# Inner Beauty!



## Skyewillow

We have *DRAMAQUEEN*'s permission to run this contest and it's not sponsored by BettaFish.com:

"Hidden behind a cup and another, after another...they sit there, and they wait. Hidden away in the shadows of the fancier, the shelf concealing them, they float listless in a darkness they never deserved. Shunned by their breeders because they aren't as pretty, overlooked by customers because they're not as bright......we're now shining the spotlight on 'ugly' betta fish."
-Syriiven

the girl I'm bidding on has inspired Syriiven and I to hold a contest for the aesthetically challenged bettas. You know, the ones who are spoon headed, hunchbacked, deformed (crooked spines, missing fins, messy scales), poorly finned, tailbiters, permanently injured, or massively miscolored.

We want to hear the story about how you came to adopt this uniquely beautiful betta, and if your fish needs accommodation for a disability, we'd love to hear how you help them live a "normal" life.

DURATION: Entries can be submitted until May 23rd, 2013 @ Midnight (Eastern Time). After that, your judges (Syriiven, MoonShadow, and myself) will chose 6 winners, 3 males, and 3 females.

Rules:
-The fish HAS to be able to have a good quality of life.
-Has to be your betta (could be under the rainbow bridge, or currently in your possession, none that you've rehomed)
-You may enter one male, and one female, but only one of them can win.

Now on to the fun part!!! PRIZES!!!!!

1st place prize is:
A card with Syriiven's artwork of your fish, that says "_____ won first place male/female entry in the Inner Beauty contest!" AND a custom plush of your fish from me!
SAMPLES:



2nd place prizes:
10 Indian Almond Leaves (not pretty, but functional)


3rd Place prizes:
Digital drawing of your fish by me.


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## Syriiven

Huzzah! -throws confetti-!


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## Rosewynn

Awesome prizes and great idea. Both my buddies right now are the 'norm' so I can't enter but I can't wait to see/read the stories.


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## Syriiven

Its going to be great! =D


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## Saphira101

Will Tesla count?

He passed away on 2/25/13.

He was a rescue from Petco that had bitten off most of his caudal fin at the store due to stress. He was only with me for a few days, but I became very attached to him. I was in Petco "just to look" when I saw him. I could tell that he would color up in some warm water, and I greatly pitied him for what happened to his tail.

Sorry, this is not a wonderful picture of him:










Here's a story I wrote about how I met him from his point of view two days after I got him:

I sat at the bottom of my cup, miserable. I’d already gotten tired of my caudal fin weighing me down in this disgusting water, so I’d bitten it off. I was freezing, and as I looked across the aisle at the others, I knew they felt the same. A blue HM had already given up on his struggle, and was lying at the surface of the water, not quite dead, not quite alive. As the humans walked past, I felt their thoughts weigh down on me like a rock. All of their trouble and unhappiness, their negative thoughts, it was terrible. I was starting to wish that Bettas hadn’t been given the ability to sense human emotions. I swam up to the surface for air, and as I did, a small cloud of my own waste rose up around me. You’d think we’d at least get a water change once in a while, but no. We weren’t even fed daily. I hadn’t eaten in five days. Suddenly, I felt a change in the emotional atmosphere of the store. Another human walked in, but her thoughts were different. They weren’t like the others, cold and full of negativity. She walked over to the Betta aisle, and examined the others. She frowned, as if she realized the deplorable conditions we were kept in. She walked across the aisle, and stopped in front of my prison. Her eyes widened, as if they weren’t big enough already. She stood there in front of me for several minutes before pulling a flat, rectangular box out of her pocket. I figured it must be some form of communication, because I’d seen some of the employees speaking into them. That’s not what she did though, she just held it up in front of my cup, and it made an artificial sort of clicking noise. She put it back into her pocket and after that, just stood beside me. An employee came up to her and they spoke for a time, but she stayed by my cup always, as if guarding me. After the employee left, she walked across the store to look at something, but returned shortly. I was glad for this because I wanted her to stay close. Her thoughts comforted me. She stayed by me for about an hour, when another human who vaguely resembled her walked in and beckoned. The girl looked reluctantly back at me, and after a moment, she left. _Wait, don’t leave_, I thought. But my hopes were crushed. The girl was gone, and nobody would want a brown Betta with less than half a caudal fin. I sat miserably in my cup for two more horrid days, being overlooked by humans. My cup was relocated, but as usual, I watched some of the more flashy Bettas being taken home along with horribly small tanks or bowls scarcely bigger than my own cup. All of the sudden, I felt her presence. The girl was back, and she was carrying one of those “Kritter keepers” meant for reptiles. It was decently sized, three or four times as big as the average Betta tank. She looked around desperately. I realized that she didn’t know that I had been moved across the aisle. I swam around my cup frantically, and at last she saw me. She carefully picked up my cup, unlike the employees, who tend to shake us around a bit. She walked over to the register and paid for the tank and I. It was raining outside, and a few drops got into my cup, but I didn’t care. I was going home with _her_. Upon arriving home, I was tenderly set on a low counter while she set up my tank. It seemed she already had a heater, and for that I was grateful. She floated my cup in the tank of another Betta, who flared at me. I flared back. Soon, the girl came along and dropped something brown into my cup. It took me a moment to discover that it was food. It was delicious, and unlike those wretched, stale bloodworms that they feed us at the store, it wasn’t greasy. As I stared across the room, I counted four more Bettas in separate tanks. By this time I was warmed up comfortably. It was a new feeling for me. The girl came to feed me again, and this time, she called me Tesla. I realized that she had given me a name. I was overjoyed, for at last I had an identity. It has been two days since I came home with this girl and, honestly, they’ve been the best two days of my life.


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## Skyewillow

Yes, Tesla qualifies. And I love your story from his POV! ^_^


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## Syriiven

Whoo! First entry! I am so late saying that, but true story! 

I love the POV Story! That's wonderful!


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## Skyewillow

Anybody else? We need enough people to make this a contest!!!


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## Syriiven

Fabulous prizes! Come on and all! Do it for the forgotten fish!


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## jadaBlu

I don't want insult my fish because I'd still say he's cute and he has colors. Even if he doesn't win maybe others will step up and tell stories.
Curly is a bit of a ragga-muffin though. There was a nicer looking crowntail I passed over because I knew he was probably not going to get bought. I bought him from a box store. They keep their fish department way in the back and the bettas are not easily seen. I had done a renegade water change of some bettas including Curly in the store before I got reported by security and the "fish girl" came running back. By that time I was pretending to be shopping and I had the water conditioner I used in my cart. Before I left It's what I came there for. She spoke into her walkie talkie from a distance left the department she said as long I bought it there was nothing she could do. Before I left I plastered their betta fish care flyer across their betta shelf folded at the point where water quality is talked about being very important. Remarkably it was accurate. They were not following their own advice. The bettas were in putrid cups with some dead and dying.

It's these conditions that prompted me on impulse to buy my first bettas there and launched me into this betta world prior to getting Curly and many others. I came back another week and found the same conditions and plastered the flyer up again. I was little afraid to try the water change routine again. The next time I came back I left with fish. One (Perseus) had terrible amonia sores but he "ain't" ugly. Fiero is lovely and left with me because he was spirited enough to still be making a bubble nest in his cup. Curly was once again in a putrid cup of poop with yellowed water. I went to customer service complained about the conditions. They called the manager to report it. They discounted the fish.

Curly is shy crowntail that has color but his head is brown, he turns mostly brown and gets stripes when he's afraid. His crown is a bit of mess from the awful water. He will never have that perfect complete arc that many value. The good news is I was there last night it could have been a coincidence but all the cups were clean and there were no dead bettas which there always are every time I go. Here is Curly de Gallo because he has a curly crown and he's bit of a chicken gallo means rooster in Spanish.


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## Syriiven

Awww~ my Ryuu has the bad fin curl too from bad water (though the cup was decent the day I got him). I totally sympathize with wanting to save them all and make a point heard! Good for you! I think he's a lovely addition to the contest =)


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## Skyewillow

Curly still counts! I don't believe that there is such a thing as an ugly betta, just ones who are unique in their imperfections


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## Elsewhere

This is Themis:









When you first look at her, she looks gorgeous and like everyone would take her- that's why I did! She had been at the store about a week, hidden in the back. When I got into the car, I noticed her eyes. I thought nothing of them, but some of these players told me she was probably blind or going blind. I figured they were mistaken, she got around her tank so well! But since I have put her in the sorority, I have found she was just very used to her 10g tank and she really must be at least mostly blind  She can't get any food and she won't stop running into things. She'll be removed tomorrow and remain on my little 5g on my desk. I love her to bits and her deformity won't get me down on her- the people at the store said nobody had wanted her, but I didn't see her eyes so I thought they meant her colour. I actually went back recently and questioned them on this and they said that they had meant her eyes  Hopefully getting her out of the sorority will improve her vision!


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## Syriiven

Hi! Welcome to the contest! I'm so glad you kept her even though she's practically blind! I imagine some would've returned her. I don't think their sight comes back, but the more familiar she is with a place, the better off she is. As for food, trying some garlic scented stuff (if you can find NLS...) might help.


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## logisticsguy

This is a great contest! Oh boy I have some beauties for this one! Multiple candidates in Tank 3 . how will i decide who to enter! Can i enter as a group? My girls are gonna shine! Oh some uniquely sexually ambiguous males can I enter those?


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## Syriiven

Lol, only one of each.


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## DiiQue

I'll take one of each off your hands logisticsguy and then enter! Hehehe. This is a great contest! *subscribed*


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## Syriiven

Thanks DiiQue! =D


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## BeautifulBetta123

May i enter a deformed ct fry? he is looking for a forever home but has not yet found one. a lame story but one non the less.


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## Syriiven

Of course you can enter him! I didnt realize he still needed a home, I'll definitely adopt!


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## BeautifulBetta123

You will take him! We can continue this conversation on you journal thread. Wait if i rehome him to you isn't that against the rules?  guess you will need to wait until after this contest to get him lol. This is a great contest! I will post pics and his story tomorrow as the pics are on my ipad and i sort of got it taken away in social today XD Sorry for this spam but i will enter tomorrow! it is good the 'ugly' bettas get the most attention on this thread.


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## Syriiven

I think he still qualifies because you're searching for a good home for him, rather than culling him or tossing him to a store. You still care about his quality of life, even if you dont have the room. Afterall you took on the spawn because you cared for them, and you've krpt him alive.

But as I am a judge, he will be judged as your betra.

Also, I think Skyewillow should make the unbiased yes/no on this one.


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## Skyewillow

he's still technically in her possession at the time of entry.


