My Betta Diary

[bettacrazygirl86]

This is where I shall keep track of everything that goes on in my bettas' lives. :)

It'll include updates on stuff I buy for them, health statuses, and just cute or funny things they do throughout the day. I may put updates after water changes too, so if they become ill at any point, I can look back and see if there's a cause to it. :)

As of today, my two bettas are each in 3 gallon Kritter Keepers with Top Fin 25 watt heaters. Both are doing really well and seem to be very happy. :)

Patriot is a blue, red, and white male veiltail. I got him from our LFS a few months ago. He first lived in a 4 gallon drum bowl before I moved him into a 5 gallon hex. The filter busted recently, so I then moved him into 3 gallon KK, so I could keep up on changes at the same time as I changed my other betta's water. The KK has more ground and surface space and more hiding spots, so I think he likes it more than the drum bowl. He's made huge bubble nests in his KK! As far as his health goes, he has never had any issues, other than a small case of fin rot which I treated with AQ salt. It went away within a week and he hasn't had any issues since. He has only ever had one tank mate, a ghost shrimp which soon passed away after for unknown reasons. His tank is currently heated to 82 degrees F, and I do water changes every Monday and Friday, percentages varying. Sometimes 100% and sometimes only 50% or 75%, only as I see fit.

Tiny Tina is a brown, pink, and purple female plakat. I also got her at the same LFS, about a month ago. She first lived in a 3 gallon KK, then moved into a 2.65 Marina 360 tank, but is in a 3 gallon KK again due to the filter current being too pushy. I think she misses the tank though! She has been kinda moody since the move. Her KK is heated at 76 degrees F, as she doesn't quite handle warmer temperatures as well. She got really clamped the last time I had tried to slowly move her up in temperatures, and now that it's a bit colder, she's happy again. She hasn't had any health issues since I've had her. The water change schedule is the same as Patriot's, as they're in the same size tank.

I love both of them dearly, and I can't wait until I can get them better homes to live in. :)

When I go to college this fall, I hope to have them both moved into a divided 10 gallon, heated and filtered, with better heaters and a really good filter, and live plants. I'm going to try to get some RCS or ghost shrimp to add in and keep the place tidy by cleaning up any dropped food I might not be able to pinch out or notice fall to the bottom. I'm going to use simple drift wood and terracotta pots as decorations and hiding spots, along with the live plants. Gravel will be the substrate. I plan on using just plain colored gravel. I may switch to sand at some point, but I think gravel will be much easier.

As of right now, Patriot is building a bubble nest. It's huge! I can hear him making the bubble nest in the corner of his tank. He keeps making little pop noises. :)

[Olympia]

Awesome! You should post some pics!

Good luck with college, it's great that you are able to take them with you!

[bettacrazygirl86]

Originally Posted by Olympia

Awesome! You should post some pics!

Good luck with college, it's great that you are able to take them with you!

I'll try to get some good pictures today. :) I wasn't home the day of water change day on Monday, so I had done it on Tuesday and pushed this week's 50% to today, but I think I'm just going to do a 100% and do a 50% on Monday instead.

I also got a new heater for Tiny Tina's tank, so hopefully she'll come out of hiding a bit more and be her happy self again, like she was before I took her 2.65 tank away. I think she liked the tank more than I did!

[bettacrazygirl86]

So I totally forgot I had this. xD This is why I could never keep a proper diary before. Always forgot to write in it!

Anyway, I upgraded my fishies to a 10 gallon divided tank, and so far, they're loving it! I haven't been able to get any clear pictures of either of them in the tank yet, since they've been so excited, they haven't stopped exploring.



I hope to get more plants soon, to fill up the tank. I think I might want some floaters and a few more stem plants. Preferably leafy ones!

So far, no problems. They seem happy and healthy, the filter works and is baffled, and the heater is doing a good job with the temperature. However, I'm not sure if one of the thermometers is messed up or not... It keeps reading a few degrees higher than the other, while the other is closer to the heater. Confuses me. Both sides feel the same though, so I don't know what the problem is. I'll probably be picking up a new one soon and giving my other one to my sister.

I'm also taking in her betta to nurse him back to health. His name is Autumn, and he's a beautiful VT. Not quite sure what color he is. He's kind of orange, but not true orange. He's pretty, but has a really bad case of fin rot. She doesn't clean his tank like she's supposed to, so I'm going to move him into one of my hospital tanks with a heater and treat him with AQ salt and stress coat. Hopefully he'll get better with warm water, meds, and water changes. :( Poor little guy. Thankfully, due to my advice, she's saving up to buy him a KK and a good heater too. Though I might just sell her my Top Fin one that is in good shape and get another Aqueon for my hospital tank. Life time warranty! 8D

It's really tempting to pick up another betta now that I have 10 gallons. Both of my bettas are used to 3 gallons of space and if I were to divide it into 3 parts, they'd each have a little more than 3... I'm really tempted to pic up a CT girl. I have a fascination with the girls now. ;-; I think I might even like them more than the boys. I might move Patriot to the middle and put both girls on either side of him. Oh, the temptation. I probably won't do it though. The only CT girls I've found are at Petsmart, and I don't want to buy any fish from them anymore. I very much prefer my LFS, and I don't think they have any CTs there. Only plakats or VTs, from what I've seen. Maybe I'll look next time I'm there... >w>; Kinda like only having two to worry about though. We'll see.

[bettacrazygirl86]

Never fish seems to be stressed at all after being together for three days. :) They stare at each other through the divider sometimes, but Tiny Tina is usually oblivious and doesn't even notice Patriot looking at her. She was poking around in the gravel for some reason, and he was creeping on her through the divider, but she was digging away. I think she might have spotted one of the Val roots and was trying to figure out what it was. xD

Tina has started to be herself again now that she's in a lighter tank. I don't know what her problem was before, when I moved her into the KK. She was totally uncomfortable even after I got her a new heater. Now she's back to her normal self, like she was when I had her in her Marina 360 tank. She eats off my finger again too. :) I think Patriot's jealous, but her little bites actually pinch! I can't imagine what he would feel like, seeing as he's about three times her size. I'm totally too afraid to let him eat off my finger. He's a vicious little guy. He flares at me if I get within a foot of his tank, and he flares at the pellets when they're put in front of him. I worry for my finger! xD

Here's a page with videos of both of them, and my sister's ill betta that I'm nursing back to health. :)

[bettacrazygirl86]

I just got back from Petsmart and did a water change on my tank. I picked up two more plants and Seachem Flourish, since my Wisteria and Corkscrews look like they're dying. The plants I got are Moneywort and Mondo grass. I only got one of each. Planting them both was nearly impossible! The Mondo grass's roots are HUGE and really tough. I couldn't get it to sit right, so I had to bury it with about a quarter of the tank's gravel. Geez. I'm happy with it though. I can't wait until the plants start growing more and make others.