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My ever changing Veiltail

2K views 21 replies 12 participants last post by  mattoboy 
#1 ·
Blue moon lights


Day one. Grumpy face.
Had to buy him some PetCo (houseplants!) "aquatic" plants for him to sleep on until the real plants came in the mail.


A few days later. Changing color already...


Present Day






 
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#2 ·
Loving the tank! I'm a big fan of the Edge tanks! Your fish is gorgeous. I love how nice and rich his blue color is now. Looks like he's nice and happy with you! Good job
 
#4 ·
Haha, well I passed over the blues and picked him because he was turquoise. I got real excited when he turned teal, and then... oh, I guess he's blue.
Oh well, at least he's happy. He is a pretty blue.

I have a 12" Ecoxotic Stunner Strip (8000K white, 453nm blue) coming that will replace that big, temporary lightstrip. It's for my plants, but I can't wait to see his colors under it.
 
#9 · (Edited)
Thanks! I do love how happy he is now. I don't know if fish have emotions, but he truly seems grateful that he is where he is now. He started rushing to the front of the tank by the 2nd day.

I don't think I mentioned how I got him, so here goes! It's long. I'm warning you now. :)

I have been in and out of the hospital for the past two years dealing with nerve damage, and my latest and hopefully last surgery was January 2012. I was in the hospital for a long time, and it got really quiet and lonely during the night on the weekends when there were only two nurses (private hospital/nice) around. On the nurses station there was a Betta in a bowl and I would hobble out and watch him. He didn't do much because he was in what I'd guess was a 1/2 gallon vase (no plant on top). So, Kringle the Betta and I got to know each other because I was the patient there the longest. One of the nurses was in charge of him and cleaned his water and fed him. We talked about him some, and I got the itch to have fish again.

But, I didn't know anything about Bettas so I started reading and catching up on all the changes in the fish keeping world since last I had a tank.

About a week after I got home, my husband took me to PetCo to get a Betta.
My PetCo is "ok" as far as big box stores go. They have someone there who appears to like fish enough to keep the tanks and Betta cups clean. All the Bettas looked pretty good.

So then I couldn't decide which Betta to pick. I picked up a light turquoise Veiltail and then a royal blue one, then I put the blue one back, and my husband held the turquoise one while I picked up every Betta in the store to compare with the first fish. The last fish I picked up was a fancier Crowntail, and I put the turquoise Betta back on the shelf. Then I felt guilty. We had been holding the turquoise fish for several minutes by then and had apparently bonded with it. So the turquoise Veiltail came home with me.

He went absolutely gaga over his new digs. We put a few live plants in and he slept on the leaves at night. He downright snuggled with those plants. I felt bad removing his favorite, but it was Lucky Bamboo.

So that's how I got my Betta. Some of my salties had personality, but they weren't nearly as entertaining or as dog-like as this little Betta. I mean, he even let's me pet him. He also likes to flare at the chopstick I use to stir around his sandbed. He's awesome. :)

It's just so depressing to see how badly some people treat these cool little creatures. This forum is a great resource, and I wish more people would find it before they bought a Betta.

Our big, new 36 gallon just came, and I hope to move Chips into it after we get it all set up.
 
#11 ·
i loved your story :) your betta is beautiful! and ive noticed as well that mine has more personality than i ever imagined a fish could have. i went to a lot of stores before and after i bought mine and it really is sad how they dont even treat them like living creatures :( yours looks so sick in the first picture compared to the most recent one. hes lucky to have someone who cares about him :)
 
#14 ·
I love those rocks. The tank is really elegant! I like it a lot!

Do you keep it filled right to the top? Do you find your betta has a hard time finding where to come up for air? Or has he gotten the hang of it. I always like the "cube of water" idea that is this tank but wondered about how bettas would take to it.
 
#15 ·
I didn't fill it all the way up at first, but I inadvertently trained him to find the open area. I started adding more water and he was able to tell where the air space started and he always goes to the hole anyway when I feed him. Now, he knows if there's no airspace at the top to go to the center hole.
He's a little odd because he likes the current from the filter. If its on high output, he gets in it and blasts himself across the tank. If its on low, its not enough to push him, but now I notice he's started getting in the current and flaring like a sail. He gets the same effect and gets swooshed across the tank. He's a weird little dude.
 
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