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89K views 1K replies 27 participants last post by  Tealight03 
#1 ·
Welcome to my journal! I have had many bettas over the years. Of course I didn't know what I was doing when I was younger and the fish were probably suffering from cold and not enough cleaning. Fast forward to today were I currently have Phil, a VT male, and Ruby, a CT female.

Both live in heated, filtered 5 gallon tanks. Phil is my chronic fin biter. He only bites if I skip a meal, so fasting is not an option for him at all. His tail is looking better. Until the next time I go out of town.

Ruby is lovely. She's active and always exploring. She's also a scavenger. If a pellet drops I know she'll find it. Unlike her brother who lounges around and lets food float by.

Enjoy a couple of pics! Sunday is water change day.
 

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#29 ·
Thank you, heidispice. The funny thing is I had been thinking about getting another betta the day befor Killian was dropped on my desk. I never thought I'd be prepared for a true rescue but I've proved myself wrong. :)
 
#30 ·
Ruby

I got Ruby back in April. Easter to be exact. I say she was an accidental purchase but really I went into Petco hoping a betta would feel right. I had her in a 2 gallon but upgraded her to a 5 gallon the next day. This lucked out for Killian because he is temporarily calling that tank home.

Ruby is my happy, healthy girl. She doesn't have any issues, other than she is super active and I worry about keeping her entertained. She will chase my finger and bite at the glass. She's adorable. And can't figure out why the boys get so much attention.
 

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#31 ·
I gave you more plants, please stop biting your fins!

Quick update on Phil. In the last week he has gotten 2 new silk plants and a live anubias. Hopefully this will be what he needs to stop biting. His anubias is still looking sad but some very helpful members told me the plant needs to melt to adjust to the tank.
 

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#33 ·
Happy 4th of July!

Happy belated 4th of July! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday with friends and family. I went home for the weekend. There was a lot of delicious food and we made sangria. I had a great time.

This trip had been planned weeks ago, before I got Killian. I was worried about leaving him and did consider bringing him with me. But my rational side won out and I left him at home. I figured it would be better for him to be stable but without food for 2 days rather than carted across the state. He seemed fine when I got home. Hungry but fine. His gills are still red from ammonia burns. I ordered meth blue and will give him a bath when it gets here. His tears are healing nicely and he has no signs of ick.

While Killian (the rescue that barely survived) was fine, Phil tried to turn himself into a crowntail (insert so many cuss words). He's always been more prone to biting when he thinks he's going to die of starvation. I'm not happy with him at all. I tried to take a picture of the mess that is his tail but he wouldn't hold still and was camped out on the bottom of his tank. Sigh.

Ruby is lovely as always.
 
#39 ·
Killian

Every week the fishies get frozen brine shrimp as a treat. Last night I gave Killian his first treat. He looked at it suspiciously but eventually ate a couple.

This morning he got his first partial water change. I had cupped him before. Since he's in a two gallon the goal is two partial and one full water change every week. Poor baby hid in his cave the entire time. Granted he probably didn't want to get cupped again.

He has improved so much. He's a much stronger swimmer and can chase pellets now. He even found one on the floor I was about to take out. The rips in his tail have healed nicely. His gills still have ammonia burns, but I ordered some meth blue and will give him a bath this weekend when he gets his full water change. I feel like a proud parent every time he does anything, probably because he was so sickly when I brought him home.
 
#40 ·
Uneventful day

I work in property management as a temp at the moment. Honestly the only good part about it is it allows me to have flexibility to do interviews elsewhere. I have met a lot of great people, and some not so great. Of course I also got Killian from a property I worked at, which is of course a bonus.

Today is a slow day. I'm grateful for the hours but have absolutely nothing to do. Good thing I brought a book.

In fishy news, Phil and Killian's tanks are next to each other on my breakfast bar. There is a white paper between them to reduce flaring. I try to spend a little time with each fish daily. Killian does get a bit more attention as I have been checking him for disease symptoms and the temperature of the water. He still doesn't have an adjustable heater but the temp is holding steady at 78-80.

