# The PuppyMintMocha Memoir



## PuppyMintMocha (Sep 18, 2016)

I spent a while trying to think of a good journal title, but I ended up just picking something that flowed well with the words in my username, lol.
I love browsing people's journals on here, so I decided to start one of my own. I want to be a very active member on the forum and learn as much as possible about our little betta friends. I'm currently inexperienced, but I'm bursting with curiosity and really want to have a good learning and sharing experience, and be able to pass knowledge I collect to others as well. I don't know if there's a "right" way to write journals here, so I guess I'm just winging it! Let me know if there's a more ideal way to do something or anything like that :wink3:

*Clover*
So I guess the best place to start and catch up to the present would be when I got my first betta. He was my parent's birthday gift to me (I forget how old I was, I think 7 or 8). He was solid red, and I think he was a VT but back then I didn't know anything about bettas, so I wouldn't have been able to identify his type. I named him Clover. I was too young to correctly remember many details about how well we kept him, but I know it was awfully terrible. We used a classic fish bowl with no heater or filter. Of course, Clover didn't last long that way since I'm sure we didn't come close to the requirements for actually keeping a betta in a bowl like that.
SIP

*Frosty*
My next betta was immediately after Clover. My parents felt bad that he had died so quickly and took me to the store to get another one. This time I got another VT (I think); he was solid blue and I named him Frosty. I think he lasted a little longer than Clover, but not by much.
SIP

*Demyx*
Fast forward until I was about 12. Even at that young age, I felt very guilty for letting my past bettas die, and after those few years, I wanted to prove myself by trying again. But yet again it was mainly my parents who instructed me on how to care for him, which I thought must be the right way, but they only had your average joe's knowledge on betta keeping too. This time, the betta was an adorable halfmoon. His body was very light pink, the beginning have of his fins were a light purple/blue, and the ends of his fins were white. I named him Demyx after a video game character. Demyx lived in a plastic 1/2 gallon aquarium. He lived longer and happier than Clover and Frosty, but fell to fin rot in a rather short amount of time after I got lazy with maintenence. At that point, I figured I was just a terrible person and would never be able to keep a fish a lived for more than a month or two.
SIP

*Incubus*
Finally to my present betta! I'm now 19 (I suspect that I'm younger than many of the regulars on this forum, but that's ok! I'm very serious about pet care, so I hope I don't come off as any kind of immature). In August of this year (2016), I moved away from my family for the first time to live with two friends of mine as roommates. Unfortunately, we live in a no-pets apartment, so I had to leave behind my dog, hamster, and chickens with my family. It was surprisingly hard for me to have no animals around, as I have a very nurturing personality, have spent most of my life with animals, and get somewhat anxious without something to care for and put my effort into like a pet care routine. It didn't take me long to decide I would get a betta to keep me company, as fish are kind of a loophole to no-pet rules. In September, I got my beautiful blue butterfly halfmoon, Incubus (Inky is what I usually call him). His scales also have green and yellow iridescence under bright light. He's a really nice balance between shy and assertive- he flares at everything, will follow my finger, and is always mad at me during water changes; but he's more bark than bite, he once tried to stare down a ghost shrimp, but somehow lost and backed down! His current tank mates are two blue mystery snails named Cecil and Carlos. I did try to introduce some ghost shrimp, but the all passed pretty shortly after putting them in the tank.

I'm attaching some pictures of Inky! These pictures are all from just a little while after I brought him home. His fins are now developing interesting streaks of colors through them, and I'm curious as to what he'll look like when the change is complete! (I don't have any pictures of Clover, Frosty, or Demyx)


























Unfortunately Inky is currently recovering from high nitrite/ammonia levels because of a major cycling hiccup that I didn't catch and tried to treat with fin rot meds instead of testing his water and getting the levels down. It got so bad that he hasn't eaten for days, and at one point laying motionless on the aquarium floor, only breathing from one gill. I felt terrible that I didn't find out what was wrong fast enough, especially when it was an obvious thing to check for. But I've learned from this experience, and Inky is now more responsive, moving around a little, letting his fins fan back out, and regaining some of his lost color.

So I'll end my (very long) first entry here! I will try to be diligent with keeping this journal updated and interesting for anyone who chooses to read it! Thanks so much!


