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majestic_storm's betta journal

6K views 75 replies 7 participants last post by  dramaqueen 
#1 · (Edited)
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.
 
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#27 · (Edited)
starting to marble again, bubblenest, etc...

Ok, so tonight marks day 2 of his Paraguard treatment. He seems to be taking the medication just fine. No signs of stress, healthy appetite, and most importantly NOT FLASHING.

On a different note, Rain's started to marble again! :D The blue's starting to recede again and the white area around his head is slowly moving towards his body. His blue fins have blotches of white now too! I've also noticed that his fins have little black dots on them (most apparent on his dorsal).


I also like to tell myself that his fins have grown since I first got him from Petco, but it might just be my imagination. But the most important thing is that his anal fin heals up!

He's build quite an impressive bubble nest under the IAL. I've never seen him build such a big one (but then again, there's me sticking my hand in there all the time replacing his decorations and messing his nests up, hahaha).

The picture doesn't do his bubblenest justice though. It spans behind the silk plant leaf that's in the front and is quite thick. Bravo, Rain, bravo. Unfortunately, due to his bubblenest being close to the back of the tank, he's gotten a bit more territorial and has been constantly flaring at his reflection. I know that too much flaring's bad for bettas, and plus, now's not the time for him to go strutting his stuff since his anal fin's mending, and too much flaring puts a lot off strain on his fins. Previously, his background was a paper bag, but I've replaced it with white printer paper so hopefully he won't flare as much. Although...he was STILL flaring after I replaced the background... *facepalm*

Oh, I also think that he's beefed up a bit since I first got him. I guess all the swimming around in a a nice large tank helped him gain some muscle. Plus, I also like to think that it's the NLS pellets doing its job :) Hey, I spent almost $10 on it (shipping included), I want to know that it was worth it, hahaha.
 
#30 ·
betta training, lols...

So I'm trying to get Rain to swim into his betta cup willingly when I do my water changes. And I gotta say, it's going easier than I expected it to be. I decided to try it last week when I put the cup right next to Rain and he curiously swam in it himself. I quickly gave him a NLS pellet as a reward and thought that it might really be possible. This week I did the same thing and he swam in it again, so I gave him a NLS pellet. Hopefully it goes well so I don't have to chase him around the tank all the time. I know that's stressful to him.

I remember the first time I cupped Rain. It was the day after I got him. I had to leave on a 5hr bus/train ride back home for the holidays and I was taking him with me (I know, getting a fish the day before was a stupid idea...but he was calling for me!). I got him in his new 5.5gal tank with a heater, and I'm pretty sure he didn't want to go back to when his home was a cup so when I was trying to cup him, he was swimming away from it like it was the plague. XD

On a side note, Rain's fins have more white on them. I can kind of see some yellow, too.
 
#31 · (Edited)
It's almost been two weeks since I started Rain's Paraguard treatment, planning on doing another week and a half to make sure that whatever's bothering him is gone. Rain's not showing any sign of stress, which is good. I haven't seen him flashing. However, when I did his 100 water change last week, there was around 5-6 hours when I didn't have paraguard in the tank since I dose him every night at 10:45, and I noticed that he made some darting movements, didn't see if it was against anything, but I assumed that something was still bothering him.

And I don't know if it's the IAL or what, but I've noticed that the sides of my tank has this thin slimy film on the surface, and it coats my terra cotta pot, my heater, and my IAL. I'm thinking it's either the IAL, or the double dose of stress coat since it contains aloe. I'm going to switch back to using Prime during my next water change that is this Friday.

Rain has once again built this large bubblenest underneath the new IAL, so it's not sinking. Plus, wherever he builds his nest, I notice that that area of the IAL is dry, so I'm assuming that not all of the IAL wonderfulness gets into the aquarium. Argh, part of me wants to submerge the leaf, but the other part of me doesn't want to ruin the nest that Rain worked so hard to build.

