# Some days you just can't walk out the store empty handed...(Pic Heavy)



## summersea (Jul 26, 2013)

Well…I’ve gone and done it again! Welcome my newest member to my betta family…Teal’k (named by my mother after a character in one of our favorite TV shows)!!

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He’s a bit hard to see in his blue Petsmart water but when I was looking at the few bettas they had (seriously they only had 6 and 3 were females), I was drawn to this little boy. He is very tiny compared to by older boys (just a bit more than half their size – easily the smallest boy I’ve ever had). It was hard to tell his color until I started acclimating him and removing/replacing the blue water with his new tank water…

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I, sadly, lost my HMEE boy Dusty a week ago mysteriously over night. It broke my heart as I lost another boy to dropsy and another to severe swim bladder issues the month previously. I get so attached…Anywho, I completely redesigned the whole tank (5g natural planted soil-based tank) but was in no hurry to fill it up. But when the right fishy eyes latch on to you and speak to you…well there isn’t much to be done but bring them home!

After acclimating I let Little T out of his cup and you could tell he really had no idea what to do with such a “big” world. He immediately try to hide in some of the plants. But he slowly started to explore his new home…

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He particularly likes the little tunnel through my mopani log with anubias…

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Little T isn’t sure what to make of the snails that inhabit his tank and more than a couple bladder snails received an exploratory nibble…though no snails were injured in the making of this picture…

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Once he had fully explored his new home, Little T became quite the feisty booger…

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In fact, any time I came close to his tank he had to flare at me. He hasn’t quite figured out I mean food yet lol

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If you look closely, Little T has some color shining underneath his white dragon scales. I’m not sure if he is going to marble or if that is just grizzle pattern… anyone want to give their opinion? I’d be cool either way as I like his current icy appearance (considered calling him Olaf but he is just to feisty for that name lol) though a marble would be pretty cool.

The cup also said halfmoon but I’m thinking is a delta considering the angle isn’t quite 180 when he fully flares…though maybe that is just because he is young and hasn’t fully grown in his fins…or body for that matter LOL


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## gracem2002 (Dec 27, 2014)

He is such a cutie! You made a good decision taking him home...

I recently got my first betta (2 days ago) and I am planning on getting more in the near future! (His name is Draco Malfoy, so if I get 2 more I can either name them Lucius and Narcissa or Crabbe and Goyle! Harry Potter fan lol)

♥ Grace ♥


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## summersea (Jul 26, 2013)

Welcome gracem2002!! You've come to the correct place to get MBS - multiple betta syndrome! Trust me...it's contagious through this website lol

I love Harry Potter and had considered calling this boy Draco as well (seeing as how he has dragon scale ;-) ) I hope to see pics of your boys when you get 2 more and decide on their names!


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## Polkadot (Feb 10, 2013)

Oh he is cute! And what a great owner he has,I remember how terrific your tanks are summersea.


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## summersea (Jul 26, 2013)

Awww thank you Polkadot!! I must admit, I am both obsessed with bettas and planted tanks lol ;-)


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## KawashimoBettaHelp (Dec 29, 2014)

oh wow!:-D he is beautiful! I'm exactly the same. I still stand by my statement:


> Betta Fish are like Potato Chips... You cant just have one!


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## Aqua Aurora (Oct 4, 2013)

I thought your soil based tank was just massively snail poop covered substrate for a moment haha.
I had to ban myself from going into the petstores so I don't end up with another betta.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

Gorgeous boy! He's so lucky finding an owner like you <3 

Jealous of your lovely tank!


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## summersea (Jul 26, 2013)

Kawashimo - I have to agree with your statement whole heartedly since I can't seem to stop myself ... just like with chips lol ;-)

Aqua aurora - lol I can see where you would have gotten that impression but that just a combo of the soil and plant debris that spread around when I redid the tank :-D

Tress - Awww thank you for the complement. This was the tank I had set aside for RB (rescue boy) from the my thread you've commented on in the Disease forum but since he wont be able to handle that depth...well I just couldn't leave it empy hehehe


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## ellekay (Nov 11, 2014)

He is adorable! I love his coloring either way!