----------



## PuppyMintMocha (Sep 18, 2016)

The water is weirdly cold today (low-mid 70s). The temperature in my room is about the same as usual, so I'm confused. I unplugged and plugged the heater to make sure it was on, we'll see if it warms up.
Inky still looks rough, but better than a couple days ago. His dorsal, anal, ventral, and pectoral fins all look healthy, but his caudal fin is almost completely eaten up, and I haven't found a cause. I don't know of anything that targets only one fin like that.


----------



## Retof (Nov 3, 2016)

I'm glad your Betta is starting to do better. 
Following!


----------



## BubbleTeaSonnet (Nov 2, 2016)

Love your journal. Also, Incubus is so beautiful! Good to know he's recovering. I will definitely keep an eye on this journal.


----------



## PuppyMintMocha (Sep 18, 2016)

Inky just passed.... I'll probably post again when I've collected my thoughts, I need to finish crying first.


----------



## BubbleTeaSonnet (Nov 2, 2016)

Oh my gosh...PuppyMintMocha...I am so, so, so sorry for your loss  SIP, Inky.


----------



## PuppyMintMocha (Sep 18, 2016)

Incubus was an amazing betta. In my mind, he had the perfect temperament. He was active and flared a lot, loved to show off when people walked by, and was still reserved enough that he didn't bother his shrimp and snail tank mates (never tried any other fish, though I don't think he would have attacked them). It was heartbreaking to see him go before he hit old age.
With that being said, I'm keeping my outlook optimistic and am trying to enjoy looking for a new buddy. I'm mostly browsing ebay this time, since I've only ever bought bettas from big chain stores in the past.
These are the two I'm most interested in so far
Live Betta Fish Male Fancy Absolute Copper Rosetail Halfmoon HM #CP3 | eBay
Live Betta Fish Male Fancy RED KOI Halfmoon Plakat HMPK #K3 | eBay

I'm a little bit tempted to buy a second tank and get both... but I also probably shouldn't spend that much money.
Decisions, decisions.


----------



## PuppyMintMocha (Sep 18, 2016)

I decided to go with the copper HM! Just ordered him~
I'm hoping to also get a koi betta sometime after I get job. Either that or get a long 20g tank and divide it for 4 or 5 different bettas! We'll see what my roommates think when the time comes, and what I can afford with the job I get.


----------



## PuppyMintMocha (Sep 18, 2016)

Today was incredibly stressful, for non-pet reasons. Job interview reasons. I got through the interview ok, but I had an anxiety attack right after, and spent the rest of the day on and off crying and fell asleep way earlier than I would have liked to, and now woke up in the middle of the night...
Anyways, I think my new guy should be here tomorrow. I'm really excited and nervous. I've never seen how bettas being shipped works, so I'm scared for his well-being, but the seller had all good reviews and everyone's fish apparently made it in good condition, so crossing my fingers! I haven't picked a name yet, but there are a couple ideas that I've had, but not sure yet. I'll definitely take pictures as soon as he arrives!


----------



## PuppyMintMocha (Sep 18, 2016)

He's here! I will add more pics later. I also just broke my tank's lid... crap. Hoping he won't jump before I can get a new one. What's something I can use as a temporary lid?









Sent from my SM-S820L using Tapatalk


----------



## PuppyMintMocha (Sep 18, 2016)

He took the introduction a little rough, but he seems ok now. He seems more skittish and aggressive than Inky was, but hopefully it's just stress from being shipped and put in an unfamiliar tank with big scary snails. :frown2:
He seems to have more difficulty swimming than Inky did. I think his fins are a little fuller than Inky's were. The pull from the filter doesn't affect him because I use a plant as a barrier, but the output waterfall keeps knocking him down when he swims under it. Is there a way to soften the trickle without slowing the filter down?


----------



## PuppyMintMocha (Sep 18, 2016)

He's still doing well! Still no name yet, because I'm super indecisive. He's paid no mind at all to the snails (I was worried he might start nipping at them), and he has a very big appetite, I'll have to be careful not to overfeed him. Inky wouldn't overeat, so I could put in extra food for the snails, but it looks like that's not an option anymore! He still hasn't flared that I've seen, but he's very active and his fins have been nice and fanned out, no signs of health problems so far. He even already made a bubble nest under the filter lid's overhang!