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## BeautifulBetta123

So i am good to enter? yay will do so tomorrow night!


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## Syriiven

Woot!


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## Skyewillow

BeautifulBetta123 said:


> So i am good to enter? yay will do so tomorrow night!


Yuppers! Still counts.

I want that to be a note:
Fish can be up for adoption, as long as the fish is in your possession at the time of entry!


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## Skyewillow

also, if I'm not around much over the next few days, I'm going to be working on plushies.


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## Syriiven

For the cause!! -cheers-


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## Skyewillow

for my own "aesthetically challenged" beauty. <3


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## Syriiven

++++++++++1!!!!!! <3 <3 <3


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## Skyewillow

If we don't get any more contestants soon, I'll have to show you all the world's most aesthetically challenged guppy! Don't make me do it, Crit will make your back hurt just looking at her!

(for the record, Crit is my favorite guppy in the entire universe! <3 )


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## Syriiven

She means bsns prople. Srsbsns.


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## Skyewillow

SRS BSNS! -glare-

So yea, please enter! lol


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## carbonxxkidd

So do rescue bettas count? I have one (in my avatar) who was in pretty rough shape when I got him, but now he's beautiful...


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## Syriiven

I think for all entries we take under consideration based on the situation. If you could give us the story on how you chose him, that'd help us decide.


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## quietlythundering

I definitely plan on entering tonight! It's between my blind betta, Ray Charles, and Fiorenzo, a rescue that passed on.


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## Syriiven

Looking forward to it!


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## xShainax

This is Jaws' story. We went to Petsmart to buy dog treats and my parents let me buy a betta. I found a beautiful DS DeT who had a little bit of fin melt so I decided to rescue him, then I saw this pathetic little blue VT betta who bit his tail almost to a nub so I got him too. I bought a little one gallon aquarium with a tiny heater for the little betta who I dubbed Jaws since he was aggressive the moment I put him in the tank. He tried going after his reflection and flared every time I got out my blue Nintendo DSi to take pictures of him which was hilarious since I got a picture of him that looked like the frilled dinosaur thingy from the first Jurassic Park movie. I had so much fun watching his tail start to grow out, then one day, after taking a shower, I couldn't find him in his little tank so I looked everywhere for him hoping that I could save him if he jumped out. I saw my cat eating something and to my horror I saw that it was Jaws. He must've jumped out where my cat got him. I never left my door open ever again afraid of a repeat performance


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## carbonxxkidd

Well, as I was setting up my sorority in late December/early January I went to Petsmart very frequently over a few weeks time (almost every day). I was looking for females, but naturally looked at all the bettas. There was this one really sad looking dragon scale boy who never moved. His cup was in the same spot every time I went there, right in the middle of the rack, and he just layed on the bottom of his cup very clamped and very sad. Upon closer inspection, he had what looked to be balls of fungus on the tips of all of his fins, almost looking like drops of glue on each fin. After about two weeks of seeing him there, I brought him up to one of the employees, told them he was sick and asked if I could get a discount on him so I could take him home and make him feel better. They told me that they couldn't sell sick fish and that they were going to put him in the back for treatment and to call in a few days and check on him. I called two days later and he was still there. They said on the phone that he was "all better." I went to the store to see for myself, and his cup was back in the same spot it had always been and his condition was exactly the same. I was so mad that I grabbed him, paid for him, and stormed out. The ammonia in his cup was off the charts. He was slowly acclimated to a heated 2.5g tank with FRESH water, AQ salt, and some jungle fungus clear. He swam around slowly for the first day, occasionally rubbing up on the plant in his tank and was very clamped. The next day, he was unclamped and seemed to be doing much better. He still refused food, but I had faith. I brought him home some live daphnia from work which definitely stimulated his appetite. By day 3, he started flaring in a mirror for me and was basically a different fish. After about two weeks of medication, he was introduced to his NPT where he currently resides. 

Here are some videos of him when I first got him:
http://youtu.be/fLZ6n3bu1xw - When he was still clamped and sad
http://youtu.be/2yIPH_Tg8dc - Starting to feel better
http://youtu.be/iddnQc2gcSY - Right after being introduced to his new NPT

He went from this:









To this:









And this is him yesterday in his little jungle:









He is very special to me. I'm so glad I took that leap and took him home after weeks of basically watching him suffer.


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## Syriiven

Wow, those are both fantastic I think! And definitely viable entris.

I'm so sorry about Jaws, I remember that story -haunts the forum-. Sorry for you loss.

Welcome both of you to the contest.


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## Skyewillow

xShainax, Sorry for your loss. :-(

Welcome to our contest/


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## xShainax

Ziggy Stardust is my new Jaws. Not as mean, but his tail is almost as bad as Jaws was


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## carbonxxkidd

I just realized I never mentioned my betta's name! His name is August. I have some more pictures of his journey in my albums.


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## Skyewillow

How did you come up with the name of August?

And for everyone else watching, you asked for it!

The impossible to kill, CRIT ROLL!!


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## xShainax

That is the UGLIEST guppy I have ever seen. Sorry to say that. xD


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## carbonxxkidd

Lol Shaina! Looks like a typical female guppy to me 

August is named after an Observer in the show Fringe. All of my bettas are named after that show and X-Files, but I didn't have one named after an Observer yet and August was the first one I though of (September and December are other Observer names). He also is orange, and makes me think of fall and so August fits into that description too...haha.


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## xShainax

But my female guppies were prettier. D:


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## Skyewillow

She's a common/fancy cross, and her back is severely crooked. She may even be sterile.

However, she is my absolute favorite out of all of them (read as, the only guppy that I like), and she's next to impossible to kill. My fiance threw her into my goldfish tank, where she survived 60 degree temps for 2 months, before we found her, and decided that she's tough as nails and gets to live out her days (Read THAT as, I made my fiance let me keep her in his tank).

She's not the prettiest guppy out there, but that's the point of this contest. The "ugly" ones need to be loved too, they need homes, safety, shelter, and care. If we only kept the prettiest of them all, we'd be missing out on some of the coolest fish out there. She was my fiance's "appearance cull", and I fell in love with her for her toughness.

Don Quixote was the ugliest, most pathetic fish on that shelf, and he's so handsome now, if I'd have passed him up for something that looked nicer then, I wouldn't have this beautiful fella with the Man from La Mancha personality, he takes on GIANTS!

Beauty is not only something we can see.


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## xShainax

I love getting the ugliest fish who needs a good home


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## logisticsguy

Skyewillow said:


> Beauty is not only something we can see.


This^^^ is so true.


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## Mar

Definitely entering, I have 3 rescues. Gonna be hard to choose!
Lol, I'm such a weirdo but I'm shooting for 2nd place! Really curious about those Almond Leaves!


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## quietlythundering

*My Entry: Fiorenzo's Memorial*

Hello, Judges and fellow Contestants. My name is QuietlyThundering, and this is the only picture I have of a little doubletail halfmoon that I had rescued this March. His name was Fiorenzo, which means "Blossoming," because I had hoped that he would do just that; instead, he is now blossoming in a different sort of way, but that part shall come later. 
It was the first day of spring. I was feeling unusually energetic because it was overcast, something that doesn't happen as often as I'd like here in sunny California, so I decided to relish in it by going for a bike ride to the nearest Petsmart. I only went in for substrate, but as is the usual story, I couldn't help but want to look at the bettas. I was surprised to find them in pretty good condition; this was either a new shipment, or they had hired someone responsible and caring. I looked on wishing each of these finned fellows good luck in finding good homes, when I saw this emaciated, skinny, EXPENSIVE little guy with a curvy spine. He was sort of a light creamy beige, with some extremely dull red spots near his dorsal and anal fins, and a tail the color of washed-out green. Startled, I looked at him wondering if he was even alive, and reluctantly picked up his cup. I was relieved to find out that he was when he pitifully swam to the top for air. "Good donkey riding Mary! You don't stand a chance, do you?", I whispered to him. He responded by swimming around. I'll tell you what, I felt awful. I mean, his price tag said "$14," but his face said, "Please?" I put him back and tried to forget him; after all, I'm no expert in fish diseases. The worst thing I have ever cured was ich; what could I do for that guy? I didn't want him to die on me either; it hurts too much to see them go. 
I went about my shopping, but all the while, I thought about him. About how cold his little home must be; how much energy it must take to swim to the top, and how tired he must be when he let himself slowly sink to the bottom. And then it occurred to me that he wasn't culled. He was an expensive little fish, and besides that, if he had been half as sickly as a fry, he would have either been eaten by his siblings, culled by the breeder, or perhaps even, he as an egg, could have been eaten by his parents. In addition, he could have died on the way to the store, been dropped, or poisoned....and to have survived those odds, he must have been a tough little guy. I couldn't take it anymore. That's when I knew I couldn't leave him, as sorry and broke as he looked, so I gathered supplies for his new home, and picked him up. And then I will readily admit that I am cheap, so I quickly sought out an employee that I could barter with.
I had this speech worked up in my mind, so when I finally asked someone, his response to mine caught me by surprise.
"Excuse me, sir?" I said, as I flagged the nearest store associate.
"Yes? How may I help you?" He was probably in his late 20's, with short dark hair, and of stocky build. 
I quietly prepared myself, and said, "I hate to be a bother, but I am interested in this fish. However, I wish to ask for a discount, because, as you can see, he's very sick, and incredibly skinny."
He looked at the fish, asked for the cup, and pulled a marker out of his pocket. "I'll adopt him out to you." Then, he slashed out the barcode on the lid.
"Huh?" He handed back the fish and said, "He's yours. For free. Please make him better." Then he smiled and and we walked to the cash register. He explained to the cashier that he adopted the fish out, and walked away. I haven't seen him again, but I hope I will someday, so that I can thank him.
After I put my purchases in my bike basket, I realized that I had a problem-how am I going to safely transport this frail, sick fish home on a BIKE?! The answer? Once I got going, I didn't stop, and navigated with one hand on the handlebars, and the other trying my best to delicately hold my precious cargo. It worked, until I really had to stop at a light near my home, so I just walked the rest of the way. Once I got home, I set up his tank quickly, talked to him a bit, and tried my best to think of a name for him. I left him to go to class, but when I got home that night, I found the perfect name: Fiorenzo, and for the reasons I stated above. I said hi to him, and he perked up and started to weakly swim around in his cup. His color, I noticed, was slightly more vivid than that morning, so I took it as a good sign. I then posted on this forum about what I could do for him, and headed to bed, saying goodnight to my newest fish buddy. 
The next morning, I introduced him to his new home. He seemed more energetic, and unclamped his fins,but refused to eat. Due to his skinny state, I felt that this could not go ignored, and purchased special food for him; he rejected it, but at this point, I felt that when he wanted to eat, he would. I continued talking to him, about how beautiful and handsome he would become, and that all the girls would be begging for his attention. I sang to him some songs that I hoped would inspire him, played water themed classical pieces, and regretfully told him that I had to leave for the night, but that I'd be back. "My great-grandfather needs me right now too, Little Fiore. I promise to come back to you tomorrow."
Then, friday came, and I was home; no one else was back yet, I noticed, but I headed for my room to deposit my things, and to say heloo to everyone. When I reached Fiorenzo's temporary tank, I looked anxiously for him, and was greeted by a sad sight- him, lying there. I quickly picked up his little tank, and put his tiny body in the cup I brought him home in. I went to the side yard, picked up a little shovel, and walked out to the front. My grandmother and I had recently planted three different types of flowers out there, and I started to sift the dirt in front of the middle one. The ones flanking it were amazingly beautiful; each flower had its own color scheme, but they all looked like frothy party dresses. Surely these should suffice, but it was the one in the middle I ended up choosing. It was a white, bell like flower with a mane of maroon petals in the back; his colors looked like those on this plant. When I made a deep enough hole, I put little Fiorenzo in it, and said, "I know I couldn't give you the long and comfy life you deserved. I'm so sorry, little one. Please let these flowers flourish and blossom in your stead." As I buried him, I cried. I didn't know him for very long, but I grew so attached to him that I was convinced that he would live; his death had shocked me in a way I didn't think it would. I finished up and watered the flowers, and with a heavy heart, followed up to my thread by reporting his passing. This community was so supportive to me, and so kind that they comforted me, even though they have never met me, nor know my birth name. I have never been more grateful to this forum as much as I had been then.
A month has passed since Fiorenzo's passing. With it, I have learned the harshest of lessons one must learn when caring for another creature-that death is always close to us. However, from Little Fiore, I have also learned that life is precious and sweet while it lasts. I take these things to heart. 
The two flowers we planted on either side of the middle one have died, though they were gorgeous and healthy, and most indefinitely prettier than the middle one; we cared for all three equally, and yet, the middle is the sole survivor, and it has greatly flourished. I take extra good care of it, and, as foolish as it may seem, thank Fiorenzo for listening to me. It has blossomed again, and I see that as a sign of all good things to come.


