# The Feisty Fishy Life of a Feisty (fishy) Girl ;-)



## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

Hi all! My name is Niki. I'm a soon-to-be betta owner. I'm very excited about getting my first betta! It's been over 10 years since I've had a betta fish. I've learned soooo much from reading the threads on this amazingly helpful forum, and I feel that I'm about as ready as I can be (apart from getting my tank ready - haha) to adopt my new betta friend.

I ordered my tank, heater, and thermometer online from Petco :roll: not too long ago. I wasn't expecting my shipment until sometime next week and low and behold... it was waiting for my at the post office this morning! :-D .... However, I since I had doctor appointments and important errands to do today I couldn't race back home and set it up like I wanted to. So, when I got home tonight I dug in, got all the instruction booklets out and read them them. Gosh, I was doing so good. Got the tank set up (dry, to start out with), was setting the filter and heater where the instructions showed to place them and then.... I had the not so clever idea to put my thermometer on the inside of the tank and used the suction cup to hold it to the inside wall of the tank, to see if I it was a good spot. Sigh. Sadly, I didn't think to wet the suction cup once I found the spot where I thought it looked best. I turned my back to review the directions again, and I hear a loud noise behind me, coming from my waterless tank....

:-(​
The thermometer had unsuctioned itself and fell into my dry tank. Needless to say, the tip of it broke and the little particles and bits spread throughout the base of my tank. I took a picture to post on here and I'm hoping it allows me to post it, so y'all can see what I'm talking about. It's not the best quality though.

Okay, so after I got that cleaned up and the made sure to rinse out the tank real good, I decided to fill my new tank up with water to test out the heater and the filter. I'm *hoping* that it's okay to do this even though I don't have my water conditioner yet. :|


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

Luckily, I ordered an extra thermometer. Sadly, it didn't come with a suction cup to place on the side of the tank so, for now, I have it placed at the bottom of the tank to test the temperature for the heater. 

These are the type of tank, heater, and thermometer that I got:


Tank: Tetra 5 gallon Crescent Aquarium Kit (it came with its own filter); 
Heater: Tropical Heater Kit for biUbe biOrb (Hydor 50 watt that came with a biOrb glass thermometer - the one that I broke)
Thermometer: Petco Glass Thermometer (didn't come with a suction cup or anything and it's currently standing up in the bottom of my tank)

Also... I bought a variety of things from Amazon either last night or the night before:


API Freshwater Master Test Kit (shipping today)
MAGIOVE® Digital Aquarium Thermometer for Hydroponics Aquarium Fish Tank.... (on the way)
Penn Plax Quick Aquarium Net (on the way)
New Life Spectrum Betta Formula 1mm Semi-Float Pet Food, 50gm (not yet shipped)
Aqueon 06226 Mini Siphon Vacuum Aquarium Gravel Cleaner, 5-Inch (not yet shipped)
API Aquarium Salt, 65-Ounce (not yet shipped)
Seachem Prime, 100 mL / 3.4 fl. oz. (not yet shipped)
Jardin Plastic Aquarium Tank Plants Grass Decoration, 10-Piece, Green (not yet shipped)
Zoo Med Laboratories AZMFA50 Sinking Ceramic Betta Log (not yet shipped)
Artificial Resin Arch Bridge Fish Tank Aquarium Ornament 5.6" (shipped but not due to arrive until Feb. 5th)
Pets First Denver Broncos Helmet Ornament (shipped)

Furthermore, I also have some items in my "Save for Later" section of my shopping cart:

Marina Betta Waste Remover for Aquarium
Reef One Biorb Silk Plants, 2 pack
Okay, so I'm not sure if I still need the Marina Betta Waste Remover since I'm getting a fish tank vaccuum, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to have both. Although I'm leaning more toward just getting a regular turkey baster instead of the Betta Waste Remover since it's cheaper.
Now for the plants, as much as I'd really like to get the biOrb silk plants
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003BG2TEA?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_sfl_title_3&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
I'm having a difficult time bringing myself to spend $15 on them.

Things I still need or would like to get:


Gravel, substrate, pebbles, marbles, or something (can't decide what to get)
Frozen treats for my future betta (brine shrimp and bloodworms)
Possibly some more plants
Emergency/Quarantine Tank
One gallon containers
Epsom Salt
Potassium Permanganate (PP) - not sure how to get that :hmm:

Let's see.... What else do I need? Hmm... I wonder if I'll need Safe Start (even though I'll be using Prime in my tank as soon as I get it)?
I was considering getting a snail but I've pretty much talked myself out of getting one since I've read that they poop A LOT.

Okay, just checked the thermometer again and the water temp in my tank is up to 74.5 degrees Fahrenheit. I have the dial on my tank heater set at 79 degrees. Hmm... perhaps the heater hasn't been running long enough, or cool air is getting in due to the tank lid not completely covering the top of my tank. I suppose I could let the heater run for a few more hours and then check the thermometer again to see if there's any change.


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## BettaSplendid (Jul 12, 2015)

There is no way that thermometer had mercury in it and that spilled out, right? That is too bad it broke! I wonder why the other one didn't have a suction cup?! 

You have some very nice things picked out for your future lucky betta!

For the substrate...is there a chance you would want live plants in the future? When you look at tanks are you more attracted to light or dark substrate? I think you would use a turkey baster and a gravel vac. They're both good...vac for deep cleaning during water changes and the turkey baster for "oh I see ONE LITTLE POOP THERE or a bit of missed food..." 

My bettas all love their floating betta logs. LOVE them. I soak them for a few days though because they do have a smell at first. Eh.

Do you have a favorite type and color of betta? Will you be ordering him or picking him out locally?

I admire you for researching and preparing so well before bringing him home!


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## SplashyBetta (Jul 28, 2014)

BettaSplendid said:


> There is no way that thermometer had mercury in it and that spilled out, right?


Nah, modern thermometers use dyed alcohol. Even if it was mercury it would come out in liquid, not little specks:


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## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

You can easily get PP from eBay. If you want one please handle them very carefully. They stain your clothes *and skin*. It totally freaked me out last night when the brown PP stains on my fingers don't get washed away. Luckily they disappear this morning but it could've been worse! Here you go anyway:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/161915582383?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT. Why would you need PP by the way? You don't have live plants? I understand they can be a part of your first aid kit but the diseases that PP can treat are sorta rare.

Suction cups are only a couple cents each from Petco, or you can buy a sticker therm you can just put outside the tank wall  

You definitely don't need the "Marina Waste Remover" or whatever that is. That's just their way of getting people to shell out more money. An airline tubing (50 cents each in most chain stores) works as a siphon just fine.

Deffo don't order any plastic plants, and I don't know if you'll ever need that net. Just trying to help you save money.


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## SplashyBetta (Jul 28, 2014)

^^The sticker thermometers are well known for being inaccurate, so I don't recommend one of those. 

PP should only be used by people with a lot of experience because it's so easy to kill your fish with it. It's super concentrated so you have to get the amount just right. A lot of medicines have diluted PP and I recommend those over using it straight.


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## BettaSplendid (Jul 12, 2015)

SplashyBetta said:


> Nah, modern thermometers use dyed alcohol. Even if it was mercury it would come out in liquid, not little specks:


Ah, very good. I am glad to learn that. !


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

First off, thank y'all so much for reading my journal and for your comments! I'll answer all your questions as best as I can before I move on to my next journal entry.

@BettaSplendid 



BettaSplendid said:


> There is no way that thermometer had mercury in it and that spilled out, right? That is too bad it broke! I wonder why the other one didn't have a suction cup?!


No, the liquid from the broken thermometer didn't get in my tank, only the little specks and plastic from the outer casing that had broken when it dropped. I still can't believe how stupid that was of me to do that! :-(

The other thermometer was a cheaper one that I added to my order, not realizing that the heater kit came with a thermometer. But it's a good thing I ordered it, since I had an accident with the other one. I guess it didn't have a suction cup because it's called a standing thermometer; or, at least, that's what it says on my order form. I don't know.



BettaSplendid said:


> You have some very nice things picked out for your future lucky betta!


Thank you! 



BettaSplendid said:


> For the substrate...is there a chance you would want live plants in the future?


Yes, I'm planning to have live plants in the future but I thought maybe I needed to start out with artificial plants to begin with. I don't want to take on too much at once. I don't know if it's better to start off with live plants or not but, yes, eventually I'm planning to upgrade from fake plants to real ones.



BettaSplendid said:


> When you look at tanks are you more attracted to light or dark substrate?


Uh... I'm typically more attracted to lighter substrate. 



BettaSplendid said:


> I think you would use a turkey baster and a gravel vac. They're both good...vac for deep cleaning during water changes and the turkey baster for "oh I see ONE LITTLE POOP THERE or a bit of missed food..."


Excellent point. Thanks.



BettaSplendid said:


> My bettas all love their floating betta logs. LOVE them. I soak them for a few days though because they do have a smell at first. Eh.


I'm getting a floating log?? Oh that is SO awesome! I thought it would sink to the bottom of the tank and stay there. Huh. Well, that's really cool. Oh, and thanks for the tip! 



BettaSplendid said:


> Do you have a favorite type and color of betta?


I'm embarrassed to say that I do not know all the different types of bettas. I'm still learning. When I read the forums and see the shorthand abbreviations for all the bettas, I have a hard time knowing which type of betta they're referring to. I guess I need to find an online guide to help me with it. I'm still in "set-up and preparation" phase. Right now I'm more concerned with having the appropriate tank, heater, food, all the correct supplies, and make sure I have everything set up accordingly and know all the things I need to do, not only get ready for my betta fish, but also to care for it so that it can thrive and be happy. I may have to come back to this question and answer it later when I've progressed from "set up/prep" phase and have moved on to "finding a betta friend" phase.



BettaSplendid said:


> Will you be ordering him or picking him out locally?


Originally, I was planning to pick one up from a local pet store. Since I've joined here and learned that you can order them online I have considered that. I'm not too particular. I REALLY REALLY want a baby betta but I feel that I should wait until I have an, at least, 10 gallon fully planted tank with live plants along with some fry companionable fishes to put in the tank with him too. If I'm going to get a baby betta, I want to do it right. However, since this is my first time to own a betta fish again in over 10 years, I feel that I need to start small with an adult betta and go from there. Does that make sense?