I had to redecorate the tank again, hahaha. Turns out that the bottom part of the Petsmart silk plant that I got could get rusty since there's a thin metal wire in there (refer to this thread:http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=127810). Since I haven't gotten my hands on any sandpaper yet, I snipped off the sharp edges of the plastic parts of the pennywort with a pair of scissors and then attempted to smooth it out a bit with a rough rock. Not satisfactory, but it will do for now. The sharp parts are much smoother than they used to be. Gotta make a trip to get sand paper this weekend. Hagen Marina, your silk plants are awesome, but please smooth out the plastic parts a bit. Sincerely, a loving betta keeper.

Rain now flares at my fingers, it's quite entertaining. Unfortunately, getting a picture of him flaring is still a task I have yet to accomplish. But here's the best one I could get:

It's blurry, but by the time I had time for the camera to focus, he stopped flaring. That little bugger just doesn't like to get his picture taken, hahaha.

Here are some more pictures of Rain.


You can't quite see it, but his anal fin still hasn't healed up yet (actually, you can see it in the second picture). But on the bright side, it hasn't gotten infected :D No fin rot!
 
#32 ·
Ok, so I saw Rain flash against the terra cotta pot, twice in a row. :-? But I guess it's a slight improvement since the flashing isn't as...how should I put it..."vigorous"? He used to flash against objects so hard I could hear this "click" noise as he rubs against the pot. Well....paraguard's supposed to get rid of parasites. I guess I should put my faith in it.
 
#33 ·
Yup, it was the stress coat+

After my water change yesterday with Prime, I checked my tank this morning, and don't see any stringy stuff on the IAL, the heater, or the terra cotta pot. I guess it was the stress coat+ that was causing it. Guess I'll stick to using Prime now since the aloe in the Stress-coat just bothers me to no end.

Got sandpaper yesterday and sanded down the sharp parts of my silk plants. I think I made it rougher...but it's not sharp. I hope that won't bother his fins. Worst comes to worst, I'll go to petco to get some more silk plants...

I think I'll get some Vita chem to help Rain regrow his fins. His fins look pretty tattered at the moment...the top lobe of his caudal kinda looks like a crowntail. Argh...my next betta will definitely be a plakat... =.=
 
#34 ·
I decided to do a 70% change today since Rain didn't really seem like himself after the water change yesterday. I was worried that there would be some plastic bits in the tank after the sand paper session, even though I rinsed the plants a few times before putting them back into the tank. After I did the change, Rain seemed to perk up a bit, so that's good.

I also replaced the IAL. This one is a bit...spoon-shaped? There's a dip near the center, so when I put it in the tank, it was like a hammock, and Rain was utterly delighted. He curiously swam on it, and swam off of it, and then swam on it again and just chilled there. Now I'm thinking about getting him a betta hammock or make one for him since he looked so darling on the IAL. I'm such a doting fish mom, hahaha...
 
#35 · (Edited)
I've temporarily stopped using Paraguard since I've noticed that Rain seemed a bit listless these past few days. Didn't treat him last night, and just let the Paraguard deactivate. He seems much more lively today. I'm pretty sure he still has gill flukes (I looked over at him just as he was flashing against the heater cord), so I think I'll try doing a 1hr paraguard dip/day instead starting Friday and doing 3-4 days of it.

And I'm definitely going to Petco this weekend to get some more silk plants. Hopefully, I'll find some nice ones with smooth plastic parts and also don't bring a betta home with me.

Ordered Vitachem, and it has just been shipped. I think I'll get it some time next week, hopefully monday, but tuesday at the latest. I have officially found my favorite site to order my fish supplies from. Petmountain. They sell pretty good stuff at really good prices. I just bought another Hydor THEO heater (50watt) from them cuz it was on sale at $13.99. How can you beat that? :D

I see that Rain now has a rather nice plump little belly. Not bloated, but "pleasantly plump". However, I'm going to decrease his NLS from 8 pellets a day to just 6.
 
#36 ·
2 months already!

Teehee! It's official: I've had Rain for two whole months! :D He's still chipper as ever (still flashing, sadly). Planning on going with the Paraguard dip tomorrow during his water change. My friend is also willing to give me a ride to Petco tomorrow, so I don't have to sit in a bus for over half and hour. I plan on getting some more silk plants. I'll need to carefully examine them to be sure they won't tear his fins. Hopefully my friend will be entertained in there while I go about being a betta nut. Oh gosh, oh gosh, please don't make me fall in love with another betta tomorrow! I just hate finding one that I adore and then having to take half an hour to convince myself not to buy him. While TECHNICALLY I can either divide the tank or just get another tank altogether (bought another heater a few days ago, hahaha), I don't think that my parents would be too thrilled about another fish, mostly because they think that they would become a distraction and I won't be able to study well.