I've yet to see blue water in stores before though....


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

The blue water is from Methylene Blue, they use small doses of it for preventative measure to keep fungus away ^_^ It's actually rather good that they do that.

He's a beautiful boy! I do suspect he'll marble out for you!


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## Kieranfish (Dec 23, 2014)

OMG! I love him! Too cute! The more betta related threads I read the more I want one!!! Never kept one before but they're so colourful! Seem like social fish too. and very intelligent. (well, kind of)


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## TerriGtoo (Jul 2, 2013)

Beautiful boy there! I can't wait to see how he colors up as he matures. I love his color even now! (And your photo comments. "Quite the feisty little booger" made me laugh out loud here at work!)


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## summersea (Jul 26, 2013)

Lil - I feel like the color has already started to spread though it is so hard to tell when I stare at him several times a day lol. So wouldn't surprise me if he did marble. 

Thank you to everyone for the compliments! He is definitely a spunky little boy! Even though he is figuring out I mean food but he still flares at me anytime I get close! Silly boy!!


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## charliegill110 (May 19, 2014)

i am jealous! hes so pretty! but how do you pronounce teal'k?


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## summersea (Jul 26, 2013)

Lol it sounds like the word "teal" with a hard "kah" sound at the end. But that's why we call him little T hehehe ;-)


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## charliegill110 (May 19, 2014)

it took me a couple times of trying to pronounce it in my head and the whole time i was thinking "thats the stupidest name ever its so ugly" and then i finally got the pronunciation right (i'm horrible at pronouncing words/names i don't know) and holy crap that name is so beautiful! a beautiful name for a beautiful fish! i kept coming up with teal-ckkk and teal-key the latter of which was the pronunciation of the last name of a boy i went to school with that i didn't like so that probably helped me in thinking the name was ugly. but wow i can't get over how pretty it sounds when said the the right way.

by the way, is his color changing or did the blue water from the store cup stain his fins a bit? either way i like it.


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## aselvarial (Feb 21, 2014)

Lol I named my newest boy Baal, an awesome pseudo villain from the same show! Btw, teal'c is with a "c".


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## summersea (Jul 26, 2013)

Dang! I always thought it was with a k lol!! That's what I get for not checking hehehe ;-)


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## Kieranfish (Dec 23, 2014)

Teal'k? I LOVE it! I'd call my betta something like.. erm... Bob )


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## Danthedanio (Dec 6, 2014)

Your betta is gorgeous. My betta was named Troll. He slept under a bridge decoration.


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## summersea (Jul 26, 2013)

So I don't think my eyes are playing tricks on my after all! Here is before and after shots of Little T from Day 1 on top to today (Day 4) on bottom. The lighting makes it hard to see exactly how much blue is under his dragon scales but you can definitely tell it is spreading! Looks like I've got a marble after all ... though I wonder if he is just coloring up since he is so young...

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That blue looks very light. Not sure if it is because of the white dragon scales on top or if he is more of a pastel blue than I have every seen. Either way, he continues to be feisty...but has figured out I mean food...hence the pics are of him moving and not the best quality. He was doing his "Feed me you pesky human!" dance all over the place lol


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

He's gorgeous! I love how feisty he is, and I'm interested in his color changes.


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## summersea (Jul 26, 2013)

Sadist - Thanks, he is definitely a pretty boy and warm, clean water with good food has DEFINITELY made him feistier than ever! His color continues to progress over his body, deepening in color though it tends to look more teal than the darker blue I am used to...here is a pic I took just a minute ago...you can see the color is starting to spread over his back and fading into his tail


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

He's so beautiful! I love his light turquoise, it's almost Aqua colored! Love it! :-D


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## summersea (Jul 26, 2013)

And just for kicks here is the progression on his other side...


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## summersea (Jul 26, 2013)

Thanks lil!! I am lovin this color as well!! I also love the fact that he puffs himself up and acts so big and bad! Silly fishy!


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

Wow, look at that color spread!


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## BlueInkFish (Jan 13, 2013)

The color is VERY BEAUTIFUL!!!! He's so elegant!


