# I'm the lobster! First lobster!



## imthelobster (Feb 25, 2015)

My wife encouraged me to make a fish journal here, since I'm the one who started her on betta collecting in the first place!

So! Hello, everyone. At the end of February, I got the inexplicable urge to get a fish. I had kept betta fish as a kid (though, thinking back on their conditions now, I feel AWFUL about having kept betta as a kid...), and I had a beautiful blue betta named Chuck a couple years ago.

However, not having done any research on them before I got him, I had him in one of those betta cubes with no filter or heater. He ended up with dropsy after a couple months, and passed away.

Fast forward to February, and I walked into Petsmart with the intention of buying the stuff FOR a fish, but not actually getting a fish. I had been reading the Googles about caring for one, so I knew that I wanted to get a real tank, filter, heater, etc. and let the tank cycle before I actually put a fish into it.

Yeah. That worked out really well.



















This little bugger attacked me and made me take him home. He was so pale and fiesty, and followed my finger in the cup, and I just could not leave him in the store.

I rounded up all the gear I thought I would need and brought everything home. I settled his cup in on the counter of my kitchen and started to get all the decor ready for rinsing, when I realized I had nowhere to PUT the 10G tank that I had bought for this guy.

Woops.

Back out I went, for an aquarium stand. Now, I am not the handy one of my wife and I, and we currently live three hours apart. So when I got this stand back to my apartment, I realized... I would have to build it.

Cue three hours of cursing and wanting to stab myself in the eye with the screws that just. would. not. go. in, and I finally had a stand, a tank, and a fish.



















He took a liking to the tank right away, and I was excited about my new fish. We named him Ronan, because he'd seemed pretty fiesty and the name, we thought, would fit. (It's from a book series called The Raven Cycle.) I was surprised at myself that a little white fish with weird smudges would have been the one that called to me, but I took it in stride.

After about a week of having him, I had started reading these forums, and realized that I really wanted to add real plants to the mix. Of course, I hadn't bought a good substrate for that, but I picked up a little anubias nana plant and attached it to a log for him. He seemed to like all the silk plants that I got for him, and he was starting to thrive.

...and then...

ADD TO MY SURPRISE.





































I knew nothing about marbling until he was no longer my white fish with little smudges.










"Hi, you didn't want a white fish, right?"

As soon as he'd fully acclimated to the tank and it had cycled (about mid-March), I picked up six neon tetras to go with him. He wasn't fiesty at all now that he was in the 10G tank, and I figured they'd get along well with him and give me a little more movement in my tank.



















And he loves them.










"Also, you still didn't want a white fish, right? CAUSE YOU ARE CERTAINLY NOT GETTING A WHITE FISH."










"Oh, look at my funky in-between phase when I have a half-mustache. Don't worry, I'll only look funny for a couple weeks while I try to grow the other half."










During all this time, I'd been vying for real plants and a different substrate. My tank had been attacked by brown diatoms and my silk plants got COMPLETELY RUINED AND GROSS, and the live plants were much easier to clean than the silk ones.

I also bought another betta (who I will give his own post below this one), and I'd used a black aquarium sand for his little tank, so I decided this past weekend to change out the substrate in my big tank and put in more real plants. I also got a couple pieces of driftwood, and a nice rock from my LFS.



















Ronan has his full mustache now, and it looks like his face is slowly shifting out of the white. All he needs is a top hat and a monocle.

I'm super happy with how the tank looks now, and I should be getting the Finnex Stingray lights in the mail tomorrow.

As an aside, Ronan is on a diet now, because he's looking kind of chubby.


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## imthelobster (Feb 25, 2015)

And introducing Clarke!

Clarke was an impulse buy. He MADE me buy him. Seriously. My wife and I were in Petco looking at plants. I had no tank for him. I DID have a 2.5G tank that I had used as a QT tank for my neon tetras, but I had emptied it when they went into the big tank, and I was just going to continue using it as a QT tank for plants, etc.

And then I found Clarke.











He was so yellow. SO YELLOW.

I just had to.










The first morning after I got him, he was sleeping in the purple plant. I thought he was dead, because he WOULD NOT MOVE out of the plant. But he was just being lazy.

