# My Betta Photos



## copperarabian (Apr 27, 2011)

I take a few hundred photo's in a average week, and if I'm really busy can go into the thousands(not all betta related), and I don't want to spam the "betta pictures" sticky thread so I made this thread 

At the moment I'm trying to perfect my betta photography and still have a long way to go. near the end of the year I'll pic out the best 12 and make a calendar, expect a lot of progress from now. I'll update it almost everyday until school, but keep it to a minimum of five images for each upload so most computers can process it without trouble(hopefully), once I start school I'll change to once or twice a week.

I hope everyone enjoys this as much as I do  

You might of seen some of these photo's already since I've been posting them around the forum. tomorrows update might have a 1 more older pic, then it will all be new stuff.

Unnamed








Dante








Unnamed








Altair








Unnamed


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## Neil D (Apr 10, 2011)

Beautiful!


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Trust me, Copper, your betta photography is pretty near perfected.


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## Bijou (Jun 28, 2011)

:welldone: 3 & 5... Yay Sparkles!!! :welldone:


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Seriously, Copper, one of these days I'm commissioning you to come and take portraits of all my bettas. That way when they're gone I won't have just these blurry, grainy pics to remember them by but beautiful, clear photos.


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## fishman12 (Sep 1, 2010)

How come you haven't won the betta photo contest every month? Those are amazing!


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## copperarabian (Apr 27, 2011)

Sakura8 said:


> Seriously, Copper, one of these days I'm commissioning you to come and take portraits of all my bettas. That way when they're gone I won't have just these blurry, grainy pics to remember them by but beautiful, clear photos.


lol that sounds like it would be fun  



> fishman12 How come you haven't won the betta photo contest every month? Those are amazing!


lol I've only had bettas for 3 months, and I had to figure out how to photograph bettas first XD I won the first contest I was in, maybe I'll win it this time C:


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## mysquishy (Mar 12, 2010)

Wow I love them all. GREAT pics!


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## PewPewPew (Nov 26, 2010)

Noice  Do want pics D;


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## Sweeda88 (Dec 6, 2010)

You have GREAT skills, and GORGEOUS fish!


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## copperarabian (Apr 27, 2011)

Here's some more pics, Tomorrow I'll take photo's of some of my girls if they are being good and my other boys.


My new marble and platinum orange dragon posed pretty for me, the dragons water has tannins in it, you can see why I like plain water more lol









Overhead view of my unnamed blue dragon mustard gas flaring, the next is also of him. I used my little mirror as a reflector to bounce more light onto him since the sun was lower, it shows his colors perfectly.


















Unnamed marble platinum/black/yellow in diffused sunlight. 
Don't worry, he's not depressed in this photo, he's just doing that thing where they swim around super fast/crazy and is just starting to dive XD









Dante


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Normally I'm not overly fond of the color yellow (okay, I flat out hate it to the point where I think I have an allergic reaction to it) but I really, really love your yellow marble guy, he looks so cheery-colored. And that second pic of your mustard gas is amazing because I think few of us have ever seen a betta's lips and eyes in such clear detail. Simply amazing. I would bet you could easily get a job as a photographer for a publication like Tropical Fish Hobbyist if you wanted, Copper, these pics are even better than some in that magazine!


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## Neil D (Apr 10, 2011)

^+1 unnamed marble looks like he's saying " be nice to Emo Betta, I is sensitive";-)


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## copperarabian (Apr 27, 2011)

Sakura8 said:


> Normally I'm not overly fond of the color yellow (okay, I flat out hate it to the point where I think I have an allergic reaction to it) but I really, really love your yellow marble guy, he looks so cheery-colored. And that second pic of your mustard gas is amazing because I think few of us have ever seen a betta's lips and eyes in such clear detail. Simply amazing. I would bet you could easily get a job as a photographer for a publication like Tropical Fish Hobbyist if you wanted, Copper, these pics are even better than some in that magazine!