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## summersea (Jul 26, 2013)

He does look pretty elegant though I think he prefers the term "macho" XD

That color is spreading FAST and I will admit I will miss the white "bits" if e marbles fully


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## BlueInkFish (Jan 13, 2013)

Well, looks like I would like more pictures of Mr. Macho! Please???


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## summersea (Jul 26, 2013)

Ask and you shall receive lol

Here is one side from tonight...


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## summersea (Jul 26, 2013)

...here is the other side...


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## summersea (Jul 26, 2013)

...and the only good pic I could get in the good lighting. Still showing some color progression even in as little as the 3 days since the last pics


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

Wow!


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

summersea said:


> Lil - I feel like the color has already started to spread though it is so hard to tell when I stare at him several times a day lol. So wouldn't surprise me if he did marble.


Maybe he's just coloring up for you, though?

Either way, I love your npt setup for him! It's a fishy palace  He's so cute, exploring everything x3 and then flaring at you like, "you better not ever put me back!" He's going to have a fit when you do your first water change, I bet.

edit: Whoa! That's definitely more than just coloring up. You're right, he is marbling.


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## Mystixism (Jul 25, 2014)

I would never tell that boy to his face how pretty he is, but he is pretty lol


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## summersea (Jul 26, 2013)

Myexplodingcat - I also originally thought he was just coloring up but like you said, we can definitely tell he is marbling now hehe ;-)

Mystixism - I agree, he is pretty! Though, like you I probably won't tell him that to his face - he's probably try to bite me if I put my hand near the water lol


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## summersea (Jul 26, 2013)

Well Teal'c is still changing color but it seems to have slowed down. I've had him 2 weeks now and the change is very evident! The parts of his body (mainly belly right now) without dragon scales looks to be turning black. I suspect he will turn out pretty similar to my blue dragon scale Nero in my avitar. Kinda wish he would keep some of the white to make him stand out more!


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## summersea (Jul 26, 2013)

And just for fun...

"What you lookin' at?!"


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

He's coloured up so pretty <3

btw, is that Limnophila Sessiflora to the right of him?


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## summersea (Jul 26, 2013)

Thanks! 

Honestly I can't remember what plant that is. I got it as a plant trimming from a member here last April and used it in my 29g tropical community tank at work. I took a few trims for this tank when I re set I up a month ago...so maybe? lol


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## cousiniguana (Apr 3, 2014)

Lovely guys. I love the way he's coloring up.


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## summersea (Jul 26, 2013)

*Long Lost Upddate!*

It has been awhile since I updated on little Teal'c but he is continuing to change...though I wont lie, I miss his original coloration.

Here is a pic from his original coloration right after I bought him for reference...

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Here he is today! The full body pic with his dorsal up is a bit blurry so I've also added a clearer pic but with the dorsal starting to fall...

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You can see he is starting to get red on both his dorsal and anal fins but not seeing any show up on his caudil fin just yet. The blue has spread up to his head with the portion of his head not covered in dragon scales turning black...except his lips are still the pale pinkish color of his original coloration...makes him look so funny!

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I'm beginning to think he is going to end a blue/red bi-color with a black face...we shall see! He is a joy to watch since his coloration is always changing. His face filled in within the course of 2 days. He has periods where the change seems to slow and then it takes off again. I'll try to keep this thread updated so I have a log of his changes :-D


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

I think his fins have lengthened, too! He's beautiful!


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## summersea (Jul 26, 2013)

Yup his fins have definitely lengthened and he has beefed up on his NLS pellets. A very feisty boy these days!


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## InStitches (May 26, 2014)

wow! beautiful then, beautiful now  I wonder what the red will do...


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## summersea (Jul 26, 2013)

Been a while since I updated this post. My boys have been happy and healthy I've just been busy preparing for my new thailand arrivals that will be coming in a few weeks. 

Well my boy has continued his color change and become even redder! His fins have really grown too. They almost look too big for his little body!

Here is my boy Teal'c. Two pics because.one shows the color better and the other shows his fins better...


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