Birdie's Fishie Journal

[birdielikestomatoes]

The day has arrived. What day, you may ask. The day when I had to get a new heater for Steve.

You see, when I placed Steve in my basement I knew that I'd have problems keeping his water warm. My basement is cold, which my pommie and I do enjoy which is why our bedroom is there.

As I'm writing this my basement is around 60* F and Steve's 50w heater is just not cutting it. The last few days the water temp has dropped from 77* F to 75* F.

So I went on Amazon.com and I found the heater I've been eying for the past few months and I forced my dad to order it for me.

(this is the heater http://www.amazon.com/Aqueon-06106-Submersible-Aquarium-100-Watt/dp/B003C5TPF6/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=3L352ZOLFBLN M&coliid=I1QQDYA28JXAM0)

It took 45 minutes of persuasion to finally get him to order it. He just kept saying over and over that it was too expensive. I thought it was a great deal, it was down from 44 beans to 25 beans. Then he tried to convince me that it was waaaay too much and tried to get me to buy some other heater that was only 6 beans. It was a brand I'd never heard before nor did it have any reviews, and the price was just too good to be true. So I stuck with my choice and gave him 10 beans, (all I had I spent my savings on getting all the fish tanks set up in the first place) and now I'm eagerly awaiting Steve's new heater!

I also am going to convince my mom to get me a couple decorations for Steve's tank. They're freaking adorable.

http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...uctId=12211403
http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...uctId=12211392

There's also a cute snail decoration but I don't know if it would fit with the other two without making the tank crowded, so we'll see.

Also, because this post is Steve filled I want to share something he did yesterday. As I went to feed him yesterday I pulled open the (homemade ziplock bag) lid and as usual Steve swam into the corner he likes to eat in. This is usual, what wasn't usual was the fact that he opened his mouth as wide as it could and just stared at me as if saying "I'm ready, drop the food now!" Just thinking about it makes me laugh.

Whoever says that fish have no personalities has never owned a healthy betta.

[birdielikestomatoes]

So I got my new heater a few days ago but I've been waiting for the family to go on vacation so that I could take over the kitchen while I put it in and also replaced the gravel.

WEEK TO MYSELF. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Well okay, I'm not completely alone as all the animals are here but close enough.

Anyway, yesterday morning I took Steve out of his tank and floated him in Mr G's tank for 10 minutes so that they could have a manly face off. It was pretty cool seeing them flare at each other.

After that I took him and floated him on Eugeney's side, as she is the social betta so I thought that it would be less stressful on him to be floated on her side while I redid the tank and made sure the heater was keeping water temperature steady.

Once that was done I emptied all the water and dragged the tank upstairs where I took out the gravel, gave the outside a scrubbing, and turned it all around because I ruined one side of the tank with eucalyptus oil the day I got it. I put in the gravel/dirt, took it back downstairs, and filled it with water.

I returned Steve to his tank after 7 hours because by then he was getting a bit tired of Eugeney's incessant flirting. Once he was back home he had a good look around. He seemed to enjoy checking everything that I changed/moved.

But seriously, Eugeney flirted with Steve 6 out the 7 hours Steve was in there. She went though a couple periods of, "Who is this giant fish and why is here?" stressings but once she realized he couldn't get to her she just danced, and danced, and danced. And Steve just flared and danced back for quite a bit as well.

Once he was out of the tank Eugeney and Hilda chatted through the divider, I always seem to see them as housewives gossiping over a fence. Kind of.

"OH EM GEE, Hilda did you see that hottie? We totally had a connection, he was like so into me. He even made a small bubble nest while he was in there and he was all like lez make luv and I was like oh mah god, Steve, not on the first date! What kind of girl do you think I am!? And he was like, '...okay' then he started doing a Magic Mike dance for me and the nest was ruined. But it was alright because we had a good time dancing. I like totally think we're soul mates, Hilda."

"Yeah...uh huh...that's nice except for that you think you're reflection is also you're soul mate. Why did I have to get her as my neighbor?" *Proceeds to swim away and take a nap*

...I have too much time on my hands.

[birdielikestomatoes]

Been looking into getting an axolotl. So I'm currently perusing KSL to see if I can find an affordable 20g or larger. Wish me luck in my search!

Of course once I get a tank then the fun with creating a NPT commences. :D I'm excited!

[birdielikestomatoes]

http://www.aquariumplants.com/category_s/175.htm

The link above is for later uses. I mean, very low light plants? Count me in!

Anyway I found a used 20g for 25 beans on KSL and I'll be picking that up on either Tuesday or Wednesday. It all depends on whenever my cab--er--mom feels like driving me.

Have I mentioned how excited I am!? I'M EXCITED.

[birdielikestomatoes]

I'm so upset and angry right now.

