# Creative Title Here (Seyshells' Journal)



## PrincessSeyshells (Oct 9, 2012)

It all started when my roommate never showed up. God, that's a cheesy sentence. Oh well, it's already written. And anyway, it's true. I'd just moved into a fancy-pants boarding school five hours away from home. I sat on the bed, all my unpacked stuff around me, too nervous to start anything until I got to meet my room companion in person. But at the last minute she couldn't make it, and I ended up getting the whole room to myself. It was great for a while--all the privacy, the space--but being alone in the shadowy room at night started to wear on me. I needed a roommate. Something to keep me sane. Since I couldn't just drag another human into my room and keep them there (legally), I decided to get a betta. And I decided that I wanted to be the best dang betta mom that dorm had ever seen. I started researching and researching and eventually, I came across this site. That's when I learned:










I went out to walmart (the only store in town with fish stuff), looked at tanks, food, plastic plants, and planned out exactly what I would do once I got everything bought and set up. I was going to get a female betta, and I was going to name her Seyshells.

(Interlude: This is where my username came from. I was young. I thought Seychelles was a cute name, and Seyshells was even cuter. Princess just made it fancier.)

But life didn't go as planned. One of my friends, constantly subjected to my barrage of betta discussion, revealed that she had a betta she was too stressed to take care of. He was a male, and his name was Trekkie. He'd been living in a bowl with one plastic plant; I said I'd take him. I brought him into my small abode, changed his dirty water, and kept him in his bowl with a heater until I could get his 3 gallon set up. One off the decorations I bought him was a squidward house, and it was my favorite thing because it was the embodiment of this fish boy's soul.

Trekkie was a grumpster right from the get-go. He had one of those pouty faces that looked like he was judging you and your lifestyle, and he didn't approve. Even when he was in a nice, clean tank, he would always come to size me up and flit around, like he was raring for a fight. The only pictures I still have of him are ones I took for the forum disease board. 

















Trekkie fought with SBD as long as I had him, and he lived for about 2.5 years. I'm not sure if he ever came to love me, but we had a mutual respect thing going on. I was very upset when he died. 

I didn't get another betta for a few years after that; Trekkie was a lot of work and while I enjoyed taking care of him, I didn't feel like I had the time to take care of another betta when I started college. But after settling into the college lifestyle and gaining control over my depression, I realized I missed those flashy little fish and it was time to try again!

Enter Sammy. Full name: High Queen Samantha IV. I originally planned to do a fishless cyle before picking out my betta, so I wasn't expecting to do anything but look when I went up to Petsmart to price their plants. She caught my eye right away. When I went back a few days later and she was still there, I had to take her. 










Now she happily swims around her planted 5 gallon tank! She's not as grumpy-faced as Trekkie was, but she still has a lot of energy and flare.

Welp, that it for now. This was a long thing; thanks if you read through it (or most of it).


----------



## AzureMyst (Apr 26, 2016)

Cute story, and kudos to you for rescuing Trekkie! I hope you and Sammy have lots of good years ahead.


----------



## PrincessSeyshells (Oct 9, 2012)

AzureMyst said:


> Cute story, and kudos to you for rescuing Trekkie! I hope you and Sammy have lots of good years ahead.


Thank you!  So do I. I also hope her _plants_ have some years ahead of them. I've always been rotten with them, but I think I did enough of my research this time.

The Salvinia minima I bought from Aqua Aurora should be coming in today, and I can't wait! I think she'll like the cover they'll give.


----------



## AzureMyst (Apr 26, 2016)

I love salvinia minima. It reminds me of cat tounges lol. Good luck with your plants!


----------



## PrincessSeyshells (Oct 9, 2012)

AzureMyst said:


> I love salvinia minima. It reminds me of cat tounges lol. Good luck with your plants!


I know, they're so cool-looking! Haha, thanks!


----------



## PrincessSeyshells (Oct 9, 2012)

Now introducing our furbabies:








Jasper. This cowdog is mine. He was the first dog we got several years after our childhood dog died. I got him in seventh grade. My best friend called and told me that her aunt had found a puppy at the elementary school she worked at and she couldn't keep it. At that point, I squealed because I knew what she was going to ask and _that kind of thing totally only happens in movies, right?!_ My parents consented to meet him, and my dad left it up to my mom to decide. He thought she would say no. Obviously she said yes, and here we are. Jasper was a mean puppy, chasing my dad on the lawnmower and mauling you if you ever got on eye level with him. But after we took him to doggy kindergarten to socialize him, he mellowed out a lot, and now he's just a calm, lovable, dopey dog.