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## logisticsguy

I love your story quietlythundering! Fiorenzo was lucky to have you as an owner.


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## Mar

Really beautiful. I wish fiorenzo was able to live a long happy life with you


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## Syriiven

I am very sorry for your loss. That story is beautiful <3

Welcome to the contest.


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## Skyewillow

That was a beautiful story, QuietlyThundering. Fiorenzo was lucky to have his little bit of time with someone who really loved him. And Welcome to the Contest. Good Luck!


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## percyfyshshelley

*wipes away a tear* quietlythundering, your story really warmed my heart, so glad to have people like you in the world that love and care for the smallest and most helpless creatures. I'm so sorry for your loss. Florenzo passed away in a loving home and with dignity, because of your compassion.


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## Mar

I just want to say that this contest is really touching and reading through other people's rescues has lightened my day.

I'm happy to say that so far this story has a happy ending 

I haven't chosen a name for him yet, I think he's such a wonderful fish that it's going to take me quite a while to choose a name that sums it all up.

I first noticed this betta at Petland around 1-2 weeks ago. He was such a beautiful black orchid/transparent rosetail halfmoon betta that I thought he would definitely go to a great home. He looked healthy, active and was really responsive.

Fast forward 1-2 weeks. I stopped at Petland with my mom to return a female betta she bought, not knowing that she couldn't be saved. While they were testing the water (which turned out all right) I went to look at the bettas again. They got a new shipment and they were all so bright and colourful, I enjoyed watching them dart around in their jars, and showing off their colours by flaring.
I always look at the bettas in the back though, and I'll occasionally leave them in the front so they get noticed. In the very back, was the same black rosetail that had first captured my attention. I was astounded he was still there, but he was in pretty bad shape. His dorsal was pretty much gone, he had a minor case of finrot, had a couple holes in his fins, didn't move at all, was really unresponsive, and would just hover at the top gulping multiple breaths of air at a time. 
I feel so bad for the halfmoons at Petland because they usually never get picked considering their price. I have seen families usually go for the cheaper bettas that are $5-10 over the $30 HM which eventually just get left in the jars and die. 

Anyway, I told the Petland employee that I was interested in the rosetail, but he was missing his top fin. The employee examined it and said he should be fine, and that there were no visible infections. 

So off I went with my new betta. As soon as I got outside into my car, I was able to see the dashes of blue that he had on his body and fins. They were beautiful and glimmered. 

I brought him home and prepared my Fluval Spec for him. I got some gravel and filter media from my Fluval Chi to help with the cycling. I then added some BettaAid to help with the fin regrowth (and it's working wonders!) and some Maracyn for the finrot.

Around 2 days later, I was feeding the ADF by hand when my betta started rubbing up against my hand. I raised my hand to shallower water and my betta swam into it and rested right there, on my hand. I was careful not to touch him too much, and always tried to leave slight layer of water between him and my hand as to protect his slime coat. Whenever I stick my finger in the tank, he follows it, often trying to nudge it with his nose. He never flares, even when I introduced him to his tankmates. He even shares the food with the 2 ADF, and it's super cute to watch them eat together. 
I think this is the most gentle betta i've ever met and even though it's been only a few days, I know I would go to great lengths to develop and protect this betta. I feel completely attached to him and go to bed thinking about him. Whenever he sees me wake up in the morning, he'll come to the front of the tank and greet me. 
I usually try to give my rescues away, but I would never part with this betta. Not only does he calm me down, but he has also helped me grow and mature.

(sorry for the first picture, that was a hasty picture with my phone)

At the LPS:


In his tank  (his dorsal is finally growing back now):
These pictures don't do him justice!
When he grows up and fills out, I know he's just gonna be one gorgeous betta!



He LOVES sleeping in that water wisteria. IT's adorable to see him just curl up on top of it.

Sorry, had to post this, his cute tankmates:

{look at him hiding in the lily pads! i almost squealed)


----------



## Syriiven

Wow....the poor little guy! I'm glad you saved him!

Btw, where are you? I'm also in Alberta and have two rescues from PetLand also, my little runt Slyph had a terrible bent spine and sbd and was super malnourished and gangly. He's stills mall, but he now thinks he's the toughest fish in the room. 

Also, welcome to the contest!


----------



## Mar

I'm meeting so many Albertans on here, making me really happy!!  Glad to know some people in our province actually caring! Calgary  how about you, if you're ok with me asking? 

And yeah, Petland usually takes pretty good care of their fish here, but I have rescued 2 fish from there and 2 from PetSmart.

Pics of your pretty fish plz!!


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## percyfyshshelley

Yeah, where are you? I wonder if you are talking about the horrible petland in lethbridge. I've rescued ten from there! I love your story and your boy is really spectacular. Actually, now that I think of it, I don't think he's from lethbridge petland because I was there a couple weeks ago too and I would've noticed him and bought him myself!


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## Syriiven

Omgosh, that's where I rescued Slyph and Sylvannas from!
They're terrible there!


----------



## Syriiven

You'll have to venture to my photo albums for my fish, or to my diary =) Don't wanna clog up the thread with non-entries =) 

But yea, that makes...3 in calgary now? or two?

I'm from Pincher Creek, I'm the farthest south.


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## Mar

Oh, are you talking to me or Syriiven?

Wow so happy to meet another Albertan ^^!!

10 bettas wow! Do you keep them all ?

Thank you  I'm super happy I decided to rescue him because I was contemplating space issues, but just ended up buying another tank! 

Don't you just wish there were more petstores here? I'd love a PetCo in Canada!

Ah ok, I'll go stalk your album 
I'ma stop the spam, _This is my last post!_ I promise


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## Skyewillow

Very nice entry, Mar. I also love your squeedorable ADF!

Welcome and good luck!


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## Syriiven

Spam's good, keeps the thread bumped so others find it =)

And~ I believe percy was talking to you, but we've both rescued from the PetLand in Lethbridge.


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## Mar

Mar said:


> I'ma stop the spam, _This is my last post!_ I promise


I'm such a loser.

Thanks a bunch skye  
at first I was iffy about getting frogs, but it's sooo adorable how they just
rest under/on the lily pads and how they'll climb into my hand for food or when i gotta take them out. 

And Syriiven, That Makes me want to go to Lethbridge just to get some bettas!! They usually take pretty good care of them here in Calgary. So far I only know of/been to three pet stores that sell bettas.


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## percyfyshshelley

Mar, I was asking you where you were. I already know where Sy is, so I can stalk her and steal her fish lol. I'm in Fort Macleod, far south as well. mar, when I say ten from Petland, that doesn't mean that's ALL the fish I have lol. I also have five rescues from petsmart, and "a few" from aquabid. Oh, and that's just the males. I have 20g sorority with petland and petsmart rescues and a soon-to-be 33g sorority with 13 aquabid princesses. No fish has less than 3.3 gal, and most have 4 or 5 gal. I am currently in a frenzy of activity making a fish room. Sorry for highjacking the thread....maybe we should start an Alberta Represent thread!

Addh you just posted. Calgary, ok!


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## Mar

Ooh I see. I'm in Calgary, about 2 hours away from you and Syrriven. 
Um wow. All that fish. Wow thanks so much for taking all those fish in  I'm sure with you they have a lovely home! And I've been thinking about a fish room. but for now I'm gonna stick with 3-4 tanks, but I wish I could have as many as you. Do you have all types or do you collect a certain type?

I am all for that Alberta Represent Thread woot!
Haven't seen any Canadians from other provinces on here, have you? :c


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## Syriiven

Catw0man from the Ab thread is in Ontario...and I think someone on here is from BC. >> 

And the Albertans are welcome at my diary thread or in LG's betta journal thread, as most of us hang out there and pester him.


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## LouiMon

I can't enter as my current Betta has the form of a fishy god, but I'm thinking about starting a rescue for sick/unwanted Bettas. So maybe I can enter round 2? :3


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## Mar

Woot! Good to see there are more Canadians  

Okiedokie, I'll be sure to take a look and stalk your diary thread


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## bettafishgirl

Working on mine


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## Skyewillow

LouiMon said:


> I can't enter as my current Betta has the form of a fishy god, but I'm thinking about starting a rescue for sick/unwanted Bettas. So maybe I can enter round 2? :3


You can enter a fish that has passed along the rainbow bridge, just not one that you rehomed before the contest.