BettaSplendid said:


> I admire you for researching and preparing so well before bringing him home!


Well, thank you very much! I want to make sure I do everything right so that my fish can be happy and healthy and hopefully live a long, fulfilling life (like my dog did).


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

@Seren27



Seren27 said:


> You can easily get PP from eBay. If you want one please handle them very carefully. They stain your clothes *and skin*. It totally freaked me out last night when the brown PP stains on my fingers don't get washed away. Luckily they disappear this morning but it could've been worse! Here you go anyway:
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/161915582383?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT. Why would you need PP by the way? You don't have live plants? I understand they can be a part of your first aid kit but the diseases that PP can treat are sorta rare.


Okay, so the reason I thought I needed Potassium Permanganate (PP) is from reading the "Betta Fish Disease and Treatment" sticky thread in the "Betta Fish Diseases and Emergencies" forum. DarkMoon17 has a list of products to keep on hand and PP is listed as one of them.
Here is a link to the thread I read concerning having PP on hand:
http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=73332
That's why I thought I needed it. However, from reading what y'all have commented about it, I'm a bit scared to get it now. I'll hold off on getting that until I'm more experienced.



Seren27 said:


> Suction cups are only a couple cents each from Petco, or you can buy a sticker therm you can just put outside the tank wall
> 
> You definitely don't need the "Marina Waste Remover" or whatever that is. That's just their way of getting people to shell out more money. An airline tubing (50 cents each in most chain stores) works as a siphon just fine.
> 
> Deffo don't order any plastic plants, and I don't know if you'll ever need that net. Just trying to help you save money.


Okay, thank you very much, Olivia. I know you advised me to get live plants over artificial ones but I'm a bit hesitant to start out with live ones, since I'm not very experienced and I would hate to unintentionally put my fish's life in danger by messing up the plants. :| :blueworry:


@SplashyBetta

Thanks for the information on the modern models of thermometers.



SplashyBetta said:


> ^^The sticker thermometers are well known for being inaccurate, so I don't recommend one of those.
> 
> PP should only be used by people with a lot of experience because it's so easy to kill your fish with it. It's super concentrated so you have to get the amount just right. A lot of medicines have diluted PP and I recommend those over using it straight.


Okay, thank you. Good to know.


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

Hi all! Okay, well... I have a feeling that, after I post this entry, I won't be able to post another one until after Christmas. My family is having a big family Christmas this year and I doubt I'll have time to update my journal, and might not be able to get back on this site, until after Christmas.

I've uploaded some pics to share with y'all and show you guys what my tank set up looked liked. The first picture basically shows what my tank looked like with just the heater and filter going, along with the LED light turned on. This was when I was testing the heater and also to make sure the filter and light worked.

The second picture is with the hood lifted off and looking down into the tank so you can see my set-up better. Is the filter cartridge placed in the filter correctly, or do I need to turn it around to where the padded blue is facing towards the back? And, also, does it look okay?

The third picture shows the standing thermometer that I placed at the front of the tank. I'm concerned the reading is a little high. Is it showing 82 degrees Fahrenheit, or am I reading it wrong? Do I need to bring the temp down closer to 80 or 79?

I appreciate my readers so very much and love hearing from y'all! If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask. I encourage comments and any questions you have for me. Thank y'all for reading my journal.

Wishing everyone a happy, Happy Christmas and very Merry New Year!
Hope you all have a wonderful holiday this year and on into the next year! :wave:


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## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

As long as your reading stays constant at 82, you're good. But it's probably best to keep it a little lower - somewhere between 80-81, just in case one hot summer day your room temp raises and the heater makes it worse. Not sure though some heaters will never do that, but then again they're machines. Machines don't promise you nothing. 

Yeah I do read that sticky too, and I agree that it's super handy to have PP when you have planted tanks (and afraid of snails, like me). But PP is just not a chemical product you wanna mess with, so to say. I just got PP stains on my hand again today. Apparently some powders got to the top of my hand soap container and stained my hands when I touched it! D:

Don't worry about the filter cartridge. There's pretty much only one way to put them in and that's down the filter lol. I assume you already know not to change them until they break down, so I suppose I'll just remind ya that they can't be washed with tap water either. It's gotta be the tank water.

Live plants may indeed mess up readings when you're cycling your tank (fishless or fish-in for you?), but if you're already familiar with each species and how greedy they are, you'll know what the plants did and what the bacterias did. For now though, let's just stick to silks x) if you do plan to jump into the planted tank world (come to the dark side, we have cookies), I suggest you check out your current LED light's specs. You can either take a look at the back of the box or Google it. You wanna know how many watts, how many Kelvin (K) of light it produces or if they don't measure by Kelvin, then Lumens are cool too. Just so you know what kinda plants will suit your tank. That being said though, whatever your light specs may be, I guarantee an Anubias would tolerate it just fine. They're awesome, really. No need for fertilizers, no need for extra CO2 or other nutrients... They just sit there and grow


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## BettaSplendid (Jul 12, 2015)

Anubias are lovely. My favorite is Coffeefolia, nice ribbed leaves. And they do not need a fancy or specific substrate.

No, I didn't see that you DID order a floating log. I just thought I would mention that my bettas adore theirs.


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas

Thanks for all the info, Olivia and BettaSplendid!



Seren27 said:


> Don't worry about the filter cartridge. There's pretty much only one way to put them in and that's down the filter lol. I assume you already know not to change them until they break down, so I suppose I'll just remind ya that they can't be washed with tap water either. It's gotta be the tank water.


Wha... wait... I'm not suppose to replace the filter cartridge monthly? I keep using the original filter cartridge, rising it in old tank water twice or thrice monthly, but never change it?

Oh, and I've read the instructions pertaining to the fishless cycle and how, if I decide to go that route, it would take me an additional month (at least) before I could get my new betta friend. Honestly, I don't know if I want to wait that long. Also, I'm a bit apprehensive about using straight up ammonia in my tank.



Seren27 said:


> ...whatever your light specs may be, I guarantee an Anubias would tolerate it just fine. They're awesome, really. No need for fertilizers, no need for extra CO2 or other nutrients... They just sit there and grow





BettaSplendid said:


> Anubias are lovely. My favorite is Coffeefolia, nice ribbed leaves. And they do not need a fancy or specific substrate.


That's great to know. Thanks guys! :-D



BettaSplendid said:


> No, I didn't see that you DID order a floating log. I just thought I would mention that my bettas adore theirs.


Oh, okay. That's good to know as well. I may need to look those up and try one out at some point.

Well, I thought I would have more time to spend on this journal entry but something has come up and I'm going to have to cut this one short. Hope to get back on here later on!


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## BettaSplendid (Jul 12, 2015)

If it were me I would do a fish-in cycle. You have a nice big tank AND a test kit. I would just test often and change the water 10% two or three times a week for a month...checking with your water testing kit and doing a larger water change IF necessary. I like smaller changes more often (I think they are less stressful for fishy). You want your ammonia to be 0, always. After about a month you can just do changes once a week, probably. I use a lot of live plants though so this is my personal experience...

Oh yeah, those filter cartridges SAY to change monthly because of the carbon. The carbon absorbs stuff out of the water BUT after a while it breaks down and can RELEASE whatever it absorbed back into the water. Sooooo....once mine are a few weeks old I slit open the cartridge and shake out the carbon and then YES, I put them back into the filter! Full of good bacteria.


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

BettaSplendid said:


> If it were me I would do a fish-in cycle. You have a nice big tank AND a test kit. I would just test often and change the water 10% two or three times a week for a month...checking with your water testing kit and doing a larger water change IF necessary. I like smaller changes more often (I think they are less stressful for fishy). You want your ammonia to be 0, always. After about a month you can just do changes once a week, probably. I use a lot of live plants though so this is my personal experience...
> 
> Oh yeah, those filter cartridges SAY to change monthly because of the carbon. The carbon absorbs stuff out of the water BUT after a while it breaks down and can RELEASE whatever it absorbed back into the water. Sooooo....once mine are a few weeks old I slit open the cartridge and shake out the carbon and then YES, I put them back into the filter! Full of good bacteria.


Okay, that's good to know. Thanks! Where do you guys get your anubias plants from?

Here's the plan: once I get all my aquarium supplies, I'm planning to fill up my tank with tap water, add the water conditioner (Seachem Prime), turn on my heater and filter to warm up the water and begin making the water safe, and then I'll wait a few hours and test the water with my test kit. I want to make sure the water is safe before I buy my fish, and especially before I add him/her to the aquarium. I'm still not sure what kind of betta I'll be getting, probably won't decide until I'm picking him/her out at the store.


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## BettaSplendid (Jul 12, 2015)

Most of my anubias came from PetsMart. The Anubias Coffeefolia was a gift from my mom and she had ordered it online somewhere. All the petsmart anubias have been healthy and they have a nice selection. I really like Nana and PetsMart carries that one. They are slow growers so they do not do much for water quality but they are gorgeous and some bettas lounge on the leaves.

Petcos seem to have the best betta selection, better than PetsMart from what I have seen. Petco has more variety. ...but I think ALL bettas are beautiful and I like all tail types and colors.