This is Sylvia. Technically my mom's dog. Don't be fooled by this picture; shes a huge chunk of a dog, despite getting walked regularly and having her food intake monitored. She's got a big belly and grunts like a pig. She is barky and doesn't like to cuddle unless it's on her terms and we all love her. Oh, she also lives for ball. All she wants to do is play ball. All the time. Nothing else. Mom brought her home from a shelter, unbeknownst to Dad, and there was some tension for a while before he warmed up to her. She crawls under beds to chill, and if she finds a ball that has rolled under a desk or table she can't get to, she will bark and whine at earsplitting levels until you get it out for her. 








This fluffbutt is Moony. Short for Moonbeam. No, I didn't name him; the shelter did. I didn't really like the name at first, but I have issues naming things that have been previously named (remember Trekkie? Yeah...) so I figured I could shorten it. Moony is mine as well, and he is my emotional support animal. I couldn't take a large dog who loved to chase squirrels up to a campus with tiny dorm rooms and a squirrel infestation, so I went online and found this little guy. He's about two and a half, and he is just a bundle of energy. The word that everyone agrees perfectly describes him is "weird." He loves to run--up and down the halls, full on sprints, and he runs like a rabbit, or maybe a gazelle. He has two lazy eyes, and with his hair short, he looks like a llama. Or maybe a goat. Or a lizard. You know, we're not really sure what he is. He also has a birth defect where his pee-hole developed in the wrong spot, and he is a huuuge cuddle-bug. He's weird, but so am I and I love my baby to pieces.

Lastly is my sister's dog, Petunia, annnddd...I'm not going to post a picture of her without her permission. But she's an old lady Pekignese with six teeth who was saved by the shelter from death row. She is supremely fluffy, walks with a fancy trot that shakes her butt fluff, and looves plain white rice. She's not very cuddly, but she'll howl with you and is very vocal in letting you know when she wants out, back in, on the bed, etc.


----------



## PrincessSeyshells (Oct 9, 2012)

Well, today I found out that Sammy has been wiggling inside the sponge filter intake spout when I can't find her. >.> Not all the way (yet); I can see her tail. The filter I have is this one. 

After hearing horror stories about how some bettas swam all the way up into the sponge tubes of that filter, I'm going to have to find a way to cover it. I'm thinking some old panty hose, but if anyone else has any better ideas, I'm open to suggestions. Maybe cheese cloth and a rubber band? Are any of those things toxic to bettas? DX


----------



## PrincessSeyshells (Oct 9, 2012)

Edit button is gone. I patched the tube with a square of porous white fabric I bought for sewing and a rubber band. I'm going to watch her for a bit just to make sure nothing I put in affects the water quality. So far she seems fine, just miffed that I took away her hidey-hole.


----------



## PrincessSeyshells (Oct 9, 2012)

My Salvinia minima came in yesterday! There was so much of it and it's so cool-looking! Sammy loves having some cover from her plant light. I come in and find her just chillin' under the roots. She tried to eat it when I first put it in! Good thing she realized it wasn't food. Oh yeah, speaking of food, Sammy's started pecking the pellets off my finger. It's so cute. <3

Also, I took a nap today and had a dream. A fish dream. I was visiting a hotel and they had a goldfish and a weird-looking betta in a 5.5 gallon together! e.e There were other tanks with saltwater fish that I'm sure were overstocked too, but I don't know much about saltwater aquariums so. Who knows. XP


----------



## PrincessSeyshells (Oct 9, 2012)

Okay, remember when I said her nipping at my finger to get food is cute? Correction: it is cute. _When she's nipping at the food and not at me._ She's started going for my fingers whenever I'm doing other things like testing her water and _dang_, that can actually kinda hurt! So no more feeding her that way, and here's hoping she goes back to not caring about me or my appendages.

What kind of monster have I created? ;-;


----------



## ashleynicol3 (Feb 23, 2016)

Your little lady is cute! Who knew betta fish had teeth?! Lol.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## PrincessSeyshells (Oct 9, 2012)

ashleynicol3 said:


> Your little lady is cute! Who knew betta fish had teeth?! Lol.


Haha, thanks! I know, right?! I felt kinda dumb afterwards, like I guess they don't call them fighting fish for nothing!