This fish. This fish is the fiesty, angry fish that I thought Ronan was. He was flaring all over the place in his cup (and I have never once seen Ronan flare!), so while I was building his tank, I decided to see what would happen if I floated his cup in Ronan's tank.

Ronan came over and was curious, but STILL did not flare.

Clarke?

PUFFED. He was ALL angry, beard out, glaring, flaring, the whole shebang.










He's calm now that he's in his own space. I feel bad having him in a 2.5G, but I'm planning on moving him to the 20L I have sitting empty, as soon as I figure out my setup for it.

We bought the 20L when it was $1/G. Couldn't help it.

This hobby is addicting.


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## Nismo83 (May 9, 2015)

Nice setup. If you have seen how they are kept in Asia you will be surprised. They dun stay anything close to what you and the other in the forum had setup


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## SeaHorse (Dec 27, 2010)

Awesome read!! Congratulations on being bitten by the "Betta Bug!" No one told you that tanks multiply too? Excellent setups too btw. 
Some people don't believe that fish have personalities and pick YOU... but they DO!!


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## Athra (Mar 29, 2015)

Yay you started it! Your 10g still has me jealous now...


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## artemis35 (Jul 11, 2014)

> This hobby is addicting.


:BIGwinky:
And nobody tells you this until you've already bought your first fish and tank, and it's too late anyway.


Your tanks and fish are all gorgeous!

I loved reading your story. Your commentary and pictures were interspersed perfectly.


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## imthelobster (Feb 25, 2015)

Nobody warned me that it would be so addicting! I can't believe I have four tanks sitting in my apartment... only two of them have water/fish, but I can't guarantee that will continue to be the case...

Ronan likes to blow bubble nests underneath leaves. This is his latest, this evening!


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## DangerousAngel (Mar 26, 2015)

I LOVE your Bettas and tanks! Ronan is looking AMAZING, what a transformation! 
Subbing.


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## imthelobster (Feb 25, 2015)

I got my Finnex Stingray lights in the mail today!

On the 10G:



















And on the 2.5G:



















I seriously love the look of these lights, and I wish my iPhone would take better photos of them. They look amazing, and they really make the color in my tanks stand out.

Clarke looks even more gold today. I think it's a combination of his color coming in more now that he's not in a tiny cup, and the new light.


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

Ronan and Clarke are very handsome! Ronan reminds me of my Molly with her marbling, though, so far, she's kept her pale head (can't quite call it white XD). 

The lights look great on your tanks!


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## Elleth (Feb 23, 2015)

Love the look of the lights! I'm contemplating getting one of those for one of my ten gallons next month. Thanks for posting the pictures, that helps my decision a lot.  Love your fish, too.


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## imthelobster (Feb 25, 2015)

I got 6 more neon tetras on Wednesday to put into my bigger tank with Ronan and the tetras I already have. They're currently in a QT tank.

I feel really bad for one of them; he's SO tiny that he kept getting sucked up into my Whisper filter. I tried putting a control valve on the air pump, and he still got sucked into it. Finally, I ended up cutting a small piece of plastic and wrapping a rubber band around it, and just poking a couple holes in it for the filter intake. It seems to have worked, as he didn't get sucked in overnight.

Can't wait until I can introduce them to the main tank, I think they're going to thrive with the others that I have in there. I am definitely waiting out the QT, though, because these guys were part of the $1 sale at Petsmart, and I have read horror stories about whether they survive.

-

In betta news, Ronan's head is almost all blue now. I'm both sad and happy to see the marbling that he's done.

Clarke has colored up beautifully. I need to get a small siphon to clean out the 2.5g, though, because the one I have is FAR too big and messes up all the plants & sand. Also, it doesn't even work half the time.


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## imthelobster (Feb 25, 2015)

Elleth said:


> Love the look of the lights! I'm contemplating getting one of those for one of my ten gallons next month. Thanks for posting the pictures, that helps my decision a lot.  Love your fish, too.


Now that I've had them for a couple days, I can say:

I absolutely love the look of these lights too. They give AMAZING colors to both my fish and my tanks. I wish that the fixture fit better on my 2.5g, but overall I would definitely recommend them.


