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356 Posts
A Prologue
So my name is emily, and a month ago i had never owned a fish. My step mom was buying gold fish for my little siblings (she used to breed bettas and other fish) and she asked me to come pick out a couple of my own to put in their 10 gallon tank. During our visit to the pet store, i passed the bettas. i had heard the name and i guess i had seen some before but they were just like every other fish to me. As i was waiting for my brothers to pick out their fish and get them bagged however, i found myself wandering back to the betta shelves checking out all the gorgeous fish. When the kids were done choosing their fish my step mom came up behind me and asked if i was going to get one. I didnt know if my mom would let me keep it and i didnt want to spend a lot of money without knowing anything about them. but my step mom had a spare one gallon tank so all id need was the food and the fish right? so i bought the fish and a little food and dechlorinator pack, and figured my mom would probably be ok with it
I got him home and in his tank and set out on the internet to find out more about him! it was then that i realized how little i knew... i did some research and comparison shopping, and the next day drove back to the pet store to get a 25w heater and a 3 gal tank. I left with a 5.5 tank and 50w heater, which saved me about 5 bucks. shortly after that, sadly, my first betta, St. Jimmy died... i believe it was from necropsy and that there wasnt much i couldve done... i didnt want the money i spent on him to go to waste though... so after mourning for the rest of the day, i went to buy a new fish after school the next day and to get my water tested.
When i got to petsmart, i was debating between 2 fish. there was this really pretty red veil tail with some light blue scales, and there was the bright blue crown tail. St. Jimmy was a blue/red crown tail and i wasnt sure if i wanted someone else so similar in appearance. but i also wasnt sure if i wanted omeone totally different... the veil tail was cheaper... but my little guy was so active! i went the day after theyd restocked so that was probably why. they didnt have dividers so all the fish could see each other and he was just flaring the entire time i was debating. so i spent the extra money hoping that, since he was more active, hed be healthier and more likely to live.
So i took him home floated him in his cup overnight and gradually introduced him the next day, and hes been alive and well for 2 weeks he didnt eat for a while, but it made it that much more exciting when he did! his fins are a little curled and im not sure why, hard water was suggested, but i was told it was soft. so hopefully thats not permanent or harmful, but overall i think hes doing well! and hopefully i wont have any bad news in this journal thanks for reading and ill be sure to keep you posted!
So my name is emily, and a month ago i had never owned a fish. My step mom was buying gold fish for my little siblings (she used to breed bettas and other fish) and she asked me to come pick out a couple of my own to put in their 10 gallon tank. During our visit to the pet store, i passed the bettas. i had heard the name and i guess i had seen some before but they were just like every other fish to me. As i was waiting for my brothers to pick out their fish and get them bagged however, i found myself wandering back to the betta shelves checking out all the gorgeous fish. When the kids were done choosing their fish my step mom came up behind me and asked if i was going to get one. I didnt know if my mom would let me keep it and i didnt want to spend a lot of money without knowing anything about them. but my step mom had a spare one gallon tank so all id need was the food and the fish right? so i bought the fish and a little food and dechlorinator pack, and figured my mom would probably be ok with it
I got him home and in his tank and set out on the internet to find out more about him! it was then that i realized how little i knew... i did some research and comparison shopping, and the next day drove back to the pet store to get a 25w heater and a 3 gal tank. I left with a 5.5 tank and 50w heater, which saved me about 5 bucks. shortly after that, sadly, my first betta, St. Jimmy died... i believe it was from necropsy and that there wasnt much i couldve done... i didnt want the money i spent on him to go to waste though... so after mourning for the rest of the day, i went to buy a new fish after school the next day and to get my water tested.
When i got to petsmart, i was debating between 2 fish. there was this really pretty red veil tail with some light blue scales, and there was the bright blue crown tail. St. Jimmy was a blue/red crown tail and i wasnt sure if i wanted someone else so similar in appearance. but i also wasnt sure if i wanted omeone totally different... the veil tail was cheaper... but my little guy was so active! i went the day after theyd restocked so that was probably why. they didnt have dividers so all the fish could see each other and he was just flaring the entire time i was debating. so i spent the extra money hoping that, since he was more active, hed be healthier and more likely to live.
So i took him home floated him in his cup overnight and gradually introduced him the next day, and hes been alive and well for 2 weeks
he didnt eat for a while, but it made it that much more exciting when he did! his fins are a little curled and im not sure why, hard water was suggested, but i was told it was soft. so hopefully thats not permanent or harmful, but overall i think hes doing well! and hopefully i wont have any bad news in this journal thanks for reading and ill be sure to keep you posted!