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## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

If your Petsmart/Petco is unreliable (obviously dying plants, selling non-aquatic plants disguised as aquatic plants, etc) don't be afraid to order them online! JDAquatics is a member here and is super popular. You can message him and he'll help you find a species that would fit you(r tank). Anubias is great but there are others out there that are also easy  

Oh and here's a list of pros and cons about fishless and fish-in (oh and keep in mind that there's such thing as bottled bacteria products that can help fast-forward your cycle)

Fishless PROS:
- it is actually faster than fish-in by about a week
- no risk of harming the fish if for any reason your life doesn't allow you to change the water on time
- no need to test the water so often
- grows a massive amount of bacteria
- totally don't worry about pure ammonia in your tank. The bacteria will eat it all out once the cycle is completed

Fishless CONS:
- you're gonna end up with a lot of ammonia you don't need. One drip of pure janitorial ammonia is already 4 ppm in a 2.5 gal. If you have a 5 gal, that means you only need two drops for your initial dose and then one more drop midway.
- you gotta wait before getting that fish on the pet store that might not still be there next week much less next month
- people often stumble here and there along the way because there are quite a bunch of steps to memorize

Fish-in PROS:
- No waiting needed! Get that fish NOW! 
- Very simple steps (just keep changing the water, and add the Prime)
- Instead of growing a massive amount of bacteria, it grows an amount just enough to fit your fish's bio load
- No need to shell out more dollars for pure ammonia that you're not gonna use up anyway

Fish-in CONS:
- If for any reason life got in the way and you can't change the water in time, your fish is in danger of ammonia poisoning
- if you're adding other residents into the tank in the near future (like a frog or a snail or whatever) I don't know if the current bacteria colony would adapt to all the extra ammonia they gotta handle
- a whole lotta water changes, contrary to fishless that is merely a waiting game

Pick your poison


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

Thanks again, BettaSplendid and Olivia for y'alls help and advice! :cheers:

I'm excited to announce that I'm adopting a beautiful female halfmoon dumbo betta from fellow forum member and should be receiving her next Tuesday! I am sooo excited! Today, while I was out, I got some more supplies for my future sweet betta: gravel, floating mirror, hospital tank, some betta bulbs, and a lotus lounger underwater betta bed. My digital thermometer and fish net arrived in the mail today and I'm expecting the rest of my supplies soon (hopefully before the weekend). Oh, and I went ahead and bought a 7 day vacation feeder, just in case I need it this spring.
I have the betta bulbs in separate water bottles trying to get them to grow some before I put them in the tank.

I'm attaching three pictures to this entry: one is of the supplies I bought and received today, the second pic is of my updated tank since I've added the gravel, digital thermometer, and underwater lotus flower betta bed, and the last pic is what my betta should look like.

I've been sent a pic of what the betta should look like and I am super, super excited and can't wait to get her!! :-D
She should look like, or similar to, the last pic attached to this journal entry!
Soooo excited!!! :mrgreen::greenyay::welldone::blueyay::redyay:


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## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

Love the lily pad! Oh and don't worry about the water being cloudy. Don't do anything about it, just ignore it for 3-4 days and it'll go away  what's the lovely lady's name?

Edit: so the third pic is just a similar fish, right? Because that one is a boy x)


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

Seren27 said:


> Love the lily pad! Oh and don't worry about the water being cloudy. Don't do anything about it, just ignore it for 3-4 days and it'll go away  what's the lovely lady's name?


Okay, will do. Thanks. Um... I haven't decided on a name yet. I think I'll wait until she gets here before I name her, because I want to get to know her and see what kind of personality she has first.



Seren27 said:


> Edit: so the third pic is just a similar fish, right? Because that one is a boy x)


Yes, correct. The third pic is a photo of a similar fish that I'll be receiving, not the exact fish. If I get a boy, then that's fine. Or, if I get a female that looks similar to that picture then that's fine also.


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## SplashyBetta (Jul 28, 2014)

Dont use the vacation feeders! They do more harm than good. They're very low quality, dissolve more than your fish can eat, and often times bettas won't touch them. This all results in cloudy water and ammonia. And if you're not there to change the water you run the risk of ammonia poisoning and illness. Healthy fish can go up to two weeks without food, so if you're not going to be gone for any longer than that they'll be fine without feeding.


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## Kay333 (Dec 23, 2014)

I've got a battery operated vacation feeder (top fin) for my 20 gallon classroom aquarium that I'm using for Christmas break as I can't get into my classroom over the break. I have 3 black phantom tetras and a snail. The snail is a big pig (ate two tanks worth of live plants in addition to what I was feeding her!) so any leftovers go to her. I don't use anything for my betta at home though. As long as my betta Rudy is well fed he's been able to go up to a week without food. I don't like doing it but it's better than over feeding and ammonia spikes that come from dissolving feeders or uninformed friends trying to help


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

Thank you for the very helpful information, SplashyBetta and Kay! They are still in the package, unopened, and I still have the receipt so I'll make sure to return it on Friday when I go back to the pet store for frozen bloodworms and frozen brine shrimp. I hope the frozen fish food brands that they sell at the pet store are safe to use with betta fish! If anyone happens to know, please respond. Thanks!


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## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

I have San Francisco Bay frozen food. Most people use Hikari


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## SplashyBetta (Jul 28, 2014)

I use Omega One frozen foods because that's what the local fish store sells, but I've used San Francisco Bay before without any issue.


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

Okay, thanks guys!

My test kit for my fish tank was delivered today and I just tried it out. According to the chart, it looks like my ph is too high but everything else looks normal. It looks like the ph is 7.6 or higher. The ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate are all 0 ppm. :thumbsup: If my ph doesn't improve, I'll need to pick up something to lower my ph while I'm at the pet store again this Friday.


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## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

7.6? Meh, my 2.5gal is 8.2. It's just right, please don't use any pH up/pH down products. Zero across the board simply means your tank is not cycled


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## SplashyBetta (Jul 28, 2014)

Many of my betta tanks are 8 pH. Totally fine. It's rapid changes in pH you should be worried about. You don't want to go messing around with those pH changing chemicals; you'll end up with a stressed fish and a messed up tank.


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

Well... it looks like I won't be getting that halfmoon dumbo female betta after all. I just heard from the person I was suppose to get her from and they said that someone local wants her and they rather not ship her now, not because they don't want to, but because it's less stressful for the fish. Then, they suggested that I pick up a betta from a local pet store.

...... :frustrated: .......​
If you don't want to ship a fish, then please tell me so to begin with instead of getting my hopes up. I'm not even sure how to respond to their message. I know it's silly that I'm crying but I was so excited and was really looking forward to getting her next week.

What the heck do I even say in response to "Oh, you can't have that fish I promised you now because someone local wants her?"

Gee, gosh, I'm a fool! 

EDIT: Oh, and thank you both Seren and SplashyBetta for the information you both gave me concerning the ph levels.


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## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

Oh. My. Gosh. Don't feel bad, I'd be throwing things across the room as well if I hear that. TBH with the nature of this person I doubt there's even a fish to begin with.

But well... On the bright side, you have more time to get everything ready now  subscribe to Lilnaugrim's journal. She posts pics of the best fishes at her Petco (the best Petco I have ever seen) and ships out any of the pictured fish if anyone wants them. I *almost* got one but someone bought him first  Still pretty sad about it but hey ho I have Volga now


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

Thanks Seren!

Yes, you're right. It does give me more time and that is a good thing. I had just really gotten my hopes up, so it was just really hard for me to get that news. But I know you're right. Thanks so much for your post! It really helped a lot!  I'll make sure to subscribe to Lilnaugrim's journal, like you suggested. By the way, where are you getting Volga from?


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## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

Volga is an eBay fish. I can tell you the seller if you want one too  he's great so far - and seem to have great reviews too - but we'll see when my boy arrives. Should be within this week. EEK!


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

Yes, please. I'd like to see the type of fish he sells  Thanks!


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## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

AquaBid username: Bettaprime
eBay store: ilovbettas
Base: Cape Coral, FL
All fishes sold are young, some 3-3.5 months old

Oh and he has technically everything. I have a CT but he does EEs and HMs and PKs too. I'm not the only member that has bought from him and previous customers say they've had great experience with him


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

Okay, thanks so much! Looking him up now


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

*Karmac*

Seren27 is helping me out! :-D She told me about a very handsome "_maybe Mustard Gas_" male plakat that has been at her local Petco for at least a month now. He has a turquoise-like color scheme of blues and orange. We believe he is about 4 months old. She has agreed to temporarily foster him for me until she's able to ship him to me. I am so very grateful! 

:thankyou: Seren27! :yourock:​
Here are a couple pictures that Seren took of him after she brought him back home.



Seren gave me permission to post the images she took of him here in my blog and, also, gave me permission to quote her in regards to his physical attributes (aka his form).

Here are her comments on his form:


Seren27 said:


> Some positive form comments:
> - Smooth topline
> - Perfectly-aligned scales
> - No spoon head
> ...




Since all the bettas at my nearest Petco look sick, and I don't feel that I have the experience or knowledge to get one and appropriately care for it back to health, I'm very leary to get one from there. Actually, I did see one healthy betta (or mostly healthy) but, before I knew it, he was already snatched up by another customer there. I bet the Petco employees were annoyed with me since I was explaining to my mom how unhealthy it is to keep them in those little bitty cups all the time. She didn't see a healthy one either (with the exception of "Red" who was bought by another customer). Her exact words were, "Uh! They all look really sick." To which I informed her that they *ARE* all sick. As much as I would love to bring home a sick betta and nurse it back to health, I'm just not confident enough to know that I could. I feel that I should start out with a healthy betta, so that I can get the hang of taking care of one. Then, once I get the experience and have more knowledge, I'll feel more comfortable about helping the sick ones.

So, thankfully, even though that other person backed out and me, Seren (aka Olivia) has been so very helpful with finding another fish for me and even going to her nearby Petco to get one for me that she's been keeping an eye on. :-D

His color scheme is sooo beautiful to me and I just LOVE his baby blue eyes! Seren says he's aggressive and keeps attacking one of the plants she has in his foster bowl with him. I wonder if he'll attack the ornaments I got for him and all the plants I'm planning to put in his tank. I hope he doesn't tear up the lounging pad I have in his tank! If he does, oh well. He should have a lot of fun with the mirror we have for him. Hope he doesn't get too excited and hurt himself! I guess I'm worrying too much.

Oh, I very much hope he likes his new home here!!! I'm doing my best to get it ready for him. That darn tank water scared me last night when it got down to 78 and then 77 :-(. So, I changed my adjusted heater to make it a little warmer and it got back up to 80 and has stayed there all day. I don't plan to bring it back down again until it starts climbing and gets close, or up to, 82. Too bad it's not one that kicks off when it's warm enough and kicks back on when it starts getting cool! Oh well, at least it works and it's a nice enough one to keep the water temp warm enough for a betta fish. I really hope Karmac (that's the name I'm thinking of giving him) likes it here! I already said that, huh? 

