Back from vacation. Buttercup is still looking healthy in his QT tank. He'd had some redness along the edge of one of his torn fins, and it looks like that has mostly cleared up. Gave him a 90% water change and a tank makeover. Re-added the java fern and pebbles after giving the rocks a thorough scrub with bleach, rinsing, and then giving a thorough rinse with water with extra conditioner to neutralize any leftovers.
The water's a little cloudy. I'm thinking about picking up a small sponge filter on my lunch break to clear it up. It doesn't seem to be bothering Buttercup - he's swimming around like he always does, with no clamping or gasping, but there's no point in taking chances, and the 3g really should be filtered, anyway.
In the future, I think I'll stick to bettas with color. I hadn't realized how I like being able to monitor color as an additional indicator of stress along with body language, and Buttercup's platinum and white can't really get any paler.
Speaking of color, I got back to work to find Mr. Kitty's tank utterly pristine. My work pet sitter did a good job. I'd scraped off algae on Wednesday, which hasn't returned, and Mr. Kitty is such a rich royal blue that he almost looks black when he's out of the light. The very tips of his ventrals have turned white. They were clear before, or maybe just not as bright. It looks striking.
I think I see regrowth on his tail. At least, I hope that's what's going on back there. I'll just have to keep an eye on it. The little butt won't let me take a picture. He never will. It also looks suspiciously like he took a new chunk out of his tail, but in a different spot. *sighs*
Still haven't cleaned the glass on the 75g. I have a little leftover Vegas money and I'm trying to decide what equipment to get. I wanted to get a lid next, but I realized that if I have an all-glass lid, there's nowhere for electrical cords to run through...how do people manage that? I'd go lidless, but my cats are idiots, and I don't want to find one drowned in the aquarium.