# Bre's log



## bre23 (Mar 22, 2014)

I think I need a tank log/somewhere to gush about my dumb fish, so here it is. I also post a lot of fish stuff on my tumblr, spicychickfila, where my fish have their own tags.

Current setups:









2.5 gallon tank

25w Hydor Theo heater
Jardin Mini Cylinder sponge filter (incoming, unfiltered right now)
two silk plants
lantern decoration from petsmart









5.5 gallon Aqueon tank

50w Hydor Theo heater
Tetra 10 Internal Filter
four silk plants
betta log (incoming)

Current fish:

Michael - HMRT royal blue male
Kaiju - SD cellophane blue marble male


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## bre23 (Mar 22, 2014)

So yesterday I did a full water change for Michael, and he had a bit of fin tearing. =( I try my best to be careful with his fins, but they are extremely fragile and extensive. Imo breeding rosetails is definitely torture. I'm experimenting with different ways of making his tank safer, which may involve taking out the gravel. I'm reluctant to move him up to my 5.5 gallon, because it has a bit more current from the filter and he sometimes has trouble getting around even in his 2.5 gallon. 

Today he is very active though! He keeps flaring at his new thermometer and bumping it with his body. He keeps trying to dart across the tank, but his fins cause a lot of drag.

I also did a partial change on Kaiju's tank, because the ammonia level was higher. It's now back down to normal, and my mom is bringing up my gravel vacuum in a few days so I can actually handle the waste buildup. He has a bit more red in his fins than yesterday, and it might be the water quality causing it? Not sure. The Tetra filter may not be working. If the red gets worse, I'm getting a new one.


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## bre23 (Mar 22, 2014)

Ok, so, I keep hearing stories about bettas that can't eat normal sized pellets and need micros and then there's Kaiju. A giant clump of probably five or six pellets fell in the tank on accident and the little brat just dives up and EATS THE WHOLE THING. 

Which got me all worried because swim bladder disease and overfeeding, etc, etc, and meanwhile the dumbo was frantically swimming at the glass wanting more food. He's also still a baby/stunted, and yeah, nope no mouth too small problem. Kaiju has a mouth too big problem. As illustrated by these recent photos that show him being a pigface.


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## bre23 (Mar 22, 2014)

The edge of Michael's fin is all red and inflamed where it tore the other day, and I'm trying to keep the water clean for him. Hopefully he doesn't get any worse. He's still acting the same as usual, but I think I stressed him out with my small water change today. The darn filter better get in soon, because I have to do wayyyy too much water changing to keep the ammonia down ugh.


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## bre23 (Mar 22, 2014)

Today the temp spiked at 86 degrees in Kaiju's tank and is holding there despite me lowering the heater temp and removing the lid to encourage evaporation. I think it's the warm temp outdoors and the fact that when I changed his water, the temp might have been slightly higher than necessary. 

I usually keep the tank at around 80, so I don't think it should affect him too much. I've turned the heater down to 75 for now, because I think it keeps running even though the water's already warm enough even though it's supposed to switch.

Kaiju's perfectly happy and doesn't seem upset by the temperature. He even had a ten minute fight with Michael through the glass until I put a stop to that by putting cardboard between them. He still has red/pink in his fins but is acting normal, so I think it might be color coming in and not an ammonia issue. I haven't tested the ammonia today, but I did a 25% change yesterday. He seems to be getting more speckling on his tail and butt, so I hope he's just coloring up.


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## bre23 (Mar 22, 2014)

Michael's filter came in early! It's a Jardin Mini sponge filter, and I'm going to use the air pump from my Petco tank with it. Hopefully it works. It looks pretty basic? Just a sponge and the input for the bubbler? Idk, I'm going to run it in my 1 gallon tank for a few days to see if it actually works. I got it super cheap from China so who knows :/ I actually ended up getting two somehow? For six bucks? Pretty good price for a filter.


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## bre23 (Mar 22, 2014)

Just looked over and Kaiju is bubble nesting like crazy!!! He hasn't made a substantial bubble nest in the whole time I've had him, and now he does this craziness.


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## myprince (Apr 2, 2014)

bre23 said:


> Ok, so, I keep hearing stories about bettas that can't eat normal sized pellets and need micros and then there's Kaiju. A giant clump of probably five or six pellets fell in the tank on accident and the little brat just dives up and EATS THE WHOLE THING.
> 
> Which got me all worried because swim bladder disease and overfeeding, etc, etc, and meanwhile the dumbo was frantically swimming at the glass wanting more food. He's also still a baby/stunted, and yeah, nope no mouth too small problem. Kaiju has a mouth too big problem. As illustrated by these recent photos that show him being a pigface.


 
I am having such a problem with Prince, I bought a brine shrimp hatchery and eggs to feed him. I cant seem to get him to want to eat the pellets or flakes. It could be though because I just got him and he has a bacteria growing on his fin.


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## bre23 (Mar 22, 2014)

Yeah, some fish are reluctant first off. It's all down to the individual fish's personality. Your fishie is probably just still stressed out from being in a new place, but you seem to be spoiling him. =P I wish I was ambitious enough to try out that kind of food for my boys. Right now, they eat pellets with freeze-dried brine shrimp as treats occasionally. If I ever get more, I'm definitely raising bloodworms though. I love watching videos of various creatures eating bloodworms. So cute.