:-D ~ :-D ~ :-D ~ :-D ~ :-D ~ :-D ~ :-D ~ :-D ~ :-D ~ :-D ~ :-D ~ :-D ~ :-D ~ :-D ~ :-D ~ :-D ~ :-D ~ :-D ~ :-D ~ :-D ~ :-D ~ :-D ~ :-D ~ :-D ~ :-D ~ :-D ~ :-D


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## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

You should have no problems at all keeping a warm tank in Texas  

For everyone else who reads this, I am aware that Karmac is too thin for comfort. Unfortunately despite his feisty behavior with plants he's actually quite shy with human hands and tweezers. I can't afford to not watch him finish his food in fear of ammonia build-up, so all he had tonight were blood worms. Not even the most skittish fish could resist that  1 full-size, 1 half size, 1 teeny tiny 1/8 cut up piece. I'll try again with pellets tomorrow.


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

*Happy New Year, everyone! Have a fun and safe start to 2016!*​
Of the three betta bulbs that I got from the pet store, so far only one has started to sprout. I'm not sure what type of plant it will be. I guess I'll just have to wait and see. I may get another set of them to try to get some more to sprout since the other two from my first set aren't doing anything or showing any change or growth at all.


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## BettaSplendid (Jul 12, 2015)

Oh! HE IS SO PRETTY that he warrants all caps! Wow. He is pretty now but once he gets all loved back to shape he will be amazing colors! Thanks, Seren! You're doing a good thing. That lil' plakat has a life of pampering ahead of him! I love this journal.


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

*Getting Karmac's Tank Ready & Fit for a King*



BettaSplendid said:


> Oh! HE IS SO PRETTY that he warrants all caps! Wow. He is pretty now but once he gets all loved back to shape he will be amazing colors! Thanks, Seren! You're doing a good thing. That lil' plakat has a life of pampering ahead of him! I love this journal.


Yes, he is, isn't he? I'm so excited and couldn't be more anxious for the middle of next week to get here!! Oh, and he couldn't be in better hands! I know Olivia is taking really good care of him and I appreciate her help and kindness so very much. 


So... I went by my local feed stores this morning to see if they had any frozen fish food and they did not. Consequently, I came back home, got online, and looked up all the nearest Petsmart stores to me and started calling around to see which ones had frozen fish food. The first store I called was a no-go, so I tried the store in Beaumont and they told me they had plenty of frozen fish food in stock. Even though it's about an hour drive from here I decided to go ahead and go today (instead of waiting until Monday). My plan was to get several plants today, bring them back home and arrange them in my tank so, on Monday, I would know if I needed more plants or not. I didn't realize that the plants there averaged about $10 per plant. Since I needed frozen food (bloodworms & brine shrimp) as well as API stress coat, I could really only afford one plant. Anyway, I ended up getting one Anubias Nana. I plan to get more, but for now that will have to do. I didn't see any betta bulbs at the Petsmart I went to today. The plants they sold looked nice and healthy. I tried to pick one that looked soft and that was recommended by members here on this forum.

After I got all that I could afford and needed to get today, I came back home and put the frozen fish food in the freezer asap. Then, after I got something to eat, I started emptying out the water in my tank to put in my plants and test my ornaments to see if they will all fit. Well, it figures, but the ornaments are not all going to fit. I got the anubias nana and betta bulbs in, along with a couple ornaments. I'll try all the ornaments out with Karmac, when I get him, to see which ones he likes best. Since I'll need to upgrade him to a 10 gallon, I'll move the ones he does like into the bigger tank with him and use the ones he doesn't care about in the 5 gallon for a different betta in the not so near (but hopefully not too far) future. Well, I guess that's it for now. Sorry for not posting any more pics but there really isn't much to show yet since my tank isn't quite ready yet (waiting on betta log) and especially since Karmac isn't here yet. ;-)

Stay tuned for more updates of the feisty life . . .


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## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

Yeah unfortunately plants aren't cheap when they're not on sale  guess what though if you make an AquaBid account, and stay tuned to their next Saturday Night Express, most plants are sold for as little as $1.50. And they're sold in bunches! Oh and don't forget that Karmac is gonna come with a Water Wisteria, so technically you have two plants


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

Seren27 said:


> Yeah unfortunately plants aren't cheap when they're not on sale  guess what though if you make an AquaBid account, and stay tuned to their next Saturday Night Express, most plants are sold for as little as $1.50. And they're sold in bunches! Oh and don't forget that Karmac is gonna come with a Water Wisteria, so technically you have two plants


Oh yes! I forgot to mention the wisteria I'll be getting from you, Olivia. Sorry bout that - I was multitasking and a little distracted with a help request PM from a new member. I have an account set up on Aquabid.  How often did you say the Saturday Night Expresses occur? Didn't you say they're the 3rd Sat of every month?


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## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

Yup that one Saturday every month. I'm sure you don't need to mark your calendars. People should go crazy about it at least few days before XD


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## BettaSplendid (Jul 12, 2015)

The anubias Nana (and a java fern) from Petsmart was my first live plant too! Good choice. The leaves make a perfect sitting place for a betta to lounge. A fast growing ant like wisteria might do you good. It can be left floating or inserted into the substrate where it will root. It is pretty undemanding! It adjusts to your light. Once it reaches the top of your yank you can cut it and then you have 2 plants. Plus the container has like 4 in it already (at Petsmart) and it is one of the cheaper ones.

Also you can search for Petcos or Pet Supply Plus near you, they also have frozen foods and maybe there is one closer than your Petsmart.


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## BettaSplendid (Jul 12, 2015)

Hah! Okay now that I read the last few posts I see you will be getting a water wisteria with Karmac! Great then!


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

*Karmac's Home is Ready for Him*

The rest of my supplies arrived today. :mrgreen:


New Life Spectrum betta pellets, 
Seachem Prime, 
betta log, 
API Aquarium Salt, 
aquarium vacuum, 
plastic plants :roll: - wish I hadn't got those and not sure if I'll even use them now

Unfortunately, I broke the ceramic betta log while sanding the rough places on the inside of it so I'll need to patch that back together. Luckily, it was a clean break so I shouldn't have much trouble repairing it. I'm a little concerned that the log may be too small for Karmac but I won't know for sure until I get him and see how big he is. I'll also have to wait a week to put the betta log in my tank due to the glue I'm using. I also can't add the pretty castle until Thursday, so the only places he'll have to hide until then are the football helmet and under the resin bridge. I've only got one full grown live plant in there (anubias nana). Luckily, I'll be getting a wisteria plant with Karmac so that'll be two live ones (not including the betta bulbs that still need to grow). I'm trying out one the the plastic ones I ordered. However, I'm not sure if I'll keep in there.

With that said, I have refilled the aquarium back up, turned on the heater and filter, and added 1ml of Seachem Prime along with 2.5ml of Stress Coat. I hope I did that right! I did NOT add the API aquarium salt even though the packaging recommended I do so at start up. However, I've learned enough on this forum to know that you don't use that unless you are treating a betta for an illness. Since Karmac isn't ill, he shouldn't need the salt.

I'm crossing my fingers and hoping he arrives tomorrow. Oh, I hope the trip doesn't stress him out too much & that he likes his new home here! I'm planning to stop by Petco today to check to see if they are still doing their dollar per gallon sale so I can (hopefully) go ahead and at least get a 10 gallon for Karmac and, also, to return that vacation feeder pack that I ignorantly bought the last time I was there. 

Also, planning to pick up a turkey baster and try to find a long handle tweezer from Wal-Mart. Oh, and I'd like to get that super thin hose line that everyone says is great for cleaning tanks but I'm not sure where to get it. Olivia says it's only .50 cents. I think my the hose on the vacuum I got is too thick. Ugh.

I don't have any new pics to upload today. I'll post more pics once Karmac gets here. 
<3  :grin: :BIGhappy: :grin:  <3​


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## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

Karmac has been shipped off! Oh gee, I'm the world's most nervous person ATM. I forgot to take pics of him in his bag but here's his packaging setup:

1) Since he's on Priority Express, I can't pick my own box. He needs a special box which I only got at the post office. This means Karmac's box is in another box. If that's not secure I don't know what is.
2) The actual box is white. Be careful slitting it open as right underneath the top is a foam sheet with the heat pack attached. The heat pack is wrapped in a newspaper with a little opening. The package says that "the pink strip" needs air to generate heat so I created a "window" for said pink strip to breathe.
3) Below the heat pack is another newspaper. It's not attached to anything though so just remove it.
4) And then finally, buried in packing peanuts the size of Karmac himself, are two plastic bags. The smaller one contains the baby water wisteria (it only has one leaf now as Karmac bit the other one off) and the bigger one is a very confused MG PK.
5) To minimize stress, Karmac's water is his day-to-day tank water. I poured in 1.5 mL of Stress Coat because, again, we played a little bit of "catch me if you can" before he finally got properly bagged.
6) Karmac is in 2 plastic bags instead of 1 as a safety precaution. Just so you know.
7) The guaranteed delivery time is 3pm tomorrow. I have a tracking # I will PM you right now


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## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

Oh and yes yes yes the dollar-gallon sale is very much still going on. It won't end until mid January in fact! The super thin hose line is called an airline tubing. It should be sold in the filters, heaters and air stones section. Price varies from store to store but they should all be very cheap


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## BettaSplendid (Jul 12, 2015)

He is on the way! How exciting!! Remember to take pictures.


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

*
OH! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! EEEEEPPPPP!!! 
SOOO EXCITED!!! :-D :-D :-D*
I informed my sweetheart, honey kisses, that I'll be getting Karmac tomorrow! :mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen:​


Seren27 said:


> Karmac has been shipped off! Oh gee, I'm the world's most nervous person ATM. I forgot to take pics of him in his bag but here's his packaging setup:
> 
> 1) Since he's on Priority Express, I can't pick my own box. He needs a special box which I only got at the post office. This means Karmac's box is in another box. If that's not secure I don't know what is.
> 2) The actual box is white. Be careful slitting it open as right underneath the top is a foam sheet with the heat pack attached. The heat pack is wrapped in a newspaper with a little opening. The package says that "the pink strip" needs air to generate heat so I created a "window" for said pink strip to breathe.
> ...





