I used to have it in his tank. Unfortunately for him, I gave the java moss to my guppy fry. When the guppies are grown up, he'll get his beloved moss back!

The Second: Betty White
The only reason why I even bought Shorty home was because I found Betty White while I was doing betta water changes at work. She was so beautiful and I HAD to have her! And I thought, what the hay, I'll also get Shorty!

One of my coworkers said it was okay to have her with Shorty in one tank and I was a little iffy about that... For a few days, I left her in her cup (did daily water changes, of course) while I was debating how to house her.

Seeing as I only had one tank, I thought I'll have to take her back. So I drove back to work that weekend on my day off with Betty. Walked through the store with her, while internally debating whether or not I should bring her back.

But how could I do that to Betty?? How could I bring her home, only to abandon her a few days later?? I couldn't do that!

So I bought a 1.5G tank. LOL!

I thought my mother would kill me but, surprisingly, she didn't have an opinion and was fine with an extra tank in the home.

This was the same time I found bettafish.com and learned A LOT. For example: a 1.5G tank is not the best for a betta. I also learned that she was NOT being poisoned by ammonia or chlorine, but that she was marbling.

Here what she used to look like in her 1.5G:
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Eventually, I set up my old 17G tank in March. Again, my mother did not kill me. Instead, she encouraged me and helped me figure out where to put the big thing. We bought a new drawer just for it! :blueyay:

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(There are guppies and schools of neons and rummy noses. I might talk about them later in this journal... especially those guppies >_>)

And this is what she looks like today:
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Not so White anymore but still a great Betty!

Betty's favourite past time is swimming through the obstacle course that is the back of her tank. Around the top of the driftwood, through the java fern, under the Indian almond leaf and all the up to the end of the tank. She knows to wait patiently while the guppies fight for food so I can give her her betta food.

I also think she's been in a few fights with one of the guppies because she's the silent Queen of the tank. I've seen her show one of the guppies who's boss. No fatalities or injuries that time. But a few weeks ago, I saw that one of the guppies who is known in my house as "Butters the Bully", had a chunk of her tail ripped off. The guppies are a story for another post...


The Third: Ryan Gosling (SIP)
Again, this story was told on this forum before!

Ryan Gosling, named by my manager, was a fish returned by a customer who was breeding bettas. We're not sure how this customer is breeding them but he'd come every week, buy a bunch of bettas, and return the dead or the beat up ones. Eventually, our manager banned him from buying bettas.

Ryan Gosling was the last one the customer returned and the worst.

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I felt so bad. I put his cup where we bag our fish so I could look at him my whole shift. At the end of the shift, I decided to bring him home and my manager let me have him for free. This was at the end of April.

He didn't eat for a few days and at one point, was floating on his side. I got great advice from forum members. Gave him IAL, Stress Guard and frozen blood worms.

I thought he would die... but a day after my birthday, he was swimming around and eating like a boss! And two weeks later...

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He was so beautiful and my whole family couldn't wait until he grew out his fins. He would still freak out every water change but other wise, he would do wiggles whenever you came over to his tank.

I purchased a Fluval Spec V for him and he was even happier in that tank, swimming through the java fern and under the driftwood.

I decided to switch him to pellet food. And unfortunately, I think that's what took him. He looked very bloated and was hiding under his driftwood. He died last week and it was too late for me to do anything.

We buried him in our backyard.

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Funny thing: when he passed, my sister texted her friend, "Ryan Gosling died!!" and her friend FREAKED out, thinking it was the actual actor who died. :jester: Oh boy...

I learned a lot from Ryan and he taught me not to ever give up, even if things look really bad.


The Fourth: Hope
I got Hope a week before Ryan died. My mom named him because my family is going through some unfortunate events and said we need to have hope that things will turn out well for us.

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We received Hope with his fins like that but despite his appearance, he is very active and in my mind, a very polite betta. I can't explain it, but he's just polite. Haha!

I'm still learning more about him and he's living in Ryan Gosling's tank and seems to enjoy it very much.

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(Also, I don't think my driftwood is EVER going to water log... sigh)

Again, my manager let me bring him home for free. Otherwise, he'd probably die at the store since no one would want him.