Can't wait for Rain's Vita Chem to come in the mail. I really want to remove all the plastic plants to allow for his fins to heal, but I don't think he'll enjoy feeling so exposed.

But...I have another empty 5.5gal at home, so I might be able to convince my parents to let me bring it with me to college. Then I'll have 2 bettas, hahaha. I shouldn't get ahead of myself.
 
#37 ·
Paraguard dip

Ok, so I did the Paraguard dip today. Filled the bucket to the 1 gal mark, and then added the medication. I was planning on cupping Rain, setting him loose in the bucket, then cupping him again with the medicated water. But seeing him swimming around in the bucket convinced me to keep him in there for the hour and just put the heater in there to keep the temperature stable. I noticed that he started clamping up a bit during the last bit of the hour. After an hour I scooped him up and slowly got rid of the medicated water and replaced it with fresh water. He clearly wasn't too happy, since he started laying on his side. I was freaking out then. I thought that I was losing my baby. After the water change in the tank, I slowly got him used to the new water. He was perking up a bit, but he would still lay on his side from time to time. Set him loose in the tank, and he started flaring and strutting his stuff to my surprise. He then calmed down and stayed at the bottom of the tank for a while. Now he is back to normal. Considering the effects that Paraguard had on Rain in an hour, I hope that it killed the parasites.

On a side note, I removed all of the silk plants from his tank. All he has now is his pot and this betta plant and IAL. I want to sandpaper everything to be nice and smooth before putting it back in the tank. Plus, I want his fins to heal up before putting the plants back in (he seemed to be getting more tears each day, and the old tears weren't healing up as quickly as I hoped they would). Tracking on my Vita chem package shows that it's in my city, and will probably get delivered tomorrow. Since I don't get my packages on Saturdays, I'm pretty sure I'll get to pick up my Vita chem on Monday. Let's see if this Vita chem works...

Went to Petco today...to get silk plants. I have to say, Petco silk plants are alright. The plastic parts are really soft and the leaves seems sturdy enough. Hopefully they won't fray as quickly as the Petsmart silk plant (which I have thrown away). As usual, I saw a bunch of bettas that I wanted to take home with me...but just can't. :(
 
#38 ·
2nd day after Paraguard dip

Rain seems to have recovered from the ordeal. Never lost his appetite, and his color didn't fade at all, was just a bit listless after the treatment. So far, I haven't seen him flash against anything, so right now so I think that Paraguard did its thing. I recall someone saying that it's impossible to eradicate gill flukes completely, and is more about controlling it rather than eradicating it (but she has goldfish, which I believe have more gill flukes?).

Anyways, I sandpapered the silk plants. I have found that lightly rubbing against the sharp edges is much better than doing it roughly. Put 2 of the silk plants back in there since he seemed kind of bored in the empty tank. I see that he's been trying to get at his tail again...sigh...

And I realized that Monday's a holiday...so I won't be getting my vita chem til tuesday, hahaha...
 
#39 · (Edited)
Vitachem and picspam

Got my Vitachem today! :D I did my weekly 60-70% water change (and do another 100% on Fridays), getting ready to add my Vitachem! I have to say, Vitachem smells terrible! And the color's quite disgusting too. I still smell the stuff on my hands, but anything for your betta, right? XD Hopefully his tail and anal fin will heal more quickly. But honestly, I really don't know what to do about his tail. I'm pretty sure it isn't fin rot, seeing how I change the water frequently, so I'm pretty sure that it's a combination of tearing and tail biting. Sandpapered all of my silk plants, so hopefully he won't be tearing his fins anytime soon, but grah! That tailbiting!

I also got the temperature of the water back down to a nice 78-79F so I'm happy to say that the marimo is back in the tank! I love those balls of moss. They're so fluffy and cute. I hope that they grow to be nice and big :) Although one of them is already the size of a tennis ball when I bought it. I am quite addicted to moss balls, if I ever get that 5.5 at home set up, I'll definitely get more moss balls. Just look at this glorious and (almost) perfectly round specimen!