Seren27 said:


> Oh and yes yes yes the dollar-gallon sale is very much still going on. It won't end until mid January in fact! The super thin hose line is called an airline tubing. It should be sold in the filters, heaters and air stones section. Price varies from store to store but they should all be very cheap


Okay, good deal. Thanks for letting me know that's it called airline tubing and where to find it in the stores! I'll check next time I'm there.


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

FYI: Just so y'all know, I'll probably be posting updates in my journal throughout the day (at least several times today). :brow:  

I AM SOOOO EXCITED!!! Karmac (aka my little karma blessing from the east - from Olivia/Seren27) will be arriving today and it's only a few more hours until he gets here!! :-D :-D :-D

Olivia was kind enough to PM me his tracking number, along with reassuring me how well packaged he is (oh, I know she did an excellent job  ), and I've been checking his tracking number like some crazy mamma lol!

I've been so excited it took my a while before I finally fell asleep last night (or, well, in the wee hours of the morning). I had to take something to help me sleep so that I'd be well rested, cleared headed, and able to take care of Karmac once he arrives. I finally fell asleep and got a few hours of rest, woke up and was up for about an hour or so before I dozed off again and got a few more hours of sleep.

I just checked Karmac's tracking number and he's about two hours away, geographically speaking. His eta is 3pm, so he should be here in about three more hours... unless he's delivered early by some serendipitous design.
:greenyay::blueyay::redyay:​


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## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

OMG I fell asleep at 6 AM. All I know is he's already in Texas. Not sure which part. I'm pretty unhappy he's still three hours away from you when there's only about 90 minutes left to the promised delivery time (  ) but as long as he arrives safe and sound, I guess.

Parallax my other traveling foster has just begun his journey this morning. He spent the night in East Lansing apparently. And then my own Volga is still stuck in Florida at the sorting facility. I need more caffeine x___x


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

*Karmac!!!*

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

KARMAC'S HERE!!!​
Oh, my goodness and I'm happy, relieved, and thankful that he arrived safe and sound! :-D :-D :-D :-D

He's soooo beautiful and a lot of fun! :mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen:

Note to self: revise signature :bluelaugh:

He's much smaller than I was expecting so I'm thinking that the ceramic betta log will be a perfect size for him for the time being.... just have to wait until next week before I can put into the tank :roll: thanks to my "over-protective" preparation with sanding the rough edges. I know it's my fault. I should have been more gentle with the ornament.

Anyway.... from what I can tell, I _think_ he's settling in just swimmingly ;-)

The feisty little sweetheart just couldn't wait for the acclimation process to be done and over with so that he could get out of that "confounded" bag <--- his words, not mine ;-)
No, really the bag was great. Olivia did and excellent job packaging him up. As for the postal service, well that is a horse of a different color right there and I think y'all know what I mean. :shock:

Well, he's been acclimated to the 5 gallon tank and I let me loose in it and MAN did he SHOOT out like a bullet. It was fun to watch. I hope the size of the tank isn't overwhelming to him! He is mostly swimming to the back of the tank near the heater and behind the filter. I hope that's normal, or can be normal. After I let him swim around for a little bit and get use to his new environment, I decided to try to feed him. I hope I didn't over feed him but... he had some trouble eating the bloodworms I got for him. I wanted to get him the same brand that his foster, Olivia, has been feeding him but I didn't see any of that particular brand at the store where I bought his frozen food. Since he had trouble with the stringy bloodworms, I ended up feeding him two NLS pellets. They are sooo small though. :-(

Here is an image of the New Life Spectrum betta formula pellets:









And here are images of the frozen bloodworms I got for him.
One is a picture of it in it's packaging and the other is a picture of it after it had been defrosted, broken apart, and what was left over from what I tried to feed to him:

Here is a picture of the Omega One packaging for bloodworms:









Here is a picture of what the food looks like after it's been defrosted:









Man, oh, man! I tell you what - Olivia wasn't kidding when she talked about how difficult it is to get a good picture of him. He loves to swim around A LOT and is very, very active. I hope that is a good sign! Anyway, I only have one good picture of him so far and it just happens to be the first one I took. The others are fuzzy and not very good angles.

Now... What most everyone (if not all of you) have been waiting for....

*Karmac​*The first word that came to my mind when I saw his picture was "karma". So, I thought it was appropriate to name him Karmac (derived from the word "karma" - or so I say). His foster, Olivia, also agreed that it was a cool name, so now, he's stuck with it. :tongue:

Bless his heart, here he is trying his best to get out of the plastic bag that he must have been _sooooo_ ready to get out for the past 24 hours:









In this picture, it looks like he's either thinking, "What in the _*world*_ is THAT thing?" or, "Ooooo.... THAT'S intertesting.... What a pretty (or weird looking) flower!"









"HOW THE BLAZES DO I GET OUT OF THIS BAG???"​









But WAIT.... There's more!! Stay tuned ~ :BIGcool: ~​
I'm going to go ahead and post this because I would like to go check on him again to see how he's doing and make sure he's okay. I have more pictures to post, so don't worry y'all I'll be back and upload some more.


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## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

Don't think your pics are uploading BTW~ but gee gosh aren't I glad to hear that he's still his hyperactive little self after that cross-country journey XD About the heater/filter thing, Bettas like to hide. Some simply decided that the top of a suction cup is more comfortable of a place than a $10 cave/log. They're just annoying like that LOL granted it's night now anyway but a dark room might help him calm down a little faster x


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

Seren27 said:


> Don't think your pics are uploading BTW~ but gee gosh aren't I glad to hear that he's still his hyperactive little self after that cross-country journey XD About the heater/filter thing, Bettas like to hide. Some simply decided that the top of a suction cup is more comfortable of a place than a $10 cave/log. They're just annoying like that LOL granted it's night now anyway but a dark room might help him calm down a little faster x


I'm concerned that his filter is too strong for him. So, I'm turning it off for an hour to see if he'll expand his roaming territory. I know I don't have enough plants for him right now, and I wish I had known that they preferred plants over ornaments because I think I may have gotten too many ornaments and not enough plants. Yes, I had remembered reading somewhere that it was good to keep them in a dark room their first day or first couple days. So, I've already turned the lights off in the room he is in. I'm not sure if it's a good idea for me to continue to keep the filter turned off though.

I can't tell if he's excited about all the space or... *sigh* I wish I could read his mind. I tried to provide him with hiding places but I the ones I have in there now are either too big for him or he just doesn't like them? I don't know. I'm probably just worrying too much.

Yeah, I think I messed up trying to load all those pictures. Hmm... I'll just load one this time and see if that works.



Seren27 said:


> And then my own Volga is still stuck in Florida at the sorting facility. I need more caffeine x___x


Oh geez! I'm sorry that Volga is stuck in a sorting facility in Florida! :-( I sure hope he gets sorted asap and gets to you quick!

Here is a picture of Karmac soon after he arrived here. I was beginning the acclimation process with him. His colors are much brighter now and he looks so much better. This is the clearest picture I have of him for now though. I'll try to get better pics of him tomorrow but, for now, I'm want to leave him alone as much as possible and let him get settled in.


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## BettaSplendid (Jul 12, 2015)

I can't see the pictures either. I am so glad he has arrived, safe and sound! Congratulations!

Eta- I see that last picture! Lovely! He will settle in. He is just scared with all he went through. Soon he will be happy to see you and wiggle dance for ya


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## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

I think we have a ton of DIY filter baffling tips here in the forum. It's in a thread called the DIY thread but I'm not sure where you can find it ._. Fastest way though is to put your Anubias riiight underneath the filter flow. Either that or some tall ornament. And... Yeah I'd rather not turn the filter off for too long. I forgot why but it's not recommended. 

Goodness he was so pale D: he looked like me after a roller-coaster ride in Disneyland!


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

BettaSplendid said:


> I can't see the pictures either.


Okay, good to know. Thank you.



BettaSplendid said:


> I am so glad he has arrived, safe and sound! Congratulations!
> 
> Eta- I see that last picture! Lovely! He will settle in. He is just scared with all he went through. Soon he will be happy to see you and wiggle dance for ya


Aww... Thank you, Splendid! :-D



Seren27 said:


> I think we have a ton of DIY filter baffling tips here in the forum. It's in a thread called the DIY thread but I'm not sure where you can find it ._. Fastest way though is to put your Anubias riiight underneath the filter flow. Either that or some tall ornament. And... Yeah I'd rather not turn the filter off for too long. I forgot why but it's not recommended.


Okay, I'll look it up later. I need to get something to eat, and take a chill pill lol ;-)
Darn.... I was hoping I could leave the filter off especially since he's expanded his exploration range since I've turned it off. I hate to turn it back on cause I'm afraid he'll only swim around the back side of the tank. Not only so I can see him and (hopefully) get good pictures, but mainly because I hate to think that he's restricted to only certain areas in his tank due to the filter. :-(
Whelp... looks like it's time for me to do more research. :hmm:



Seren27 said:


> Goodness he was so pale D: he looked like me after a roller-coaster ride in Disneyland!


Well, rest assured that his colors are back now and he's looking MUCH better. I'll do my best to get a better picture of him tomorrow, so y'all can see how much better he looks. Oh, he is just soooo precious! I love love love LOVE him!


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## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

Aha! I see evidence of the Betta bug spreading  What started out as one fish later will end up as... Hmm, I don't know... a lot. LOL.


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

Seren27 said:


> Aha! I see evidence of the Betta bug spreading  What started out as one fish later will end up as... Hmm, I don't know... a lot. LOL.


LOL! :-D


Okay I'm going to try posting pictures of the food again. I'm still not sure how much of that bloodworm cube to feed him.

First pic should be of the NLS betta pellets. The other pics should be of the Omega One frozen bloodworms.