Back to the point. This morning I fed them then ate my breakfast in front of Phil. He has re-growth so hopefully he leaves it alone. I look over and Killian is wiggling and looking at me like "hello mom, over here." It was adorable.

Tomorrow the big tanks get a partial change and Killian gets a full change. I would love to pick up a 10 gallon for Ruby and give Killian her 5. The 2 gallon maintenance is a lot, but I'm not sure he would do well in a bigger tank. He is much stronger than he was when I brought him home but he seems to have trouble maneuvering. It's also possible his tail weighs him down.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!
 
#41 ·
Why yes, it is still a slow day at work. On another note, I went to Petco during lunch. You know, just to look. Mostly I wanted to check their plants. Note to self, they were a little cheaper than Petsmart. Last January they had a buy one get one plant sale. I'm hoping they do it again during the dollar per gallon sale.

Of course I had to look at the bettas. There were some gorgeous elephant ears and crowntails. Some were so small they could have been babies. The babies they did have were labeled baby boy or girl. A little girl was so small I wondered how they knew she was a female.

I made it out without another betta but spent quite a long time trying to fashion a tank in my head. Even if I could, as I learned with Killian, silk plants and other little necessities add up fast.
 
#42 ·
Heart attack

Sunday is water change day. I cupped Killian no problem and set him down. After rinsing and refilling his tank, I turned around to put it back on the counter. What do I see? Killian on the counter. The little bugger had jumped. I got him back into his cup, and he seems fine. What a scare though.
 
#45 ·
Bo

When I first got back into this hobby, it was with Bo, a blue vt. I got him from Petco last August and was instantly attached to the little guy. Unfortunately I was convinced he was ill. I'm pretty sure I thought it was ammonia poisoning. I hadn't found this forum yet so I made a bad decision and dosed him with one of the fixes (can't remember if it was bettafix, melafix, or pimafix). He got drastically worse in a short time. I cupped him to change his water to remove the medicine and he died.

I hardly ever talk about Bo because it was very upsetting. It was my own fault for not doing better research. But I decided not to give up and got Phil a few weeks later. Which brought me to this site and all of the wonderful people and information. I still regret what happened with Bo but know it was an important lesson in caring for these beautiful fish.
 
#46 ·
Resting?

Phil gave me quite the scare this morning. He was resting on a plant, the same position he was in when I turned the light off last night. When he saw me he swam over asking where breakfast was. He ate fine and swam around on and off but has always gone back to resting on his leaf. This is quite weird for him. I don't know if he just discovered it or maybe his fins are too long for him and that's why he bites.

I will do a partial water change and keep a close eye on him.
 

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#47 ·
Upgrades

I'm pondering getting a 10 gallon during the $1/gallon Petco sale. It would be an upgrade for Ruby and a few tankmates. I'm thinking about platys but will consider anything suitable for a 10 gallon. Does anyone have any recommendations? Killian would also get an upgrade as he would inherit Ruby's 5 gallon.


I used to have mollies and a small school of tiger barbs in a 29 gallon (I think). Unfortunately I had to give all my fish to my uncle when I moved for the summer to do an internship in Philly. The tank was in storage at my mom's and was discarded along with a 10 gallon when her basement flooded. I'm still a little resentful lol. I really enjoyed having mollies, even though the amount of fry they produced was crazy, and would love to have a couple of angel fish but am not in the market for that large of a tank at the moment. And of course neither of these are compatible with bettas, so that's a consideration.


I'm still doing a lot of thinking on this as even though there is a great sale right now, I shouldn't be spending money on anything except food and bills.
 
