# My Moment of Weakness



## Pendulum (May 12, 2014)

*Name:* Luna
*Gender:* Female
*Tail:* Dumbo Delta
*Color:* Unsure. 
*Appearance:* Currently white and gray/silver, possibly metallic as her body and fins shimmer in the light. If you look closely at her, you can see blue underneath and between her scales on her body. Colors might change since I just brought her home. Top half of her pectoral fins are white but the bottom half seems to be clear. The best part is when she's swimming since when you look at her from above, it looks like she's fluttering her wings like a butterfly.

*Story:* 
I saw this lovely girl three days ago on Sunday at a not-so-local pet supplies store. I never really saw myself having a female betta despite my dreams of having a successful sorority. But the moment I saw her she had already won my heart. I couldn't stop thinking about her and finally decided to fork over 4 whole dollars and bring her home this morning. Initially I was going to split my boy's tank with a divider and keep just one tank since I really don't have room for another tank. But my boyfriend insisted I buy my new fish a separate tank with toys—which was surprising since he tried to convince me over the last three days to -not- buy her lol. 

I was rather upset how the store employees insisted that bettas don't need large tanks and only small cups or bowls to live. I corrected them many times but _they told me my information was wrong_. How upsetting. It saddens me that these "information traps" mislead others to buy cups smaller than my coffee mug to keep their new bettas in. I was misled with Billy when I got him last month but within the same week of getting him (after a monstrous amount of research online) I upgraded his very tiny bowl to a 2.5g tank. "They really don't need all that space. They do just fine in the small bowls." I always correct them in a very nice way and let them know I know what I'm doing. Even though I'm fairly new to fish keeping, I will devote as many hours as I can to keep my fish happy.

Anyway apart from the venting, I'm eager to see if her colors will change like my little boy's did. My boy, Billy, is so very lazy—only moving if I greet him or engage activities with him. (Rest assured, he's very healthy and happy. He's just a lazy bum.) But my little Luna hasn't stopped exploring her tank. She's so itty bitty compared to Billy but she was actually the largest of the females in the store.

I'm no longer allowed to have any more fish as long as Billy and Luna are here with me lol. I couldn't fit another tank anyhow. As quoted on this website: "The betta often works out to be a 'gateway fish' because those who bring home small bowls discover the joy of fish keeping and find themselves with full scale fish tanks full of tropical fish before long." This website along with the friendly people here have truly opened my perspective on fish and have brought me the utmost joys in fish keeping. Thank you!












Please share with me your stories and joys of when you brought home a betta. A moment of weakness of bringing home one more betta even though you know you didn't have much room at home; or a moment of excitement of when you found your dream betta. I'd love to read all of your stories .


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## sweetie (May 23, 2014)

Ok. Like you, I had a moment of weakness, but in my case, it was for someone else. I bought them a pair of bettas, one male and one female, but by the next day, it was apparent that the male needed more than one female or she would be worn out very quickly!! So we bought two more females. One was so pale, she looked pure white in the shop. She was so tiny and so sweet, I had to get her. Turned out not to be so sweet, and to cut a long story short, we ended up with just the male and the pale female. The other two females were casualties of sexual jealousy, I think. 
Unfortunately, the person I bought the fish for lost interest in the female fairly quickly, so I inherited her. I had never really bonded with the male anyway. He was a sexual predator, who made any female housed with him so exhausted and terrified that I would have to rescue them - literally at death's door in the case of my little white one - after no more than 24 hours, so I guess even his exquisitely beautiful purple and claret fronds weren't enough to endear him to me.
My 'sweet' little girl, once I rescued her from where she was lying, exhausted and barely breathing on the plants at the surface of her tank after a single night with the male betta, has flourished. Her white body gradually turned pale blush pink, then her fins and tail turned pale blue, then she developed rows of symmetrical black spots all over her body, and finally her blue fins and tail became pearlescent - they now look like a mother-of-pearl shell. She is adorable. And so very beautiful. 
Her name is Daphne.
Like you, I was told she could live in a tiny container, but it soon became clear that the one-litre wide-mouthed vase she was in was insufficient. She is now in a 15-litre cylindrical container, with a large water plant rooted in blue glass beads and providing lots of surface cover for her. She adores playing in her plant, squeezing herself between a stem and the glass for example, or doing figures-of-eight around sections of the plant. Sometimes she sleeps on her plant, at the surface, and when she's given a piece of bloodworm cube, she likes to attack it and drag it down into a frond an inch or two under the water, where she can guard her booty and nibble at her leisure. 
I had no idea fish could be so inquisitive and active and responsive and just plain cute, until I met this betta. She has totally won my heart.