Oh, Rain just took the biggest dump as I was typing this entry. I saw Rain swimming towards me, and the next thing I saw was this HUGE brown lump falling down. I was like O_O and quickly got my turkey baster and removed it (I just changed the water, not going it let it get dirty already!).

Now here's a bunch of pictures of Rain. And he's definitely not piebald anymore, I kinda miss his white face, but oh wells, love him just the same :)
Most recent tank layout after the water change: The light green/ yellow plant on the left is one of the 3 that I got from Petco last week. Some of the leaves are pretty wide and flat, so no need for a betta hammock! So far, I'm pretty happy with it.

I just love shots where Rain's just looking at me.


You can see how bad the top lobe of his caudal is. He seriously looks half crowntail!
 
#40 ·
I am suspecting that Rain might have fin rot, so I'll give him AQ salt tomorrow. I was worried that something like this would happen since I don't have a filter, but I thought that doing 2 water changes a week (a 50% and a 100%) would be sufficient. But then again, I'm also suspecting that the water here contains ammonia, so my water changes would be futile in a way since it would always be in the tank. Well, we'll see how this plays out. Worst comes to worst, I'll need to buy a pantyhose for the intake, and Rain won't be as happy due to having to swim against a current and he'll have to suffer through a fish-in cycle.
 
#41 ·
So I added the AQ salt at 1.5 tsp/gal and also some stress coat. Might add another IAL on tuesday when I do his water change. Hopefully it'll do the trick.

So today I found out that I might be misreading the charts for my test kit. Since I do my water changes during the day, I've always read my results in the light that I get from my window. Unfortunately, it isn't direct light or anything like that, but rather light from the sky, so the light I get is a bit blue (if you know what I mean). Today I decided to test my tap water and tank water for ammonia since I was being paranoid and when I put the test tubes up against the light, it seemed to be 0.25ppm. However when I held it up to the white light of my desk lamp, the results show that it's 0ppm. Still debating about using my filter, but I feel a bit more relieved to know that my tap doesn't have ammonia in it. The only things keeping me from using my filter is a) the power of the intake b) cycling it with Rain in the tank and c) having to move back home in a few months and figuring out how to keep the BB alive for 5-10 hrs in a car.

On a side note, I decided to experiment with all the silk plants I have and try putting more plants in the tank. The silk plants I got from petco are pretty tall, so they bend and provide covering. They're doing the job that the the plastic bamboo was doing, and even more so. Rain likes to weave around all the plants, so I'm definitely sticking to this. My friend came in and told me that it "looked like a jungle", which I was kinda proud of since that was what I was going for.
 
#42 · (Edited)
Taking precautions...

I've noticed that the base of the marina silk plants are REALLY rough, and sandpapering them just seemed to make it worse. So instead I coated the base with a layer of, you guess it, aquarium silicone!

The base on the left is the before and the one on the right is the after. It turned out pretty well, so I'm going to do it to the rest of my marina plants (2 are currently in the tank, so I'll get to those next week).

Rain's tail doesn't seem to be getting worse, which is good. I hope it gets better soon. Today's day 2 of AQ salt.

Rain seems to be getting a lot of stimulation from all the silk plants in the tank. I just saw him make a dash towards the silk plant in on the right and curiously stare at the flower-like things. It was simply adorable!

And I have to say, I am REALLY satisfied with the quality of Petco's silk plants (the normal ones). Much more satisfied the Petsmart's at least. I remember that my petsmart silk plant started fraying after the 2nd water change. The plant on the left was washed pretty thoroughly this water change and I don't see any fraying.
 
#43 · (Edited)
So Rain's fin rot doesn't seem to be getting worse, which is good I guess. But I don't see much improvement. I'll continue the AQ salt for now, but I may or may not need to use Kanaplex. We'll see.