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## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

"Just a single teeny tiny cut of the entire cube" would be the answer. A quarter of it could probably feed 4 Bettas morning and night. I'm sure you've heard this a thousand time by now but a Betta's stomach is only as big as its eye. So yeah.

Don't underestimate the power of the Betta bug!  I started out with a single 1.5gal cube. Now I have a 5.5, 2.5, three 0.75 kritter keepers for the fosters and I just placed an order for a 2.65 Top Fin Glass. The force is strong with this one XD


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## BettaSplendid (Jul 12, 2015)

Actually those little frozen cubes are what made me rationalize getting Simeon. I figured if I got him I would have *enough* bettas to eat an entire cube, no waste. See, I am frugal. It makes sense, right? Sure! Actually 6 bettas works out about right...


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

Seren27 said:


> "Just a single teeny tiny cut of the entire cube" would be the answer. A quarter of it could probably feed 4 Bettas morning and night. I'm sure you've heard this a thousand time by now but a Betta's stomach is only as big as its eye. So yeah.
> 
> Don't underestimate the power of the Betta bug!  I started out with a single 1.5gal cube. Now I have a 5.5, 2.5, three 0.75 kritter keepers for the fosters and I just placed an order for a 2.65 Top Fin Glass. The force is strong with this one XD


Haha. I'm not underestimating it. I just had to laugh because I'm already daydreaming of having a fish room like Splendid's one day http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=596130&page=7#post6735706... where I can set up multiple tanks for all my different bettas and hopefully... hopefully be able to adopt a baby betta and provide it with the best habitat possible! :-D

Dare to dream, right?


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

BettaSplendid said:


> Actually those little frozen cubes are what made me rationalize getting Simeon. I figured if I got him I would have *enough* bettas to eat an entire cube, no waste. See, I am frugal. It makes sense, right? Sure! Actually 6 bettas works out about right...


................. Yeah, I can totally see myself using that as an excuse to get more bettas. Yep yep :checkedout:


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

Seren27 said:


> "Just a single teeny tiny cut of the entire cube" would be the answer. A quarter of it could probably feed 4 Bettas morning and night. I'm sure you've heard this a thousand time by now but a Betta's stomach is only as big as its eye. So yeah.


Okay, so earlier today when I fed Karmac, he ate about 2 or 3 tiny strings of those bloodworms. But since he seemed to have trouble eating them I was concerned about feeding him any more of those. My mom suggested feeding him some pellets. So, I fed him two of those NLS betta pellets; and, yes, I soaked them in water for at least a min (probably longer) before feeding them to him.

So my question is... Do I need to feed him anymore tonight? I don't want to overfeed him.

He seems to be doing great right now (or a min ago when I was watching him). It looks like he was playing :-D He keeps swimming up and down (or in and out) between the suction cups on the heater, behind the filter, circles back around and does it again going to the other side of the thank, where I accidentally had a plant leaning against the wall and was considering fixing it but then I saw him swim down under it (like he was playing) and it looked like he's enjoying himself so I'm not moving anything else in that tank tonight since he looks happy! I took your advice, Olivia, and moved that anubias plant in front of the filter. Either it helped or the filter never was bothering him in the first place and I was freaking out for no reason. :squint:


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## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

Yeah definitely no more food today then. I never had any other brands beside San Francisco Bay so I can't tell you why he struggled, but they do play with food sometimes. Especially when they're not yet hungry or is already full. Merah - who gets the most food in the house - sometimes carries his pellet for a good two minutes before he cut them up into pieces and ate them all. Some other times he'd let a pellet sink and then come back to it later. Funny little creatures they are.

Do hope the Anubias helped with the baffling. You did say it's fully grown so it should do the job.

Edit: oh wow okay... I just zoomed in to the blood worms pic. They're hella massive :0 and I thought mine are fat! That's probs why then! Any chance of cutting them up?

Edit 2: excuse the ice... But these are mine. The gang rarely gets a full size even at that size


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## BettaSplendid (Jul 12, 2015)

My bloodworms are long too! Bettas look like they're eating spaghetti. I think I will cut them with a knife. Good idea.


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

Thanks guys!

Well, it's day 2 for him in his new home. He's still swimming none stop. He was doing that all yesterday and last night. Even in the wee hours of the mornng, he was still just swimming away and it looked like he was still playing too while I was laying in bed watching him before I went to sleep. I wanted to stay up all night and watch him, but I couldn't keep my eyes open. I was hoping he would get some sleep too but I don't know if he did. 

Now, this morning, he's still swimming like he was last night... still not coming to the front of the tank, but it looks like he's still playing in the heater plugs, up and under the plant, behind the filter, and sometimes in the digital thermometer cord.

I want to try feeding him bloodworms again. Cutting them up is a great idea (thanks, Olivia), I'll try that. Would it be okay to feed him bloodworms for the rest of the week, if he eats them better cut up, since I made the mistake of defrosting an entire cube yesterday? After the end of the week, I'll start a more varied schedule and stick to that (Pellets on Monday, Brine Shrimp on Tuesday, Pellets on Wednesday, Bloodworms on Thursday, Pellets on Friday, and so on...) It'll be a schedule like that. 

I'll try to get better pictures today too. 
Would it be okay to turn on his tank light, or do I still need to keep it dark in there, as well as keep the room dark too?

I know I have a lot of questions, but I'm just so excited and I want to make sure I do everything right... unlike back in 2003 when I was under this false impression that betta were cold water fish and my poor Midnight  ..... I shudder thinking of how he must have suffered. Poor guy!

I know better now and I'll make sure Karmac and any other future betta fish I own, or that are in my care, will receive the best care possible.


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## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

By the sound of it he should be fine with the lights on now. He always colors back up so quickly. I'm jealous, Volga is still so very stressed  

I don't mind the all-week bloodworm personally but he may start refusing pellets after that. The bloodworms would do fine in the freezer after all


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

Seren27 said:


> By the sound of it he should be fine with the lights on now. He always colors back up so quickly. I'm jealous, Volga is still so very stressed


Yes, but Volga spent how many days stuck in the shipment process? Give him some time. If it makes you feel any better, Karmac still hasn't warmed up to my hands yet. I'm patiently working with him but also trying to be sure not to stress him out.



Seren27 said:


> I don't mind the all-week bloodworm personally but he may start refusing pellets after that. The bloodworms would do fine in the freezer after all


I only fed him one bloodworm this morning. He wouldn't eat any more than that. I've considered feeding him a pellet but I don't want to risk over feeding him. He doesn't seem hungry. He's just.... zooming back and forth, up, down, around and .... geeez he's sooo active! Gosh, I want to move him into the 10 gallon sooo bad because I know he'd love it... having all that space and even more things to explore... but I know I need to wait. I don't want to risk putting him in shock by moving him again too soon. I feel I should wait at least a month before I move him again. Would that still be too soon? My mom, who is more excited about me getting this fish than I figured she'd be and seems to really like him, suggested waiting three months before I move him - which is probably much more reasonable. 

Well, I don't have any really good pictures of Karmac, and I probably won't until I use a better camera (stop using my camera phone and upgrade already, huh?). Here are the best ones I've been able to take of him so far.

Hope they upload *crossing my fingers*


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

Hi everyone!

Well I've had kind of a hard day. I over-slept and, on top of that, forgot that I had promised my feeble neighbor (whom I drive to dialysis) that I would get to her house early to help her get ready. By the time I remembered, I had only allowed myself 15 mins to help her and that isn't near enough time. Luckily, though, when I arrived she was already ready to go. However, she looked soooo exhausted and I felt absolutely wretched. I apologized several times and admitted that I over-slept and had forgotten that I promised to help her. *sigh* She, of course, understood and wasn't upset with me at all. She is such a sweet, understanding lady and such a blessing.

After taking her dialysis, I deciding to pop into Petco (since it's two stores down from the dialysis facility) to look for the air line tubing. I couldn't find the .50 cent one and ended up buying another anubias plant and two other things for the tank. I meant to stop by a local hardware store on the way home but, after going to Wal-Mart, and driving back home I was kind of beat so I just came back home.

After I get back to my house, I decided to do a water change (was planning to do a small one today anyway) but, however, since I had bought the plant I needed to do at least a 50% water change before I added the new plant to the tank. Since I'm doing a fish-in cycle I wanted to check the parameters beforehand... but, um... I was a little clumsy and *may have* accidentally knocked over a fixed vial of tank water mixed with the ph solution, getting it on my nightstand, my pants, the floor.... and not to mention... breaking the vial when it hit the floor 

I was so tired and aggravated with myself I wasn't even upset with the broken glass tube - just cleaned it up along with all the water and solution and continued the process. Get this, though.... the results were basically all normal. Is that because I'm doing a water change too soon?

Anyway, after I checked the parameters I did an approx 50% water change, took out the helmet ornament, tried to put in the castle ornament but I accidentally scared Karmac in the process, so I took that one out :-( and moved the new plant there instead.

Karmac was NOT happy about the water level getting low. Bless his heart.

Oh Gosh! And then, oh my gosh, guys I feel so awful about this. I accidentally got the water a little too warm when I was adding it back in. I ended up having to add at least 4 cups of cold water, unplug the heater and turn the filter on just to get the temp back down. Luckily it never got to 85 but oh I felt terrible!!!

Note to self: avoid doing water changes when I'm dead on my feet or close to being dead on my feet

So, anyway... fun stuff, huh?


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## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

If it makes you feel better, I bathed Merah today when he already had his bath yesterday. That look on his face XD 

To make your life easier:
1) the only parameter you need to check is ammonia. And then, next week, ammo and nitrite. Whenever you're curious, check nitrates in case you fetched anything above zero. Everything else is purely optional. Some people don't even test at all during fish-in. They just do a set amount of wc every other day or so.
2) try a 10 or 25% wc instead of 50. The whole point of fish-in is to do just enough water changes 
3) to quarantine plants, put them in an empty hospital tank for a couple of days. And then that's it. 

You're doing a great job! x


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## BettaSplendid (Jul 12, 2015)

Antigua frantically swims up and down and around the glass like that whenever I move him to a new tank. And so does Stormy. It actually took Antigua a month to settle in! Soo...they are all different. Keeping the lights low might help (but your plants wouldn't like it) or covering his tank with a dark cloth like a towel. Maybe leave the front open so you can still see him. 

