Hi! Been lurking for a while and finally joined a few days ago. I have learned so much from this forum and I love being part of a community that cares so much about fish and animals.
Here's my story... So I'm new to bettas. I got my first betta, Jacques Cousteau, about a year ago. Sadly, he succumbed to dropsy after about six months. I think I did everything right.... I still blame myself though. Wish I had know about this forum back then.
Well, his 4 gal tank still had live plants in it, so I just kept it running, topping it off as needed but not adding due chlorinate or checking water parameters or anything like that. I planned to get another fish eventually. Well, I went away for a week and had a friend (who has fish herself) taking care of my bunny rabbit, Snow. She thought it would be nice to buy me a new betta and when I came home there was Posiden, a blue CT, in the tank! I was a little horrified as the water had not been conditioned and I had no idea what the parameters were, but he seemed fine. Sigh. Hopefully most of the chlorine had dissipated over time before he was put in there. I did take him out and recycled the tank so all is good now.
Well, over the next few months I made several trips to various pet stores to get supplies, and found myself leaving with a fish most times. I gather from this forum that I am not the only one who this happens to. Now I have 10.
Oh, have I mentioned I'm single and have no children? Lol.
Well here the are, I love each and every one of them. (I may not have all the colors right but this is what I think they are.) All tanks have heaters and thermometers. I do regular water changes on the uncylced ones. I am not doing any fish-in cycles.
Posiden (blue CT) The one my friend got me that started this downward spiral. 4 gal planted and cycled.
Phanumus (means "sun" in Thai, yellow VT) 4 gal cycled & planted
Dragon (red and blue HM) 5.5 gal fluval spec, cycled and planted, with two ghost shrimp
Lord Cinnabar (bronze and red rose tail) 5 gal cycled and planted
Zen (mustard gas? VT) uncycled 2.5 gal. The most un-Zen fish ever! Tail bites, tries to jump out (his tank does have a lid). I am working on a better home for him to see if it helps.
Ziggy Startdust (red and blue CT) just about to be moved to an 8 gal planted Fluval Ebi, as soon as I make sure it's fully cycled
Aurora (turquoise big ear) 5 gal cycled fluval chi
Gaer Braig (named by a forum member, elvish for "fierce copper", a copper doublet tail) 2 gal uncylced,was in a fluval chi but didn't like the slight current, so he will probably go into a ten gal planted that I am currently cycling.
Big sigh. Then I was going to stop, but of course I had to rescue two that were lying motionless in the bottom of their cups. It looks like SBD. They are both in small critter keepers with a low water level and plants to rest on. The KKs are half submerged in a larger tank without fish that has a heater, so that the water stays warm. Endymion is a cellophane double tail, and after two weeks he is swimming almost normally. Pegusus is a marble, I think, also a double tail. He's still struggling but doing better. Obviously they will be going into bigger tanks when they are better.
I am now going to only buy supplies online, or shop with a friend that will not enable me, or go to stores that do not sell bettas. I am out of surface areas on which to put tanks! Not to mention $ lol.
Well, this got long.... I also have two rottie mixes, Bonnie and Blossom, and a rabbit as I mentioned.
I had goldfish many years ago. They outgrew their tank so i dug them a pond, then they were rehomed to a huge beautiful koi pond when I moved to Alaska.
I'm American but I currently live in Alberta, Canada. Just sitting here on a Sunday afternoon with my puppies watching the snow fall!
Check out the eBook Betta Fish Care Made Easy
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