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## BeautifulBetta123

Okay sorry it has taken me so long to post my entry. So this story non of you know the full story... Never told you guys so this shall be interesting.
Sena had to rehome all her fish, I took on 19 I (think) ct fry. They were very interesting but before long they began to die. I ended up with only 7 in the end. The gimp comes in here. The first three had died when I noticed him, a little fry with what looked like no of very mangled fins. I kept an eye on him and watched as he grew. He stayed with the runt and swam awkwardly, I was going to cull him because I figured he wasn't going to have a good life anyways. The fry before they died would lay around and breath heavily, I knew they would not make it through the night if they started doing this. I woke up one morning and saw him laying on the bottom doing the I am going to die soon thing. He looked up at me, the point in his growth where his eyes are to big for his body, and I could not cull him in that moment. I decided to leave him, if he lived he would get to live, if he died well he died.
Hours later he was still hanging on so I carefully removed him from the tank and put him in a cup. I floated him in non other than Jakes tank. I never told anyone this because they would most likely not believe me. But Jake my hm who was super aggressive boy swam slowly up to the him and sat there, looking at him the gimp looking at Jake. Jake did not flare he just sat there motionless for hours... 
At the end of the day I picked up the cup and was going to get rid of him when I realized he was still alive! It was amazing I let him go back into his tank with the other ct fry and he has been healthy ever since...
Why I put him in a cup I do not know.
Why I put him in Jakes tank of all places I have no idea
Why he looked up at me as to say "Give me a chance" I wish I knew
Why he lived will always be a mystery.
Syriiven give this little guy the best home ever because he is a fighter who deserves to live, bad fins and all.
After he was let out of the cup back into his tank with the others he became more active swam normally and has ever since thrived. 
No animal no matter how different or strange they are should get a chance at life because ugly on the out side they all have an inner beauty.
What Jake did when he was in his tank I have no idea, I wish I could have understood that fish more, he has since passed on but taught me the true meaning of beauty on the outside and this gimp has taught my the true meaning of beauty on the inside.


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## Skyewillow

A beautiful story for a beautiful little guy!


----------



## Syriiven

;-; My baby...omg...

Ahem, I mean, welcome to the contest!

Now I'm just gonna go sniffle over here and admire my future Chibisaur! <3 Such a beautiful, sad story! I'll be sure he gets the best! I promise!


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## BeautifulBetta123

I should start calling him Chibisaur instead of the gimp lol. Thanks guys


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## Syriiven

I named him so perfectly ;-;


----------



## bettafishgirl

Here I was, trapped in a vile little cup. I should have been dancing in the warm waters of Thailand, my fins should have been flowing like an elegant cloud behind me, my "cup-mates" beside me shouldn't be here either. Ah yes; it should have been a mass of things. Slowly, I peered toward the other bettas - some already inanimate and floating like lilypads at the surface of the monotone water. Swiftly, I darted around in my cup in defiance that I would never end like them. As I did, my clamped tail lead uneaten food and my very feces wafting through the cup. I sunk to the bottom in sheer disgust, my slender body folding against the sides. A small part of my tail was parted, and it was literally floating at the roof of the water. The chilly water was so penetrating to me; I decided to store the remaining heat I could muster up. Large, tall shapes moved across the cups, the ones who put me here in the first place. I twitched my clamped up tail in hatred, wishing I could do the same to them.

Suddenly, I felt my whole body lurch forward as the water in the disgusting container rolled. Soon I found my cup - and myself - in the hands of one of the big shapes. They where slowly turning the cup, their massive eyes inspecting every inch of my body. Another violent jerk of water and I was out of the store. Out of it.

My head was spinning from all the motion, and the cup was still shaking. I flared out as best as I could and paced halfheartedly in my water. Now the clouds of- of whatever were really flying now. I tried my best to ignore it. Another cumbersome lurch and I suddenly saw a- a huge body of water around me. Warm water. Was I in Thailand? Already? Rapidly, I tread back and forth in excitement. But I was still in my cup, and I could not help feel disappointed as I moved toward the plastic in longing.

_woosh!_ An odd, waterless object swiped me right up from the dirty cup. I gasped, and in horror I discovered no water flushing through my gills. Frantically, I instantly started flopping in the tangling soft object. But it was okay, because I felt the soft material lifting from my body as water took in my shape. It was so warm, so pure. To gain my vision, I paused in the tank for a moment. And then I darted forward, intense on exploring the waters of Thailand! But glass met me, and I felt my heart drop like stone. I didn't want to be in another cup! But- but this cup was different, it was large and warm, and nicely planted. The water was clear. Hey, it may not be the tropical Thailand water, but it was certainly better then the petstore cup water. I decided I liked- no _loved_ this new place. I looked toward the other creature, who had brought me here. In great gratitude, I flared at her. I was sure my torn tail, rotted away from weeks of the dirty water, would grow back. After all, this was my new cup, my home. And guess what? I never ended up like that other fish; *because I may not be the prettiest- I was certainly one of the strongest.
*
~ Diablo, the halfmoon betta


----------



## logisticsguy

This is quickly becoming my favorite thread. Great stories bb123 and bettafishgirl!


----------



## BeautifulBetta123

Thanks CJ!


----------



## bettafishgirl

logisticsguy said:


> This is quickly becoming my favorite thread. Great stories bb123 and bettafishgirl!


Oh, thank you! <3

I know right? I love hearing all of odd ways some people met their babies


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## Skyewillow

bettafishgirl, AWESOME STORY! Welcome to the Contest, and My Diablo and I are wishing your Diablo a smooth and full recovery!!


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## bettafishgirl

Aww! <3 Did you make a entry? If so, we wish you the best of luck aswell!


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## Syriiven

<3 beautiful story Bettafishgirl! I love his point of view, very betta-esque! xD


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## quietlythundering

This is such an awesome thread. Everyone's stories are really good! And thanks to the judges and other users who commented on my entry. I really appreciate it!


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## quietlythundering

Also Skyewillow, your guppy is adorable!


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## Skyewillow

bettafishgirl said:


> Aww! <3 Did you make a entry? If so, we wish you the best of luck aswell!


If you mean me, Syr and I are hosting the contest ^_^


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## Skyewillow

quietlythundering said:


> Also Skyewillow, your guppy is adorable!


thank you, she's my favorite!


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## bettafishgirl

Skyewillow said:


> If you mean me, Syr and I are hosting the contest ^_^


OH! Well, still I wish the best for you and Diablo <3


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## bettafishgirl

Syriiven said:


> <3 beautiful story Bettafishgirl! I love his point of view, very betta-esque! xD


Thanks! <3


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## LouiMon

Mar said:


> Woot! Good to see there are more Canadians
> 
> Okiedokie, I'll be sure to take a look and stalk your diary thread


I actually just discovered the Journal/Diary Section. Is it just like an ongoing Betta related journal? Any time something interesting happens, I write it down and people can read it?

That sounds like fun, if so.


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## Syriiven

Yup, I assume so long as you keep the content clean (as this is a public browsing forum) you can post pretty much whatever, but it's a good sport to continuaklly share updates of your bettas =D


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## MattsBettas

Another Albertans! Yay! I'm from Edmonton. Alberta must now officially be Canada's most betta-loving province


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## Syriiven

I think it is actually...


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## Mar

Hahaha woo!! Go Albertans )
That's actually so awesome, now maybe we can get more Albertan/Canadian Betta sellers instead of drooling after all the ones in the states!


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## bettafishgirl

ya'll crack me up XD


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## Skyewillow

alright guys, we're derailing some here. While some "spam" is good and will keep our thread bumped, people may get confused, or think TL;DR and not enter.

Thank you.


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## Syriiven

We need more female entries. They get left on the shelf a lot people!


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## Skyewillow

Syriiven said:


> We need more female entries. They get left on the shelf a lot people!


+1! Does anybody else adopt girls?! They need loving homes too! (If you adopted a less than perfect girl today, she'd be eligible for entry!!)

If we don't have enough females, we'll have to combine the categories, and let the girls compete against the boys.


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## percyfyshshelley

Sorry we Albertana get a little over excited about our fine province at times. I am going to enter Spike as soon as the power goes back on. It's been off since last night


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## Skyewillow

Hopefully your power comes back on soon! That's never any fun!

I know how it goes finding users from the same region as you, but I didn't want people getting confused and thinking this was specifically for Alberta (because people confuse things like that for some reason) It's nothing personal against anyone, and it's really cool that there's a bunch of users so close!


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## Mar

Is it ok if I do my mom's? I'm kinda the one that rescued her and taking care of her. She's still in bad condition.
(sorry for the spam)


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## Syriiven

Yuppers, perfectly fine, just if you win share the spoils with her =)


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## Skyewillow

Syriiven said:


> Yuppers, perfectly fine, just if you win share the spoils with her =)


+1


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## xShainax

This is big momma. She was the alpha female in my sorority and survived columnaris when it killed my first sorority of 8 females. I got it a second time and unfortunately she passed away that time. She was really fat, and wasn't that pretty


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## Syriiven

Awww, the poor girl! Entry accepted!


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## Syriiven

That makes 8 males, 2 females. Definitely need more female entries.


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## Alcemistnv

Ooo I contest for Banana.

Okay, so Banana was in my LPS for a total of 3 weeks. He was there when I got Jingles, and was still there when I tried my 10 gallon experiement. Banana was definitely not the prettiest betta. Cute, but not pretty. His color never really came in, and he had a few deformities which unfortunately led to his death. He had a curled dorsal fin tht never straighted out, his fins never fully opened (despite being in full health), and he his gills didn't operate the way they should've. He also wasn't active at all. He would float listlessly at the top of the tank and would only swim around on occassion. If the food wasn't put right over his head, he didn't care much.

unforuntately, he passed about a month after having him...











The healthiest shot of him and he's flaring, without his gills.


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## Syriiven

I'm really sorry for your loss. I'm sure you did your best to give him a warm and comfortable home, regardless =)

Welcome to the contest.


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## Skyewillow

Welcome everyone, also, it's nice to see another lady betta in the contest!!


----------



## Mar

All right, this rescue story is pretty unique as it takes place closer to home than I would have liked.

This pretty female (I have no clue what type, I suck at guessing with females, but I'm guessing doubletail bi colour dragonscale? Feel free to correct me xD) named Athena was in pretty good condition at a local Petland. Her colours hadn't come in yet, so we had no idea of what a catch we would get! 