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## charliegill110 (May 19, 2014)

thats a beautiful betta!

neither of my betta were planned but i had wanted a betta my whole life. i used to beg my mom for one because i thought they were so beautiful. being a 3 year old i argued if they are sold in those little cups that MUST be what they live in but my mom would always tell me that cruel and we weren't going to have a fish tank (like 10/20/30 gallon) for just one fish so there for no betta. in 2012 my cousin, sister and i went out to eat in the neighboring city and there happened to be a pet store across the street (there are no pet stores or a chain of where we went to eat in my city so it really was a coincidence) all 3 of us have many pets so we were browsing for our usual but i saw they had bettas and for the umpteenth time i said how i had always wanted one and my cousin said "well get one" and i said "okay" and she showed me the kind of food they eat and the different stuff they need because shes had bettas (unfortunately she was just as misinformed as i was) but then they had pretty bettas but none of them "spoke" to me. so we went down the street to a different pet store. they had a much larger selection. we spent literally an hour comparing bettas and walking back and forth between the males and females, the females were on sale for 99 cents so i decided i would get a female because i only had a couple dollars on me since we weren't planning on going to a pet store. my cousin pitched in some money too. we got it down to 2 females, a red one and a blue one. the red one had flecks of purple and was beautiful, i knew that was the one. i got her, the food and a 0.5 gallon critter carrier and happily took her home. she was later upgraded to a 1 gallon and had rocks decorations and bamboo. i named her harlequin because i love h names, harry potter and frogs/toads and in hp nevilles toad was a harlequin toad. for the boy i have now, charlie gill (named after charlie weasley and gillyweed, the plant that allows harry to breathe underwater) i had been wanting another betta for a month or 2 and telling my mom i was going to get one. one day i needed to pick up a prescription in a different neighboring city that also happens to be next to a petstore. after i had my prescription which needs to be refrigerated my mom says "do you want to stop at the pet store for a betta?" "UM YES" my mom stayed in the car and i ran in. i only had change on me and they had a very small selection. i knew i wanted a boy and i didn't want a red one. there were only 2 veil tales (the cheapest) a red one and a blue one. the blue one was just laying there while the red one was happily swimming around and very active so i got the red one. he went in the 1 gallon for about 3 weeks and last night was upgraded to a 45 gallon. and he is loads happier.


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## Pendulum (May 12, 2014)

Thanks for sharing your stories!

Sweetie // She sounds like a beauty! My little girl has a much more active personality than my boy, but I found it gets frustrating when she pushes her mesh tube across the tank and trap herself or somehow she was able to push the (very heavy for any fish) rock holding down her terra cotta pot off and squeeze through the little hole. I couldn't figure out how lol.

Charliegill110 // Wow, 1 gallon to 45 gallons, your boy must of thought he won the lottery! I saw a few 99 cent females at our large chain local pet store and they were tempting but as you said, none ever caught my heart. And I too love Harry Potter, which is why I named my little girl Luna Lovegood! She obviously has some sort of magical powers as she's able to remove a rock off her pot and Disapparated to some unknown tank because it takes me forever to find her. She's very curious and doesn't seem to care for my boy, Billy (named after Bill Weasley of course!), who's tank sits next to hers. A fitting name, I think .


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

I bought this little guy Tuesday in a moment of weakness. He flared at me so I had to buy him with no room for him right now.


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## charliegill110 (May 19, 2014)

Pendulum said:


> Thanks for sharing your stories!
> 
> Sweetie // She sounds like a beauty! My little girl has a much more active personality than my boy, but I found it gets frustrating when she pushes her mesh tube across the tank and trap herself or somehow she was able to push the (very heavy for any fish) rock holding down her terra cotta pot off and squeeze through the little hole. I couldn't figure out how lol.
> 
> Charliegill110 // Wow, 1 gallon to 45 gallons, your boy must of thought he won the lottery! I saw a few 99 cent females at our large chain local pet store and they were tempting but as you said, none ever caught my heart. And I too love Harry Potter, which is why I named my little girl Luna Lovegood! She obviously has some sort of magical powers as she's able to remove a rock off her pot and Disapparated to some unknown tank because it takes me forever to find her. She's very curious and doesn't seem to care for my boy, Billy (named after Bill Weasley of course!), who's tank sits next to hers. A fitting name, I think .


