2 Boys and a Cat

[Torat]

I have a total of five boys. You all know Ulmo (see photo to the left). Then there's Unnamed-Rescue-Boy and Too-Fast-to-Photograph-Unnamed-Boy.

These two are my other two boys that actually photograph. They also are my only boys that bubble-nest.

Sigmund Freud is a mostly blue boy with some very subtle lime green tints along his fins where they spread from his body. He also has teeny-weeny dark blue dots on his fins, especially his dorsal. He's either a halfmoon or a delta, not sure. He's very nosey and curious, and chills at the front of the tank "dancing" whenever you come nearby.

I'll admit, Sigmund is one of my favorites. I went to Petco one day, and saw him but resisted. I told him, "If you're alive in two weeks, I promise I'll take you home." Two weeks later, still alive and kicking. No tail damage, nothin', just shoved in the back. He came home. :}


Sigmund preparing to dance for me.



You can kinda see his green there.



His nest from this morning. Began it early this morning, it was the size of a dime or so. Now, after work, it's about half the top of the tank. Fun!

You'll notice the scratches at the front of the tank. I did NOT realize acrylic was so picky. Ignore them.

And this is Mizu. He's my yellow boy. I don't know what his coloring is called, but he's my yellow man. His eyes are light blue, and he has blue-ish green tinge on the rays of his tail. Love it.



He is shy, so it's VERY hard to get photos of him.


Mizu resting in his plants.




But he makes me nests, too. He "flirts" with my cat, Xander. Since he's on the same counter the quarantine tank is, Xander gets to watch between two tanks in one spot - and he LOVES that. He especially loves Ulmo in the quarantine tank (still :{ ).

Photos of that below -


Chillin' between the two tanks. This is right after I re-did Mizu's tank on the left. Ulmo in the five-gallon quarantine on the right.



A staredown! And, of course, Ulmo dancing for Xander. Xander loves it. He "hugs" the tank. Cute. (Green water is medicine, NOT algae. And the light is under-the-counter, usually he's in the dark to stay calm.)

(BTW: Xander is a 9 month old ragdoll cat.)

Anyway, if anyone could figure out Mizu's color, and Sigmund's tail-type, that'd be awesome.

[naturegirl243]

Ahhhh I have a boy named Mizu too.
<----- Art of him over there I have alot of pictures too.

[Pekemom]

Those pictures are IN-credible, Torat. You should seriously think about photography as a career!! Taking pictures through the glass/acrylic is hard because the lens focuses on the first thing it sees - the glass/acrylic!! So I truly appreciate your beautiful shots. The betta boys are gorgeous. And I truly truly love your ragdoll cat!! I wanna live in your house!! (j/k)!! Great job!

[AngelicScars]

Gorgeous bettas!

[Abby]

Love them. the blue looks HM , im not the best on tails. Here is the tail link:
http://www.bettafish.com/showthread....+types+colours
Colour of the other is hard, his fins are lighter then his body but hes all kinda -i'd lean to cream, hes nothing like my yellow hes paler.
but check out that link and see what you think.

[Torat]

Yeah, Mizu looks more cream when he's flared, because his fins are kinda see-through, if you will. He's really see-through, cellophane with a yellow tinge. I wouldn't say cream as in traditional cream, but a light yellow? I'll find another picture. It's so hard to get photos of him.

This is one of him where he's kinda hiding (per usual).



I'll try to get more of him while he's actually swimming, now that I got rid of his fake plants. He swims more with two live plants than four fake plants. Also, his tank didn't have a filter (nowhere around here carried the cartridges for his filter!), but I picked one up for him last night (one that matches the divided tanks' filters), and installed it with a used filter (wow, trying to kickstart the cycle on a 2.5 gallon tank, LOL - almost a waste of time, since I water change on these all the time).

Hopefully that shows his color better. His yellow goes almost all the way out to the end of his fins, then it's cellophane/clear. It's truly beautiful.

I wish I knew what his pattern is, really. The yellow takes up almost all of his tail, and when he's flared it's almost entirely see-through with a yellow tinge and the teal-ish rays. He's just gorgeous. Shy, but gorgeous.

I think Sigmund is halfmoon, too. Simply based on that link you sent. He's gorgeous. Maybe Mizu is a delta? His spread isn't 180*, but close? Almost-halfmoon, lol. Delta? Not sure.

Sigmund built me a new nest this morning. It's gorgeous. Usually his nests are one layer, maybe two. Today it goes up OUT of the water, up the side of the tank cover. 8 or 9 layers. Truly gorgeous! I love waking up, and walking over to his tank to see what new present he has for me. It's a gift. He's such a prolific bubble-nester, it's great. I think he's thanking me for not leaving him at Petco and keeping my promises, lol.

And thank you for the compliment, Pekemom. I really appreciate that compliment. I love photography and would LOVE to do it as a serious hobby, but haven't had an opportunity. But that's a truly wonderful compliment, thank you.

I've learned to manually focus, instead of autofocus (took a long, long time and a ruler). And to leave the flash off, have all the lights off in the room but the tank's lights. I try to avoid taking photos right after I clean (BUBBLES EVERYWHERE), and usually can take some pretty decent pictures a day or two after cleaning day to avoid bubbles all over the side of the tank. I DO have serious issues taking photos of bubblenests, though.

I think it's easier when the fish doesn't swim as much. I have a lot of failed photos of Sigmund, because he goes right in the front of the tank when he sees you and dances, and dances, and dances. It's great.



I end up getting lots of photos of him dancing. These are photos of him going back and forth and swimming cute. Not all at once, no, no. Over the course of a few days. It's great. He dances near the gravel, near the top, around his plants. I love it. He's gorgeous, and his fins just flow with him. It's breathtaking.

And Nature-girl, I tried to give all my boys names having to do with water. But then I gave up because none of them fit. Sigmund is named after Sigmund Freud, because he's super-relaxing, and he's right where I rest when I get home, and thus right where I complain about work (LOL). He listens patiently, and dances, and makes me feel better. So he's kind of like a psychologist. On that route, I'm thinking of using the names of other psychologists for my unnamed boys. Just so Sigmund doesn't feel left out, lol.

Your icon is gorgeous! What beautiful artwork!

And Pekemom, we love Xander, too. He's a hoot. Right now he's jumping in and out of a box. He's a big boy, so he gets out of breath really quickly. Huffin' and puffin' from all the jumping, it's great. He's nine months old, and he weights 16 pounds. He still has a while to grow, too! Yikes! But he LOVES the fishtanks. He sleeps on the top of the sorority tank, and his little fat flabs and fur hangs over the side. He looks in through the holes in the back of the cover and watches the girls. It's adorable.

[kpullen89]

Awwe, your cat is ADORABLE. And the boys are handsome!

[denaliwind]

Wow, gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!!

[Luliyuhrouwn]

Your fish are stunning, of course, esp Sig.
But OMGYOURRAGDOLL! He's so stinkin cute, I want a ragdoll so badly! I have a friend that has two, and they're gorgeous, and so cuddly.

[Bettaluver4evr]

B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L!!!!! Oh my gosh, your bettas are amazing! I absolutely looooooove Sigmund, I believe he is either a HM or SDT. :) Amazing, beautiful, stunning! I love his dance, so pretty.