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## imthelobster (Feb 25, 2015)

I bought a large anubias plant, an Amazon sword, and some micro sword grass (lilaeopsis) for Ronan's tank. I was doing my water change today, so I figured it would be easy enough to add the plants to the tank in the midst of the water change!

...and then I promptly forgot that I had them, until after I had already added the fresh water to the tank. OF COURSE.

Cue me sticking my hand in the full tank to try and dig the roots of these plants into place. The anubias isn't quite where I want it, but I will move it during the next water change or two.

I LOVE the way the grass looks, and Ronan and the tetras are all loving it as well. It makes the tank look more jungle-y, which I think they all appreciate.


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## imthelobster (Feb 25, 2015)

The new tetras have gone into Ronan's tank! They're all looking good so far; they got pretty dull from the stress of putting them in the new tank, but they've colored back up and they're all schooling together.

I also had to do my first trimming of my plants. I would get a picture, but it's pretty dark at the moment, so I'll need to do that later.

I'm shocked, because they're all growing and it doesn't appear that any of them have died thus far. My mom always had a black thumb, and I was afraid that I might have inherited it -- I've never tried to grow plants, cause she always killed them.


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## Athra (Mar 29, 2015)

YAY TETRAS! Would love to see a pic of them when you grab pics, too


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## imthelobster (Feb 25, 2015)

Apparently I jinxed the crap out of myself.

Everything was splendid in Ronan's tank -- I had my 6 neon tetras, my live plants, everyone was happy!

I added in the new neon tetras after 8 days of QT (I know, I know, I should have QT'd them longer, live and learn, but I was impatient).

Two days later, Ronan has some tears in his fins, which I am assuming is due to nipping from the new tetras. So I take him out of the 10G and put him in my extra 2.5G. I feel AWFUL about this, because he's had the 10G of space since I got him, and now he's cramped, but I know it's better than him getting his tail nommed on.










Then, this morning, I notice one of the tetras has a very dull color, and a couple white spots. A couple other tetras have white spots too.

Damn it, ich.

And so I examine Ronan closely... and sure enough, he has a couple tiny white spots too.

UGH.

So now I have to treat the two tanks for ich and hope that it doesn't kill anything. I've never had to deal with ich before. I have to go to the store today to get AQ salt and ich treatment.










The 10G feels empty without Ronan and his floating log and his purple plant. I may have to bump up my plans for setting up the 20G so that he can have his space back.


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## imthelobster (Feb 25, 2015)

And now it appears that Ronan is biting his fins, rather than the tetras nipping at them. It might be a product of the ich, I'm really not sure.

I've bumped up the 2.5g and the 10g tanks temperature to 86, and put AQ salt in both tanks. I really hope I can clear up this ich, Ronan is definitely not pleased with this turn of events.

Clarke is doing very well, knock on wood. No ich in his tank, and he's just swimming around, chilling as usual.


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## imthelobster (Feb 25, 2015)

It's been a bit since I updated the journal.

Ronan is still in the 2.5G, as is Clarke. They're both fin biting now -- I'm working on getting the things I need for the 20G so that I can move the tetras and Clarke to that, and give Ronan back his 10G. He's not pleased with the lack of space in the 2.5, poor boy.

The ich is gone from the tanks, thankfully!

I got a gorgeous piece of driftwood for the 20G that I will need to upload a picture of later. It's going to be a great centerpiece for my tank.

I'm starting to make a shopping list of plants that I will want in there, and hopefully the plants will do well. My 10G is growing all right, but it's not getting the carpet that I want. I need to do some more reading on carpeting plants.


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## imthelobster (Feb 25, 2015)

I don't know what happened.

One minute, I was walking into Petco to get the glass canopy for my 20G that I am planning on setting up this weekend.

The next minute, I'm walking out with two bettas.

HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN.




























But really. These two just would NOT let me leave without them.

I don't have names for them yet, and the girl is in a very makeshift location until this weekend (either tomorrow or Sunday) when I get the 20G situated. I wasn't planning on moving any of my fish into it until it had time to start growing the plants I want to put in there, but...

REALLY, HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN.