Members have suggested he has fin melt and for me to use aquarium salt to treat it. I haven't started this yet as I haven't had time to go get a small 1G tank for him. I had also planned to start his treatment today... but something happened which will be explained later.

Otherwise, he's very active. Eats well. Swims well. And is full of Hope!


The Fifth: Aquaman
I bought Aquaman a week ago. And my mom, this time, scolded me. But then she saw him...

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I had already put away my 2.5G for the second time (first time was after Ryan went to his Spec tank and the second time was when I got Hope and put him in the Spec). So my mom wasn't happy but how could you say no to this beauty?????

I wanted to name him Ocean and my youngest sister wanted to name him Aquamarine. We reminde her that Aquamarine is a girl's name. So my youngest suggested Aquaman and we laughed so hard about it, the name stuck.

Now I have 4 tanks and although my mom wasn't as enthusiastic as the first time, I think the living room looks much better! HAha!!

Well, on Friday, I ordered the Marineland Contour 3G (as suggested by Autumncrossing) and it arrived today on Monday... only it was broken!! I even sliced my middle finger on it while I was excitedly opening the box. (And that's why Hope isn't getting his treatment yet since the 2.5G is still in use.)

I was disappointed :( I was so excited to set up Aquaman's tank. I bought all his plants and decor already and was ready to go! Plus, it was my day off. With all that disappointment and free time, I decided to do an early water change on all my other tanks... lol

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(But at least Ming is happy with his new Amazon box >_>)

The awesome thing about Amazon is their return policy. I quickly sent them a return/replacement request and in a few hours I got a response. I thought I'd have to mail back the broken one but Amazon said I won't have to and I can keep it/dispose of it myself. Woot!!! Free filter cartilage and extra parts. They're mailing me a new one and should arrive on June 1.

*

Well, that's it for now! Maybe I'll write up about the guppies later. I'll definitely update once I set up Aquaman's tank.
 
#3 ·
Thank you :)

The shelter named him Ming and the name stuck! I used to think that I wouldn't want a Chinese/Asian sounding name for my pet or children (I'm Chinese) just to break the stereotype but oh well lol! It's easy for my parents to say and he responds to his name!
 
#4 ·
I got new betta food yesterday. The one that most fish keepers seem to recommend: Life Spectrum.

Unfortunately, Shorty spits it out. Aquaman ate one, tried to eat another and spat it out. Betty spat them out but she ate them yesterday?? Hope is the only one that keeps them in his mouth!

It has a pretty strong smell. I might try crushing the pellets next feeding. I ended up feeding them the Aqueon pellets since no one was eating!!

You try to give them the best, but they won't take it. Just like my cat! For a while he was really good with eating this brand of good food, Weruva, but it's expensive so I rotated those cans with other cans like Fancy Feast and now? He won't eat Weruva anymore unless it's tuna flavour! Argh! I guess once you taste McDonald's, you'll crave it over the healthier food options, especially if you're stubborn like my cat. Oh well. The best food is what your pet will eat and what you can afford.
 
#5 · (Edited)
The Non-Bettas

So I found out that a profile picture is different from your avatar on the forum. D'oh!

*

The Kingdom


I do think Betty rules this tank but I've never seen her in action. I view her as the silent Queen, tolerant of her subjects' antics and disciplines those who take it too far.

The one that takes its too far? Butters the yellow guppy. She's the last one in the video with the torn tail. I've never seen her bother Betty before but I see her chasing the other two females (Churro - blue and Fanny Pack - red) away.

One day, I came back from work to see that she had a chunk of her tail ripped off. Last week, I saw that the corner of her tail is gone too. And looking at Betty, I see a few rips on her anal fins and tail. I suspect those two fight once in a while.

I'm thinking of rehoming the guppies. Not sure where. Perhaps I might give them away or think about putting them in another tank... that I'll have to get... one day... Haha! I can just hear my parents screaming at me for taking over their home with large boxes of water and fish.