I wasn't really interested in a female, or another fish since I usually only took in males (but I'm starting to rescue/adopt females because I think they're adorable!) and my tanks were full. My mom wanted to start a sorority, so we had around 4 female bettas in a 10gal and Athena was the leader.

My mother took her betta addiction to a whole new level. She tried to _improperly_ mate Athena with a different male every week. She did it wrong and I kept trying to to put an end to it and begged her to stop. It got really annoying and i was so upset with her to the point where I stopped talking to her. 

In order to rescue Athena from her, I showed my mother that Solus (my male veiltail) had built a beautiful bubble nest. She put Athena in Solus' tank which is in my room, and left. As soon as she was gone, I took Athena out of Solus' tank and began to fervently get my hospital tank ready. 
I treated the tank with AQ salt and BettaFix, as well as adding water conditioner. She had various rips in her beautiful fins from the males, and I really wanted to heal her up. I let her acclimate to the temperature and then slowly released her into the tank.

Hopefully I'll be able to convince my mom to leave her alone and allow me to take care of her. Eventually I will upgrade her tank because the hospital tank is only around 1 gallon. But for now, I'm happy I was able to rescue her from my own mother, and I will continue to treat her.


Thought this was a cool macro pic:



She's got a nice mossball and Java Fern in there so lots of plants to hide in


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## Skyewillow

I'm rooting for you to keep her from all of the bad relationships!

Maybe you should print off breeding/conditioning information to show your mom that you can't just throw her in there! Poor little angel!


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## Syriiven

Wow, yeah. I hope this will have a happy ending.


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## Mar

I know! 
I got her to listen to me about the Nitrogen Cycle by showing her this website so hopefully she'll listen to me again 
But she's moving around a lot more than usual and looks perky and always begging for more food  so she should be good and will heal up really well. From my experience, all my betta's fins have healed quite quickly, so hopefully she'll follow.


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## bettafishgirl

Nice entries everyone!


Hey, is it to late to edit our entries? I just wanted to add some more information


----------



## bniebetta

This is my baby girl Copperhead. While I went to visit my brother in CA, I stopped all along the way to find more girls to add to my sorority. I found this little pet store in Santa Ana that was really awesome, and actually had one tank just full of females. I was surprised that they were all able to cohabitate and looked reasonably healthy. Most of them were in the same color variety, and while there were some really neat ones, this is the one that caught my eye. She was probably the most plain out of all of them but I loved her double tail and she kept staring at me, so I snatched her up. The store owner came across as if I made a bad choice (her fins are red, but her body is brown-grey at best), but I have never regretted it. She is very curious and thoughtful, and has not caused any problems in the sorority so far (it's only day one so we'll see). I feel really close to her because I slept with her tucked in the blankets with me to keep her warm at my brother's ice cold house. On the 8 hour drive home, she sat on my lap to tone down the bumpiness of the road. Later when she settled in, I noticed that she sometimes swims in a snakelike pattern. Her eyes look just like a snake's, and I wanted to do a sort of tribute to Kill Bill, so I named her Copperhead. She is one of my favorite fish and I am so glad I brought her home with me.


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## Skyewillow

What a cutie!! Welcome to the Contest, Squeedorable Copperhead!


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## BeautifulBetta123

Hate these long contests lol need to wait so long to see who wins, and I am very impatient XD
I hate Mars story in the way since you mother is being so ignorant I want to strangle her! But good for you for standing up! I can't imagine rescuing a fish in my own mom because my mother is doing something wrong to it!
Great story's though everyone! I love this contest some stories are very inspirational!


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## Taeanna

This is my boy Kaida and my lovingly spoiled brat fish.
His colors have truly come in, to the point I was unsure if I should enter him here. Rest assured when I first got him he was a very different fish.

I had decided to get a betta, so he wasn't exactly an impulse buy, but I was duped into the myth by the pet shop people about the whole tiny tank and no care thing. Nevertheless I was dilligent and got his tiny tank together a day earlier and went to choose a fish first thing that next morning, going through all the pretty reds and black ones I had seen on their shelves, hoping one was still left. I had my heart set on a red (my favorite color).
The person on duty at the store that morning was alone and run off her feet, there were three people getting fish not to mention countless others asking for products, using coupons and otherwise so I tried to make as little fuss as possible and let her get on with her work, I figured it just gave me extra time to choose my new redhead.
Now the bowls while small were spotless, they had just been fed (I could see a flake or two that had been missed) and the whole stock was obviously well cared for..but altogether the stock seemed very unresponsive, content to sit in their bowls.
I was very happy, cruising around trying to find the perfect one, looking into every bowl I could find to check for colors...and right at the very front was a fish so pale blue he looked sickly.
His ventrals (as I learned later) were tiny, practically threads instead of fins and an odd reddish color, it honestly looked as if they had ripped open. The anal fin was scrunched together in one place and looked stuck together, his dorsal fin looked more like a solid spike slumped off to one side instead of an opening fan of spines and the pale white blue of him made me certain he was ill.
He wasn't swimming like the others either, he preferred to hold his body perfectly still and rotate his pec fins like little twin motors, giving the impression he was hovering like a helicopter. 
I was convinced he was sickly in comparisen to all the vivid colors around him (please note I had and still don't have any knowledge of fish), likely put at the front hoping for a quick sale or something.
In a way the busy shopping day was a blessing. As I hovered in front of all the tanks and saw the other fish going to new homes I was struck by something, no matter where I went this tiny little fish chased after me. The other 'prettier' fish all sat at the bottom of their bowls, not paying attention to anything...but here was this pale little fish watching my every move. I tried running my fingers along the glass and he followed, I tilted my head and whispered some baby talk at him and he started doing little circles (likely making the man next to me think I was insane). It was almost as if he knew he wasn't pretty compared to his brothers, like the scruffy dog in the pound that does tricks, hoping to get a glance, crying 'Look at me! I don't look as soft as that one but I will work hard I promise!"
By the time the shopkeeper finally had a moment, spouting apology after apology as she practically panted from sprinting to the storeroom over and over I didn't have a doubt, I wanted this one.
I rationalized to myself on the way home. Sure his fins were smaller compared to the other fish..and he wasn't as bright, but he was mine and I would love him regardless. A fish so plucky needed love even if he didn't have the fortune to be born a prettier color or have the best fins.
I let him into his tiny tiny tank, I had bought a suction leaf thinking if it was being sold it was worth a try and the pathetic way he crawled onto it and slept broke my heart, he looked so relieved.
I might not have had experience with fish but I knew that tank wasn't enough for him. I managed to walk home lugging an 8 liter tank as soon as the shops opened after easter and got the rest of his equipment over the course of the week (I don't have a car so it was tricky).
Even in the first hours after bringing him home his color shifted, he became bluer and his tiny little ventrals unfurled, they looked like red toothpicks against the rest of him. His fins squished in an odd way that lead me to believe he had some fin melt and he didn't like swimming normally, preferring to use his 'hover mode'.
In the brief time I have had him he has certainly blossomed, his colors are deeper now, every single fin has doubled in length and while he still uses his helicopter fins the majority of the time I am convinced it is just an odd quirk instead of an illness, he swims just fine when he is in a hurry to go eat or feeling silly. He has an odd tendency to shy away from objects and seems to have little interest in caves, I can almost see him asking for an instruction booklet in how to use one. I can only assume he has never seen more than an unfurnished clear box and is still getting used to the new environment.
He is my boy and not a moment goes past I'm not happy that the shop was busy that day, or I might have judged the best fish in the store on his looks.

(this is Kaida as close as i could get him...he doesn't like the camera much so getting an halfway decent shot is tough)


----------



## Syriiven

Wow, what s great story =) Welcome to the contest. 

Do you have any pictures from before? He seems to have really colored up nicley =)


----------



## Taeanna

I'm afraid I don't. I should have taken a photo in the pet store but I honestly didn't think of it, I was too exited to get my boy home and settled.

I do have one of him half way through his color transformation when he changed to a sky blue. I had expected that to be the end of it and a sign he was feeling better and he just kept getting darker! (also his fins haven't begun to lengthen yet so he still looks stumpy. I did my best to measure them and his fins have all doubled in length since then, at this rate he will fill the tank with fins!)
Luckily he is in the proper light for this, that stripe along his body took some time to darken and I worried for a long time it was a stress stripe- it is close to the color he was when i first got him.


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## Skyewillow

What a handsome fella! He's lucky to have you pick him over the "prettier" fish!


----------



## bettafishgirl




----------



## Syriiven

Finally in May! Contest still open for entries!!


----------



## Skyewillow

Happy Cinco de Mayo, there's 18 days left to enter! If there's not enough girls and boys, we'll combine categories.


----------



## DoctorWhoLuver

This is Tiersias. I got him September 2012 and is completely blind. He has deformed ventral fins. He definitely a fighter as he survived velvet, jumping out of his cup (when I was changing his water) and down the drain, and getting stuck in the draining holes of a flower pot (Never kept another one of those pots in his tanks again). When he jumped down the drain, his dorsal fin was half sheared off as well as 1/8 of his anal fin. His back was bloody and raw, but he survived and now he's better than ever!


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## Syriiven

Wow, sounds like he's had some scary adventures! Glad to see he's okay =) Thanks for entering our contest! =D


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## DoctorWhoLuver

Yeah; it's a cool contest


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## Skyewillow

Syriiven and I decided that we should share some stories about the fish who've inspired this contest!

*NOT A CONTEST ENTRY!*
Here's one of mine, This is the story of the "Betta from La Mancha"
My other half and I were cruising through Walmart with my son when we decided to go take a look at the bettas. Most of ours have come from that store since I got into bettas a long time ago. While we paced the aisle and looked into the tiny cups, I found a poor little white fella, his color was dull, his fins were clamped, and he had poo rocks on the bottom of his filthy cup. I ended up fighting with my fiance in the walmart betta aisle for TWO HOURS to bring him, Diablo (also in bad shape) Dory, Dulcinea, and Lillith home.

February 5th, 2013


This is Don Quixote now! (5/5/13)


*NOT A CONTEST ENTRY!*


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## Syriiven

Squee~ he's changed sooo much! I need to do him an art some time, off the grid xD


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## Skyewillow

now that his fins are all filled in and floofy? I've never seen so much on a CT!


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## Syriiven

*** Not An Entry ***

This is the story of Demi. 

I adopted this little female betta from my friend who didn't know what she was doing. I had a few boys already, but when I asked her about her fish she said that it was lazy, was always on the gravel, didn't do much. I immediately grew concerned, and told her to show me a picture. This is what she showed me:



I ended up convincing my friend to let me babysit her fish and bring it back to health if I could. My friend agreed, and thus began my kidnapping of this poor fish, my first female betta. 