These fish, I tell you. These fish.


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## Elleth (Feb 23, 2015)

Beautiful! Congrats!


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## Crossroads (Jun 28, 2014)

If it makes you feel any better, I've walked out with 3 on one occasion and four on another |D


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## DangerousAngel (Mar 26, 2015)

WOAH Crossroads! 
Lucky find those two! I brought a boy home today as well, so don't feel bad. ;-)


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## Crossroads (Jun 28, 2014)

The joys of being an adult with no one telling you you can't


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## imthelobster (Feb 25, 2015)

Crossroads said:


> The joys of being an adult with no one telling you you can't


I find that to be more dangerous.........


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## imthelobster (Feb 25, 2015)

Yesterday and today were spent setting up my 20G, moving things around, planting, etc. etc. etc.

VERY BUSY.

I will have pictures in my next post, but for now...

*Ronan* is still in the 2.5G. His face has turned pretty much completely blue. I can't wait to get him back into his 10G, I know he'll be so much happier in there. It doesn't look like he's biting his fins anymore -- there isn't any new growth, but they don't look worse either.

*Clarke* scared the crap out of me this morning. I moved him into the 20G after dividing off a section for him, and I have an internal filter in there. He somehow got himself wedged in between the filter and the glass, and couldn't get himself out. When I noticed him and saved him, he went RACING to the surface for air, so I'm not sure how long he was stuck. He gasped for breath for a good five minutes though. He's doing better now though, but I can't tell if he likes having more space. I'm not sure he knows what to do with himself now that he's in so much more water.

*The Weasleys (Ron, Fred, & George)* are the new guppies that I got today and put into the other side of the 20G. I will be relocating my neon tetras in there from my 10G next weekend, but for now I just have the three guppies chilling out on that side, with the startings of my planted jungle. Or what I hope to be my planted jungle, anyway.

I found a FANTASTIC aquarium store called The Planted Aquarium. It's by far the best aquarium store that I've been to yet. The employees were super knowledgeable, they had a LOAD of plants and GREAT looking fish. They also had a bunch of display tanks that weren't for sale, but just to show off their pretty plant-keeping and fish-keeping skills.

*Vala* is my new girl. She's been relocated to Clarke's old 2.5G, and she's doing fantastic. She needs a couple plants (probably fake) in her tank, but she's eating and super active. She's also sitting next to my new boy, and she keeps showing off and flirting with him.

*Currently un-named new boy* is in a pretty bare 5G tank. I'm going to be moving the decor from Ronan's 2.5G into his tank when I get him moved into the 10G, but for now all he has is a purple fuzzy plant, a moss ball, and a terra cotta pot. I feel bad about it, but I had a log in there too, and he scraped the crap out of his scales by sliding underneath the log. I didn't have that problem when the log was with Ronan, but I guess not having a substrate meant there was a wiggle space that New Boy just HAD to fit through.

*The 10G (neon tetras)* are doing well. I have a MASSIVE explosion of snails right now, and am trying to consider my best options for getting rid of them. I thought about getting an assassin snail, but I have a Tiger Nerite that I actually like and want to keep around. I'll probably end up moving him to the 20G and getting an assassin though, the pest snails are junking up the place with all their waste.



...how did I end up with so many fish/tanks?! I was not warned that this would happen!


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## Crossroads (Jun 28, 2014)

Of course its dangerous :rofl: How do you think I went from 1 to 7 to 20 l before I cooled my jets and went back down to a manageable 10 xD Dunno how close you are to Orlando but there's a Fish Gallery and if it's run ANYTHING like the one here in Houston, it's a fantastic store.

Edit: AHAHAH looked it up out of curiosity. Yeah no, nevermind. xD


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## imthelobster (Feb 25, 2015)

Crossroads said:


> Of course its dangerous :rofl: How do you think I went from 1 to 7 to 20 l before I cooled my jets and went back down to a manageable 10 xD Dunno how close you are to Orlando but there's a Fish Gallery and if it's run ANYTHING like the one here in Houston, it's a fantastic store.
> 
> Edit: AHAHAH looked it up out of curiosity. Yeah no, nevermind. xD


Hahaha, yeah, my wife lives in Orlando, it's about 2.5 hours away from me. She saw your comment and got excited about the possibility of a fish store she hadn't visited, but alas, it's just a service center!