The guppies looked small at the store. And I've seen people with guppies and bettas, but mainly male guppies. So when I brought Fanny Pack home, I was surprised that she is relatively the same size as Betty. Betty chased her a little but then just left Fanny alone. So the next day, I bought Butters and Churro home too. I think they think they're the stars of the tank. :sarcastic:

I'm also guessing that Betty might be either mistaking the guppies as other female bettas or that Butters' tail is just too tantalizing. That's the main reason why I want the guppies out eventually.

I have 8 rummy noses that I bought last week. I bought 5 at first. 1 fell out of the tank while I was acclimating and Ming, with his panther reflexes, caught the poor thing with his paw. Needless to say, the rummy nose died.

Then I went to work, came home, and found another rummy dead. Not sure what happened. Maybe someone killed it. It's head was missing...

Two days later, I got 5 more rummys and they're fine now. One of the rummys has a part of its tail missing because, again, someone wanted a snack... but it seems fine. It's got a little belly now. They ALL have bellies now.. I wonder if I should cut back on their food.

I also have 5 cardinals from the very beginning. First fish I got for the tank besides Betty. One of the larger ones chases the smaller ones. Otherwise, they're cool.

Today was bloodworm day and they fought for those goodies! Here's a really bad quality video of my snapchats.


I'm pretty much at my limit. I was thinking of getting otos or cory catfish but they need to be in schools of at least 6. And my tank would DIE. Maybe an assassin snail as the clean up crew but I'd have to research to see what their bioload is like.

Personal opinion: When customers come and ask for algae eaters, I'm quick to remind them that they can get huge and aggressive. Unfortunately I've had plenty of customers refuse my advice, especially people with goldfish. This might be harsh to say, but it's not that hard to just use a sponge and clean the tank... Or if you need a clean up crew, do your research or at least have a big enough tank.

But I understand fish keeping is hard if you do it correctly. And people, and myself included, have made choices based on our own wants and desires that turn out to be not-so-good choices and could potentially have been avoided. For example...



The Fry
So, since I have female guppies and only female guppies, and since I only went on one website that said female guppies are less territorial... I thought, hey, I can avoid the inevitable multiplication of guppies!

Nope.

A few weeks later, I found a little guy floating in the salvinia. I was like, what the heck??? How did you get in there??? The next week, I kept finding one every day. I had 8 fry in the end in a hatchery box. And they kept escaping!

I also found out that breeding boxes aren't good for the growth of fry... so I went to buy another heater and a sponge filter cartilage and filled a 5G bucket with water. And that's where my babies are for now.

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(@SimplyXt;, here's my bucket of fry!)

I can only find 5 of them so I think 3 died or are really good at hiding. I do a water change every 2 days. Sometimes I'm lazy and don't clean the bottom of their tank so that's why its a mess. XD

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I can bring the babies to where I work once they get older so that's my plan. Might keep one or two but seeing how I kind of want to rehome the female guppies, I might not keep any.

*

Anyone think it's a problem that Betty likes to swim at the back of the tank. Would you call it glass surfing? She does this regularly. In the beginning, she would flare at the filter/her reflection. She doesn't anymore.

*

Still waiting for Aquaman's tank. It's 1:44 PM and UPS says my package has been out on delivery since 6 AM.

Receiving packages stresses me out. Not the grave kind of stress, just a bit of a bother because I don't want the UPS guy to see me in my PJs! So I changed into presentable clothes which is not my preferred attire at home (#firstworldproblems). The waiting also kills. Is that the door bell? Nope. My imagination. Is that the gate? Nope. Just some cars zooming by. UPS also sometimes likes to play ding dong ditch without ditching the parcel so if I'm not fast enough, they take the parcel back and I have to wait and travel to the post office for it. Argh!!

So here I am... sitting at the kitchen table with my presentable clothes on and feet ready to run to the door so I can catch the lightning fast UPS guy and get my precious goods!

*

Here's some Ming pics because I love him and I want everyone to love him too. AHha!!

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#6 ·
Ugh, I timed-out so this is my second time writing this post.

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No luck with the NLS food aside from with Hope who is flaring today! So that means something.

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I got a new dragon decoration from PetSmart today. Everything was on sale for 15% off which is awesome. It's a bit scary but it fits Shorty's personality quite well.

