My first rescue!!

[Betta Slave]

As some of you may already know, I was on Kijiji a few days ago, and I came across an add for a betta. He was in a small, algae-y 1 gal bowl, his water was down to half, and he had two prickly, algae-y plants inside, with no gravel. His water was murky and green I felt really sorry for him and decided to contact the owner to buy him. I came home maybe fifteen minutes ago with him and decided to do a partial water change, put in some new plants, and some gravel. His tank is much cleaner, but his water is a little murky, so I'm going to do a full water change tomorrow.
I put him on my desk to get aquainted with my other bettas. He's taken a fancy to Hattie, and she's taken a fancy to him! She doesn't flare, and follows him around, while he flares and parades around the tank, occasionally pausing to say hi to Hattie, and then repeating the process again. He has the cutest face, and the almost the most gentle personality I've ever seen in a betta!
I have to admit, he's definitely not a betta I would choose in a pet store, but... as soon as I saw that face, I made a connection with him. This might sound silly, but I love him now as much as my other bettas! He's not a stunner, or a looker, but... I just love him!
Well, enough of my babbling... here he is- No Name
(Pic Spam... Even though he's not that great-looking. )

[doggyhog]

Really nice boy!!!!!!!

He LOOKS pretty healthy!

[Betta Slave]

I sure hope he is. He was really pale when I had him in a cup while i was doing a partial water change... he looks better now. Hopefully he has some coloring up to do :D

[Jayy]

I'm sooooo glad you got him!! He's very pretty.

[dramaqueen]

He's very pretty!!

[mysquishy]

I think he is really cute!

[mfskarphedin]

Wow, that's a pretty nice fish for coming from a filthy bowl. Nice catch! :)

Your story kinda reminds me of a rescue I did a couple years ago. I was hired to clean out the trailer of a hoarder. I won't tell the details of the trailer itself, since I'm sure everyone wants to keep down their food, but I came across a small plastic tank. The water was a solid greenish-brown color and smelled terrible. Then I realized...there's something alive in there!!!!!!

I took the tank to the bathroom and started changing out water, because my friend told me it was a betta. Well, no matter what it was, I had to get it out of there. The true horror of the poor thing's situation didn't hit until I started filling and emptying the container in the tub repeatedly -- the STENCH! I swear, it smelled like...rotting garbage...and sweat socks...soaking in a latrine. I gagged. How was this fish alive???

I took him home, grabbed an old 2 gal hex my friend had under her bed, bought a Red Sea Nano filter, and put the poor thing inside to hopefully recuperate. His fins were mostly rotted down, but with no treatment except Stress Coat, he started to heal. His fins only half grew back, but my friend couldn't believe how healthy he was, and pretty, too!

He lived for a few months in that tank, seemingly happy, then one week he started to go downhill with no real symptoms and died. I think it was just his time, probably shortened by his horrible confinement in sewage. I wasn't sad when he died; I was glad that he was able to live the last of his days healthy and clean and happy.

Anyway, the point of my story is this: bettas can surprise the hell out of you with what they can survive, against all odds. And more importantly, it's the ones you save from horror that really get to you! I loved that little guy. It made me happy every time I saw him, and it makes me happy every time I think of him.

[Kim]

He looks great for being in such terrible conditions! Good for you that you saved him :) Rescuing has always been my favorite thing.