The 20 gallon I went to pick up? Yeah it turned out to be a 10 gallon. What's worse is that I believe this couple, who swore up and down that this was a 20g. Their ad said it was a 20g, they said that the packaging was for that of a 20g, they even gave me the dimensions of a 20g.

So I picked it up, was a bit skeptical of the size, but I knew the dimensions of a 20g tall so I just though that it was my imagination.

Of course a little voice of doubt was ringing in my head so I just measured the tank...and yes it's definitely a 10g.

I don't know who to be more angry/upset at. Myself for being so darn gullible or the couple who sold the tank at me for blatantly lying to my face.

*SIGH* All I can do now is go to bed. In the morning I'll start cleaning the tank up so I can put it up for sale. I'll I can hope for is that I can regain the $25 I lost.

At least they didn't lie about it having a screen lid.

[birdielikestomatoes]

I am weary. Utterly and mentally weary.

I've been nursing Tribble back to full health as the past week she's been really ill.

The first day she was puking nonstop and being incredibly listless.

Second day no puking but she was even more listless than the day before. She had a temperature for both days as well.

Day three she started to perk up a bit and I got her to eat some rice.

Day four I'm thinking she's getting better.

Day five and six she's got diarrhea and I was forced to make her wear a diaper as anytime she barked, sneezed, tooted, bad things would happen.

Today she hasn't been so bad in the bottom department however she's still wearing a diaper just in case. I don't think there is anything worse than having a poopy bottom on your bed and couches. Bleck.

I got her to eat some kibble though, which is great! I also sprinkled a bit of flax seed on it to give her some added fiber.

I haven't had much rest this week. As I've mentioned before I just cannot sleep soundly when Tribble's not feeling well. I just get so worried that she'll need me during the night and I'd just be out of it.


There's no news to report on the tank I bought. I just cannot get a hold of the sellers. PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF. Jerk faces.

I'm just going to have to clean it up and sell it I suppose. In the meantime though I'm going to make a trip to Petsmart sometime in the near future and just buy a plain 20g. I want to get started on my axolotl tank!


I hope everyone had a great Halloween! Or Samhain! Or whatever you wish to celebrate! This time of the year is my absolute favorite. The weather is getting colder, which I LOVE LOVE LOVE. Christmas is getting closer! And in January I'll be turning 18. Which is a completely weird thought. I feel like a kid still!

[birdielikestomatoes]

So a couple days ago I managed to fall down the stairs. I didn't fall from the very top, luckily, however I did manage to completely miss the last two steps and tear a ligament in my foot.

My dad forced me to go to the Clinic to get an x-ray just to be sure I didn't break my foot. Which I didn't, nor did I tear a tendon which would most likely require surgery. However a torn ligament in the FOOT, also known as a sprain, is known to be just as painful as a break if not more so.

It should be a difficult couple of weeks or so.

Anyway, not only did I do this but I did this the night before I was due to do water changes. What a pain! I put off the water changes until today as I was in too much pain to do anything with them after going to the clinic, nor was Thanksgiving any good because I couldn't ask for help. So today I enlisted my mother's help and she did water changes for the first time!

I was cringing the whole entire time. After awhile you get into a routine and seeing someone else attempt to do that routine for the very first time was... twitch worthy. Especially for someone who has OCD as well.

But I seriously hope this darn foot heals up soon! IT HURTS SO BAD, MAN!

[LeoTheLakerBetta]

I hope you get better soon! I don't know what I would do in terms of water changes if that happened to me. I would probably just gravel vacuum it and then have someone else dump it for me lol.

Get better!

[birdielikestomatoes]

Thank you for taking the time to visit my journal.

I was cringing the whole entire time while hobbling behind her as best I could. Luckily I only have three tanks and two of those are in the kitchen/dining room so I could easily keep an eye on her. My last tank is in my bedroom in the basement and though I wanted to supervise the stairs kick my butt, or foot, so I've been staying away from them.

Not as much poop was sucked up as I'd like but I was more concerned about getting some of the old water out and some new water in.

[birdielikestomatoes]

Eugeney is sick. I'm really worried about her as she's just acting so out of character. She hasn't danced for me, she refused food yesterday, she's just been laying about while breathing heavily.

I don't know what's wrong with her. Hilda's doing perfectly fine and she doesn't have any symptoms of the diseases listed in the stickies. I'm at a loss. She's currently floating in a cup while the QT bowl temp settles. I also added some AQ salt to the QT bowl for when she gets put in there.

And while I'm feeling terrible I thought I'd post a picture I just found of my very first betta, Wiggles. I was about 10 when I got him and he died two days after we moved into our new house. I always wondered why until I found this site and learned that bettas are tropical and he most likely died from freezing in my cold, cold basement. I feel horrible about that and all the bettas that were bought afterwords by my dad that never got the proper care that they needed.

Anyway, here's the photo. He was gorgeous despite looking quite bloated, burned, and battered in the picture. I didn't get another betta, personally, until I was given Betty nearly two years ago.