hes very very happy. but when i was floating him in the cup he was thrashing, i was afraid he was going to kill himself, he hates that cup. but after a couple minutes he calmed down. when i opened the cup and let him into the big tank for about 30 seconds he didn't move, i think he was in shock. but then he started exploring, he looked so happy. about 15 minutes in i think he had a small panic attack, realizing how large the tank is. that lasted one whole minute. he spent the next 6 hours swimming around SO happy. (and i know this because i laid on the floor infront of the tank watching for the whole 6 hours LOL) i've seriously never seen a fish so happy i actually felt really bad turning the lights off for bed time. but i woke up this morning to 2 bubblenests! i'm going to start a thread in the journal section later today talking about the whole thing in detail.

and omg i love the names you picked! if i had gotten the blue female i was going to name her luna lol! i like the name billy too, harry potter just has great names to pick from! and its such a large series theres plenty of names to pick from. charlie seems more curious than scared too. and quite nosey haha. he watches everything and if i'm doing something in the tank hes right next to my hand getting in the way trying to see what i'm doing.


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## Pendulum (May 12, 2014)

xShainax // Oh my, he's so gorgeous! I'm sure you'll be able to find a nice spot for him  He'll surely show off those beautiful colors!

Charliegill110 // Indeed! Picking names from Harry Potter is always fun. I was torn between picking Luna or Crystal (name my boyfriend suggested) but picked Luna because like I posted earlier, you can see blue under her scales which represents the house Luna from Harry Potter is from and the white shimmery colors remind me of Luna's hair. I think it was meant to be !


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## fleetfish (Jun 29, 2010)

I found a solid, bright red VT today. He was in really gross yellow water at the store and sadly some of the other bettas there were too far gone ... the store I went to is not the greatest pet store, but I had to check them out. He's in a quarantine cup right now. He's perked up very nicely and is unclamped, curious about the other bettas and myself, and is currently trying to eat the water droplets on the surface of his container. 

Another surprise betta was Tenzin, my turquoise doubletail girl. You know how in pestmart they have those shelves where the cups just sit, right? Well I was just picking up random bettas and she suddenly popped out at me, stressed as ever. I gave a little squeal of delight - I mean, she's a DT! There are never any DTs at pestmart. Three weeks later, she is my favourite girl (shh!), a diva if there ever was one - she flares like mad whenever she sees another betta, and is very aggressive among her sorority sisters so I have to keep her solitary. I think she chose me well ^__^


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## KFoster (Mar 26, 2014)

I guess I technically had two moments of weakness. 

First was after my first betta Ludwig passed away. I knew I would want another one, but wasn't planning on it being too soon. I went on aquabid to look at pretty fishies to make myself feel better. 
Of course we know where that lead to. 
Even though I knew it was going to cost me upwards of $70 CDN to have him after shipping etc. 
But breaking all my rules I bought Winter, a handsome blue & white marble halfmoon. And he arrived in perfect health.

Second was after I had already purchased my aquabid beauty, and he wasn't even in the mail yet. I was in the local pet store and fell in love with a copper super delta. Days later I find myself purchasing a 4 gallon tank online and picking him up the next week after I begged the store to keep him on hold for me. 

Two boys purchased within a week of each other.

I've posted so many of my boys pics as of late I don't want to annoy anyone that's seen them already with more, but they can be found on my albums under my profile if anyone is interested


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## Pendulum (May 12, 2014)

*fleetfish //* I saw a masked red VT next to my Luna at the store and was tempted to buy him... And next him were two impressive dragon bettas and one masked orange VT. They were all for $2-4 so it was incredibly tempting to buy them all. If only! I'm glad your lovely boy is beginning to relax and soon he'll get extra space to swim around . I've seen many girls at Petsmart and Petco but I've never seen a double tail female. A few boys with DT but no girls so I'd say you were pretty lucky to find one! Sometimes I wish my Luna would flare for me but she's so curious about her surroundings that she just has no interest in anything "scary" or her neighbor, Billy. But I just got her two days ago so maybe one day!