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*

Aquaman's new tank came in and I finished setting it up last night! It wasn't cycled but I put Aquaman in there anyway. I decided it's better than being in the unfiltered 2.5G but I'll monitor him closely and test the water frequently.

And, if it's not obvious, the scape was inspired by @Autumncrossing. And I just realized the rock is being covered the IAL. D'oh!

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I will be attempting to grow a java moss carpet. Hope I can do it.

And here's a video of Aquaman in his new crib (and of Ming at the end).

 
#8 ·
Also, my bettas don't like New Life Spectrum much either. Don't know why! They ate it at first and sometimes I can get them to eat a few pellets if I sneak them in with their other food, but my male usually just ignores NLS and my female eats it, but spits it back out. They both like Omega One, so you could maybe try that if you haven't already!


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#9 ·
Thank you! And ohhh okay, I think I'll try the Omega One food. I also heard Hikari is good too, so I might get both eventually.

Hope has been flaring during feeding time so maybe the food is doing something to him? It's amusing though! I've never seen him flare until yesterday and wooooo, he's coming out of his shell.
 
#10 ·
It looks beautiful!! You did an awesome job [emoji4]. Is that a little dwarf hair grass i see at the bottom? What substrate did you use! Let me know how it grows in your tank!!! [emoji16] aquaman looks pretty happy!


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#11 ·
Thank you! I really would credit you though because you inspired the design and recommended such a great tank!

It's actually just java moss. I THOUGHT I got something that was like dwarf grass... I should have googled up the name before I decided to buy it. It was called Taxiphyllum barbieri and I thought, that's probably grass right? NOPE! Just java moss. Haha! I was in a rush and just grabbed it. But I'll be attempting to make it a carpet, or I might just stick it to my rock in the future.

I used eco complete substrate!
 
#14 ·
I found two baby guppies in my main tank...

/sigh

I'm just going to let them live in the tank and I'm hoping they don't make it, to be morbidly honest. I'm going to be overstocked!

But of course, if they make it, I'll be bringing them to work to sell. I'm really debating if I should just give all my guppies away and swap them for more tetras and otos.

Welp, that's a decision for another day!

Here's a pic of the fry hiding amongst the grass. It's hard to see but cookies to you if you can see it!

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#15 ·
It's been a rough week and half for Shorty. I don't think he does well without a filter and/or the hornwort wasn't the best plant for him. His fins have ripped quite a bit and he was very lethargic and scared of anything walking by his tank. He was hiding and clamped up and everything. I tried a couple of things:

  • Turned off the lights.
  • Took out the hornwort and threw it away. I didn't really like it anyway and it wasn't soft enough in my opinion.
  • Gave him a new IAL
  • Added StressGuard
  • Did small water changes every few days (I was busy/lazy to do it consistently and in retrospect, I believe that would've solved things faster).

In the end, I did a big 60%-ish water change yesterday. Added StressGuard and Prime. Today? He seems much better!

He even made a very tiny bubble nest. My other bettas do a great job of creating bubble nests but Shorty has always been very reserved about them. He's even been flaring at me like normal!

I want to turn on the lights eventually but I'll do that maybe a couple of days later. I also got some aquarium salt which I will ponder over whether or not to add.

Right now, he still hides and his fins look thin so he's got some ways to go before he's normal again.

I ordered the Aquatop IF-202 on Saturday and it's coming on June 20th or so. For now, I might put the Chi filter back on later today.

*

I got 6 otos for the main tank! They're so fun! And I think they've got guts because they swim RIGHT up to Betty and don't care at all. Betty just swerves around them.

The main problem is the other fish eating the veggie rounds and algae wafers that are for the otos so I have to hide the wafers but then, when I hide the wafers, the otos don't seem to see it? Oh well...

I got an extra Aquaclear 50 filter for the tank to help since I'm technically, extremely, overstocked HAHA!! Oh boy. I hope this doesn't bite me in the butt in the future.

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So cute!

