**long post ahead, sorry!**
Hello!
I joined last week but never got around to introducing myself.
But my family has owned fish since before I was born, so I am definitely not new to the hobby! But this is the first time I've ever taken care of them on my own and I have definitely learned alot in the past 7 months of having them!
I bought my first betta in September and I've been hooked since (everyone's got their favorite type of fish, right?).
I currently have 5 bettas- and I'll spam the rest of my intro post with pictures of them lol
(pictures left to right)
This is my first betta, Leo (blue Veiltail). He is not the prettiest betta, but he makes up for it in his personality! I got him in the beginning of September (actually this week will be 7 months since I got him) and he's been through so much. He's had ammonia burns, salt burns, velvet (nastiest thing ever), eye cloud/popeye (though not sure if the popeye was really there, it was hard to tell), slightly blind in right eye. Basically, he's the survivor fish! But I love him to death. He's also one of the most fish-friendly bettas I've ever met (as in, he once let a ghost shrimp ride on his back).
The second picture is of Sparky (my half-giant plakat male). Labeled as a "King" by PetCo...he really takes that title to heart! I named him Sparky because when I got him in January, he had really bad nerve damage in his tail. Like he would curl up and twitch and it was awful to watch him. But he's 100x better now (sometimes he still has a bit of a twitch but not like before). He's prettiest when he flares because that's when you can really see his colors. Otherwise, he just looks black with a dark green iridescence on him.
The third picture is my female betta Sassy. She's a little Crowntail and she wasn't exactly planned for. I was in PetCo getting a new filter cartridge and she was on the very bottom rack for the bettas. She was so skinny and tiny and I had to take her home. She was scared when she was in her cup but once she was out in her tank she was a little firecracker...hence her name lol. For the first couple of weeks I fed her frozen brine shrimp (which she still loves) and taught her to eat from my hand, and taught her to follow my fingers outside the tank. So smart!
The last picture is of Quinn (double tail). He is my 5th betta and, again, not really planned for. I went in to "just look" and the sales guy, who had originally hidden him behind the counter to take him home, gave him to me and told me to give him a nice home. But he is my most beautiful betta (a little biased, I know). The only flaw I can see is that one eye is set a little higher than the other and makes his face look funny...he looks like "Grumpy Betta" on one side and "Happy Betta" on the other lol. But he's still very cute!
[I'll attach these guy's pics in another post]
My latest addition is a baby Doubletail. Half planned for, half not. I had already wanted a baby but wanted to wait for the right one...I went into PetCo to return something and saw their new betta shipment. The first double tail baby I'd seen since December!! I keep him/her in a 1 gallon tank (only because it's the only tank that will hold the 81* temp needed for such a little one). But I change their water every 2 days (to combat the growth-inhibiting hormone they secrete) and feed them 4x a day (food is high in protein!!). Spoiled baby!!
Toby was my 2nd betta that I got in November. He was a teal Delta tail, and so pretty!! But since January I'd noticed him getting skinnier and biting/losing his tail. No matter what I did he wouldn't gain weight (his eyes looked like they were popping out because he was so skinny). He passed away last Thursday, and I found him after I got home from class. I'm not ashamed to say that I did cry when I found him.
Well..there's my little betta clan!! I know it's a long post, sorry about that!!!
Hello!
I joined last week but never got around to introducing myself.
But my family has owned fish since before I was born, so I am definitely not new to the hobby! But this is the first time I've ever taken care of them on my own and I have definitely learned alot in the past 7 months of having them!
I bought my first betta in September and I've been hooked since (everyone's got their favorite type of fish, right?).
I currently have 5 bettas- and I'll spam the rest of my intro post with pictures of them lol
(pictures left to right)
This is my first betta, Leo (blue Veiltail). He is not the prettiest betta, but he makes up for it in his personality! I got him in the beginning of September (actually this week will be 7 months since I got him) and he's been through so much. He's had ammonia burns, salt burns, velvet (nastiest thing ever), eye cloud/popeye (though not sure if the popeye was really there, it was hard to tell), slightly blind in right eye. Basically, he's the survivor fish! But I love him to death. He's also one of the most fish-friendly bettas I've ever met (as in, he once let a ghost shrimp ride on his back).
The second picture is of Sparky (my half-giant plakat male). Labeled as a "King" by PetCo...he really takes that title to heart! I named him Sparky because when I got him in January, he had really bad nerve damage in his tail. Like he would curl up and twitch and it was awful to watch him. But he's 100x better now (sometimes he still has a bit of a twitch but not like before). He's prettiest when he flares because that's when you can really see his colors. Otherwise, he just looks black with a dark green iridescence on him.
The third picture is my female betta Sassy. She's a little Crowntail and she wasn't exactly planned for. I was in PetCo getting a new filter cartridge and she was on the very bottom rack for the bettas. She was so skinny and tiny and I had to take her home. She was scared when she was in her cup but once she was out in her tank she was a little firecracker...hence her name lol. For the first couple of weeks I fed her frozen brine shrimp (which she still loves) and taught her to eat from my hand, and taught her to follow my fingers outside the tank. So smart!
The last picture is of Quinn (double tail). He is my 5th betta and, again, not really planned for. I went in to "just look" and the sales guy, who had originally hidden him behind the counter to take him home, gave him to me and told me to give him a nice home. But he is my most beautiful betta (a little biased, I know). The only flaw I can see is that one eye is set a little higher than the other and makes his face look funny...he looks like "Grumpy Betta" on one side and "Happy Betta" on the other lol. But he's still very cute!
[I'll attach these guy's pics in another post]
My latest addition is a baby Doubletail. Half planned for, half not. I had already wanted a baby but wanted to wait for the right one...I went into PetCo to return something and saw their new betta shipment. The first double tail baby I'd seen since December!! I keep him/her in a 1 gallon tank (only because it's the only tank that will hold the 81* temp needed for such a little one). But I change their water every 2 days (to combat the growth-inhibiting hormone they secrete) and feed them 4x a day (food is high in protein!!). Spoiled baby!!
Toby was my 2nd betta that I got in November. He was a teal Delta tail, and so pretty!! But since January I'd noticed him getting skinnier and biting/losing his tail. No matter what I did he wouldn't gain weight (his eyes looked like they were popping out because he was so skinny). He passed away last Thursday, and I found him after I got home from class. I'm not ashamed to say that I did cry when I found him.
Well..there's my little betta clan!! I know it's a long post, sorry about that!!!
