Alright for a few months I have been trying to keep fish in my little 3.5 gallon aquarium. To make a long story short, I chosed the wrong fish for the tank I had. After many fauilures, I decided it was time to try a more hardy fish.
So lets flash back to Sunday. I was planning to keep my previous fish as long as I could, when they all passed I would try a betta. So last week my oldest fish (4 months) gave up the ghost. He had been through Sandy power outage, and very poor water quality due to my amateur knowledge. I then did a very large water change, and added my water conditioner. I then went to my local, family owned fish store where I was buying all of my previous, yet unsuccessful, fish. At first I was going to walk out of the store with no betta as the cheapest we found was 13 bucks, and with my track record, I didn't want to lose that money quickly. The owner though spotted a cambodian show betta that he said he "got a good deal on" so I purchased him for 7 bucks. I got him home and acclimated him to my water. The rest of the night he was pretty slow going and was resting alot on the bottom as he had done at the shop. I didn't think much of it. Then yesterday I can home after work to check up on my fish to find him lifeless. Lets just say I was
.
As of right now my water sample of the tank water when I found him passed, and his body is sitting in our big fridge waiting for the store owners to get back from vacation. Hopefully my water was not at fault and I can get my money back. He should have lasted a big longer than 24 hours.
Let fast forward. Against my common sense my girlfriend talked me into going to Wally World aka. Walmart to purchase one of their bettas(some of you are probably crinching at the though). Most of the bettas, while alive, did not seem to have a lot of life left in them. Yet one, seemed very alive! Especially when I put my finger near his cup. His fins were also in great condition, and even showed signs of growth. So I pick him up, and brought him home. I was even more patient when acclimating him to the water(I spent about 3 hours). I then released him in my tank, he seemed to gleefully check out his new house.
I got home from work hoping all was well, and it was! I bought some freshwater salt and some new plants for the tank on my way home. He also ate for me a bit today for the first time.
The only issue I have had to far with him is that he is constantly flaring when the tank light is on due to seeing his reflection. After some research on this board this seems to be normal for a new betta. I'll have to track his progress and hopefully I can keep the light on when I am home from work.
Well that my story!
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