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And here's Betty White with Betty White:

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#16 ·
Was catching up on a bunch of threads at 1AM lol and did some googling. I was always really weirded out that all my tanks have 0 nitrates. And reading a recent thread and google, I see that you have to ABUSE the nitrate #2 bottle to get real readings. I'm tempted to go downstairs and bang around the living room and test my water.

I might.. I might.. I might...

:D
 
#18 · (Edited)
I went to a pet store that I've never been to before. In retrospect, I think I should have recorded some footage! I know I love watching YouTube videos of people visiting fish stores. I might do that in the future.

I went to that store to take a look at their assassin snails. I'm thinking of getting one for Shorty in the future. I'm hoping that might curb his fin biting to have something moving and interesting in his tank. But the risk is he might kill the snail... Who knows lol. I have to do more research!

Unfortunately they had none at the moment and only apple snails.

But, of course, I didn't leave empty handed! I bought two relatively cheap tanks. One ~4.5G for $16.99 CAD and one ~6.3G for $19.99 CAD. They were just sitting on the floor in a corner and I was like, OOOOOO!!! And snagged them. Not sure what I'll do with them but Ming seems to think it's a good place to rest inside.

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Oh yeah, that's a McDonald's bag inside because I'm a pig. :D

It'll be a while before I set them up. I need to save up for the lights and filters and plants and etc. I'm also hoping to put them in my "new" room. My grandma is moving in with us and I'm giving my room to her and moving into the den upstairs. It's bigger and I get the 65" TV all to myself!!!!!! I also get to design the room.

My mom said no to tanks in my room, but what will she know if I close my door, right?? I'm such a bad daughter... Shame. Shame. *ding ding ding*

*

Shorty seems relatively normal! He's exploring his tank. Flaring. Made another small bubble nest. Although, he still floats up top sometimes but once I walk by, he starts swimming around at the front to get my attention.

Another water change is due tonight for him and I think I'm going to hold off on the AQ salt.
 
#22 ·
I wonder if you went to Niagara Falls or Montreal? I find most Americans from the east side will visit those places in East Canada. I hope to one day visit those places too and maybe retire on the east coast of Canada in all those little towns. I'm from the west and it's awesome, of course! My great aunt used to live on the east coast in St. John's and that's also where all my relatives stopped first when immigrating to Canada from Hong Kong and China. So it's kind of like the ~ancestral~ home of my family.

Oh man, I went to Disney World a couple of years ago and it was HOT!!! I imagine if you don't have AC, fish tanks might not need heaters! Haha! I miss Disney... :( so magical
 
#23 ·
Sad update: one of my rummy noses jumped or fell out of my main tank. My mom called me downstairs to take a look and I was so afraid it would be Betty that had jumped. It's best that it was the rummy noses because if a cardinal jumped, then their school would be smaller than 5 and that's no good.

An evil evil evil side of me thinks the best of the worst is if a guppy jumped.... *waves at everyone from hell*

I definitely need to find a tank cover solution!!!

*

Also, I need to find a way to feed the otos without the guppies eating the wafers. Argh! Maybe lights out is a good time to put down wafers.

*

Shorty's doing great! His bubble nest is so cute!

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#24 ·
I think it was near Niagara Falls but we didn't actually get to see it lol. We stayed at this nice little mom and pop place and went fishing early every morning and then cooked the catch of the day (usually perch), it was delicious! I love how cold it is up there, yep Disney world is hot as heck lol!! That's so awesome that your family moved over there, do you still do a lot of the old Chinese traditions or have you adapted to Canadian culture? If you didn't run the AC you would probably need a chiller here for your tanks lol!

Shorty's bubble nest is adorable [emoji4] what's that plant you've got there on top? It looks nice !


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#25 ·
Ah, that sounds like such a relaxing vacation. I love those kinds of trips!