I'm surprised at how many sub-par fish shops we have down here, considering... it's Florida.


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## Crossroads (Jun 28, 2014)

Aw, pity it's just a service center. The one here in Houston is an aquarist heaven.
http://bettapack.tumblr.com/post/117930049798/crosspired-kai-ni-theblondeaquarist-i

Better than my area, we have very little selection. One great aquarium shop, one decent enough one (care is decent, knowledge is a bit lacking, especially with plants) and one that I went in and wasn't too impressed with. The rest are big box stores. I think I have one last place to check out but it's a drive and mostly saltwater if I remember right. However they may carry meds that the others dont.


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## imthelobster (Feb 25, 2015)

Pictures!

*The 10G:*










The tetras were kind of hiding toward the back, but the plants are doing all right. My carpet still isn't carpeting, and my grass hasn't spread yet, but I'm trying to be patient with it, as I know plants take time!

*Ronan:*










It's hard to get Ronan's picture right now, because he doesn't have a direct light on him at the moment, and now that he's almost entirely blue he's very hard to see!

*Clarke:*










He really likes the floating log, and after I took this picture, I realized that he built a bubble nest in the middle of it!










Here's how his divided section looks; he wouldn't let me take a good picture of him while I was zoomed out. I want to get some Dwarf Water Lettuce to float in the top, and probably one more taller plant so I can take out the purple silk plant, and then I think I'll be good to just let things grow!

*The Weasleys (Ron, Fred, & George):*










Ron is the orange one, Fred & George are the blue and orange ones! Ron decided to take a jaunt over to Clarke's side this morning. Clarke didn't seem to mind him at all, but he looked miserable, sitting at the bottom of the tank like, "WHAT DID I DO?!" When I got him back to his side, he very merrily started swimming around with his brothers. (I have it divided because I'm going to transfer the neon tetras to the 20G, and they were nipping at Ronan's fins, so I don't want them to nip Clarke's!)










And the 20G setup right now! I'm waiting on the Finnex Planted+ 24/7 to come in, so right now I have 2 CFL 13W 6500K clip lamps set up. The big piece of driftwood is growing the nasty white slime, which I am very sad about. It looks so gross.

*Vala:*










Vala is a picky eater, and is spoiled rotten. Today was the frozen bloodworm day for the fish, so she has only eaten exactly 1 pellet since I got her. The other times I've tried to give her pellets, she either entirely turns her nose up at them, or she sticks them in her mouth and then spits them out.

She loooooves the bloodworms though.

*Un-Named New Boy:*










I should be getting his filter in the next couple days, but I feel so bad for this boy! I'm having a hard time figuring out a name for him, and his tank looks so bare right now. Poor boy.

He eats like a horse, and he doesn't seem bothered by the fact that he scraped his scales. I've been keeping his water nice and clean for him, though, and he'll be much better off once I get all of his stuff into his tank.


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

Beautiful new additions!


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## imthelobster (Feb 25, 2015)

BettaLover1313 said:


> Beautiful new additions!


Thanks!

In more adventures of fishkeeping...

I bought a 55L tub from Walmart and transferred the neon tetras into it. I am using it as a hospital tank, because they have either Saprolegnia or Columnaris (it's very hard to tell which). I'm treating them with AQ salt and water changes, and hopefully they'll get better so that I can put them into the 20G with the guppies.

I am working on getting the 10G cleaned up so that I can put Ronan back into it. I don't want to put him directly in, because of whatever the neon tetras have, but it's hard to be patient when it's sitting there with no fishies!

No-Name Boy is named Jack (after Jack Skellington, because he's all "What's this?! What's this?!" to everything), and he's doing well. He has a sponge filter in his tank now, and will be getting gravel and more decor as soon as Ronan gets moved to the 10G.

The others are all doing well also. Right now the only problem children are those tetras.


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## imthelobster (Feb 25, 2015)

I HAVE A PROBLEM.










BUT LOOK.










Who could say no to that face?!










Especially since I already had everything except the decor for the tank... it was like it was meant to be.