----------



## PuppyMintMocha (Sep 18, 2016)

Got sun dried shrimp and algae wafers in the mail today! Shrimp as treats for the new betta, although he's not quite sure how to eat them. I might crush them up a bit next time. And algae wafers for the snails because there's not a lot of algae in the tank currently, and the betta eats all the betta food I put into the tank. One of them is happily munching away at the wafer I put in today. 

I'm visiting my family out of town for about a week for Thanksgiving, leaving tomorrow. Hopefully my roommate will take good care of the babes while I'm gone. She took good care of Inky when I went on a trip, but I've added more to my care routine since then that might confuse her or she might not have time for.


----------



## PuppyMintMocha (Sep 18, 2016)

YES! I finally got the tank to cycle! It had been 9 days since I changed the water, because of a trip out of town to visit my family for thanksgiving, and I didn't want to put the task of changing the water on my roommate without supervision, so I just gave her the daily prime/food instructions and changed the water the day I left and when I got back. I tested the water just before changing it today, and nitrites, nitrates, and ammonia all read 0 even though it had been a while. Yay! Also the GH went from 30 to a little over 60 at some point between tests and I have no idea why. What could cause that? Would it be related to cycling?

P.S.: I still haven't come up with a name I like (ugh), but my roommate has started calling him Bulldog, lol.


----------



## PuppyMintMocha (Sep 18, 2016)

Just got back from a long trip to spend time with my family back at home! My roommate took good care of the betta and my hamster. 
The betta still has no name, but at this point I'm just keeping it that way because now any name will seem weird to me. My roommate calls him Bulldog because of his frowny mouth. Kind of an odd name, but I guess it works? I also call him Foosh or Feesh sometimes.
The dark grey in his fins it spreading into the white part in little streaks now. It's kinda cool, and I'm curious to find out what the end result of the color change will be. Might post pics sometime soon if I get a good chance.
There's a lot of dark, almost black algae on the hiding rock. I wonder why the snails haven't eaten it? The fake plants are all clean, and they used to keep the rock clean, but it looks like this algae has been there a while. Wasn't there when I left for the holidays, though.


----------



## PuppyMintMocha (Sep 18, 2016)

New plant! This one is silk. Hoping to slowly replace his plastic plants with silk ones, just in case it's affecting his fins more than I think. I can't seem to find any fun color selection in silk plants, though, which is unfortunate because I wanted to keep his tank's color scheme. Oh well, his health comes first.









Sent from my SM-S820L using Tapatalk


----------



## PuppyMintMocha (Sep 18, 2016)

Long time no post!
Nameless seems to be dealing with some constipation. Probably from overfeeding. He usually doesn't eat all the food I put in, and he seems underweight to be, but I'm not sure, so I had been putting in a little extra food, but I guess I shouldn't have. He only looks very slightly bloated, but he's been having trouble swimming and just sinking straight to the bottom whenever he pauses. I've been fasting him for the past few days (today is the fourth day with no food), and gave him part of a pea today. He's swimming a little bit better, but hopefully it'll clear up completely.
If he stays constipated, how much longer should I wait before feeding him again, or should I feed him for a day or two and then repeat the fast?


----------



## dennythebetta (Mar 8, 2017)

He's beautifull!!


----------



## PuppyMintMocha (Sep 18, 2016)

Just moved back in with my family! I was stressed about getting Nameless moved, but I think it went well. Crossing my fingers that I didn't throw off the tank's cycle by taking it apart, but I no spikes so far. Also decided to rearrange his decor for a change of pace, and removed about half of his substrate because a LOT of gunk had collected in it, unbeknownst to me. Hopefully making it shallower will make it easier to get everything out with the siphon vacuum and not let it collect like that again.

In other news, I have plans to possibly switch his tank soon! I found an old 2.5g in the storage unit, and I'm thinking about moving Nameless into it and branching out into trying some other fish species in the 5g (guppies, probably!). Also hoping that maybe Nameless will stop biting his fins so much in a 2.5, I've heard that it's helped some other bettas with fin biting to not have so much open space? We'll see.


----------



## Saffy (Mar 23, 2017)

I love your journal so much! Also, I'm 19 too. I get so happy when I see people my age on here, haha!


----------