I never quarantine plants that come in the little tubes at Petsmart. Is that how yours is? Anything in their tanks, well that is another story!


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

Thanks Olivia and thank y'all both for the tips!

Yes, Splendid, the plant I got from Petco came in a little tube. The plant I got was a small anubias variety, two small anubias in that tube - which was a nice surprise. I think Olivia recommended that I temporarily quaritine that plant for a couple days to make my work load less stressful for myself, which I very much appreciate. I thought I was a day behind on my water change, so I was stressing out too much. It may take me a little while to get the hang of everything. I want to make sure I leave enough good bacteria in the tank too. I'm trying to find that "happy medium".


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## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

Ohh I didn't realize yours come in a plastic tube! No QT necessary then. My Petco has a plants-only aquarium so the plants I buy there are always straight out of "someone elses" tank.

Edit: it's cool how you find a healthy plant in a plastic tube. The plastic tube plants in my Petco are usually half dead already


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

Seren27 said:


> Ohh I didn't realize yours come in a plastic tube! No QT necessary then.


Good to know, thanks.



Seren27 said:


> My Petco has a plants-only aquarium so the plants I buy there are always straight out of "someone elses" tank.
> 
> Edit: it's cool how you find a healthy plant in a plastic tube. The plastic tube plants in my Petco are usually half dead already


I think it just depends, to be honest with you. I saw some unhealthy plants at that Petsmart I visited when I got Stress Coat and the nice anubias nana plant.

.................................................................................​
Updates: Karmac, Lily Pad, Betta Log, film on water surface, pics of Karmac!

As far as I can tell, Karmac seems to be doing really good and it looks like he is adjusting pretty well. I've raised his lily lounger as much as possible. I made the mistake of cutting the string too short, so I may bring the water level down just a bit this Tuesday (when I do my next water change).










.................................................................................​
So, I thought today would be a good day to place his betta log in the tank to see if he likes it.










.................................................................................​
I didn't remove any tank water before doing this. I just washed off the ornament, submerged it in the water, let go of it and allowed it to sink on it's own. Karmac is so curious and friendly  Only after about a minute or so after the log was completely in his tank, his curiosity got the best of him and he went to go investigate:





































......................................................................................​
As I was getting ready to put in Karmac's betta log, I noticed dark colored film on the surface of his tank. I'm not sure if this is normal or not. For all I know, it's possibly good bacteria. Just in case, I'm testing his water again. I've already tested for ammonia and it's not that. Next I'm going to test the ph and maybe nitrite and nitrate as well. I'm probably worried for no reason. I don't know. I don't have any good pictures of it yet. I'm not sure if I need to start up a thread about in the bowls and habitats section. Hmm...
Here is the best picture I have of it so far, I think Karmac is directly underneath the water (if I'm not mistaken). It's not a clear picture of what I'm trying to describe though. The substance I'm trying to describe has what looks like an oily nature to it.











.......................................................................................​
"Where is Karmac? Where is Karmac? I don't know. I don't know. Is he behind the filter, or hiding behind the thermometer? Where'd he go? Where'd he go?"










.......................................................................................​


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## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

Is your filter still off? It might just be biological film. Or whatever its proper name is. Once you turn it on it should go away on its own. And LOL I totally understand the "where's the fish??" thing XD it's insane how we can lose them in an aquarium don't you think! I have a copper boy and it's already so hard to find him. Can't imagine how the people with Melano Bettas cope.


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

No, I turned his filter back on after I did his water change on Friday, and it's been on since then. What are Melano Bettas?


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## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

Ah okay. That's odd. Might just be protein film then? Can't be sure. Either ways it's harmless.

About Melanos... I don't know if it's a disservice to simply say 'an all-black Betta' because there's so so much more than that about them (they have a specific gene called the Melano gene that behaves in a unique way), but for now I'll just say an all-black Betta. I don't know enough about genetics and breeding to explain, but they're pretty cool


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

*Feisty Karmac - "the flaring ham"*

Howdy!

Last night, I did an approx 15-20% water change. I meant to only do a 10% wc but I guesstimated incorrectly and ended up doing more than I intended. Karmac continues to be adjusting well and, from what I can tell, he seems pretty happy. :-D

I try to work with him every day with my finger - to try to help him become use to it. Earlier this week, he actually nibbled on my finger a little - probably checking to make sure it wasn't food and he hasn't done it since then. I was hoping he'd touch the top of his head to the tip of my finger again, like he did after he nibbled it, but no such luck yet. Oh well. I'll continue to work with him. My mom said he played with her finger last night. He followed it along as she moved it up, down, and around as she moved it on the outside of the tank. His colors still look good. Both my mom and I are having a difficult time getting a good picture of him, since he still loves to move around a whole lot. He loves to swim to and fro, behind the filter, between the suction cups on the heater, in between plants, and through the cord connected to the digital thermometer. We've observed that he LOVES attention. He enjoys flaring a lot as well. He'll flare at us and then hide behind the digital thermometer for a few seconds. Come out, flare at us again, and hide. It's like he's playing peek-a-flare with us (as oppose to peek-a-boo). 




Seren27 said:


> Ah okay. That's odd. Might just be protein film then? Can't be sure. Either ways it's harmless.
> 
> About Melanos... I don't know if it's a disservice to simply say 'an all-black Betta' because there's so so much more than that about them (they have a specific gene called the Melano gene that behaves in a unique way), but for now I'll just say an all-black Betta. I don't know enough about genetics and breeding to explain, but they're pretty cool


Thanks, Olivia!


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

Hello everyone! Hope everyone is well!

Well, I recently did another water change - the day before yesterday (approx 15%). I noticed Karmac was breathing harder, so i tested his water yesterday and I'm sorry to say that his nitrite level looked too high :-(. His ph results looked okay and there wasn't any ammonia in his tank water (which is good). I added more Prime conditioner to his tank water and made sure to add some more today. Additionally, I made myself a note and placed it on top of the tank to remind myself to add conditioner every day until the tank is finished cycling. It looks like Karmac's breathing has already improved.

I managed to get a better picture of him that shows off his colors nicely, but I'll have to post it another time, after I've uploading it from my camera phone to my laptop. Please stay tuned and thank you for reading.


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

*Update on Karmac & my concerns*

Karmac seems healthy, from what I can tell. I'm concerned that the nitrite levels are still too high in his tank water. I'm still adding conditioner daily, along with my periodic water changes, to help bring that down and balance out the nitrite/nitrate levels. So, hopefully, that will all level out soon. The ammonia level still reads 0ppm and the high ph level reads 8ppm. Those readings, however, are from a couple days ago. I'm planning to check his nitrite levels again today to see if they've gone down anymore since then.

On a different note, Karmac always acts like he's hungry and I'm concerned that I'm not feeding him enough. On the pellet days, I feed him two in the morning and two at night. I always soak his pellets in water for at least one minute, and make sure they are soft, before feeding them to him. It's difficult for me to judge how much of the bloodworms and brine shrimp to feed him since I have the Omega One cube form of it. When feeding him his frozen bloodworms/brine shrimp, I'll cut off a little bit at a time to feed him and put the remainder of the cube back in the freezer. Since Karmac is a king betta, it has been advised to me to give him a lighter diet (4 pellets a day; 2 in the morning & 2 at night) which is why I've been feeding him only 4 pellets a day on his pellets day. There are times when I feed him 2 pellets in the morning and little bits of frozen bloodworms or brine shrimp at night. I'm concerned that I'm not feeding him enough though, since he acts so hungry all the time.

I've attached two pictures of him that I took last week. One picture shows his pretty colors. The other one is a picture of him from the top - me looking down into the tank. Please ignore the water stains on the outside of the tank. Does he look okay?


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## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

He's just being a Betta XD gotta get used to that. He's always gonna act hungry even if you feed him an entire sirloin steak lol just stick to the current schedule. You're doing great!


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## BettaSplendid (Jul 12, 2015)

It is really hard to say how many pellets to feed because the size of pellets vary from brand to brand and even batch to batch within the same company. I personally go by belly shape rather than number of pellets. The tummy should be very gently rounded, not grotesquely swollen and not flat either. A nice healthy roundness that makes you go, "hmmm, that looks nice." Even the size of bloodworms vary! Hard to say how many to feed.


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

Hello. I know it's been a while since I've posted an update in my journal.
I would like to express my sincere thanks to Olivia for her encouragement and for finding, fostering, and sending me a lovely female betta, named Maiden.  Also, thank you BettaSplendid for your advice on feeding recommendations. I appreciate you both very much. :-D

Update: I'm pleased to announce that Karmac is doing wonderful. :thumbsup: He will be getting his first girlfriend very soon (but doesn't know it yet). Although she is much too young for him and I probably never will try to breed them together, she will most likely be housed with him temporarily in a small, plastic butter dish that has just been impaled with many holes throughout it, so that the water should flow continuously through it and be the same throughout her duration in Karmac's 5 gallon - which will ultimately be her new home once Karmac's 10 gallon is ready for him. I've already ordered his heater and I'm praying it gets here this week. According to Amazon, his heater is suppose to arrive on Thursday. His filter, on the other hand, may take a while since I had to return one that was meant for a bigger tank and requested they send me one designed for a 10 gallon instead. I'm hoping that once the heater for the 10g tank gets here, and tests out okay that I can go ahead and move Karmac to the bigger tank even though his filter isn't here yet.

The lovely Maiden should be arriving on Wednesday. :welldone: I hope her travel here is safe and as stress-free as possible! I'll post pictures once she gets here and is settled in. Maiden will be housed with the lovely castle. The Broncos helmet, however, will be moved to the 10 gallon along with Karmac and will stay with him.

I am currently testing the butter cup in Karmac's tank today, and I have the stand alone thermometer in it to make sure the water temp stays the same. I have a good feeling it will. Regardless, I will still be checking it throughout the day to make sure, just in case.

