# Massive photoshoot! (PIC-HEAVY)



## underdebate (Jan 26, 2012)

This week was my last week of school, and as a graduation gift, my fantastic parents got me a new camera. (Along with a stack of videogames, an original Gameboy Color and various other nerdy things I won't mention.) Now, photography isn't something I do seriously-- it's barely even something I do as a _hobby_, but I enjoy doing it, and I think they honestly just got it for me because they know I enjoy dorking around with a camera (skill nonwithstanding).

Of course, new cameras are CONFUSING, so to get myself comfortable with it I decided to take pictures of my bettas. I was continuously messing around with lighting and settings and lenses, so the quality varies, but I sort of got the hang of it by the end.

Auton first! Auton is the mustard gas HMDT I brought home-- a couple weeks ago now, I think? He's stunningly happy and loves building gigantic bubble nests, and gets mad at me if I dismantle them during water changes.














































Next we have Oki, an adoption from JBosley. (He's still doing great, don't worry! His fin-nipping is healing up nicely. Also he's SMART, good god. It takes me a good ten minutes to cup him every time I want to do a water change. Silly fish.)





































Kal, who has the most annoyingly chronic fin-biting problems-- we're into a healing stage now though, so they're getting long again. He's recently switched tanks with Ripley, who was getting skittish in his larger tank, and both of them are much happier now.




























Aaand Ripley himself. Ripley was rescued (along with Arro, whose pictures are near the end) from some very poor water conditions and a keeper who didn't have the first clue about how to take care of him. I'm still not sure if he's a crown or a veil due to the fact that his fins had melted quite a bit-- he also has ammonia burns, a few missing scales, and was slightly underweight when I first got him, but he's perfectly active and happy now and his fins have started to grow back!




























This is Isaac, my very first rescue. His fins were an absolute mess with rot when he first came home in January, and it was a struggle to heal them properly. As you can see, they grew back oddly in a number of spots (this is what they looked like at their worst), and never fully grew out in others, but despite the fact that he sort of looks like death itself, he's perfectly happy and healthy, and I'm very glad to have him.




























Taffler, my darling little chocolate veil. He's started to slow down a bit recently (I think it's age-related), but he's still a sweetheart and loves eating food off my fingertips.





































Ross was brought home on the same day as Taffler, but unlike Taffler he hasn't slowed down at ALL. This guy is impossible to feed-- he gets so excited about food that he completely misses it when it's dropped, and I always have to guide him back to it with my fingers. (Otherwise he just swims in circles like a dog. You can practically see him going 'FOOD FOOD FOOD'.)




























Dove, who probably (imo) ties with Corvus for 'prettiest fish I own'. He started out in a 1.5 gallon bowl (out of habit, I put all my bettas in bowls before they move to larger tanks so the transition doesn't stress them out), and loved it so much that he stayed there for a few months. Recently he finally got bored, so I moved him to a 2.5 gallon (originally intended for Isaac, who informed me that he liked his bowl better thank you very much by chewing off a quarter of his tail), and he's absolutely flourished.




























Veetor, a sort-of-rescue who turned out to be in absolutely pristine health after I brought him home. (He did have a bit of a clamping problem, but man, I made this whole case to the petstore about how they shouldn't keep a sick fish in such filthy water-- nope, he was fine. But hey, they do better water changes now.)





































Corvus, the peacock. I'd been dreaming of a black crowntail for months and came into Petsmart one day to find him sitting on a shelf (next to Dove, no less). The bad news was that he WASN'T actually a black crowntail, but the good news was that he was pretty gorgeous anyway. (He'll wiggle his tail at anything, I swear. It's a good thing I don't have any lady-fish.)




























And here's Idaho, another rescue who came home missing half his tail (much like how Arro currently looks!). He's grown significantly since then and his tail has almost filled out-- I was told he might be a delta, but at this point I'm thinking veil.





































And finally, Arro! Like Ripley, Arro came home with some pretty bad ammonia burns, and is missing a chunk out of his tail. He's just started to colour up in patches, and his tail is slowly regrowing itself, so I'm very hopeful for him. It'll be interesting to see what he looks like in a few months.




























Bonus: Oki and Tish, my baby girl. These two LOVE each other: at least once a day she'll come into my room, say hi to him, lay down purring loudly, and then fall asleep either next to or on top of his tank. He, in turn, loves the attention and is totally fascinated by her tail.


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## BeckyFish97 (Apr 9, 2012)

awwwww they're all so beautiful!!!(I'm not a cat person, but add a fish to the equasion=awwwwwwww)


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## Leonardo DaFINci (Jun 11, 2012)

you have lovely fish!


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## bananasammy8 (Jun 28, 2012)

Those A=are such pretty fish and i love there names!


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## underdebate (Jan 26, 2012)

Thank you! <3


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## WildFlower (May 8, 2012)

Your fish are gorgeous! How have you healed your betta's tails so well? I recently rescued a chronic tail biter and don't know how to help him.


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## Catfish Billy (Jun 27, 2012)

You have loads of AMAZING fish! Your cat is almost as cute as my avatar!


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## teeneythebetta (Apr 29, 2012)

WOW!!! I absolutely adore the blue & white betta in the purple themed tank! 

Aww your torti kitty is so cute <3333 I love kittays! DDDDDD

Cat + fish that is securely contained = <3


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## michbelle (Mar 16, 2012)

Oki is my faaaavorite of your bunch. He is so handsome, for some reason he reminds me of a horse lol. A Clyesdale to be specific it must be the white face.