My parents speak Cantonese to us and my sisters and I speak it brokenly haha. I'd say... Since my family is primarily from Hong Kong, we mirror it since Hong Kong is already essentially westernized. So we do celebrate Chinese New Year with dinner and red pockets. My mom makes rice every day and Chinese dishes. But sometimes she'll make spaghetti or steak and ribs. Still with rice on the side though haha!! We don't believe in many of the Chinese superstitions like how 8 is a really lucky number or that red is super lucky. I have Chinese friends who have houses full of red things and red walls and they make sure their car's license plates have 8 in them. And there are some values and beliefs that some people might say are "because we're Asian" or "that's so Asian". For example, there's lots of emphasis on respecting elders. And sometimes elders will speak to younger people in a harsh way but as a Chinese person, we understand its from a good place. I have a friend who was from a Chinese family that grew up in Canada YEARS ago and they're more westernized, so to speak. So when she dated our mutual friend whose family is really "Chinese" (for lack of better term), she felt a bit of culture shock and was offended by the way his relatives spoke to her and him. But when she told me what they said, my immediate reaction was, "but that's how all Chinese people talk!" You just have to suck it up or wave them off as elders being too nosy and wanting you to be good but saying it in ways that aren't really nice. Not the best and clearest example!

But I don't really have to stray far from my culture because in Vancouver, we have such a large community of Asian people: Japanese, Korean, Indian, etc. Lots of food and stores run by and dedicated to selling goods from each culture.

Those plants are called salvinia, I think. Or the cat's tongue plant. I swapped them in place of the duckweed I had before which was way more messy than fun for me.
 
#26 ·
Okay so I'm a real dumb dumb. I was doing WCs for Shorty and Aquaman. Then dosed ferts.

BUT I OVERDOSED THE FLOURISH! TWICE.

I usually have the dosage written on my phone and I usually check it to avoid this but I was thinking, "I remember! I'm smart!"

WRONG!

I DON'T remember. I am NOT smart.

*slinks onto the floor in defeat*

Hahaha anyway, Shorty is in a 5G. So that means about 1.5mL of Flourish. But I misremembered it as Betty's 17G tank which needs 2.5mL of Flourish. SO I DID THAT. I PUT 2.5mL of Flourish!!!!!!!!!

Of course, upon realizing my mistake 2 minutes after dosing, I did a water change. (After I dosed, I went to check my phone and decided, what the hey, I'll make sure I remembered right. Ugh.)

After that fiasco, I went to dose Aquaman's tank. He's in a 3G and needs like 0.8mL. But the dumb dumb that I am put 1.5mL IN HIS TANK.

SO I DID ANOTHER WATER CHANGE.

My goodness... Where is my head??

Hopefully there are no effects of overdose. I did a quick Google search and people suggested doing a water change immediately.

*

Shorty's tank water smelled funky when I was doing WCs. When I stick my nose into his tank, it smells fine. But when I do a gravel vac, it smells rank. And it's not the bucket. I'm thinking it was the hornwort needles left over. I remember now why I didn't like hornwort a few months ago, at least PetSmart's hornwort. It was stinky.

Hopefully a few more water changes will get rid of that smell. For now, I'll be googling to make sure that smell is safe for Shorty.


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#29 ·
sabrinah said:
Ming is adorable! How on earth did you pull off the harness? I tried putting my cat in a harness once and almost died!



Shorty in the dragon is just too cute!
Click to expand...

Ming in general is a cat I can do almost anything to LOL so all I did was put the harness on and watched him fall over like he was being weighed down. He wasn't used to it for a while but I'd put the harness on him for 5 minutes and increase until he got used to it. Then it came to actually letting him go outside and he would not even step out but I'd encourage him with treats or just plain carried him out until he realized the outside world is awesome.

Now when he sees me take out his leash and harness, he'll run to the door and allow me to put it on so he can go out.

My friend who has two cats is also trying to harness train her cats. But her cats are more feisty and pretty much struggled and growled the first time she attempted to put the harness on. So right now, she's just putting the harness, unattached, on top of their bodies and giving them treats. She was able to put the harness on fully without much struggle on one cat yesterday! Although, only for a minute or so until she started growling and thrashing her body. It seems much more difficult than it was with Ming XD

Keep trying though if it's something you wanna do with your cat! But be safe, of
course :)
 
#30 ·
I think my cat may be too old to learn a new trick! And there's no treats she likes enough to persuade her to wear a harness for any length of time. The last time I tried she attacked me and ran under the bed with the harness still partially on. She wouldn't come out for days and I had to move the mattress to get under there and take it off. I think I'll just stick to admiring Ming!
 