#48 ·
Betta hoarding

I went to Petsmart with innocent intentions. I was going to return the anubias that wasn't doing well and get a silk plant for Phil. Instead I left with a 10 gallon tank and a new vt. I had actully left the store trying to talk myself out of buying him but went back for him. There was another vt that looked like a marble but I talked myself out of purchasing two. I was being hard on myself at first. Does one person really need 4 bettas? I don't think so. But I could not leave him behind. This is the last one, I swear.

It took a bit of rearranging to get everyone set up. I don't quite have a space issue, it was more of a furniture issue. I only have one end table that was sturdy enough to hold the 10 gallon. I will be in the market for a tank stand but for now it works.

Ruby got the 10 gallon. She watched me fill it and seemed quite interested while it filtered for a bit. I cupped her, not an easy feat since she had never been cupped before, and put her in. It took her a minute or so to leave the cup. Now she's zooming all over the place. I moved her filter over to preserve the cycle. I will need a bigger filter though. I also plan on getting her a couple of tankmates. I did look at Petco but their selection was rather poor. I'm leaning towards Platys but we'll see.

The new guy ended up with Ruby's 5 gallon. I know it's a big shock to him to go straight into that large of a tank. Originally I was going to give Killian the 5 gallon and new guy the 2 gallon but at the time it felt easier to not move Killian. I feel like Killian really likes his tank so for now that's where he'll stay.

The new guy was acclimating and got out of his cup. Stupid Petsmart cups have a large hole at the top. Not at all like Petco. He's adjusting well. Seems less afraid then when he was cupped. I have a towel over him to help him adjust. Before and after pics below. He needs a name!

And remember the plant I was supposed to get Phil? I got 2 sets of 3 silk plants at Petco. Phil did not get one. Planting a 10 gallon took a lot of plants.
 

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#50 ·
Um not yet. His body is a dirty white. At the store his fins were a light green with white on the tips. He's darkened up a little already. I have a feeling he will lose the green and his fins will be dark. He could turn into anything I suppose.
 
#51 ·
What a day. I've reached the point where I know for a fact property management is not for me. I took this job because it is with a temporary agency and it would allow me flexibility. It was also supposed to be temporary. That was almost a year ago. Back to the job search.

All is well in the fishy world. The new guy is settling in. He ate breakfast and dinner, although he was more skittish at breakfast. I ate breakfast with him, trying to get him used to me. He sat there looking at me for awhile. He ate dinner no problem so I'm making progress. He's coloring up. He does have some yellow coming in. Still light green fins, which I hope he keeps, but he has a dark line down the middle of his caudel fin.

He still doesn't have a name. I like Bowie but if I shorted it he would he would be Bo, which reminds me of the fish I lost. I also like Copley, after Copley Square in Boston, or Boden.

Ruby had really paled when I moved her last night. Today she's right as rain. Both her and the new guy are glass surfing. It is very unlike Ruby. I hope they both grow out of it.

I'm worried Killian is tail biting. I will lose my mind if he is. I hope it's just the damage from before I got him. His tears have healed nicely.

Phil took a couple more bites out of his fin. I hope when I add some live plants he will stop. Otherwise I have to embrace he likes his tail a certain length.

Today I was also looking into aquarium placement in feng shui. None of my aquariums are placed correctly. Does anyone have any experience with this? My entrance is in the northeast, and I have closets in the north section. Which is where aquariums are supposed to go but I can't put them there. I love having Killian and Phil on the breakfast bar. I never use it so it's vacant counter space. And I get to see them everytime I go into the kitchen. Hmm.
 
#52 ·
I came so close to buying a few adf for the 10 gallon today. I think I just felt bad for one. He was being picked on by a mollie. I'm still deciding on tankmates for Ruby, so anything could happen. They do make me a little quesy though.

I went on a minor Dr. Foster and Smith shopping spree. Two adjustable heaters, a whisper filter, a glass canopy for the 10 gallon and a sponge filter. The grand total was $58. Not too bad considering the sale and free shipping, and much cheaper than the options at Petsmart or Petco. I'll be excited when everything arrives!
 
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