# The Struggle is Real: Euro's fish and MTS



## Euro (Nov 13, 2015)

Sort of starting another journal for just my general betta keeping (with some appearances by other fish in the house as well).

I always had fish growing up. My mom and dad set up a 29 gallon tank when I was just a small kid and we had a pair of gouramis, some dainios and a pleco in it. There were other fish and there might have been an angelfish as well (yikes, to the pleco and the fish mixing I know), but I always remember having that tank right at the wall of our kitchen. I remember the day that tank finally broke, one of the seals spring a leak and in one great, crashing gush, gallons of water spilled onto the floor. We tried to save as many fish as we could, but only one single gourami survived. We were moving in a few weeks anyway, so my parents said "well, we'll just leave him in the broken tank" until we do move. There was about 6 inches of water up from the bottom, so the poor thing lived in that until we moved houses and got a new tank and reset that up.

I left for college and that last gourami finally croaked after putting up the good fight. I came home one day around my sophomore year to find the tank gone. My parents had craigslisted it because they couldn't keep ahead of the upkeep. 

Jump forward to 2013. I had just moved to Washington, DC for grad school. My soon-to-be wife and I just moved into our first apartment and we went to petco to look at the kitties UFA to see if one was right for us. We came out with a new betta boy, a 1.5 gallon bowl, conditioner, food, gravel and plants. I had no idea what I was doing. Neither did she. Lord Gordon struggled for a few weeks for it was the dead of winter and our heat did not work. I then realized my mistake. I quickly upgraded him to a mini-bow 2.5 and got him a heater and that is when I saw his true personality show. 

Lord Gordon was with us for maybe a year before he died of a sickness (I believe it was a combo ICH and fin rot, but I don't recall, I wasn't read up on betta illnesses back then). Since I was busy with life and school and heavily depressed living in the city, I didn't realize how quickly and how severely he had gotten sick so by the time I saw it, it was too late. He was living in a 10 gallon by then with a quartet of panda cory friends for the bottom. I set up his old 2.5 as a hospital tank and he held on for a week before he died. I still am upset with myself and I vowed that I wouldn't let that happen ever again. I still miss him often and I think about him whenever I see those mini-bows on the shelf at petco.

Here I am today. I have 14 tanks, I have 16 bettas, soon to be more. Maybe I have a problem, maybe I don't. Lord Gordon started this all. When I just need to de-stress from work and just sit at my desk watching my bettas wiggle around happily in their tanks, I just smile at the joy they bring me. I know that fish are exactly the type of pet I want to have all the time in my life (well, along with cats, but that's another thing for another forum </crazy cat person as well> lol). LOL I guess the title says it all, the struggle is real when you want to just take home all the bettas and feed them and give them good clean homes. But sometimes, I am weak to that struggle and this is how you end up with 16+ betta. 

So, that being said, I'm going to basically chronicle the stuff that just happens in my fish life here. Enjoy, fellow forumites.


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## Euro (Nov 13, 2015)

OKAY SORRY FIRST POST ISNT ABOUT BETTAS BUT

My idiot crayfish found the one hole in her hide and now she won't come out. Its a large hide, but its hollow and underneath theres just a tiny hole where the resin casting base was cut and she managed to find it and get into it when I was changing water and tilted the thing to let the air escape. Now I haven't seen her come out in weeks, I just see the occasional claw stick out or feeler so I know shes still alive. I'm always just like "colonel hogan, please come out." I can't aquascape her tank anymore because I have this awkward piece of real estate tilted so it doesn't trap her in it. I feel like klink just HOGAAANNNN every time I water change because I try to coax her out so I can FINALLY PUT IT DOWN PROPER AND CONTINUE WITH THIS PROJECT BUT ALAS

This is colonel hogan before she disappeared into the void










Pls come out, Hogan, I just want to make your tank beautiful for you.


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## Whippet44 (Sep 28, 2015)

The crayfish.. Hehe. 
Good luck getting her out from the bottomless abyss!