On a side note, I decided to go on aquabid today just to look around...bad idea. Now there's this gorgeous HMPK that I want to get. If he's still there tomorrow, and nobody's bidded on him yet, I'm seriously thinking about getting a 5 gal critter keeper and have him in that until summer comes. Then I can use that empty 5.5 back at home...but that would mean I would need to buy another bucket, gravel siphon, terra cotta pot, turkey baster and tupperware, thermometer, and moss balls (just because I love them so). I don't want contamination. Grah..Aquabid what did you do to meee?

But I somehow feel that I'll need to keep a close eye on my babies if I do get that other fish since I know a certain SOMEONE on my floor who thinks that it would be funny to put two bettas together and watch them fight. Now I don't know if he was joking to try to impress me or not (I was not amused) but that is my biggest worry: having people mess with my fish. I know my roommate isn't that kind of a person, but I'll just have to be extra careful since people can come into my room from my suitemates' room (we have a connecting bathroom).

Also, I think my roommate officially thinks that I'm a fish nut, seeing how she's witnessed me do 2 water changes in that past 2 days (want to keep the water as clean as can be). Talked to her about the possibility of getting another fish...she didn't say that she was against it. But then again, it's not her taking care of them :) She does know that bettas do fight and asked me if the other fish is a betta, which I was quite happy about.
 
#44 · (Edited)
Aquabid and Rain update

So Rain's tail still isn't getting worse. I'm going to be giving him his second dose of Kanaplex tomorrow (started using it on Wed when I noticed that AQ salt didn't seem to be working). Oh the little tyke, what a troublesome fella you are. I've done 4 water changes this week, hahaha. I enjoy doing it, but it's just a little disturbing that Rain's getting fin rot even though I try to keep the tank as clean as can be. And I don't know if the parasites are making a comeback or what, but I saw Rain flash twice against a silk plant a few days ago. *sigh* I'll deal with it after his fin rot problem is solved.

On a side note, I made my first Aquabid purchase! I can't believe it myself. I honestly wasn't planning on doing it. I usually go on Aquabid to snoop around, noting pretty bettas, my "dream betta(s)".They're usually Thailand bettas, so the transhipper thing is a real turn off so I'm sure I won't buy from them. Plus, I would always try to find fault in a fish, something that I didn't like about it so I wouldn't buy him. However, I decided to look at a US seller by the name of hopdiggity, and fell in love with her "white gold HMPK". His eyes had such spark (how I got that from a picture, I don't know), and the shape of his mouth was perfect to me. I kept thinking about him nonstop. Talked to my friends about it and stuff. Most of my friends were just worried about having him shipped to me. His auction ended last night at 2am, and I was losing sleep because I kept asking myself if I would regret it if I didn't get him. I assuring myself that if he wasn't bought and I saw him again, then it would be fate and I would get him. I also told myself that there will probably be other plakats like him in the future. Unfortunately, I didn't sleep well.

Saw him relisted today, and after talking to hopdiggity, I pressed the "buy it now" button. Going to pay her tomorrow, but I'm so excited! Here he is:

Going to have to make a petco run again to get everything set up, hahaha. I don't quite know where he'll be since I don't have much room, but I'll make space XD

Once I get this boyboy, my roommate will really think that I'm a fish-crazed lunatic XD
 
#47 ·
Well, my fish has arrived! :D I thought he wouldn't get to me until tomorrow since my dorm loads all of the packages in the morning, and since he wouldn't be here until the afternoon, I thought I wouldn't get him until Wednesday. But I guess they stock up the mail truck in the afternoon for the Express packages. The mail truck lady knows me by now because I've been buying SO much stuff online. She waved at me and just handed me the box. He looked pale white when I took him out of his box. I've acclimated him to the new water and he is now in the tank. I'm currently using a large critter keeper which only holds 3 gallons, but I've got an order of an x-large critter keeper coming to me in the mail that holds 5.9 gallons.

I've decided to name him Mufasa, since I LOVE the Lion King. He's really shy right now and hides a lot behind the decorations. But he did eat 3 NLS pellets, to me delight. He doesn't understand my hand signals yet, unlike Rain who knows them all and isn't afraid of me. I feel as though getting Mufasa after getting Rain has made me built a lot of expectations on Mufasa, like a mother who compares her kids. But I'll try not to do that. Mufasa is a bit scrawnier than Rain, but we'll change that soon enough, hahaha.