*KFoster //* Aquabid... I can't tell you how many hours I spend on that website just looking at all the bettas I want but can't buy. Even if I had the money and space, I've never bought anything off Aquabid so it's rather intimidating to think about the process of buying fish online. I've read a few articles on how to buy fish online but I'm worried that I'll be even more worried every second until the fish arrived. I can only imagine how exciting it is to buy fish from Aquabid though! PS: Apollo is awesome! I'm rather jealous . I have a very soft spot for marbles as my very first betta was a marbled boy and he was the most hardy fish I've ever had and was there for me during some very rough times. I miss him dearly. Of course, after I bought my latest boy last month, I drive to a different Petco and find a gorgeous blue and white halfmoon marble that I nearly cried about. I wanted it so bad but my boyfriend at the time said no to a second fish and I sadly had to pass him. But I still think about him! At the same time I'm very grateful and blessed to have my Billy and Luna with me.


Thank you for sharing your stories! I don't have any friends who are interested in fish (or see a point in having them) so I torture my boyfriend to listen to all my joys and rants with fish lol. It's a lot of fun to read everyone's stories.


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## fleetfish (Jun 29, 2010)

It's funny about DTs - they're popping up everywhere around here. Sometimes you can go for months on end and not even find one, and suddenly I have three (Borg being the third - he's half blind). Yesterday I had to go to my local pet store. This store is excellent and they know my betta obsession, lol - anyway, there were at least twenty DTs there. Apparently it was a " shipping mistake"; pretty awesome mistake though! Soooo . . . I had to get one. He's a red/blue multi, very pretty boy. I would post pics of both the red VT and the DT but my camera isn't working :/ 

Girls are too adorable when they flare. Hope she gives you a good one soon!


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## KFoster (Mar 26, 2014)

Pendulum said:


> *fleetfish //* I saw a masked red VT next to my Luna at the store and was tempted to buy him... And next him were two impressive dragon bettas and one masked orange VT. They were all for $2-4 so it was incredibly tempting to buy them all. If only! I'm glad your lovely boy is beginning to relax and soon he'll get extra space to swim around . I've seen many girls at Petsmart and Petco but I've never seen a double tail female. A few boys with DT but no girls so I'd say you were pretty lucky to find one! Sometimes I wish my Luna would flare for me but she's so curious about her surroundings that she just has no interest in anything "scary" or her neighbor, Billy. But I just got her two days ago so maybe one day!
> 
> 
> *KFoster //* Aquabid... I can't tell you how many hours I spend on that website just looking at all the bettas I want but can't buy. Even if I had the money and space, I've never bought anything off Aquabid so it's rather intimidating to think about the process of buying fish online. I've read a few articles on how to buy fish online but I'm worried that I'll be even more worried every second until the fish arrived. I can only imagine how exciting it is to buy fish from Aquabid though! PS: Apollo is awesome! I'm rather jealous . I have a very soft spot for marbles as my very first betta was a marbled boy and he was the most hardy fish I've ever had and was there for me during some very rough times. I miss him dearly. Of course, after I bought my latest boy last month, I drive to a different Petco and find a gorgeous blue and white halfmoon marble that I nearly cried about. I wanted it so bad but my boyfriend at the time said no to a second fish and I sadly had to pass him. But I still think about him! At the same time I'm very grateful and blessed to have my Billy and Luna with me.
> ...


Thanks Pendulum. I was quite taken by both of mine. Winter is a feisty little guy, you can tell he's only a few months old, and his fin is starting to turn red, so I can't wait to see what marble tricks he has up his sleeve. 
I didn't even know I'd like copper's until I saw Apollo in person. He shines a brilliant purple on his scales and that orange tail is just so vibrant and flowy. He is a little more chill at home but he flares at his reflection when I show him the mirror. I need to get a pic of it as he has a perfect orange stripe in his beard which is just beautiful! 

As for aquabid, I was a little nervous too, definitely. But I made sure the seller had excellent feedback, and I felt more at ease. I contacted her through the site before I placed the bid, and she was more than accommodating with answers to my questions and worries, and fast too. I think I found a really great seller on there, and they only post once and awhile. I wouldn't hesitate again as long as the seller's neutral/negative feedback was few to none! 
Well actually I would hesitate because ground shipping in Canada is 2x the price it is in the states. But other than that, I was pleased with how smooth and easy it ended up being. And if my Winter lasts a long time, I would consider it again.


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## KFoster (Mar 26, 2014)

Oh, and I too have few fish loving friends. So I too bug my husband with "omg you should have seen how Winter flared at my engagement ring today at work" and "Apollo jumped and grabbed food from my finger today"

I get a lot of uh-huh's and I-don't-care's 

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand I end up on this site for hours to share it with you guys instead.