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## underdebate (Jan 26, 2012)

@WildFlower: Thank you so much! <3 Honestly, I have three biters-- Oki and Isaac don't do it chronically, they just seem to bite when they're stressed, but Kal chews off his tail as soon as it reaches a certain length and that's happened three times now. HOWEVER, I've found that even with him, the biting is usually triggered by stress-- originally I had him in a 4 gallon tank, but patrolling it with his heavy fins got to be too much for him and he started biting. From there we went to a 2.5 gallon (which was in a busy area, so he bit again), then a 1.5 gallon (where he got bored), and now he's in a 2 gallon in my bedroom-- not big enough that he'll get stressed, not small enough that he'll get bored, and most importantly it's quiet. TL;DR, it's a lot of trial and error!  If you don't have, you know, a million tanks floating around like I do, sometimes I found that covering his tank with a towel helped calm him down when he started biting, too.

@Catfish: ahaha SHARKFISH AAAH. (Thank you so much. <3 Tish is quite the ham.)

@teeney: Thank you! I found him and Corvus sitting right next to each other and suddenly it was like, welp, I guess I need a couple new tanks. (They're really cute, aren't they? haha. It probably doesn't hurt that sleeping between two heated tanks is a pretty cozy spot.)

@michbelle: He's SO handsome-- I still feel extremely lucky that his last owner let me take him home. (He's also kind of huge, so yeah, totally a Clydesdale.  )


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## laoshun (Apr 3, 2012)

diggin the cat and the betta fish.


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## Destinystar (May 26, 2012)

They are all lovely and how sweet of you to help them the way you do and to know them so well you know what to do give them the help they need ! You must be the Betta Whisper...awesome !


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## lelei (Apr 30, 2012)

They are all certainly amazing,, ;-)and you can tell by the way they are..all have different personalities.. You have an incredible skill at helping betta's become happy and healthy, and yes, it is a lot of trial and error, but with that you become more experienced. 
Your fishy sounds a lot like my Sammy, he is so thrilled by food, he misses too when I put on my finger, or drop it in, I have to show him wehre it went..:shock:

I have said time and again, that he was a dog in a previous life.. :lol:all tail wagging, and barking with that mouth going fast as eva..they are adorable aren't they!!!:nicefish:


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## MaisyDawgThirteen (Dec 7, 2011)

They are all so beautiful!!


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## cyc1948 (Jun 28, 2012)

Hello ! I am new to this site and it is just wonderful. Your fish are just gorgeous,but I must say for some one who isn't a photographer your pics are just perfect.

cyc1948


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## hodgepodgen (Feb 25, 2011)

Oki is so pretty! <3 piebalds


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## FishyFishy89 (Jul 3, 2011)

such pretty pictures!
I love the 1st one with your kitty
it almost looks like the fish/kitty are making eye contact.


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## dorabaker (Jul 3, 2010)

omg all your fish are soooo gorgeous! Oki and Veetor are my faves. I am betta-less at the moment and desperately feeling the need to go out and rescue some from my LFS. I cleaned out and set up my 6 gallon tank today so I can do that now thank goodness!


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## underdebate (Jan 26, 2012)

@Pegasusmom: Oh goodness, well that's certainly what my non-betta-keeper friends are starting to call me. xD Thank you so much, I'm flattered!

@lelei: Thank you! <3 Yeah, a LOT of trial and error-- but also a lot of learning. I certainly know way more about how to fix up fins now than I did when I started. (Aww, that's so cute.<3)

@dorabaker: aah, gosh, rescuing a fish and watching them flourish is just the most rewarding experience. I'm sure whoever you find will be more than happy in their new, loving home. <3


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## WildFlower (May 8, 2012)

Thanks for the response! I think he is an old fish so maybe he has trouble covering the 2.5 gallon distance....I'll try a 1.5 or 1 gallon to see if that helps. Thank you so much!!!


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## a123andpoof (Apr 10, 2010)

You have more fish than me! Beautiful boys! I was drooling over Oki and all your marbles!


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## blueridge (Jul 1, 2011)

Very pretty fish and cat!


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## Meggie6347 (Jun 18, 2012)

You're bettas are so pretty! 

(I saw your cat and almost thought it was mine! This is my kitty, Penny. I love that coloring on cats!)


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## squidward89 (Jun 26, 2012)

i love calico cats! so beautiful i've had 3. Bella current. bonnie and patches = (. oki is my fav of your fish. beautiful as well.


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## MyRainbowBettaFish (May 9, 2012)

oki is my DREAM fish, but all your fish have AMAZING finnage and color! Love it!

You just inspired me to go get my camera and take some pics! I will post them soon hopefully


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## Karebear13 (Jan 23, 2012)

wow love Oki and Kal is so pretty he is very unique!


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## underdebate (Jan 26, 2012)

ahaha, I hope Oki's former owner is reading this because yes, he is VERY beautiful and I am lucky to have him. <3 (I am so drawn to marbles! They're so fascinating and pretty. And Karebear, thank you, Kal's been having a rough time with his fins lately so I'm sure he appreciates the compliment. <3)

@Meggie, your girl is so cute! It's funny because I have a boy too-- a black&white SH-- and he's much bigger than her and they look exactly like that sometimes, haha.


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## teeneythebetta (Apr 29, 2012)

I love black cats. Because I have one and they're the most overlooked. BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL PPL. :-D


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