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## Euro (Nov 13, 2015)

I have put out her favourite sinking pellets in a little lid on the ground, hopefully that might coax her out


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## Euro (Nov 13, 2015)

-sideeyes- Also, so like.... I now have an empty 5.5.... and Im super tempted to convert it to pico/nano saltwater with a goby+ shrimp combo, and I just... I dunno, the struggle.


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## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

LOL quick! Sell the tank before the fish multiplies! XD 

You're like me LOL give me an open tank and I'd immediately fill it. My 5g was only supposed to be a back-up tank. Less than a week later Nichi came along. Oops


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## Euro (Nov 13, 2015)

Olivia27 said:


> LOL quick! Sell the tank before the fish multiplies! XD
> 
> You're like me LOL give me an open tank and I'd immediately fill it. My 5g was only supposed to be a back-up tank. Less than a week later Nichi came along. Oops



LOL yeah thats me to a T. 

The problem with my saltwater interests its either the fish is like a pico-nano fish or needs 100+ gallons so im like FFFFFFff. Cause I have this tank/space for a nano-sized tank but the wife said I could do a 60 gallon saltwater but my only problem is one of the gobies that I really want is so smol I'm so tempted to set up a small saltwater as well to keep them so I can enjoy them more rather then try to find a 1.5 inch fish in a 60 gallon tank. Maybe in the future.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+2124+155&pcatid=155 <--- if I did small coldwater nano tank

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+31+181&pcatid=181 <--- "regular tropical reef" goby

so im like OH SNAP OH WELL GUESS I GOTTA DO 2 SMALL SALTWATERS

Although, I did fall in love with a small puffer fish and hes going to be the main "centerpiece'" in my reef tank even though I know some might nibble at corals here and there but I... made the mistake of stopping by this one fish store and I saw the one I wanted in person and there was one in particular I just wish I had the tank now because he was perfect. I hope he went to a good home.


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## Euro (Nov 13, 2015)

I brought home a new friend the other day. Hed been sitting at my petco for almost 2 months so I told myself that if he was still there when I went to get catfood I would bring him home... and lol!!! he was there so I guess he was coming home ;D

Hes my first ever king betta :3


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## ShelbysFish (Sep 5, 2013)

He has a sweet face.


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## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

Great find!


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## DangerousAngel (Mar 26, 2015)

I'm going to have to sub!!
Good luck with the saltwater, I've never done one so I couldn't be of any help.
But congrats on your adorable new King! I'm hooked on those guys, so watch him closely..;-) :lol: Does he have a name yet?


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## Euro (Nov 13, 2015)

The new boys name is Issac Newton, or just "Newt" for short

I need better pictures, because on top of his blue wash, he has very faint black spots/koi coloration underneath it and just AHHHHH hes beautiful. I never really cared for kings just cause whether I think a fish is pretty or not is a big deciding factor on if I get them and I never found kings to be particularly interesting in color (at least the pet store ones) and then this guy came along and my heart melted. his little yellow face is what did it ;u;


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## DangerousAngel (Mar 26, 2015)

Oohh that's a cute name!

I see what you mean, our PetCos Kings are the typical dark with blue/red fins, with the occasional different colored one. But it's not really the coloring that attracts me to them, it's their sweet, sensitive personality that draws me in, they're so sweet, and to see how excited and happy they get when you come see them is adorable! They just seem so different, you know?


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## Euro (Nov 13, 2015)

Ditto, now that I have one and have had time to see him out of his cup, he's winning me over more and more ;u;!

-screams- OMG GUYS I'VE RELEASED THE GIRLS INTO THE SORORITY! My job this week is making sure peeps don't start drama. There is one girl that looks like shes going to be the troublemaker so I have the "tank of shame" all ready if she starts getting too feisty.