#32 ·
I gave away the guppies yesterday to my mom's friend. Good bye, Churro, Fanny Pack, and Butters!

I feel bad about giving them up/away, but at the same time, I feel like my tank is less stressful and more peaceful without them. It's bittersweet.

Even though I gave away "the guppies", I still have anywhere from 8-9 guppies growing. I've got the 5 in the bucket. And just last week, I found those two in the main tank. And two days ago, Churro gave birth (she was extremely fat at night and slimmed down magically in the morning. I can only assume it was her) and there are 2-3 new babies. I'm not sure how many since they're so good at hiding and never are out all at once.

I've got 3 generations of guppies! I'll probably sell them or something unless I fall in love with them.

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I really want ADFs. But I don't want a lot. I wonder if 3 is a good enough group. I've also read and seen around the Internet/social media of people keeping only one frog. I'd love to just have one too but I want to give them the best life I can.

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Shorty's filter came in a few days ago (Aquatop IF-202). I pointed the outtake bar downwards and that seems to not stir up too much current for him and he doesn't seem to mind it.

Although, I know too much light makes Shorty lethargic. So I only leave the light on for 6-8 hours, even less sometimes, just for the plants. Hoping the plants grow big and bushy so the light doesn't affect him too much in the future.

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ALSO!!!!! I found a snail in the main tank. At first, I thought it was a really well shaped poop but it moved! It's shell looked clear/translucent. Not really digging the snail thing... Especially since my tank is overstocked (if I do get frogs, it'll probably be after the guppies are gone... Unless I just can't wait... HAHA. That's so bad...). Hoping the snail doesn't multiply. You can stay, Mr. Snail, but none of that funny business!!!




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#33 ·
Right after work, I drove downtown to another LFS that sells really nice plants because I thought I would have to take in two bettas that my friend acquired from a wedding....

The bride and groom were giving out bettas as WEDDING FAVOURS. They had 400 guests and I have no idea how many bettas they would have gotten for their guests. My friend works for a wedding photography company and one of her coworkers came back with two bettas who she decided were best kept with me.

Unfortunately, one of the bettas jumped out of the small Starbucks cup my friend kept it in overnight. (See? How can you thrust upon people LIVING ANIMALS when they are unprepared??!??) The other one was fine and was in a big jar overnight. Water cold as ice, but laying on the bottom and alive.

I gave that one to another friend who is an experienced fish keeper and will take great care of that betta.

I'm sort of glad I don't have to take in a betta since I don't have the tank space at the moment. Plus, my family is preparing to move in my grandmother into my room and me out of mine. With her stuff moving in, I have to move Shorty and Hope up in my room eventually. It's just a mess even though we're not moving houses, but rearranging everything.

Sigh... I can't believe anyone would think giving out fish as wedding favours is a good idea. Plus, THEY WERE IN BAGS ALL NIGHT. I can't believe this. My god....


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#34 ·
Live fish. As wedding favors. Where do people come up with this stuff? Why would anyone think that could ever be a good idea? Properly caring for pets is a lot of work! My grandma used to have a habit of buying pets for people without asking. She bought my aunt a turtle once...my aunt still hasn't forgiven her for that even though she really did love the turtle. She loved him so much she bought the biggest tank they sell for him, then eventually took him to a proper sanctuary.

If you do end up having to take one of the poor bettas at least they'll have a wonderful life with you! I'm sure they'd appreciate a heated kritter keeper over the cold little cups and bags. If I wasn't going to be gone a month I would be more than happy to take one
 
#35 ·
It's a kind gesture but definitely not a smart one! I'm glad your aunt took as good care of the turtle as she could. Does she get to visit the sanctuary to see her turtle?

I was going to take one but that one died from jumping out of the cup :( The other one is probably doing great in his new home. I'll be asking my friend about the betta later today when I give him some IAL. But here's a photo of the tank while it was getting set up:

Image


You can sort of see him at the bottom of the jar. But yes, he's going to be just perfect in his new home!


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