Mufasa is still half clamped, but he's swimming around and exploring his new home. It was so cute seeing him swim around the plant decorations. Here's the best picture I could get of him:

Hopefully, he'll color up a bit more, unclamps, and feels more comfortable with me in a few days.

On a side note, Mufasa has the 50 watt heater, and the temperature of the tank seems stable according to the thermometer. But I have yet to see the heater light turn on so I'm a bit worried.
 
#48 · (Edited)
update on Mufasa and Rain

Som I see that Rain's dorsal is started to tear too, which isn't good. I think that the decorations in the tank isn't helping with his healing. I've ordered some Seachem stressguard in order to help him heal up and stuff. Hopefully, Mufasa's 5.9gal comes in tomorrow (tracking said it would be here tomorrow), and I can move Mufasa to that and use the 3gal critter keeper as a hospital tank for Rain. There it would be much easier for me to do water changes, and there wouldn't be any decorations to agitate his fins.

My poor baby's beautiful fins T^T But I shall fix it, if it' the last thing I do!


Finally got a flare-ish picture of him, haha. He doesn't like the camera


Now onto Mufasa:
I have to say that at first I was a little bit disappointed. He didn't look QUITE like I thought he would look, especially his mouth. But I have to say, after having him for 2 days, he's really grown on me and I really love the guy to pieces. I can't wait to get him that bigger tank. He has no problems eating, even the same day I acclimated him to his new home (he was a bit reluctant, but he still ate). He seems to know my hand signal already (wave=come here). A quirk I found about him is that he enjoys looking at himself in the thermometer. Now I don't know if he thinks that he's seeing a female or not, but I saw him do the mating embrace with water while staring at the thermometer. He's so silly! It was so endearing watching him explore his surroundings. Just wait until I get you that terra cotta pot and moss ball, Mufasa XD. He looks a bit gold, but hopefully he'll look even lovelier with a light. :)

Oh, and I have to say, I love my roommate. I remember telling her that I bought Mufasa and she just took it in. When I told her that the curtains would be closed for a few hours to get Mufasa used to light, she was totally cool about it. I have the best roomie ever :)

Now pictures. Note how he's near the thermometer in all of them, hahaha. Even staring at it in one.



 
#49 ·
Nothing but disappointments...

So, the x-large kritter keeper that came in the mail had a huge crack in it, so I called the site that I purchased it from. Unfortunately, I guess nobody was in the office even though the answering machine that answered told me that there SHOULD have had someone working there when I called them. So instead, I saw that the K-mart that I live close to DOES sell them, and even said it was in stock, granted, more expensive. Went there today...didn't see one. I guess it's only available if I buy it online and ask for it to be picked up there. If the site does not call me back on Monday, they'll be hearing from me again. I don't what solution they'll propose, but if they ask if I want it reshipped, I'll be sure to ask them how often these things happen with their kritter keepers. This would be the 3rd tank IN A ROW that has cracked in the mail, so if they say that this has happened before, I'll ask to see if I can get a refund. I'm tired of feeling all excited and happy that I'll finally have a tank only to see it shattered in front of me when I open the box.

Now that I've got that off my chest, onto my fishes!
So I decided to take out most of Rain's decorations, and lower the water level of the tank so it doesn't seem as empty. He currently has about 2 gal in the tank. I added an extra IAL, and vitachem. My Seachem Stressguard came in the mail yesterday night so I added it to the tank too. He's currently moping about the lost of his plants, though, hahaha. I've also turned out the aquarium light, so hopefully he'll feel more relaxed.


I really love Mufasa now. He's so adorable and not camerashy, hahaha. I was really looking forward to giving him a bigger home, but I'm afraid that it'll have to wait. Sorry, boy. He's looking more and more like the fish that I fell in love with. His color is really starting to come out. He's a lot more jittery than Rain when I put him in his cup for water changes. I really thought that he was going to jump out any second.



 
#50 · (Edited)
heat faster you blasted heater!