Now, I'll fully admit that I was one of those people that passed up females. They all looked the same, and rather bland. And I'm definitely attracted to color, so males won out every time I went to the lfs. 

Demi changed all that. 

When I first saw her in person, I could immediately tell her spine was bent from SBD, as she also couldn't reach the surface. She'd get all energized and kick off from the bottom of her bowl and try to reach it, but just a short distance from breaking the water line she'd end up rolling and floating back to the bottom. I was extremely distressed over this, and so made her a special qt tank with a heater. Just a plain tupperware bin only a few inches high and filled with 2 gallons of water. Since she rested on the bottom so much, I put smooth glass stones in the corners so she could rest on them and be near the surface. I also gave her my boyfrien'ds Marvel coffee cup to hide in. 

I was worried sick about her, but she seemed very lively and willing to live. So I started epsom salt treatment after checking on the sight here, and did my best to let her relax and get better in time. As I watched her for the first time, I realised that from being on the gravel all the time, she'd gimped her anal fin and one of her ventrals was shorter than the other. Her crooked spine had forced so much more weight on that one side her ventral never grew even again. Then there was the huge chunk out of ehr dorsal, and I could only assume that was from another fish. I had no idea what the store had done, and my friend said she'd always been this way. That seriously made me both sad and mad. This poor girl had been beaten up and had been having these problems for more than half a year!

I couldnt sleep well that night and early the next morning I went to check on her. She was perfectly fine, had made it through the night and was even glad to see me. Wiggled on over and perched on the bottom, staring up at me. I ended up falling asleep on the floor beside her qt tank, and when I woke up she was simply sitting there, watching me. In that moment, we bonded like I havent with any other fish. She saw me, and I saw her. And we both knew she was going to be okay.




After two days of epsom salts, her spine actually started straightening out. I couldn't believe it, and she could easily swim to the surface and had far more control over her swimming. She still preferred resting on the bottom, but she seemed more comfortable now. So I got her 3g halfmoon tank ready. I built the bottom the same as I did her qt, with smooth glass stones int eh corner where she could rest without scraping herself. I started to work her up to swimming higher for air, by adding another inch tot he water every hour. Soon the tank was full and she was making it up and down and with so much more room (her previous tank was less than a gallon) she suddenly became so excited! She'd wiggle and wave and though she certainly still didn't have the best swimming, she was active and could reach the surface no problem!

I immediately went about making life as comfortable as possible for her. Broad leafed silk plants, a hammock, and constant attention as she was on my desk. Any time I came home she'd be the most excited fish I'd ever seen. Pictures were few and in between because she couldn't keep herself afloat (permanent damage to her swim bladder, so she couldn't hover like bettas normally do. She would simply let herself fall to the bottom or onto a leaf, but she got very precise with where she wanted to go) and she was just too riled. 

There were times she'd simply get as close to me as her tank would allow, and she'd watch me, or she'd turn so she could see my computer screen. She'd watch videos with me, watch me do my art, she was truly a companion to me, and one I dearly wish I could cuddle. 

Over the months I had her, she only got better. She grew, her coloring darkened but her irid changed from green to blue! her red got crisper and she was such a little gem! She developed a habit of jumping at my fingers for food, and was not shy with the pellets. I suspected some giant gene in her due to the fact she was bigger than my full-grown boys, and had quite the appetite. 





I'm sorry for how long this post is, and for all the pictures and videos. At the beginning of the year, sadly, and I knew it was coming, she developed dropsy. One organ, her swim bladder was gone, and I knew she'd lived a very stressed life. So I knew she wouldn't be the longest lived, but while she was in my care she was the happiest, the most energized, the one I had the closest relationship with. Watching her pine cone over night was horrible, and though I tried to treat it, she developed columnaris later that week. my poor, sweet, joyful girl was slowly passing in a terribly agonizing way...so after the week, I ...mercifully let her go on her way. 

I miss her, dearly. My first rescue, my first ugly, my first female, and my closest fishie friend. I love you, Demi. May you forever swim in peace. 




*** Not An Entry ***


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## Skyewillow

-big hugs- That's a beautiful story, Syriiven! And I'm glad that you shared it with the rest of us. <3


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## Syriiven

Yours too <3 I'm so glad you still have your boy! 

It's the hardest when you save them but still have to say goodbye.


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## logisticsguy

Oh that was a terrific story Syriiven. Im so glad Demi got to spend quality time with you. It is amazing what some good care can do for these fish. I too thought females were more bland. As time goes on Ive developed a special place for the girls in my heart. My sorority tanks are my favorite, the character and personality of the girls makes them so much fun. Demi was a sweet fish!


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## Fenghuang

I have been stalking this contest since page one and I must say this is probably one of my favourite threads on here. It is so wonderful to know that there are so many genuinely goodhearted people out there. <3


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## Skyewillow

Syriiven said:


> Yours too <3 I'm so glad you still have your boy!
> 
> It's the hardest when you save them but still have to say goodbye.


I'm happy while he's here, but eventually, we all have to say goodbye. We've lost a few of our rescues, and it never gets easier.


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## Syriiven

Thanks guys!

@ SkyeWillow - No it rlly doesnt. But atleast we've given them the best before the end.


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## carbonxxkidd

Syriiven, I have a female who looks just like Demi. And she's HUGE compared to my other girls...my mom thought she was a male the other day even because her fins are crazy but she's definitely a girl. So sorry for your loss, glad you were able to take her and spoil her until the end


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## Skyewillow

Syriiven said:


> Thanks guys!
> 
> @ SkyeWillow - No it rlly doesnt. But atleast we've given them the best before the end.


That's the goal! And as long as we do that much, rescue is a success! <3


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## Syriiven

carbonxxkidd said:


> Syriiven, I have a female who looks just like Demi. And she's HUGE compared to my other girls...my mom thought she was a male the other day even because her fins are crazy but she's definitely a girl. So sorry for your loss, glad you were able to take her and spoil her until the end


Thanks - I've seen a few females like her, one I was sure might've been a king (it's really hard to tell when they're not at their best in a tiny cup) so I didn't nab that one up. But I had it confirmed from Setsuna that Demi had atleast some wild gene in her (does that count as a giant gene?) .


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## bettafishgirl

Im so excited for this contest! Nice entries everyone!


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## Saphira101

Oh Syriiven, your story about Demi made me cry! I'm so happy that you were able to give her a good home, even if it was only for a short time. :')


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## Skyewillow

14 days left to enter!


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## quietlythundering

Too long to wait for the results lol. I'm glad we have these good stories to read in the meantime  even if some of them are really sad, I can feel the love everyone feels/felt for their betta friends.


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## AyalaCookiejar

So can we enter fish who have passed? Sorry, I haven't been keeping up in this thread because of school. I am almost done and was going to enter my blind fish, Bahari, in a few days I will have more time because I'm finally done with my college class as of yesterday.

Unfortunately, Bahari finally passed away last night. He had severe genetic defects which I think caused his blindness and chronic SBD. I thought he was going to pass a long time ago. He definitely lived longer than I thought he would. I gave him all I could but he still went blind, had SBD issues and was a very lethargic fish in general.

I do think he is much better off under the rainbow bridge. He was struggling his last few days to breathe normally and he passed away in his QT tank.

Swim in peace, Bahari. <3


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## Syriiven

Omgosh, I am SO sorry!! Of course you can enter fish that have passed!

Super sorry for your loss Ayala D=


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## Skyewillow

SIP Bahari.

You can enter fish who have passed on in your care.


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## AyalaCookiejar

Awesome. I should have time to enter him tomorrow.

I don't want this to sound bad but I am happy in a way, for him. Even with the best care I could give him, he seemed miserable most of the time. He definitely had personality but he was under stimulated because of his blindness and very lethargic. He definitely did not seem as happy as other fish. I hope he is now that he's under the rainbow bridge.


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## Syriiven

I understand completely. =)


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## Skyewillow

AyalaCookiejar said:


> Awesome. I should have time to enter him tomorrow.
> 
> I don't want this to sound bad but I am happy in a way, for him. Even with the best care I could give him, he seemed miserable most of the time. He definitely had personality but he was under stimulated because of his blindness and very lethargic. He definitely did not seem as happy as other fish. I hope he is now that he's under the rainbow bridge.


I think we all reach that point when our loved one is no longer suffering. We feel at peace, because they're finally at peace.


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## Artemis

This is my Dominic. He was a rescue and has a bit of a hunch back but has shredded fins and has always had them. I think he has crowntail in there somewhere. He was stuck there because the sales person told me "that's finrot. He'll likely die. I'd get a different one" but he didn't. He has undesirable white tips on his ventrals but is a big tough boy who always wants to showoff. I don't think I'd win first but he is a big wannabe and likes publicity XD


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## AyalaCookiejar

This is Bahari on the first day I got him, still in his cup. He was a spur of the moment grab, I found him an an Earl May two hours from home. His cup had a ton of little black things at the bottom (they were flakey but I don't know WHAT they were exactly. Not food). The employee dumped out the water in his cup and filled it with water from a random tank before he gave him to me. That stressed him out and then he had to survive the 2 hour car ride home. I held him in his bag the whole way there (he was in a cup in a paper bag) and let him sit in a dark corner for awhile before moving him to his tank. He was shook up!









He was very aggressive and territorial in his new tank and always, always hungry. But then the blue in his fins started to marble out and something happened to him, about two weeks after he came home. He stopped swimming around as much and wouldn't eat at all. I thought he was sick, but couldn't figure out why. He had some constipation issues and he had very LARGE poos. But as I watched him for a week, and paid close attention, he started to run face-first into decorations and stopped responding to my finger. I soon figured out he was completely blind, for genetic reasons I think, and had to adapt. He could sense light a little but that went away with time, too. I had to help him find his food. Then his constipation got worse and he started floating nearly all the time. He was in epsom salt for months but it didn't help so eventually I took it out and added a snail tankmate to clean the algae caused by all the food he let sink.









I attempted to stimulate him as much as I could. He didn't use any part of his tank except for the surface. He couldn't swim downwards. He sat in one spot most of the time. He did move on his own, occasionally, but he only moved to find a different spot and then went back to sleep or whatever he was doing. He seemed to enjoy the snails company and always tore apart his food. He'd whip around bloodworms similar to the way a dog will tear apart a squeaky toy. But often times he'd have issues finding food after I dropped it in there, and although I tried helping him, it seemed sometimes he would give up because he was having so much trouble finding it.

