I figured I need a place to gush about my betta, Merlin, and my experiences with him and his antics!
Just a brief background on me & fish in general:
-I've volunteered at my local fish hatchery for about as long as I remember, however it wasn't until six years ago that I started to become active in the fish raising part. My role at the hatchery as a volunteer has mainly been leading tours during April when the hatchery has their open house and telling people about the process of getting the Walleye (fish that the hatchery stocks in the lake) and then getting the eggs & fry, speaking of what fish we used to raise in the past (Northern Musky and Northern Pike), and letting them see the fish that were brought in along with the Walleye for that day be it Catfish, Crappie, Pike, Bluegills, Sunfish, Bass, etc. My other job has also been measuring fish at the annual Father's Day Fishing Derby (all fish released after they've been measured)/reminding kids to be safe on the docks by watching where they fling their poles (had a couple close calls!) and that they need to wear their life vests.
-I owned one betta before Merlin, named Beta (I know I was so original :checkedout
he was a blue and black crown tail betta that I bought from Wal-Mart and owned for about a month before he died when I went home for the weekend (my roommate was taking care of him while I was away). I felt terrible that he'd only survived that little amount of time and I really wasn't sure if I should get another betta, so I waited.
-This brings us up to Merlin, who was another Wal-Mart purchased betta. I bought him on a whim, since I was going insane since I'd lost my dog, Herbie, right before I returned to college, and knowing he wasn't home waiting for me was driving me insane, so after about a year or so without a betta, I bought Merlin since he was the most active of all the Wal-Mart betta's, and I liked his spunk. He got his name because of the way he always seems to be glaring (literally the first thing he did when I put him in his first tank-a 1 gallon critter carrier). He's had three tanks, including his 1 gallon critter carrier, a 3-gallon half-moon shaped tank (pain in the butt to clean!), and his most recent tank that he and I both love, a Marineland 3-gallon square tank (slight curve to it). Anyway, back to the name, he reminded me of how Merlin (character from the BBC series, Merlin) always glares at Arthur, so that name stuck! I really wanted to keep him around for quite awhile, so I ended up finding & joining this site realizing that I'd really not been prepared for my first betta, but I was determined to do right by Merlin.
-Merlin has already outlived my previous betta (I've had Merlin for about two months now, going on three), and I've enjoyed every second I've had him. He's had his ups and downs, but now he's settled in and is enjoying life as it comes to him!
My Household:
When I'm not at college, my house has a total of 3 pets:
-1 brown tiger stripe & white male cat-Renji (yes, named after the
Bleach character)
-1 Betta fish-Merlin
-1 dog, Pit Bull mix, white with brindle markings-Lucky (we recently adopted him from the pound and he's about a year old)
Though the cat has looked at Merlin's tank, so far, he hasn't gone fishing for him (yay!).
Pictures of my Bettas:
Beta (R.I.P.) Sadly, I never got any non-blurry shots of him.
Merlin-Spade Tail? He's really hard to tell, since he now looks closer to a round tail, so very confused on what tail-type he is!
-When I first got him
-Recent picture of him:
-Picture of his tank & a better shot of his tail:
I can't say for sure how often I'll post, but I will definitely post in here again!
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