Since sweet Maiden will be temporarily housed with Karmac, I'll be doing 10-15% water changes daily and resuming to my routine of adding Prime water conditioner to the tank every day. I will do as Hallyx suggested and add one or two drops directly into Maiden's cup. I haven't exactly figured out how I'm going to clean Maiden's cup, though, since there are small holes in the bottom of it. 

Feeding time will be interesting... Karmac is ALWAYS hungry (or, well, he always acts hungry no matter what) and I doubt he'll be happy about sharing his food with a suspicious creature in that strange, foreign cup floating in his tank. He is very curious about it and I know he must be wondering why it is there.


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

*Pictures of my current set-up*

Here are three pictures of my current set-up that I'm planning to temporarily keep Maiden in for a day or two, after she arrives.

Please feel free to make any suggestions, recommend any hints/advice, ask any questions, or express your thoughts.

:???:


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## Hallyx (Jun 11, 2011)

That will work fine for a short time. But get Karnac into the 10g as soon as it's set up. You can fish-in cycle it while he's in there. They should always be in the biggest tank you have.

And more plants for both, especially floaters.

Pictures when you have them.


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## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

So today is apparently Presidents Day. I have zero idea about it until you messaged me to ask whether my post office is open. It is! But I don't think they'll do any delivery today so she probably won't leave Lansing until tomorrow. She's also on a 3-Day so I'd say she should get to you Friday. 

Notes: I used a larger box than usual, just because. It's labeled LIVE FISH and she's on a larger plastic bag too so there would be more oxygen supply. Her tank water, which makes half of the water in the bag, has tannin in it so it may look yellow on arrival. I also added 3 drops of Prime.


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

Hallyx said:


> That will work fine for a short time. But get Karnac into the 10g as soon as it's set up. You can fish-in cycle it while he's in there. They should always be in the biggest tank you have.
> 
> And more plants for both, especially floaters.
> 
> Pictures when you have them.


Okay, thanks. Do you think it would be okay to go ahead and move Karmac into the 10g before I get the filter? I'm not sure how long it will take to get here. I'm concerned it may not get here until next week.

What type of floating plants do you recommend? Olivia had recommended floating plants to me a while back too but, golly gee, I can't find the post where she suggested it.



Olivia27 said:


> So today is apparently Presidents Day. I have zero idea about it until you messaged me to ask whether my post office is open. It is! But I don't think they'll do any delivery today so she probably won't leave Lansing until tomorrow. She's also on a 3-Day so I'd say she should get to you Friday.
> 
> Notes: I used a larger box than usual, just because. It's labeled LIVE FISH and she's on a larger plastic bag too so there would be more oxygen supply. Her tank water, which makes half of the water in the bag, has tannin in it so it may look yellow on arrival. I also added 3 drops of Prime.


Hmm... they said she'd arrive on Friday, not Thursday? Okay, I'll make sure to be here both days (just in case). Did you ship her UPS or USPS?

Also, thanks for giving me a heads up about the tannin. I'd be freaking out about her water being yellow colored if you hadn't. Oh, and what is tannin and what exactly does it do? I've tried doing a search on it but it's only showing tannin in regards with wine.


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## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

I don't think the shipping fee would be so cheap if she's on UPS. They charge $15 on one-week delivery! >< (( so yeah she's on USPS ))

Tannin is... well, I'll admit, I haven't done much reading about what it is exactly. All I know is it's this matter released by Indian Almond Leaves, Rooibos tea, some driftwood, oak leaves and several other sources that is probably out there and I haven't heard of. It's a natural medicine that (I heard) acts as a water conditioner, has antibacterial properties, and promotes fin regrowth. Maiden arrived with torn anal so I put IAL in her tank. That anal is actually too long now ><


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

Okay, thanks, Olivia.

Update: Okay, so... I decided to go ahead and get an inexpensive filter for Karmac's 10 gallon to use temporarily until his nicer filter arrives (no telling when). It is Tetra Whisper 10i Internal Power Filter that is suppose to work for tanks up to 10 gallons (according to the packaging). Maiden should be arriving tomorrow and, ideally, I'd like Karmac already moved to his new home and have the 5 gallon ready for Maiden when she gets here.

I've already got all the substrate added to the 10 gallon, about to move some of the plants over (I know I don't have near enough right now but I'm planning to add more over time), and then I will be doing a really big water change for Karmac - removing more than half of the water from his tank and moving it to the 10 gallon along with new water and, of course, water conditioner. The heater for the 10g is already in place so then I'll just need to set up the and turn on the filter + heater and let everything start cycling. I'm planning to wait, at least, several hours to make sure everything is working right before I move him. I would really, really like to move him later today so I can get the 5 gal ready for Maiden later this afternoon, or tonight. That way, when she gets here tomorrow, I can go ahead and acclimate her to the 5 gal and, once she's acclimated, release her as gently as possible into her new home.

Is that plan okay?


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## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

I love the Tetra Whisper series. I have a 10i and 2-10i. Both are strong filters that need to be baffled, but they work fine and they really, truly do whisper. Not loud at all. My 10i has been running a good whole year and never gave me issues so there's that  they're not even $10 too.

Maiden is in Texas already! Not sure if that means anything since TX is such a huge state, but at least it doesn't look like she's gonna be late.


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

Maiden is here!!! :-D :-D

Thank you so much, Olivia! She's absolutely adorable and the sweetest thing!! <3  <3

I've acclimated her to her new home and she seems to like it so far. She was playing in the filter water earlier, right after I released her into the tank and before I could add extra water to bring the water level up to help buffer the filter. She's still exploring around and familiarizing herself to her new surroundings. 

Pictures! :grin: I know they aren't the best. I'll make sure to get some better ones later to share. 
Hint: In the photo that shows the entire tank, Maiden is perusing close to the water thermometer.


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

Maiden is settling in nicely and she seems to like her new home. I hope! I'm not sure what Karmac thinks of his new home, however. I know I don't have near enough plants in it right now. However, I went on Aquabid.com last night and bought an assortment of different of plants from JDAquatics. I'm looking forward to getting the plants and wish I could have afforded to get more. I'll post more pictures once I get the plants and add them to the tanks.

A special thankful shout out to RusselTheShihTzu for posting a reminder thread concerning SNE on Aquabid last night. Thanks Russel!

Maiden's mouth is so small. I noticed she had trouble eating her pellets and bloodworms, so I cut them up for her. She also seems to be a pickier eater than Karmac. Is it because she's a girl, you think? lol 
She has such a sweet personality too.


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

*Update*

Hi all! I know it's been a while since I've had a journal update. I've been super busy taking care of my mom and household obligations, so I haven't had time to do a journal update. And this one may not be very long since I don't have much time to post. However, I just wanted to let Karmac and Maiden's fans know that they are doing very well. They are both growing (getting bigger) and their colors are developing nicely.

My mom recently had rotator cuff surgery on her right shoulder. The surgery went great and she's doing good and recovering well. Lots of pain, but that is to be expected. Thankfully, my dad is helping me out (which is a blessing since my lower back is jacked up and I tend to have a lot of back pain). The neighbor that I was driving to dialysis twice a week passed away last month. I know she's in a better place but I miss her and I'm still not use to her being here. I love my mom and I love taking care of her. I thank God for her. She is a wonderful woman and a blessing to me and my family.

I would still like to get a small lap dog one day. I miss Domino (my dog that passed away in 2012), and, though the fish help, it's still not the same as having a pet that you can hold, cuddle, and interact with better. I'm also still working through my accounting/bookkeeping class. I'm still trudging through the tax section but I'll get there. Luckily, it's self-paced so I don't have to worry about getting dismissed from my course when I need to take a little time off.

As I promised, here are some more pictures of my fishies and their tanks.


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## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

Love Karmac's skunk stripe  And it's great to see Maiden actually growing larger. That dorsal was totally not that tall when I first met her!

I'm really sorry about your neighbor Niki :'( big hugs. 

What kind of dog you're looking for? The only rescue group I know in that area is the Texas Husky Rescue. They're pretty awesome, but then again Huskies aren't lap dogs ._.


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

Olivia27 said:


> Love Karmac's skunk stripe  And it's great to see Maiden actually growing larger. That dorsal was totally not that tall when I first met her!
> 
> I'm really sorry about your neighbor Niki :'( big hugs.
> 
> What kind of dog you're looking for? The only rescue group I know in that area is the Texas Husky Rescue. They're pretty awesome, but then again Huskies aren't lap dogs ._.


Thanks, Olivia. I'm not looking to get a dog right away. My aunt's neighbor has a small dog, and its breed I'm interested in having one day. Oh, and I don't have anything against larger dogs. I love dogs period. However, since I have a lot of problems with my back, it would be difficult for me to care for a larger one I think, when they get older and need to be lifted for any reason (like I had to do with my previous dog). I guess I'd need a big, strong man to help me out with a larger dog.  Haha. Might as well add that to the "wish list" while I'm at it, right? ;-)

Another reason why I'd like a lightweight lap dog is because I'd like to a dog that can sit in my lap while I'm watching TV or doing things on my laptop - that sort of thing. It's more of long-term goal. Right now I'm more focused on getting my mom back to normal and finishing my accounting course. I may want to wait to get a dog until my back has healed up some more too. Sigh.

Oh well. One day...


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

Spending more time with my family this week and enjoying hanging out with my cousins! KayKay and L-Bug are trying out for a dance team and I get to watch them practice every night. They are so talented and gifted! I'm so proud of them! :-D

Another sleepless night but that's okay. I know it's only temporary.

Karmac and Maiden are doing well. The both need water changes today. Yay :sarcastic:


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## feistygirl (Dec 18, 2015)

Maiden passed on in December and Karmac followed her passing last week. :'( :'( :'( I still can't believe Karmac died. It seems so surreal to me. I'm considering getting another betta fish and, if I do, it will be in about a month or so. Maiden got sick when I was in the hospital back in December and, when I got home, I tried to save her but I didn't succeed and I think she may have gone into shock in addition to her illness :-( I'm doing my best to keep myself from going into any pet stores until the tank has been cleaned and made ready for my next fin-friend. I'm also considering getting a hamster.

Hoping everyone is well and doing great,
~ Niki


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