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## ZZD (Jan 13, 2013)

I just had a moment of weakness. I went to my LFS to get a few Red Crystal Shrimp since I had a little tank that recently became empty. I walked past the Bettas and nearly gasped. I have been looking all my life for a white betta. Usually the pale/white looking bettas at pet stores are just not well fed so I'm always wary of a white fish in a store, but this shop cares for them and all the bettas are at full colour. They had a pair of white Dragonscales with black dalmatian like spots and I just couldn't help myself. I bought one of them and named him Moo. I finally have my white betta! Now I just need a permanent tank for him and once he's settled I'll do a temperment test, because I feel bad leaving him alone when my other betta has such a good friendship with two panda garras and a vampire shrimp. The vampire shrimp was another spur of the moment purchase.

But here's Moo! Its kinda dark so the colours are off, but he is snow white.


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## aselvarial (Feb 21, 2014)

xShainax said:


> I bought this little guy Tuesday in a moment of weakness. He flared at me so I had to buy him with no room for him right now.


 OMG! I have a fish nearly identical to that one! The blue in his fins and everything! it was our first betta and my 4 year old picked him out! I haven't seen another like him until now!


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## charliegill110 (May 19, 2014)

Pendulum said:


> xShainax // Oh my, he's so gorgeous! I'm sure you'll be able to find a nice spot for him  He'll surely show off those beautiful colors!
> 
> Charliegill110 // Indeed! Picking names from Harry Potter is always fun. I was torn between picking Luna or Crystal (name my boyfriend suggested) but picked Luna because like I posted earlier, you can see blue under her scales which represents the house Luna from Harry Potter is from and the white shimmery colors remind me of Luna's hair. I think it was meant to be !


honestly i just like naming things period haha. i went through a phase when i was in early middle school where i named all the outdoor critters that came by (squirrels, chipmunks, racoons, ducks, possums) my favorite was bob, he was the fatest squirrel i'd ever seen and he came to our house daily to eat for 2-3 years but one day my mom came home from work and said she saw a dead squirrel on the side of the road a few houses down and she thought it was bob and sadly i never saw bob again so it was him  i didn't name squirrels anymore. but i currently have 3 stray outdoor cats, milk mustache, mr. tuxedo pants, and all black (all black is named that because we aren't sure of the gender and its all black and no other name ever stuck) but since i've got charlie i have been thinking a ghost shrimp would be cool and i want to name him jacques (mostly because of finding nemo, another movie i love) but i realized that didn't fit with my harry potter theme so i googled "harry potter jacques" and sure enough theres a chadian quidditch player named jacques. score! haha


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## Pendulum (May 12, 2014)

*fleetfish // *Even with males, I think I've only passed by 2 DTs at my local pet stores so they're not common here.... yet. But I always like to drag my boyfriend to pet stores just so I can pass by the bettas and see any new ones that popped up. Maybe one day I'll find a DT female . And then I'll have another moment of weakness haha.


*KFoster //* I've been wanting a purple and yellow betta just so I can name him Spyro, a childhood favorite game of mine haha. But perhaps when I get more room I can buy one off Aquabid. And I'm sure with the extra love and care you give to your bettas, they'll all live long and happy lives ! At least your husband gives you some sort of response when you talk to him about fish. My boyfriend remains silent until I turn around and he's refraining his laughter from watching YouTube videos. And then I get, "Sorry, what?" 


*ZZD //* I heavily contemplated buying a shrimp friend for my Billy but ended up passing on the idea until I gain more experience with fish keeping. So instead I got him a girlfriend lol. Your Moo is just so wonderful! I, too, dream of having one super white and one super black betta but I may have to buy those dreams off Aquabid lol. Moo is such a fitting name too! Congratualtions on finding your white betta  He really is a beautiful betta! I've said to my boyfriend that if I find a white betta with black spots, I'll name him Pongo from 101 Dalmations, haha. 


*Aselvarial // *I'm guessing your avatar picture is the one you're referring to! He does look very similar to xShainax's! 


*Charliegill110 //* Aw, poor Bob . I love Finding Nemo! Before I bought my two bettas, I was actually on my way to buy a clown fish because of how much I love the movie. But I have zero experience with saltwater tanks so I ended up looking for something a little more on the beginner's level. Shrimps do seem to be a popular choice for betta buddies so perhaps you can get one !