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## myprince (Apr 2, 2014)

bre23 said:


> Yeah, some fish are reluctant first off. It's all down to the individual fish's personality. Your fishie is probably just still stressed out from being in a new place, but you seem to be spoiling him. =P I wish I was ambitious enough to try out that kind of food for my boys. Right now, they eat pellets with freeze-dried brine shrimp as treats occasionally. If I ever get more, I'm definitely raising bloodworms though. I love watching videos of various creatures eating bloodworms. So cute.


 
I might have to look into raising bloodworms because raising brine shrimp is a little challenging - I'm thinking. Atleast all the research I have done seems to float that way.


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## bre23 (Mar 22, 2014)

Yeah I'm going to stick to pellets for now.


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## bre23 (Mar 22, 2014)

Michael DOES NOT like his new filter, but it's really a problem with the air pump more than anything. Too strong, no way to regulate the flow, etc. I'm probably going to stop at Petsmart and get a control valve as recommended or else replace the air pump. For now I'm leaving it off. He seems ok, just agitated and kept flaring at the bubbles. Meanwhile, Kaiju has been viciously guarding the bubble nest he built the other day. He's been seeing Michael a lot despite the stuff in between them and I think he got a bit territorial. Obviously has to show Mikey he's better with the ladies.


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## bre23 (Mar 22, 2014)

I think Kaiju is coloring up? He's gotten more dark blue spotting on his sides and tail in the past few days, just speckling but enough to be a noticeable change. He also has developed a pinky/orange tinge to his anal fin, though I'm not sure if that's something to do with my water quality? He seems otherwise healthy, so I'm assuming it's a color change.

First two are today during a water change, and the last one is for comparison, taken a week ago.


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## bre23 (Mar 22, 2014)

Michael's filter is now officially running! I bought a flow adjuster thing at Petsmart which actually works super well. Hopefully it doesn't cause issues with the air pump even though idk why it would. It's running well and quietly. Now we'll see if it actually filters anything.

Ammonia was moderate in Kaiju's tank today, but I just added some prime so I'm not worried right now. I think I'll do another partial change tomorrow and try to get the cycle readjusted because it's kind of fluctuating again...


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

Beautiful betta! He does seem to have gained a bit more blue from when you first got him.


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## bre23 (Mar 22, 2014)

Kaiju is seriously gaining more and more blue each day. Plus orange!! He's getting a pinkish/orangish tint to his body and fins, which is super exciting. When I first got him, he was pure cellophane translucent, and the difference has been gradual but intense. I thought at first the orange/redness was something wrong with the water, but since all the levels are fine and it's not affecting his gills, I'm thinking it's just his color. These pictures really highlight the orange that definitely wasn't as intense just a few days ago. The bottom picture is to compare to a few weeks ago, when he had just a bit of pinkish visible in his anal fin.


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## bre23 (Mar 22, 2014)

So I walked in just a few minutes ago to Kaiju attempting to build a tank-spanning bubble nest. He's guarding it fiercely and refusing food which is WEIRD AS HELL for him. He's in his horny teenager phase... 

Michael, meanwhile, has gotten into a strict schedule of falling asleep at around 9:00 because he's a grumpy old man. Bit of a problem since I feed at night around 9:30. Who refuses to wake up for feeding time. Little dumbhead.


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## bre23 (Mar 22, 2014)

I brought a new boy home today to live with Kaiju in the 5.5 gallon. So far they're still figuring **** out. They can sort of see through the divider and have been flaring a lot but do seem to leaving each other alone now most of the time.


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## bre23 (Mar 22, 2014)

Stress stripes last night and this morning on Kenway, so I moved him into the 2.5 gallon by himself and switched Michael in with Kaiju. Michael is a pretty chill fish, so I think they'll be ok together. Since I put them together, Kaiju's been flaring and darting around like crazy (as always) and Michael's just been flowing about and puffing up sometimes. Kaiju is really extremely highstrung, but he's really not any different with another fish in the tank -- he acted the same way alone. It's more the effect on Kenway that worried me, because I don't think he was sure of what to do, plus the filter was blowing him around and the reflective glass was weirding him out. Maybe being in the tank by himself will get his color back up?? Idk right now.


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## bre23 (Mar 22, 2014)

I've taken Kenway back to Petsmart.  Michael's tail-biting was getting worse (he started biting the night after I put him in with Kaiju and he's never done it before). Today I noticed a split in Kaiju's tail which may have happened because of the divider. Either way, the third fish obviously weren't working out because of Kaiju's aggression. I'll miss the pretty thing.


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## bre23 (Mar 22, 2014)

Sooo I took the fish home from school for Easter break and neither really appreciated the 4 hour car ride. Since there's only two weeks until the end of the semester and he's stressy, I left Michael with my parents and brought Kaiju back with me. And wow is Kaiju gaining so much blue it is crazy.

The first picture was April 9th, the second was sometime around the 18th, and the third was yesterday. The blue looks black in some lights but in others is a uniform royal blue. He looks like a different fish!


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