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## Euro (Nov 13, 2015)

A little over 24 hours into the sorority and so far so good. Only "casulty" has been some of queenie's tail, everyone else seems to be fairly in one piece. There's one girl, still unnamed but I'm just thinking of "Little Mosnter" lol, who is the one who might ed up being the trouble maker, but so far the longest "fight" has only lasted a few seconds, no real sustained fighting that I've observed yet, so she doesn't have to go into the tank of shame, but if she gets any more aggressive shes going to get the time out.

Otachi came to me with sort of torn fins but hers dont seem to have gotten any worse, and no ones really showing any stress lines except Mako when the lights come on immediately in the morning. Is that a normal thing? like as soon as the lights come on its like "I must fight them!" and the stress lines come up but they disapepar about half an hour later. Will she just get used to the light coming on after a while?


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## Euro (Nov 13, 2015)

http://akettleoffish.tumblr.com/

Also started a fish tumblr because why not?


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## Euro (Nov 13, 2015)

Going to Harrisburg today to pick up some pond equipment off craigslist, wish me luck that its not a total dud


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## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

Good luck  x hope the sorority goes well for you. Is Lucy part of the gang? I remember she's pretty timid


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## Euro (Nov 13, 2015)

Olivia27 said:


> Good luck  x hope the sorority goes well for you. Is Lucy part of the gang? I remember she's pretty timid


So far its doing well, Queenie got some ripped fins but between yesterday and today theres no new tears, so I'm just doing daily water changes and keeping an eye out on her. Her and Little Monster both insist they want the same corner of the tank and I'm like you two are the only ones with neighbor problems. So Im basically just watching them, everyone else seems to have mostly sorted whos where and whats what.

Lucy is doing great! She and her "neighbor", Signe, are both really small in comparison to everyone else in the tank, so they've taken to just patrolling together. And all the larger girls hang out in the front of the tank, on the front side of the submarine, so Lucy and Signe have just taken over the back of the tank together and so far no ones really tried bothering them back there.


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## Euro (Nov 13, 2015)

Vittorio was being super friendly today


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## Euro (Nov 13, 2015)

Just an update, Sorority is doing amazingly. all the girls like it when I stick my hand in the tank because they all come to just chill on my palm so Ill have like 6+ girls just sitting on my hand hanging out


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## Euro (Nov 13, 2015)

Otachi saying hello, she came to me with torn fins and they are slowly healing 










Signe, Belladonna, Queenie and Little Monster. You can see how obliterated queenies tail was (she was the only one who ended up with torn fins) but theres already growth coming back on them and no signs of further rot or tears so I think shes going to bounce back quickly. Little Monster is the one on top of the pile and I think shes the one that tore the fins in the first place but now I think they've sorted their stuff out.










BellaDonna and Mako










Hedy Lamarr and Signe. Signe has sort of a grump face because of her coloration XD










Slightly blurry pic of Otachi










Winston. His fins always looked torn but they don't get worse and they've been that way for months. Is it just a thing that they wont grow back? (that and in this picture he just turned around so his tailfin looks shorter then it actually is)










Quellek's face is all black now :3!










The Pumpkin King showing off his fins.










Pvt. Hudson!


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## Euro (Nov 13, 2015)

Also the new hara jerdoni finally came in ;u;


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## Euro (Nov 13, 2015)

I moved quellek into a bigger tank and let my wife have the 3 gal fluval. Dollarhyde appreciates the extra space, though he still wants to fight me all the time lol.


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## DangerousAngel (Mar 26, 2015)

Your boys and girls are SO stunning! Their names are so clever (I'm especially fond of The Pumpkin King)
The Jerdoni are so cute!


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## Euro (Nov 13, 2015)

That was the wifes doing since I let her name him and we had been watching Nightmare before christmas earlier LOL

this is the waifu's fish, meet Dolarhyde (because he was listed as a "Red Dragon" on the aquabid thing lol)


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## Euro (Nov 13, 2015)

First Goldfish are in the pond!


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