Last weekend his chronic SBD problems took a turn for the worse. Instead of floating, he sunk to the bottom of the tank on the gravel and refused to move. He attempted to swim to the top but couldn't. He was also gasping and breathing heavily. I put him in a QT tank so he could reach the surface and added epsom salt. By Monday, he seemed to be doing better, had no issue staying at the surface and Tuesday he looked even better. Unfortunately, he passed away last Wednesday night, still in his QT tank.

My hopes for him are simply this: I hope that he can see now, and swim normally. I hope he can find his food easily and has fun tearing into it. I also hope that he is now flaring to his heart's content (I haven't seen him flare since he went blind, and he LOVED to flare) and his fins are all healed. Being a CT, I am not sure if his fin damage was due to him being blind and injuring them or due to our hard water, but he never developed fin rot the entire 5 months I had him. He was blind for four and a half of those months and buoyant for at least 4.

I am also glad that his suffering is over. He obviously was not going to recover, as much as I tried. I hope that if he has any siblings who also had bad genetics, that none of them suffered. And I am glad that I now have a free tank that I can save another fish. I'd like to adopt from MoonShadow in Bahari's honor. I only hope that the next inhabitant of Bahari's tank will be able to enjoy it more than Bahari could.

Swim in peace, Bahari.


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## Skyewillow

awesome story! I like how you helped him out while he was struggling with his blindness.

SIP Bahari <3


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## carbonxxkidd

Great story, I'm sure he's so happy now 

That flare pic of him is amazing too!


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## Fenghuang

That's a very touching story, Ayala. I bet he is chasing down mosquito larvae somewhere under the rainbow bridge now.


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## PhischAndChips

This is Nubbs. Nubbs isn't very aggressive. Correction: Nubbs isn't aggressive at all. Because of this, he was picked on in the 20 gallon tank he shared with some other 'freshwater community' fish. They picked at his fins, ate all the food before he could even get a nibble. No matter how much we fed them, Nubbs only got a minimal amount of food. Despite my pleas, my brother would not remove the little betta from the tank until one morning that we found him caught in a plant. His fins were torn and ripped off until there was nothing but a stub (it was a wonder he could still swim, that's how practically non-existant they were). Poor Nubbs. When he got stuck in the plant, the other fish thought he was dead, and they, being the gluttons they are, started to eat him alive. We removed him the moment we found him and placed him in the little container we use for water changes (for lack of a bigger tank at the time). He's been moved to a slightly bigger hospital tank, and I've been regrowing his fins and fattening him up. I don't have any pictures of him once he was first attacked, but these are pictures I took this afternoon.
























Nubbs is quite happy now, though he's still a little on the skinny side. He wiggles whenever he sees me, and he builds lovely bubble nests for me. He's more my fish now rather than my brother's, and quite honestly, he seems to be a lot happier that way. He has so much personality. Honestly, I think he was a dog in a previous life XD These photos mark three weeks after he was attacked.


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## Skyewillow

He's looking great so far! Welcome to the contest!


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## quietlythundering

He's beautiful! I wish a long and happy life to you and Nubbs!


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## Skyewillow

Nine days left, Ladies and Gents!


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## Fenghuang

I think each and every betta and their owner in this contest is beautiful.


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## Skyewillow

Fenghuang said:


> I think each and every betta and their owner in this contest is beautiful.


everybody is beautiful in their own unique way. That's exactly what this contest is about! <3


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## AyalaCookiejar

Fenghuang said:


> I think each and every betta and their owner in this contest is beautiful.


I totally agree!!!!

It's been almost a week since Bahari went to the rainbow bridge <3 I'm praying that he's happy up there! I can imagine he's flaring to his hearts content and is able to see all the pretty girls now <3 <3 he is such a stud. I bet Demi and him would get along great, too... I mean, if they were able to think like us humans.

His burial was postponed due to school but now he will be buried next to Okami. I have made his coffin. He'll have a brick grave marker next to Okami's as well.

I do feel blessed to have had the opportunity to care for him. I just don't know how likely it will be for me to ever have a blind fish again.. I guess it was fate for him to have ended up with me.


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## Wildbetta

I have an entry for both male and female.  My male entry actually is not that bad at least not as far as asthetically. I was at my local Petco and looking around at all the bettas when this boy caught my eye. He was the first king betta I had every seen at that point. I carried him around for a while as I went about my business. I looked at some plants and got an employee to get me some out of the tank. One of the other employees came over and we started talking about the bettas. I mentioned about the king bettas and her and the other girl went on about how much they loved the pattern and colors on them. All the other ones were "wild colored" the mix of blue and red that you normally see with wild betta splenden species. I had sat the boy from earlier down to look at the others and the second female employee mentioned how ugly he was. Said he looked like a finger. At that point, I knew I had to have him so I picked him up and proceeded to tell the girl that from his markings he was a marble and would change colors as he grew and that there was no telling how he would look later on. When I got him home, I took some pics of him that kinda let me have a preview of what he might look like down the road. The flash showed some color in his fins that were not visable to the naked eye. Eventually he did change color all the way to the amazing color he was till the day he passed(which has been a couple months now). I have yet to see another king betta even remotely close to his coloration.



My male entry: Zeus

How he looked with I got him:


How he looked under flash(could not see any of the color with no flash)


What he turned out to look like:



My girl was a female I purchased from a friend in Canada that had bred her bettas. The spawn was gorgeous and produced all the colors in the rainbow. I got 3 of her boys and 3 females from her. Both her female and her male had X factor and scale deformities which resulted in a heavy dose of rosetail in the spawn. Out of the 3 males I got from her, 2 were extreme rosetails with such heavy tails that it made them look humpbacked at times from holding up the finnage. Out of the 3 females, I got one that was an extreme rosetail. She was very short, chubby, had extremely short stubby ventral fins, and other deformities. This girl was so ugly that she was cute. I was so glad to have gotten her because she was so different from all the other females I had ever had. She did very well in my sorority until I rehomed all my girls to be able to keep wild bettas.

My female entry:


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## Darkicydevil

I just love all the beautiful fish and stories here


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## Skyewillow

They're both beauties here, Wildbetta! I love the transformation of Zeus, WOW!!!

Welcome to the contest!

(8 days folks!)


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## Happyhobbit

Hmm, I think I will do Picasso. So I had my eye on him for some time, and it seemed nobody would ever take him, so I went ahead and took him. When we got home I noticed he had fin rot issues and is getting lots better now!  Also his dorsal fin is really odd... Its freakishly short but I don't think it has anything to do with his fin rot. Anyway, He's my little baby!  I don't have an after pic so sorry about that.


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## Skyewillow

He's cute!

Welcome Picasso!


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## Happyhobbit

Thanks! he's soooo sweet.


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## percyfyshshelley

Wow so many great entries! I love reading all the stories. Here's my entry, SPIKE (name suggested by forum member Juditko).
I met Spike, a blue CT, at my local Petland. He was lying on his side at the bottom of his dirty cup, and I thought he might be dead until the sales associate swirled him around in his cup as if he was an ice cube. Well the poor guy showed some signs of life then, and looked at me with those pleading eyes we all know so well, and home he came with me.
Spike's most distinguishing feature is his lack of dorsal fin, which is why I chose him for the Inner Beauty contest. At first I thought it was due to fin rot or biting or being attacked, but his topline is smooth, like the was never a fin there. I guess he should've been a cull, but he's such a joy I'm glad he made it to a pet store for me to find. He swims just fine, and when he flares the two little spikes of dorsal fin stick straight up! He's so tough! 
I kept him in a shallow container until he was able to swim upright again. I kept him on my coffee table during his convalescence, and he and I and my dogs would all watch tv together. Spike got lots of attention that first week and quickly grew to trust me. Soon he was swimming well enough to move into a 2.5 gallon, where he lived for another month, then when I was sure he was totally free of illness, he moved into a 4-gallon space in a 20 gal divided. 
He loves his new home and like to flare once in awhile at his neighbor, another blue CT. He loves attention and I always tell him what a handsome fish he is!
Here are some pictures of my beautiful finned friend.
About a week after I got him.








In his new home.
































Showing me where the food goes!


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## Syriiven

Wow! That's a crazy dorsal he has! I'm glad you saved him, the poor little guy! Welcome to the contest =D


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## Skyewillow

I remember Spike! Welcome to the contest!


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## percyfyshshelley

Yes aka alfalfa lol


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## Skyewillow

percyfyshshelley said:


> Yes aka alfalfa lol


It was a good, solid name that would've brought honor to his ancestors. ;-)


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## percyfyshshelley

Lol skyewillow!


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## Skyewillow

Hey, I have ancestors, I know these things! lol

I was actually thinking about Spike a couple of days ago too, and couldn't remember for the life of me who he owned. ;-)


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## AyalaCookiejar

What a cutie! I have never seen anything like that! I think he still has inner and outer beauty!


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## Wildbetta

Spike is sooo cute!! He reminds me of a CT that I once had. This CT had a brother who was born with no caudal fin. The person that adopted him named him Buttless. Sometimes the ones that would be culls for those type reasons are the coolest fish. Great find and he is lucky to have you.


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## quietlythundering

Buttless? XD
I thing that just because they're less than perfect doesn't mean a fry should be culled.


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## Skyewillow

the true definition of "Culling" is to simply remove them from the breeding population. With larger pets, this is done via surgical sterilization (spay/neuter), with fish, there are 2 options, sale into a pet home (aka adoption), or death.

Unfortunately, the first option requires more time and money than the second options, so a lot of breeders opt to euthanize incorrect or damaged fish. :-(

There are only two more days to enter, everyone!!


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## quietlythundering

Oh. Thank you for clarifying that, Skye! 
I can see the point in euthanizing, if it meant that the animal or person would not have to suffer, but I guess my biggest thing is, I wonder what defines "incorrect". I'm not judging anyone, but the implications of it sound awful.


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## Syriiven

And that's where the grey area is. Some people view only pure breeds as correct, as they dont have any mutations that the fancier breeds are coveted for. Others feel so long as it lives a healthy life, does it matter what mutations it has?

It's really a question the individual decides themselves.


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## AyalaCookiejar

I think there are certain x-factor traits that can severely affect the fish negatively. Like some that have deformities that affect their swimming. I can see why they would kill fish with strange defects if they weren't sure if it would lower their quality of life or not.

However I've seen some breeders that have kept an entire spawn of x-factor fish. They obviously weren't going to breed them but were also concerned that the fish wouldn't be adopted because of some strange x-factor scaling. They make wonderful pets as long as their defects don't affect their ability to manuver too much.