I don't like yellow _or_ marble bettas but this guy was too cute to pass up(I did pass him up twice, and no one bought him even though he had been up in the front for a week and a half) XD He's my smallest male so that makes him extra adorable lol and thanks, That's such a huge compliment that you think it's good enough to be published in a fish magazine  



> *Neil D* ^+1 unnamed marble looks like he's saying " be nice to Emo Betta, I is sensitive":wink:


LOL yes, Emo fish need more love XD


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Well, I'm absolutely serious, your photography is incredible. And you're not even through college yet! :-D


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## copperarabian (Apr 27, 2011)

Sakura8 said:


> Well, I'm absolutely serious, your photography is incredible. And you're not even through college yet! :-D


*hugs* Thankyou so much! I'm hoping to get a macro lens this year, which will make photographing the bettas so much easier and have better quality since I won't need to crop as much  And I can't wait o finish college XD It's going to be so cool to get a job doing what I love and I learn so much from my teachers.  I was horribly stressed during the last summer and kinda lost what I really loved about photography, and instead was only doing the technical stuff instead of stuff that came from my soul. Photographing my fish has been a great break from school, and I can't wait to start the semester and be able to inspire myself self again 

Thanks Sakura!


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

You're welcome, Copper. I mean every word, I'm so impressed. And if you can get a job doing what you love, photographing what you love, you will be one of the luckiest people on earth.  Plus, making a living photographing fish would be a great excuse to get . . . more fish!


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## copperarabian (Apr 27, 2011)

lol That would be a really good part time job  I hope to work in advertising, or for discovery channel/national geographic, and maybe a little high fashion since that's where the money is and I want a really good job. I might try interning somewhere, one of my classmates is interning for the Jonas Brothers (lol, she hates it because she's their managers slave) and another for a amazing fashion magazine I forgot the name of XD

I'm thinking it would be fun to create a collection of photo's for a betta fine art book that also has very good information of care, and breeding. My photo's aren't even close to the quality(expecially since I'm not shooting in Raw right now, and don't have adobe light room available until the semester starts) I would need for that yet, but once they are I'll be starting a collection so I can one day do that


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

I wish my stupid brother wasn't so . . . stupid, or I'd ask him about photography jobs. You could photograph some of the light shows he does in NYC. But he's stupid and never communicates so it's like . . . enh. Anyways, if you ever publish that betta book, I'll buy like ten copies. I'd be like, "See, aren't they beautiful, aren't they?" every time someone came over.  

Do you get software off websites like www.academicsuperstore.com or do you get mega deals through your college?


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## copperarabian (Apr 27, 2011)

That's cool your brother gets to do that, it sucks he is bad at communicating though. I'd probably be nervous about doing a job like that, going all the way to new york and if he doesn't like the photo's I would feel so bad XD Night photography is also pretty tricky, I have a fast lens but I don't use it very often since I'm usually using my telephoto or 18-55mm XD

I use the software in the digital dark room labs at school (basically a computer room with awesome printers only for photo majors, and a bunch of other cool photography things), and those computers can also process RAW images which are waaaaay more detailed, you'll notice a huge difference once I start school and use the labs. I used to do traditional prints and not being able to burn and doge on my computer totally sucks XD but in adobe and lightroom you can do it digitally yay lol


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Hehe, well, if you ever are interested in photographing something like that, let me know and I'll bug him until I get a reply. 

Well, I know you could probably use a longer vacation but now I can't wait for your school to start so I can see what your pics look like with all the software at your school, hehe.


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## fishman12 (Sep 1, 2010)

Where are today's pics????????????? Want want want want want...


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## copperarabian (Apr 27, 2011)

Sakura8 said:


> Hehe, well, if you ever are interested in photographing something like that, let me know and I'll bug him until I get a reply.
> 
> Well, I know you could probably use a longer vacation but now I can't wait for your school to start so I can see what your pics look like with all the software at your school, hehe.


yeah, you'll notice a difference right away 



> fishman12 Where are today's pics????????????? Want want want want want...


lol I usually wait until like 5 to take pictures, because that's when the sun is in the perfect spot XD So I should have photo's up around 5:30-6. Tomorrow I'll try taking some photo's outside and I'll post them sooner.