As soon as I tried starting to take pictures, he gave me a hard time and went hiding behind everything that he could. Typical.

He doesn't have a name yet, because I just got him today. I went in there for cat food... and came out with a fish. Pet stores are dangerous. I'm going to start buying cat food online, dammit.

*Jack (5G):*

Jack has the gravel and decor in his tank now, and it looks SO much nicer. I also made he and Ronan floating 'logs' out of craft mesh. They both like them a lot, and I see them chilling in them pretty often.










He's doing very well, and he jumps for his food! He started randomly jumping the second or third day after I got the decor into his tank, and so I started training him to do it for his pellets. Now he knows to jump to my fingertips for his food, it's so flipping cute.

*Ronan (10G):*










Ronan is back in his 10G and he's doing very well. His fins are looking better, and I think they might have started growing again too. He's VERY happy to have his plants and his space. He seemed initially curious about the assassin snails that I have in his tank, but now they've gone underground and he was just ignoring them.










His log is bigger than Jack's, and he has started to build a bubble nest around it and in between some of the dwarf lettuce. It's kind of adorable.

*The Weasley's & Clarke (20G):*

The Weasley's are doing awesome, as is Clarke. His fins are definitely growing back, he has transparent tips on them now, so I'm really happy that he's stopped his fin biting.

The water has been too warm, though. I have two clip lamps that have to sit on the glass because I have nowhere else to clip them other than the edge of the tank, and the water has been at 80 degrees. My plants aren't doing BADLY, but they're also not quite flourishing, which I think is because of the temperature and because of the light. I'm waiting on the Finnex Planted+ 24/7 to ship, but it was so back-ordered that they say 1-4 months before I get it. Le sigh.

*The tetras (55L tub):*

The tetras aren't looking WORSE. I can't really tell if they're looking better, because the tub isn't clear, so I can only see them from the top down or through a semi-clear plastic. It doesn't seem like the white growth on the couple of their lips has gotten any worse, and they're still eating/swimming/etc. I'm continuing to do water changes and AQ salt.

*Vala:*

Vala is a little piggy! Since the last time I posted about her, when I said she would barely eat pellets, she has now decided that pellets are THE BOMB. She scarfs them down like she's dying, and then she prances around the surface of the water and struts her stuff.

She also loves to flare at the betta mirror, which is utterly fantastic. I didn't even know the females flared.


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## Elleth (Feb 23, 2015)

The new guy is adorable! I'm currently pet sitting one who looks quite a bit like him.

Yes! Lol I love watching my girlie Eowyn flare. Does yours bar? Eowyn has vertical bars pretty constantly (she has since she got used to her tank) and when I show her a mirror they get super duper vivid.


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## imthelobster (Feb 25, 2015)

Elleth said:


> The new guy is adorable! I'm currently pet sitting one who looks quite a bit like him.
> 
> Yes! Lol I love watching my girlie Eowyn flare. Does yours bar? Eowyn has vertical bars pretty constantly (she has since she got used to her tank) and when I show her a mirror they get super duper vivid.


I haven't ever noticed any bars on her. She mostly just flares and puffs herself up as big as she can get.


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## Athra (Mar 29, 2015)

I'm stealing your new guy. Just you wait. HE'S TOO PRETTY


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## imthelobster (Feb 25, 2015)

Wow, it's been a long time since my last journal update. I'm going to picture spam!

*Ronan:*




























*Clarke:*

Clarke ripped his dorsal fin the day before yesterday, almost completely torn off. These pictures were taken before he did that, but he's feeling better now. I'm keeping his water clean, and he'll hopefully start growing it back.



















*The 20G:*










I lost Ron (of the Weasleys), and I had initially put a new boy (Kuzco) into the 20G with the guppies, but he took a huge bite out of George's fin, so I moved him into a 2.5G. The Weasleys are doing well now, and they have been joined by two new guppies (Cedric and Newt), and the tetras.

The tetras still look a little worse for wear, but I believe that it's all scarring due to their illnesses. They're all active/eating and none of them have died, I had them in the hospital bin for over 2 months.