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## Skyewillow

quietlythundering said:


> Oh. Thank you for clarifying that, Skye!
> I can see the point in euthanizing, if it meant that the animal or person would not have to suffer, but I guess my biggest thing is, I wonder what defines "incorrect". I'm not judging anyone, but the implications of it sound awful.


"Incorrect" according to breed standards. There's a scorecard for show animals that the goal is to have your animal match as many of the defined characteristics as possible. There's also a list of disqualifying faults included with the points on the scorecard.

2 and a half hours left!


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## BeautifulBetta123

Oh!! I can't wait to see who wins! Good luck everyone! And there was some truly amazing stories out there! 
Ske I just wanted to say I love your plushes!


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## BeautifulBetta123

So is the contest over now? When will the winners be announced? I don't know where everyone else is but I am super excited to find out who wins! Good luck to all!


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## Skyewillow

Yup, closed now! And as soon as your super-cool and wonderful judges get together and pick the winners, we'll let you all know!! ^_^


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## Syriiven

-shifting through pages...-


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## Saphira101

I am jumping up and down I'm so excited!

Not literally, I'm sitting down. But in my brain I am!


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## Skyewillow

As soon as MoonShadow makes her picks, the winners will be announced.

Hang tight, folks! And thank you for sharing all of your beautiful babies! <3


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## percyfyshshelley

What a great contest! Good luck everyone!


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## justmel

I have a couple of possible entries for both male & female. It's hard to decide which lady deserves the spotlight. Gema is actually very pretty still, despite having a kinked spine from being hurt in the sorority. She has her own home & get along just fine. She got her name because she's my little gem. Because she is still such a pretty girl I'm going to go with Bellona. I don't know a lot of Bellona's story, but I'll share with you what I can.

I was at my local pet store & took a detour from looking at the bettas (they sell only male VTs) with my son to look at the rest of the fish. He gets so tired looking at all the little cups with sad looking bettas sitting in about an inch of cloudy water. While looking this pretty, colorful, and larger than any of mine (2.5 BO) betta was swimming around. Looked at the side of the tank and they had listed 'female betta - $3.99' (same price as their male VTs) I jumped at it. This really was a pretty girl & I needed 1 more for my sorority since the last female turned into a male on me and size and shape it looked like one of Petco's 'king' bettas, so I was getting a great price as well. Brought this betta home, did QT, introduced her to the sorority & named her Pandora. Most passive, sweet lady in my tank. Chased and beat by the other ladies who were about a third of her size. Pandora would just stand her ground and if picked on to much flare and chase the other ladies off and go back to her corner. After about 2 weeks my fiance said one of the females was dropping eggs. I flipped, I'd only spawned once & was still learning so had no clue what was going on. I started watching my ladies closer & noticed two of the others had egg bands very prominent and the last would not leave Pandora's side. I started wondering if Pandora was a Pandora. Took more pictures, posted and asked everyone here. Turned out Pandora was really a Pan, so I had to take him out.

The story at the pet store was that some lady had brought her 5 bettas in and left them for them to sell. I believe with it being 5 'females' it was a failed sorority & Pan would likely be the reason. When I picked Pan they employee had to scare the other 4 bettas from behind the filter for me to see and make sure I was getting the one I wanted. They were colorless, not even white, just no color.

On to Bellona, I sent my fiance back to the pet store to see if there was any chance they had one of these 'females' left. It's been at least a month, so I wasn't hopeful, but I had to try. They still had 2. 1 was hiding and one was swimming around. Brad brought home the one that was swimming in the tank freely. I have to admit that my first reaction was to think that she was an ugly betta, but it was a she and I had my heart set on a 'king' female after Pan turned into a boy on me. 

Bellona is just plain unfortunate. There's nothing wrong with her for a pet quality betta, but she's very plain and honestly still kind of ugly. Don't get me wrong, I love her. She's an absolute doll. Just as sweet as Pan was. She's not aggressive at all & gets picked on by all her tank mates when they are in a bad mood. 

For the first month or more I had her she hid. I never saw her. In fact during feeding time I had to search her out & make sure she got something to eat. She's finally warming up and swims with the other ladies. She's right up front for feedings & comes to say hi whenever she sees me. Recently I've even seen her flare at her tank mates when they start trying to pick on her. That's all she does though, flare and say leave me alone.

The lovely Bellona -




Oops, when I went through the thread I missed when it was over. I guess Bellona will try if there's a second contest. 

Good luck to all of you in the contest! These are some lovely bettas and wonderful stories.


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## Skyewillow

And the winners are: -drumroll-
Males: 
1st - Ayalacookiejar's Bahari pg16 
2nd - quietlythundering's Fiorenzo pg6
3rd - Percyfyshshelley's Spike pg18

Females:
1st - Wildbetta's (I missed your female's name) (pg17) 
2nd - Mar's Athena (pg12)
3rd - Elsewhere's Themis (pg2)

Congratulations to our winners, and thank you to everyone for participating! All of these beautiful and wonderful fish are the real winners for having such loving homes. ^_^

Justmel, I think this is something I might do again in the future.


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## AyalaCookiejar

Wow, thank you Skye, Sy and MoonShadow 

Also, congrats to the other winners! Since I missed a lot of this thread, I'm going back and reading the entries (thanks for putting the page numbers by the winners).


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## Skyewillow

the pg numbers next to the names was thanks to the genius of Syriiven! As I went through and wrote down everyone's names, I didn't even think to write page numbers until after everyone was written down! LOL

Luckily, she was 2 steps ahead of me, and made my life a lot easier!


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## carbonxxkidd

Congrats everyone! I also love the page#'s, makes it way easy to go back and see the winners


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## Fenghuang

Congratulations to all the winners. In fact, all the participants. You all deserve a round of applause.


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## BeautifulBetta123

Congrats to all!


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## percyfyshshelley

Yay! Thank you!!!
Congratulations to Ayala and quietlythundering! And to everyone else with fish with inner beauty!


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## Mar

Thanks a bunch!! This means a lot! 
Athena is currently thriving in a successful sorority.

There was the beginning fin nipping of course, but she has healed up wonderfully.

Sorry, I haven't been able to get any more recent photos, my camera is kinda gone lol.

But this is the latest one I have of her in the sorority.
(Please excuse her dorsal fin, it's almost completely healed back now!)

Her stress stripes are almost gone in this picture! Looking at her now, they're definitely gone. She has really darkened in colour, and is coming out gorgeous!

Once again,

thanks so much!

Before:










Around a week ago:


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## Skyewillow

WOW! She looks FANTASTIC!!

How did you finally get your mom to stop trying to breed her?


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## Mar

I just kept her away from my mom, and eventually she got into other types of fish and leaves the bettas to me!

Also, since I started the sorority, my mom is kinda content with watching them, they're really interesting and colourful, and I guess that satisfies my mom.


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## Skyewillow

-hifive- That's great! I'm glad she just kind of moved on from that idea! Lucky Athena!


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## Syriiven

Skyewillow said:


> the pg numbers next to the names was thanks to the genius of Syriiven! As I went through and wrote down everyone's names, I didn't even think to write page numbers until after everyone was written down! LOL
> 
> Luckily, she was 2 steps ahead of me, and made my life a lot easier!


-insert incredibly conceited comment here-


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## quietlythundering

Thank you! I'm sure Fiorenzo would be very proud. And thanks to everyone else too, for sharing their stories! And Congrats, AyalaCookiejar, and to Bahari as well!


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## Syriiven

Congratulations to every body!! I think we'll definitely have to do this again!


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## Skyewillow

Syriiven said:


> -insert incredibly conceited comment here-


ohnoes... big fluffy egos!


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## logisticsguy

One of the most enjoyable threads ever. Congrats to the winners and all who entered.


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## Skyewillow

I'm considering making this a regular thread too


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## Mar

Yes please!

IT'd be a great place for people to share their new rescues and update us on them!


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## Syriiven

To the 1st place winners, if you could please send me the best photos you have of your entry fish, that would be appreciated. The clearer the picture and the better the details, the better the art =)


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## justmel

You know I'd be on the thread if you started on Skye!


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## Skyewillow

I'm going to go ahead and start the thread over in photos in a few. Lunch first!


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## Skyewillow

Here's the thread, ladies and gents! Head on over there! <3
Inner Beauty, the thread!


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## Wildbetta

Wow! Can't believe I won something. LOL Sorry been really busy this past week and just now checked in to see this thread. I just seen that I forgot to post her name. It is Sapphire which may seem odd with looking at the two pics I posted but she shone a beautiful blue in certain lights which reminded me of a really dark sapphire stone. This was such an awesome thread and I am glad that Skyewillow is going to make it a normal thread.  Congrats to all the other winners! To me the bettas "with issues" are sometimes the best ones there are.


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## Syriiven

Wildbetta said:


> Wow! Can't believe I won something. LOL Sorry been really busy this past week and just now checked in to see this thread. I just seen that I forgot to post her name. It is Sapphire which may seem odd with looking at the two pics I posted but she shone a beautiful blue in certain lights which reminded me of a really dark sapphire stone. This was such an awesome thread and I am glad that Skyewillow is going to make it a normal thread.  Congrats to all the other winners! To me the bettas "with issues" are sometimes the best ones there are.


Congrats! I need the best photos you have of her. Large and very clear so I can draw details =)


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## Saphira101

Congrats to the first, second and third place winners! 

And thank you Skyewillow, Syriiven, and MoonShadow for hosting this wonderful contest!


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## Syriiven

*At last!*

Our first place winner`s Arts! behold!

1st Place Male! Congratulations Ayala!




1st Place Female! Congratulations Wildbetta!


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## Wildbetta

Those are wonderful!! Such talent you have! Love my pic!


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## logisticsguy

They look awesome Syriiven!


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## Syriiven

Thank you both ^^ I'm just really sorry it took me so long!


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## Skyewillow

Ayalacookiejar's Boy Bahari - 1st place!


Wildbetta's Girl Sapphire - 1st place!


Tomorrow, I'll get the "certificates" printed out, and hopefully mailed out on Friday!! Thank you for the patience, ladies and gents!


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## Syriiven

Squee! Such cuties!!


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## Wildbetta

Oh My!!! They are sooo squeezable!! Will be awesome to get to see it in person.  No big deal about how long it took. Stuff that looks as good as the images and plushies takes time.  Thank you both for such wonderful work!


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## Skyewillow

the Proxy templates are done. I'm anticipating these to be printed and put together tonight, ready to ship tomorrow or Saturday!!

Bahari


Sapphire


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## Syriiven

Those look so awsm!!


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## logisticsguy

Wow that does look great! Nice work Syriiven and Skye you gals are amazing!


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## CritterNut

I like the plushies!


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