# Wanted a little girl - but came home with this...



## summersea (Jul 26, 2013)

It’s official. I am an addict.

It has been a while since I have been on the site but my other 5 boys have all been happy and healthy so there was nothing to report…until today!

I am a high school teacher and already have one of my betta boys in a 29g community natural planted tank with 9 neon tetra, a bunch of red cherry shrimp, and a crap ton (scientific measurement there) of snails. But I also set up a 2g planted cookie jar tank complete with heater and sponge filter back in April. Other than a snail to combat algae/diatoms, it has set empty. The kids always ask what I have in there and always looked disappointed when I said “snail”. So…you know where things went from there.

My heart was set on a little female as I have never had one and had seen some around town previously. Thus started a 3 hour search that showed that NO ONE has any right now. Ugh. But at the last pet store I came across this little guy who just tugged at my heart…


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His water level was low and there was poop and algae littering the bottom of the cup. He is extremely pale and obviously stressed out with some fin biting going on with his tail. Poor boy.

So I brought him home and slowly turkey bastered out the old water and replaced it with treated water (plus stress coat) until it was wonderfully clean and full.


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Then trimmed a little wisteria stem from one of my other tanks at home to keep him comfortable until I can get him to work tomorrow.


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I don’t think his true colors will come in until he is settled in his permanent home tomorrow but I suspect he will be a mustard gas coloration (maybe not a true mustard gas but close I think…)! I can’t want to see how he turns out! 

I will post updated pics tomorrow once I get him settled. But would love name ideas!

_EDIT: Oh and in case anyone was worried, on the second picture that white dot on the little boy's side is NOT actually on him_


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## hrutan (Jun 25, 2014)

Wow. Anyone's guess about his colors, but you might be right about MG. My roommate suggested Charlie. I'm more of a mind to call him Tobias, but I have no idea why...haha.


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## BlueInkFish (Jan 13, 2013)

Wow !! What a beautiful boy!! Lucky find ^__^! In my area I can't find any beautiful MGs around here


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## summersea (Jul 26, 2013)

Hurtan - Ooo I like Tobias! I was also leaning toward Colonel Mustard if my color guess is accurate though that isn't very original lol

Litelboyblue - thanks! The pet store I got him at just opened up in town this year. They have a pretty good selection of colors but they all are very very small. I often wonder if their growth is stunted. This boy is about half the size of my other boys!


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## Bikeridinguckgirl14 (Oct 22, 2013)

I'm looking foreward to see how he colors up


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## BlueInkFish (Jan 13, 2013)

summersea said:


> Hurtan - Ooo I like Tobias! I was also leaning toward Colonel Mustard if my color guess is accurate though that isn't very original lol
> 
> Litelboyblue - thanks! The pet store I got him at just opened up in town this year. They have a pretty good selection of colors but they all are very very small. I often wonder if their growth is stunted. This boy is about half the size of my other boys!


Wow, he must be small then, eh? Well, that means you got a little betta in your hands then lol


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

(Not an MG, blue yellow bicolor)

He's super cute! Good on you for taking him in though :-D


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## summersea (Jul 26, 2013)

lilnaugrim - I wondered and was hoping you would respond! I knew you would know lol! Either way I like his colors I just hope they really pop once he settles in


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

:-D! I'm sure he will once he settles in well with you which shouldn't be long! :-D


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## SiameseFightingArt (Jun 17, 2014)

Can you upload some photos of him in an after tank?


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## summersea (Jul 26, 2013)

SiameseFightingArt - I will be doing that tomorrow. I can't get into my classroom to put him into his tank until then. I debated putting him in my hospital tank at home but then I would have to re-cup him tomorrow and I think that would be a lot of undo stress. So he will stay in his pet store cup until I get to work tomorrow.


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## BlueInkFish (Jan 13, 2013)

lilnaugrim said:


> (Not an MG, blue yellow bicolor)
> 
> He's super cute! Good on you for taking him in though :-D


Well, since your the master of blue and yellow Bettas lol please tell me what's the difference I honsestly don't know


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Between a bicolor and an MG?

MG's are technically a form of bicolor but they need a definitive black (technically but blue has also been accepted now) band around all the fins, not just the caudal or the anal fin. The fins need to be yellow and the body needs to be dark blue or black. 

While this boy does have a bit of a band, it's not enough to be considered MG, plus he's too light in color.  so therefore, he is a bicolor being blue and yellow Dragon scale ^_^


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## BlueInkFish (Jan 13, 2013)

lilnaugrim said:


> Between a bicolor and an MG?
> 
> MG's are technically a form of bicolor but they need a definitive black (technically but blue has also been accepted now) band around all the fins, not just the caudal or the anal fin. The fins need to be yellow and the body needs to be dark blue or black.
> 
> While this boy does have a bit of a band, it's not enough to be considered MG, plus he's too light in color.  so therefore, he is a bicolor being blue and yellow Dragon scale ^_^


Ohh lol now I get it  thanks for the tips !!