*Alfie:*










Alfie is ITTY, and he is SO ANGRY. He flares every time I come up to the glass (unless I'm feeding him), and because he's so small, he flits around the tank all the time. I moved him into a divided 10G (from a 2.5G), and he really seems to like the space. I need one more plant to put in his side, but other than that he's pretty set.

*Monet:*

Monet is a new boy, on the other side of Alfie. He is my watercolor baby, and he is GORGEOUS. He was super shy when I first got him, but he's perked up and is more active now that he has a filter on his side.




























*Kuzco:*

Kuzco is a jerk. That's all I have to say about him! He's another new one, and he was initially in the 20G, but he ate George's fins, so he had to move to time-out zone (a 2.5G). He's acclimating all right to having less space, but I would eventually like to set him up in a 5G.



















*Jack:*

Jack is mah BOY. He jumps for his food EVERY TIME, and I love him so much for it. He's so flipping cute.

Right now he has 3 nerite snails in with him, 'cause he had an explosion of algae due to sun hitting the side of the tank, and 'cause I'm holding a snail for my wife.




























*Vala:*

Vala has grown SO much, and she is super happy flitting around her tank too.




























And that is all. I have reached my tank capacity for the moment, and I love them all to pieces. Except Kuzco. Who's a jerk.


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## blueridge (Jul 1, 2011)

I just read all of this and I have to say that your boys and gal are so adorable! Also those lights are amazing :shock: I cannot believe the colors that come out with them on! Maybe I should upgrade my old hood lights. Do they do pretty well growing your plants?


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## imthelobster (Feb 25, 2015)

blueridge said:


> I just read all of this and I have to say that your boys and gal are so adorable! Also those lights are amazing :shock: I cannot believe the colors that come out with them on! Maybe I should upgrade my old hood lights. Do they do pretty well growing your plants?


I have the Finnex Stingray on the 10G with Ronan in it (and on Vala's 2.5G), and those plants have been doing OUTSTANDING with that light. I do eventually want to get a second one for it, because the dwarf water lettuce has a habit of sucking up all the light, but that's going to be a nice to have, rather than a need.

I have the Finnex Planted+ 24/7 on my 20G long, and I LOVE THIS LIGHT. It is freaking gorgeous, and I love the 24 hour cycle on it. I'm still trying to get the balance of ferts & liquid co2 in that tank, but my anubias, jungle vals, Amazon sword, and flame moss have been doing fantastic under the light.

I believe that the Stingray is a high-low to low-medium light, and the 24/7 is a high-medium light, so I would probably need to get a second one if I wanted to grow anything that needed a high light. But I don't want to get that hi-tech with my tanks.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND THESE LIGHTS. <3

Edit: Oh, and I have a good-ole hood light (flourescent bulbs) on Monet & Alfie, which handles the dwarf water lettuce and the anubias just fine, but I wouldn't use it for anything that needed more light. Jack and Kuzco have clamp lights with CFL 13W bulbs, and I'm actually pretty happy with how they light the tanks too. I had them initially on the 20G though, and they didn't grow my plants as well as I'd have liked.


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## InStitches (May 26, 2014)

wow, gorgeous fish  so spoiled, too!


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## blueridge (Jul 1, 2011)

imthelobster said:


> I have the Finnex Stingray on the 10G with Ronan in it (and on Vala's 2.5G), and those plants have been doing OUTSTANDING with that light. I do eventually want to get a second one for it, because the dwarf water lettuce has a habit of sucking up all the light, but that's going to be a nice to have, rather than a need.
> 
> I have the Finnex Planted+ 24/7 on my 20G long, and I LOVE THIS LIGHT. It is freaking gorgeous, and I love the 24 hour cycle on it. I'm still trying to get the balance of ferts & liquid co2 in that tank, but my anubias, jungle vals, Amazon sword, and flame moss have been doing fantastic under the light.
> 
> ...


They sound amazing! I'll have to look more into them and save up some money because they seem a little pricey :shock: 
I currently have aqueon hoods with the plant light bulbs in them. They do pretty well. I've managed to keep my amazon swords going and I have two that are a decent size, of course they get root tabs too, and I've just recently been adding flourish, so I'll see what that does.


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