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## aselvarial (Feb 21, 2014)

Pendulum, yes, my avatar pic. I totally forgot he was the fish on there.


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## sweetie (May 23, 2014)

SmaugDragon said:


> Sweetie, bettas are not meant to be housed together in one tank. There is some great info about this under "housing" on the thread: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=232570
> They come together for breeding but even then must be removed from each other as they will fight. Several females can be housed together in a sorority setting, but males/males males/females will fight, hurt, and often kill each other. Chances are he is not a sexual predator, but rather acting as he was bred to do. So glad you were able to save your female from this situation and give her a good home.


Yes, I rapidly discovered this. My mistake was in thinking that because the three girls had lived in the same tank at the petshop, they could do so at home when the second and third were added a day or two later. By then, they represented newcomers, and competed with the original female, by now I presume dominant. I didn't realise any of that. Sadly for one of the females. A second female died for reasons I am unsure of - she was on her own by then and had been for some time, but I still think she failed to recover from the stress. She had been the original female bought with the male. 
One thing I have found, on this site and on the other site I visit regarding my axolotl, is that fish shop staff give the most appalling advice way too often. Virtually everyone who has bought an axolotl has been given instructions that would kill the creature (if they are told anything about its care at all). It is incredibly distressing to someone who loves all animals as much as I do to find I have been hurting something while honestly believing I'm doing the right thing. I have now learnt to believe nothing I am told in a fish shop (let alone a pet shop!!) and to research any prospective pet in detail BEFORE the purchase rather than after!
Thank you so much to everyone on this site, and the axie related one (caudata.org - great site) for all the patient advice - my axie and my bettas are very grateful too.


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## charliegill110 (May 19, 2014)

Pendulum said:


> *fleetfish // *Even with males, I think I've only passed by 2 DTs at my local pet stores so they're not common here.... yet. But I always like to drag my boyfriend to pet stores just so I can pass by the bettas and see any new ones that popped up. Maybe one day I'll find a DT female . And then I'll have another moment of weakness haha.
> 
> 
> *KFoster //* I've been wanting a purple and yellow betta just so I can name him Spyro, a childhood favorite game of mine haha. But perhaps when I get more room I can buy one off Aquabid. And I'm sure with the extra love and care you give to your bettas, they'll all live long and happy lives ! At least your husband gives you some sort of response when you talk to him about fish. My boyfriend remains silent until I turn around and he's refraining his laughter from watching YouTube videos. And then I get, "Sorry, what?"
> ...


even before finding nemo i always wanted a saltwater fish tank, i used to beg and beg and beg my mom for one when i was little. not realizing exactly how much work goes into it. unfortunately i doubt i'll ever be able to have a saltwater tank. i'll never be able to afford all the things needed and buy salt or saltwater on a regular basis. before i was born my parents had a beautiful saltwater tank, i think it was over 100 gallons. sadly the house burned down (electrical) and they lost everything, including the fish. but they had a puffer which i've always wanted and my favorite has always been those yellow tang fish. and the saltwater angels are so pretty. and i love starfish and sea horses but idk if i would even be able to have all those different things in a tank.. after that idk what all i'd want in a saltwater tank. did you just want one clown fish, or?


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## Pendulum (May 12, 2014)

sweetie said:


> I have now learnt to believe nothing I am told in a fish shop (let alone a pet shop!!) and to research any prospective pet in detail BEFORE the purchase rather than after!


Indeed. When I was younger, I was led to believe that the people working at these pet stores knew better and more information since they have to care for the animals everyday. I took their word. But now that I'm an adult and with the Internet at my fingertips, I'd rather take a few days of research before buying a new pet .




charliegill110 said:


> did you just want one clown fish, or?


Before I just wanted one clown fish but have since read that saltwater fish need a lot more than just salt water and fake decorations. They thrive on corals and other fish companions. I, too, think salt water fish are just beautiful and it would look so lovely to have a large tank but I'm far too inexperienced to keep one. Perhaps in a few years I can invest in starting one but for now, I'll just have to give all that extra love and care to my two bettas .




SmaugDragon said:


> Sweetie,
> I agree! This site is a fantastic resource and there are members here who are so knowledgable and helpful. I feel like I have a million new questions about bettas per day and I love that I can search the forums here for answers.


I agree as well! I haven't come across a question unanswered on this website and I'm eternally grateful for the people here who spend their time in helping others. It was very easy for a newcomer such as myself to come here and ask questions that was perhaps answered a million times before but people are very patient and helpful. Because of everyone here who's helped me, my two lovely bettas are thriving and healthy!


