Hi, I'm just a college student who has a betta fish to ease the loneliness of being socially awkward. XD I love talking about my darling Rain to my friends but I think I bore them with all my talking, so I'll make a journal to worship my Rain/record his changes.
So I just came back to my dorm after being on vacation for 3 weeks. Yesterday morning I cupped Rain after I fed him, wrapped the cup with a towel, and put him in a cardboard box. I also filled a water bottle with some of his tank water in case anything happened (like water leaking out of the cup). It was a long and bumpy 6hr train/bus ride back to my dorm.
Got him back to my dorm in one piece. He was really listless and his fins were somewhat clamped. I quickly worked to get his tank all set up. I found that the pH of the water here is a whopping 8.2, as opposed to a 7.6 back at home. I slowly acclimated him to the new water and set him loose. He dropped like a stone to the bottom of the tank. But after a while he swam around, and I found that the filter made him uncomfortable even after stuffing aquarium sponge into the intake and baffling it with aquarium sponge so I turned it off. Sometimes he would swim, and stop, as though frozan. He still ate, but was really cautious of me (probably because he associated food with cupping and an uncomfortable ride in a cup). He kept hiding from me and stayed at the bottom. Fortunately, my shipment of IAL came in the mail, so I put a leaf in the water (hopefully it'll make Rain more comfortable and also lower the pH).
Today he's a bit more active, and is still eating, which is a good sign. He now seems to be scared of my hands (I lost his trust T^T). I went to Petco to get a 6500K light bulb. Replaced my current one with the new one hoping that Rain would like it, but instead he keeps hiding and seems lethargic, but the second I turn it off he's all active and swimming, so I think I'll keep the light off until he gets used to his new surroundings/water before I try to get him used to the new light.
So I just came back to my dorm after being on vacation for 3 weeks. Yesterday morning I cupped Rain after I fed him, wrapped the cup with a towel, and put him in a cardboard box. I also filled a water bottle with some of his tank water in case anything happened (like water leaking out of the cup). It was a long and bumpy 6hr train/bus ride back to my dorm.
Got him back to my dorm in one piece. He was really listless and his fins were somewhat clamped. I quickly worked to get his tank all set up. I found that the pH of the water here is a whopping 8.2, as opposed to a 7.6 back at home. I slowly acclimated him to the new water and set him loose. He dropped like a stone to the bottom of the tank. But after a while he swam around, and I found that the filter made him uncomfortable even after stuffing aquarium sponge into the intake and baffling it with aquarium sponge so I turned it off. Sometimes he would swim, and stop, as though frozan. He still ate, but was really cautious of me (probably because he associated food with cupping and an uncomfortable ride in a cup). He kept hiding from me and stayed at the bottom. Fortunately, my shipment of IAL came in the mail, so I put a leaf in the water (hopefully it'll make Rain more comfortable and also lower the pH).
Today he's a bit more active, and is still eating, which is a good sign. He now seems to be scared of my hands (I lost his trust T^T). I went to Petco to get a 6500K light bulb. Replaced my current one with the new one hoping that Rain would like it, but instead he keeps hiding and seems lethargic, but the second I turn it off he's all active and swimming, so I think I'll keep the light off until he gets used to his new surroundings/water before I try to get him used to the new light.