----------



## PrincessSeyshells (Oct 9, 2012)

I am 100% DEAD. Spent the entire day cooking, cleaning, helping out with our garage sale, and working on my scholarship project. I also went to an event at my dad's work, which was fun but hot. So I'm super tired. Also feeling pretty crappy--scratchy throat, tired, a bit ache-y. When I FINALLY got the chance to rest, I figured I should go ahead and check water parameters for Sammy's tank while I have the momentum. But it shouldn't be a big deal right, since I just did a 50% water change yesterday?

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA no. 

Ammonia level was at (!!!) or near 1 ppm. WHAT??? Stare in horror. Realize that all of Sammy's aggressive swimming may have been her asking you WHY YOU'RE JUST STANDING THERE WHILE HER GILLS ARE BURNING??? Wonder how such a thing could have happened under your watch. Notice shoddy amazon sword that has been dying off the past few days. And a few other plants with melting leaves. REVELATION.

So I've just done another 50% water change. When I removed the siphon, it created a dent that pushed through the cap and released a crapton of dirt into the water. I'm sure Sammy doesn't mind but uggh, I hate a cloudy tank. I pruned the amazon sword of all of it's dying leaves (which was all of them) and in the process saw a singe new leaf growing D). Pruned the other plants, too. Some of my temple plants had wilting leaves, and so did another plant I can never remember the name of but goes through a dying off as well. Moneywort and java moss seem to be fine right now. Also, I lost a plant. Literally. I cannot find it. I got two of a certain kind; one is at the front, and the other is ??? GONE??? I looked everywhere (that I could in the cloudy water) and eventually had to give up. I hope it's not dead somewhere killing my water quality.

I'm just waiting for the temperature to come up a bit, and then back in Sammy goes. >.> And then into bed I go. Good night.

Edit: After posting this, I went to scrutinize my tank once again for the missing plant. And I found some slimy white stuff that looked like old roots decaying behind a happily alive plant. And then around the same area (which is where I happen to believe I planted it in the first place), I find a leaf stem that decayed as soon as I removed it as well. Well, that explains...a lot. My current theory is that I crushed it to death with one of her decorations by accident. Oops.

I tested the water again and ammonia levels are back down to 0.25 ppm or less (my tap water is about 0.25 ppm), THANKFULLY. Sammy and I can rest easy tonight.


----------



## PrincessSeyshells (Oct 9, 2012)

I woke up this morning and looked over to my tank, expecting Sammy to swim up and say "Good morning! (Nowgimmefood)" as she does when she senses movement. But she didn't. Stared at the tank for many minutes, searching for any sign of movement. Nada. Cue me freaking out. Was the water bad after all? Did she pull a Houdini and jump? Was the water too muddy? Can the water even be too muddy?! 

Then I turned on the light and she swam out from god-knows-where. Ya know, after today and last night, I'm going to start a counter.

Fishy-induced heart attacks: 2.

Tested her water today and it's still fine, between 0.25ppm and 0.5ppm, so there's that at least. Treated with prime. I'm going to fast her for a day or two I think, because her poops are still tiny and pathetic and her tummy is very round.


----------



## PrincessSeyshells (Oct 9, 2012)

Heyo! It's been a while. I'll go ahead and get the big updates out of the way.

Sammy was having stringy white poops and I was concerned for her health, so I moved her into a 1.5 gallon tank treated with epsom salt for a few days. I also fed her garlic soaked pellets for good measure. All her poops looked normal, so I moved her back. I've seen maybe one white poop since, so I'm going to keep feeding her garlic soaked pellets and keep an eye on her behavior for now.

I also bought a 25w Cobalt Neo-therma heater to replace my tetra one that could only keep the water temp at 76 degrees. I love it so far--it's very stable and accurate and for the first time since I set it back up, her tank has condensation on the sides. It's wonderful!

Unfortunately, I lost my amazon sword, I'm pretty sure. I know they're supposed to go through a dying off, but the eye part was squishy and smelled like sulfur so I don't know...although the aquabid plant sale should be coming this weekend (if they still do it) so I'm very excited about buying some new plants for Sammy! Everything else seems to be doing well, though I really should find a place to anchor the java moss and java fern so they can actually root and grow. In other news, the salvinia minima has covered the water surface _completely_ and so I've had to remove a bit to my spare tank to make sure the other plants are getting enough light.

Not sure what to think about my tank parameters--the ammonia has basically been at zero, but there haven't been any nitrites or nitrates present. I did a 50% change today anyway for good measure, but still...maybe the plants are doing their job? Anyway, that's it for now. Sometime soon I'll post a video of the little girl romping around her tank!