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## betta dude (May 22, 2011)

wow thats realy pretty


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## copperarabian (Apr 27, 2011)

betta dude said:


> wow thats realy pretty


Thanks


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## fishman12 (Sep 1, 2010)

*pout* I have to get off before you take the pics


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Gives you something to look forward to when you get back on.


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## copperarabian (Apr 27, 2011)

These were all supposed to be new, but I spent most of the day waxing my car, then had to eat dinner and get gas XD a couple are new, some are from yesterday, and one is older. I shot one I love of my copper female I decided to name Integra(going with the Hellsing theme since her bro was Alucard), in all the other photo's either my Gourami or blue female would photo bomb the pics LOL

Since I didn't get to my other males today, I'll do that tomorrow  I know iI said I would have them today, but I was having so much fun making my car super shiny XD and waxing takes a long time lol

Integra, can you find her one bluish greenish scale lol










Alucard died  And I want to include him since I have a photo of his copper sister.









I think this guy poses for me O.O









Older pic of my king Estel because I love the flood lighting(extreme back light)









pic from yesterday of my marble, back lit. I don't like this as much, his platinum scales don't glow here lol


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

*squeals* I looove Integra's one blue-green scale! That's soo awesome! Aww, she and Alucard sure were good-looking siblings. They set each other off perfectly. I love the one of Estel, too, he looks like he's swimming in pure light and you can see every single scale so perfectly. C'mon, you've got to name all your bettas now!


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## copperarabian (Apr 27, 2011)

I'm getting there  I decided to name my blue dragon Elladan, and my neon blue cichlid Elrohir, just need way more O.O Maybe I need to make a thread so I can get other people's ideas lol


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Just beware if you start that thread, Neil will probably suggest Floofi again.


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## copperarabian (Apr 27, 2011)

lol, didn't fighter end up naming a fish/snail/moss ball Floofi? I can tell him if we had two Floofi's they would have to have a epic fight because _there can only be one Floofi_ *O.O*


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

I ended up naming my moss ball Floofi so Fighter didn't have to name one of her bettas that. Except it seems like they might end up being named Awesome Sauce and Chunkers. Sorry, Fighter. ^_^ 

Yes, only one Floofi and I have her!!!!


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## copperarabian (Apr 27, 2011)

XD I'm pretty picky about names lol

I thought of a name for my jewel cichlid  I'm going to say it's a him even though I have no clue and call "him" Elrohir XD In LOTR Elladan and Elrohir are twins, and since my jewel cichlid and blue dragon are both blue, why not


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

I love it. The "El Blue" twins. That jewel cichlid is gorgeous, though, I really love the iridescence on his scales.


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## copperarabian (Apr 27, 2011)

too bad bettas don't live longer  It's really sad, his "twin" is going to outlive him by 5-8 years.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Yeah, that's a definite downside to bettas all right.


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## Neil D (Apr 10, 2011)

Can I have Floofi?


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

You can have A Floofi, just not MY Floofi, haha.


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## fishman12 (Sep 1, 2010)

Beautiful!


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## Neil D (Apr 10, 2011)

*_* floofi!!


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## fishman12 (Sep 1, 2010)

Just...Just... *sigh*


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## TheBlueBettaFish (Jun 30, 2011)

They are breath taking! *sighs like I'm watching a sunset*


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## fishman12 (Sep 1, 2010)

Where's the new ones?


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## copperarabian (Apr 27, 2011)

Sorry Fishman, my boys where getting two stressed out with all the photos  Because of that I'm going to start taking photo's every other day, that way they can get a break and I can get better photos since they will be more active.

Here's four to make up for yesterday, and I'll update again tomorrow 

My Marble hm female from NIB, small depth of field is fun XD









Seras









Glorfindel









Elladan who finally has a name!