So I have Rain on Kanaplex. Since I only have Rain in about 2 gallons of water, I decided to measure out the Kanaplex in 5gal of water and split it for 2 days. One day I would use 2gal of the mixture and the next day I would use the rest when I do the water change. Unfortunately, the remainder of the water is at room temperature and my 25 watt heater has to heat it about 10 degrees. It's been half an hour and the water's at 73F. So as the water's heating up at a snail's pace, the water in Rain's cup is getting colder and colder. So I decided to float Rain's cup in Mufasa's tank to keep him warm. Rain's flaring himself silly over Mufasa, while Mufasa's giving him a "I don't give a d***" attitude, which is kinda funny. Mufasa flares a bit, but then swims off to another part of his tank a few seconds later. I'm currently watching Rain flare himself into a frenzy while Mufasa's just curiously looking at him. Not flaring or anything. Mufasa's so easily distracted, it's awesome. When I want Rain to calm down, I just wave my hand and Mufasa will come swimming to the front of the tank, out of Rain's line of sight.

I've just taken Rain out of Mufasa's tank. Hopefully his cup water has warmed up a bit while the tank water is still at a blasted 73F.

Mufasa's so darling. I love how he's so eager to please. Sometimes while I'm doing my work, I'll look up at him. It's quite amusing to see him swimming around, minding his own business, and then occasionally comes to the front of the tank and look down at me as if he's checking up on me. I was really worried about how he would be like personality-wise when I got him because he was so shy, but all my worries have been thrown out the window. He doesn't glass-surf like Rain does. I want to get you that x-large kritter keeper ASAP!

Oh, and I called Petmountain telling them about my kritter keeper, and they've sent a request to send me a replacement. Hopefully it'll come to me okay. I mean, I've seen a lot of reviews for it on their websites, so it would mean that it got to them in good shape, right? It was quite amusing actually when I told them that one of my products came cracked, and after looking up my order (a silk plant and the kritter keeper), the man on the line was like, "it's the kritter keeper...can't crack a plant". I just found it slightly amusing. The people at Petmountain are very helpful and awesome, so the cracked kirtter keeper won't keep me from purchasing from them :)

I've also bought a new filter for both of my boys. It's a TOM aquarium mini adjustable filter. I saw a lot of good reivews for it on Amazon, and it isn't TOO expensive. I don't really know when I would actually use it since the last quarter of college is just 10 weeks, which is about the time it would take to cycle the tank. Then I would be moving back home for summer, which might mean I would lose the BB colony I just created. I might not actually use the filter until next year of college.
 
#51 · (Edited)
double the trouble...

Bad news, I saw Rain flashing quite a lot today, which means his parasites/gill flukes are back. I'm suspecting that his fin rot isn't getting better as quickly as I'm hoping for due to his body trying to fight off the parasites AND the fin rot. I've been doing daily 100% water changes, and today's his last day of Kanaplex treatment, and his fins aren't getting better much. I think I should hold off on AQ salt and any sort of medication for a bit so that his body doesn't get overwhelmed by so many chemicals nonstop. I'll fill his tank back to the top tomorrow during his water change and put his silk plants back in since he seemed to be sulking this whole week while I removed them. He ignored me except for feeding time.

Mufasa's x-large kritter keeper came in the mail on Wednesday in one piece, to my happiness. Wasn't planning on setting his tank up until today, but something came up that got me really upset so I set his tank up on Thursday to relax and calm down. Here it is:

He seems to enjoy the extra space, although lately he seems to keep his focus on me a lot, just swimming around the front of the tank, either to observe me, get my attention, or thinks that if he does this, he'll get food. He's really a cutiepie. :)

The only worry I have about having 2 fishes is the fear of contamination, especially since Rain has fin rot AND parasites of some sort. So I'm super careful and have 2 of everything and separate their stuff: 2 gravel vacuums, their silk plants in different plastic bags (I bought 2 of the same silk plants, so the ones in Mufasa's tank aren't Rain's). I don't have separate buckets for them, however I have a dirty water bucket and a clean water bucket. I use this container to pour the clean water into their tanks, but it never makes contact with the tank, so hopefully no contamination has occurred.

After having a plakat, I think that I'll stick to plakats in the future. I don't have to worry about them tail biting. They seem a bit more fun than the long-finned bettas since they can swim a lot easier due to their shorter finnage.
 
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