----------



## PrincessSeyshells (Oct 9, 2012)

So, I think my tank stealth cycled on me??? (Not that I mind!) My parameters continued to be around zero but I kept testing my water and eventually realized that if I shook up the nitrate test well and let it set for a good hour or so, it did turn orange! I never saw a nitrite spike, but I guess I missed it because my parameters now are about 0 ppm ammonia, 0 ppm nitrite, and 5 ppm nitrate. Maybe I let it set too long? I'll read the instructions and see if I can confirm.

Sammy's doing well; she's my fat little girl. I thought she was bloated at first, but I think now that she was just tinier when I got her. Her tummy is round, but it doesn't seem to be growing and she acts fine. I give her three omega one pellets twice a day, and she seems to be doing fine! I had a dream last night though that I went to a dorm and someone put her in with two male giants! When I woke up, I had to check and make sure she was okay, of course. Haha.

In other news, I bought more plants from aquabid and I can't wait to get them in! I bought a flame sword to join my anubias, 5-8 stems of mermaid weed, a cryptocorne wendtii (to replace the one I accidentally crushed to death), and another sword plant since my amazon died! So excited to give Sammy some more plant friends to swim with.


----------



## ThatFishThough (Jan 15, 2016)

Cool! If you ever have a chance to go to a PetCo/Smart, do check out their tube plants. I've gotten some Amazon Sword, mislabeled as Argentine Sword.  I love both, though. Be careful with them, too. They feed out of their roots, so sometimes you need root tabs. :3


Loving your journal!


----------



## PrincessSeyshells (Oct 9, 2012)

ThatFishThough said:


> Cool! If you ever have a chance to go to a PetCo/Smart, do check out their tube plants. I've gotten some Amazon Sword, mislabeled as Argentine Sword.  I love both, though. Be careful with them, too. They feed out of their roots, so sometimes you need root tabs. :3
> 
> 
> Loving your journal!


Oh, really?! I see those up there all the time, I'll have to check for amazon sword next time I go up there.  Thanks for the suggestion! When I had my last betta, those were the plants I used and I must say, it was nice not having to worry about snails. Thanks for reading!


----------



## PrincessSeyshells (Oct 9, 2012)

Guys, I think I restarted my cycle. During my quest to get the tank water see-able again after my newest plant transplants, I got tired of treating the water before putting it in (it took me two hours to get the water decently de-clouded, guys) so I just dumped and drained with untreated water until I was satisfied, and_ then_ added prime and plant fertilizer. I'm sure the chlorine killed my bacteria because now my parameter readings are back to 0.25 ppm ammonia and 0 ppm nitrates and nitrites. :shake: And right when I was considering getting a mystery snail and some shrimp, too...

Well, lesson learned: always treat water before adding it to a cycled tank no matter how tired you are!

Other than that, Sammy is doing fine. She's still declared war on my finger,s but I'm proud to say I haven't giver her the opportunity to peck since I swore I'd break her of the habit. ;-) I keep freaking out thinking she's too fat, she's so bloated! But really she looks fine from above, she's not pineconing, her belly hasn't distended any more, and she swims fine. I'm just the most paranoid fish mama there ever was. She's had some very light colored poops lately though, so I'll continue to watch her behavior for signs of internal parasitess, but so far she's been as lively as ever. :-/ I wish I could give her some frozen daphnia, but my local stores don't have any and it's like $30 to get it online...aghh!

I might go get some root tabs today to help out my swords and crypts. They could use some perking up.


----------



## PrincessSeyshells (Oct 9, 2012)

Mini update: I did go to Petsmart, where I got root tabs, some frozen food for Sammy, and...FREE SNAILS! 

Yep, I saw some while scouring one of the tanks for shrimp, they looked like MTS, and so I asked if I could have them. The employee helping me said yes! She was awesome, hunting down the ones I pointed at; I explained that I wanted them to aerate the substrate in my planted tank (since it was a weird request, after all), and she said that's she'd taken some from the tank too for her planted tanks! :lol: I didn't get to ask her what kind of fish she had, but it was great to find someone who seemed to enjoy fish keeping. I got three snails; I'm going to quarantine them for a day or two before adding them to the tank. 

The only frozen food they had there with daphnia in it was called "Freshwater Frenzy" or something, so I bought some and when I got home, I used a toothpick to try and pick out some daphnia pieces to give Sammy. I'm not sure how many I got, but Sammy kept spitting out the non-daphnia pieces! Like come on, you spoiled fish, this is as close to live as you get! You _better_ enjoy this expensive food! Good times, good times.


----------