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

I love the unnamed female, she looks like she has mascara on. That and she went overboard with her eyeliner. Elladan has such a great "Whatchoo lookin' at punk?" expression. Glorfindel and Seras just naturally seem to pose and look perfect. Beautiful as always, Copper.


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## fishman12 (Sep 1, 2010)

*cry* every other day... They're great, can't wait for more. hehehe


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## thebettashop (Jun 24, 2011)

great pictures! Quality shots!


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## Sweeda88 (Dec 6, 2010)

@thebettashop. OMG There's a Betta shop in Minnesota?! I.MUST.GO.THERE!!!!


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## sunrise2397 (Jul 19, 2011)

man you take the best betta photos ive ever seen!! makes my betta photos look likee crap! hahaha but seriously this had gotten me to actually WANT to try when taking my betta photos. normally i just snap a photo and thats good enough for me haha


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

I know, I agree, Sunrise. I want to head to my Borders and get a digital photography book for dummies before they close up shop. I feel like I'm doing a total injustice to my handsome/beautiful bettas by taking such lousy pics of them.


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## copperarabian (Apr 27, 2011)

Thanks everyone 

*@sunrise
*It helps if you use natural light (like direct sunlight from the window, but make sure the fish aren't there long enough for the water to heat up)


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## sunrise2397 (Jul 19, 2011)

Sakura8 said:


> I know, I agree, Sunrise. I want to head to my Borders and get a digital photography book for dummies before they close up shop. I feel like I'm doing a total injustice to my handsome/beautiful bettas by taking such lousy pics of them.


hahah i know i feel the same way!



copperarabian said:


> Thanks everyone
> 
> *@sunrise
> *It helps if you use natural light (like direct sunlight from the window, but make sure the fish aren't there long enough for the water to heat up)


ohh okay that must be it, when i take my pictures their not in direct sunlight. thanks for the tip!


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## fishman12 (Sep 1, 2010)

Can't wait! *steals memory card to look at all photos*


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## copperarabian (Apr 27, 2011)

I went over to Rocky's house today and kidnapped her bettas for a mini photo shoot XD

Her VT









And two of her CT since he was a good model and I loved his colors lol


















Caligula









And this is a really weird picture of Astaldo, but I think it's too funny not to post.


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## fishman12 (Sep 1, 2010)

Love 'em! And those were hers so you can still take some of yours, right? *looks expectantly*


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## copperarabian (Apr 27, 2011)

fishman12 said:


> Love 'em! And those were hers so you can still take some of yours, right? *looks expectantly*


lol the last two are actually mine, I wanted to take some of hers so people wouldn't get bored of seeing the same bettas in every photo, some of mine(like my copper) hate having their photo's taken. I'll post a few in the I have no self control thread for you XD


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## fishman12 (Sep 1, 2010)

Ok, thanks. hehehehe *steals memory card again*


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Copper and Rocky: Rocky, your bettas are SOOOOO gorgeous, I love their colors, they look like a tropical fruit salad! Copper, you do such an awesome job, I bet you could easily have a sidejob photographing fish/pets in the bay area. And I love the last pic of Astaldo, he looks so funny!


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## Neil D (Apr 10, 2011)

Love em!!!


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## MissRockyHorror (Jun 25, 2011)

Those look awesome Copper XD (saves to computer XD )
my VT Is Arc'en and my CT is Oberon  I also now have 2 unnamed CT's a girl and a boy (got the girl today)


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## MissRockyHorror (Jun 25, 2011)

Can I post them to my FB? I would obviously give you full credit  I just want people to be able to see my boys better than my pics that don't really show their color


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## MissRockyHorror (Jun 25, 2011)

I would even link them to your deviantart  *puppy dog eyes*


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## copperarabian (Apr 27, 2011)

MissRockyHorror said:


> Those look awesome Copper XD (saves to computer XD )
> my VT Is Arc'en and my CT is Oberon  I also now have 2 unnamed CT's a girl and a boy (got the girl today)


Yeah go ahead, they are your fish lol Here's a pic of your new guy you can post too, I don't like it very much since he was in a round bowl XD It shows his colors perfectly though


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## bettaloverforever16 (Jan 14, 2011)

*Drools* Such pretty bettas


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## MissRockyHorror (Jun 25, 2011)

XD thanks!