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## taquitos (Jun 27, 2013)

Wowwwww <3 <3 <3


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## summersea (Jul 26, 2013)

taquitos said:


> Wowwwww <3 <3 <3


 
Thanks taquitos :-D

----

Finally got the new boy settled into his tank! Phew! It is about an hour drive to work so he was very stressed out when we got here. If you look at the pics closely you can faintly see his stress stripes. Hopefully he settles in over the next few days. He has also been officially dubbed "Hooke" after Robert Hooke, the inventor of the microscope (seems fitting since I am a biology teacher...it was either that or Gregor {Mendel - father of genetics} or Darwin lol).

Hooke has been happily exploring his new digs. He jumps a lot when something startles him but he'll settle down eventually. 

Here he is acclimating and trying to figure out why he can't go swim around all the plants he sees ;-)

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Here is his full home...

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And his close up...

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I will update more pics in a day or two when his color perks up after he de-stresses


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## Bikeridinguckgirl14 (Oct 22, 2013)

Awww he looks like he's exploring


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## summersea (Jul 26, 2013)

Bikeridinguckgirl14 said:


> Awww he looks like he's exploring


 
Yup! He is exploring well...hopefully when I come back in to work tomorrow his stress stripes (under the dragon scales) will have lessened some. I hate that he is still so stressed out...poor boy.


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## Bikeridinguckgirl14 (Oct 22, 2013)

He will be ok


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## starlight910 (Jul 25, 2014)

I wish you good luck with your new betta


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## SiameseFightingArt (Jun 17, 2014)

<3 Good luck!


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## summersea (Jul 26, 2013)

Today is day 5 for Hooke in his new home. He is settling in pretty well though he still has his stress "spot" on his belly. His colors have started to darken up some more and he is eating well (took him a bit to get used to the NLS pellets).

Without further ado, here are some more pictures :-D

First, here is a comparison pic I did of Hooke next to one of my full grown boys at home before I brought him to school. You can tell Hooke is MUCH smaller than Blizzard! (They are side by side so no distance distortion)

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Now to recent pics! Turns out Hooke is pretty feisty when the camera (err...phone...) comes out...

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His body is still a bit lighter than I think he will eventually get but I am loving his colors. With the tannins in the water from the soil his fins almost blend in with the environment!

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I didn't want to stress him out too much today so that's in for pictures for now. I may try to take more next week ;-)


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## autojoy (Jun 16, 2014)

Hello Hooke! :wave: He's lovely!


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## BlueInkFish (Jan 13, 2013)

Hello, I would like to take him now XD Hand him over!!!! He's very beautiful  Good Job!!!


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## summersea (Jul 26, 2013)

Autojoy - thanks! 

Litelboyblu - Nope, sorry! All mine lol. He is quite the little character. I am going to enjoy having him by my desk at work!


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## BlueInkFish (Jan 13, 2013)

Oooh, by your desk ?? So exactly where do you live by your desk XD I'll snatch him up in the middle of the night then LOL I just loove the yellow and blues !


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## Tigger1027 (Jul 9, 2014)

He's gorgeous!!!


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## zenwolf474 (Jul 22, 2014)

He's so small! It's cute to watch them roam among their tanks


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## summersea (Jul 26, 2013)

Tigger - thanks! I am pretty partial myself lol

Zenwolf - he is an itty bitty thing! That's all it seems my LFS gets at that store. Will be interesting to see how much growing he does or if he stays little


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## Tuigirl (Aug 3, 2014)

This is great!
What a nice addition to the work environment.
What did the kids say?
You taught them a bit about betta care?


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## summersea (Jul 26, 2013)

Tuigirl - school starts this Friday so the kiddos haven't seen him yet 

And yup, I love to answer my students questions about bettas! I have another boy in my classroom who is in a 29g community tank with neon tetras, red chery shrimp, and a crap ton of snails. It amazes the students that he gets along so well with everyone in the tank. I have had see real students adopt bettas and love that they ask me for advice. It's a great learning experience for them.


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## summersea (Jul 26, 2013)

Whelp it has been 10 days and school starts in 2 days! I would say Hooke has settled in very well! His head is now a nice, dark black color rather than the pale grey from when he was stressed out. He is eating like a champ and seems pretty well settled! Yay! This will probably be my last update on him for a while as the craziness of school starts up but here are a few pics I took of him today.

At first he was a bit shy of the phone:

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Then he came up for his close up:

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Right about then he decided he needed to yawn and luckily I got it on camera!

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Gotta love these little guys and their personality!


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## zenwolf474 (Jul 22, 2014)

That's the most adorable series of pictures. Too bad mine are cameraphobes, I wish i could get a yawning picture!


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## Tuigirl (Aug 3, 2014)

Like that yawn!


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