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## fightergirl2710 (Jun 9, 2011)

Rocky, you fishies are so pretty! How have I not found this thread before?? Copper, people would pay you a lot of money to photograph their fish lol! You got talent my friend!


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## copperarabian (Apr 27, 2011)

fightergirl2710 said:


> Rocky, you fishies are so pretty! How have I not found this thread before?? Copper, people would pay you a lot of money to photograph their fish lol! You got talent my friend!


Thanks


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## fishman12 (Sep 1, 2010)

Waiting.... waiting... *steals memory card... again*


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Haha, one of these days I AM going to pay Copper to take pictures of my fish. She could have a steady job as long as she lived with in driving distance since I get new fish all the time. :-D Copper, better hope I can talk my mom into a big 30g for cichlids, then I could probably put you through college!


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## copperarabian (Apr 27, 2011)

Sakura8 said:


> Haha, one of these days I AM going to pay Copper to take pictures of my fish. She could have a steady job as long as she lived with in driving distance since I get new fish all the time. :-D Copper, better hope I can talk my mom into a big 30g for cichlids, then I could probably put you through college!


lol that would be awesome. If I ever do take photo's of your fish I can also make you high quality 8.5x11" prints if you wanted them XD You should see if your mom would let you get an even bigger tank  Then you could buy some really pretty cichlids from the lfs along with any hybrids I might get


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

You're awesome Copper.  And I'd love an even bigger tank, more cichlids! But I have a feeling if I want anything bigger than 30g, I'll have to move out and then I won't have money for a tank, haha.


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## MissRockyHorror (Jun 25, 2011)

there's A SUPER PRETTY cichlid at petclub I absoluty LOVE he or she is SO PRETTY *drools*


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## MissRockyHorror (Jun 25, 2011)

how many females in a sorority can you have in a 10G?


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## Sweeda88 (Dec 6, 2010)

MissRockyHorror said:


> how many females in a sorority can you have in a 10G?


Five.


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## MissRockyHorror (Jun 25, 2011)

thanks 
I'm thinking about starting a little sorority XD
but only if I find a few more girls I like


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

I love my 10g sorority. Occasionally I toss a sixth girl in for a day or two to give her a break from being housed with a male. She tends to get depressed after a few days, like she's sad she hasn't spawned yet or something. But five is really the limit.


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## MissRockyHorror (Jun 25, 2011)

so do the females tend to get along?


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Yup, but they sure didn't right away. It took me three tries to get them to get along. The first three times I was really afraid they were going to kill each other but now they've settled down and they just nip every now and then. The three most important things to remember when starting a sorority: 1) lots of hiding places 2) don't give up and 3) get Copper to take lots of pics.


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## MissRockyHorror (Jun 25, 2011)

lol I love the last one


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

I love the pics Copper took of your bettas. They're awesome.


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## MissRockyHorror (Jun 25, 2011)

I <3 them to!  you can actually see their pretty colors


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## fishman12 (Sep 1, 2010)

I've decided that I'm gonna do an outside photoshoot while the corie are eating. Kill 2 birds with one stone :-D


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Good idea, fishman. How long does it take your cories to eat?


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## fishman12 (Sep 1, 2010)

25 minutes roughly. They eat until the pellets are gone.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Wow, takes mine all night. Post pics of your photo shoot, can't wait to see Quicksilver in the sun.


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## fishman12 (Sep 1, 2010)

Well the pellets dissolve quickly, and they are focused on eating, plus they are bigger/faster nommers lol


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

True, my cories are about an inch long at most.


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## fishman12 (Sep 1, 2010)

Well I need to be off *finds excuse to stay on*


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Aww, wish you could stay.


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## blueridge (Jul 1, 2011)

:shock: Wow you take awesome pics! Absolutely love Elladan!


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