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## Pendulum (May 12, 2014)

Just had another moment of weakness, but this time my bf is the one that caved in for this little guy!











*Name:* Soma
*Gender:* Male
*Tail:* Double Tail (Halfmoon with full spread)
*Color:* Green Marble

*Story: *
I went to Petco yesterday to buy some medicine for my poor Billy. As usual, I take off running in the store to look at the bettas that the store currently had since they're always changing them out. I was at Petsmart just before Petco and the lovely purple male dumbo at Petsmart that I saw a few weeks ago was gone. They had one cow betta (black and white marble) that I was interested in but of course my bf said no. We left Petsmart and went to Petco.

So as we scanned around the betta section at Petco, we came across this lovely green boy. My bf just could not get his eyes off him. Mind you, he's the type that just wants one dog (which we have) and no more pets after that. I already had two bettas at home so I wasn't expecting him to say yes to anything. But he just could not get his eyes off him. I had my eye on a Cambodian marble crowntail on the side shelf and a gold dragon. Every time I looked over, my bf was scanning around but I would always catch him glimpse over at the green marble and smile before quickly looking away. 

So I offered to take full care of him and even offered to pay if he just let me take home one more betta. Surprisingly, it didn't take much convincing since he seemed to be really in love with this green marble. Sure enough, we brought him home and he's incredibly shy! I forced my bf to name the fish (he complained about not being able to come up with good names) and we decided to name him Soma. He's active on his own when I take a peek carefully but he hides in his plastic mesh if I come up close to the tank. But I have no doubt that he'll warm up to us eventually . He truly is gorgeous though!


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## BlueLacee (Dec 8, 2013)

Be careful, they are hazardous to your Heath and very addicting. You will soon have more, despite restrictions. Other than that, she is stunning


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## InStitches (May 26, 2014)

wow! What a gorgeous green betta.


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## Pendulum (May 12, 2014)

BlueLacee said:


> Be careful, they are hazardous to your Heath and very addicting. You will soon have more, despite restrictions. Other than that, she is stunning


Haha, my plan was to just have one. Then I thought, "I'll never have a girl. I'm just far too drawn to the males." A few weeks later I bring home a dumbo girl. Then I said, "Yup. I literally don't have the space so two is plenty." And now I bring home another boy. I wonder how long before I turn into "Crazy Betta Fish Lady" hehe.




InStitches said:


> wow! What a gorgeous green betta.


Thanks! I know nearly all marbles change colors or patterns so I'm very interested to see what this little guy will change into! I'm wishing he'll stay green but I suspect he may change blue even. That's the magic of marbles, I guess!


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## averyecho (May 2, 2014)

One notable moment of weakness of mine was when I saw Smaug at the local Petco. We were technically only there to get some more bloodworms, but I liked Smaug so much I DEMANDED that my dad let me buy him. He said no, my mom didn't want any more pets. I kept on arguing, and after half an hour of this, he was so tired of me bugging him about it he bought both Smaug and a very nice 3 gallon setup (even though I was intially supposed to buy him with my own money and use the spare 2 gallon at home). Needless to say, my mom was not happy... But Smaug became her favorite fish in the end


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## BettaBeau (May 14, 2014)

I had a moment of weakness almost a month ago. I got out of work early, and since my bf was still asleep I had about an hour to kill. I went to a shopping center that is sort of on my way home, I had never been there and I wanted to see what stores were there. They have a Target, Trader Joes, Michaels, a bunch of others... and a Petsmart. Cool, I thought, I can kill some time in there. I've had bettas before, but after the last one died about 5 years ago I gave away all of my tank stuff. So I went over to the bettas, and they have a nice selection. I look at the female bettas, I have never had a female before. One of them was very curious about her surroundings. I set her to one side to look at the others, and when I looked back at her she was staring at a hanging price tag card. That did it! She was on sale for 99 cents, but I bought her about $50 worth of housing and equipment, lol!

The problem was, I didn't discuss it first with my bf. He was a little upset, and rightfully so. He said we could keep it but he didn't want the tank near any of his stereo or radio equipment, or near any electrical outlets or power strips! I had wanted her in the living room, but we ended up putting the tank in the bedroom on the bathroom counter. It's actually the perfect place, she can see the whole bedroom, and it makes water changes so easy! I bought air tubing suction cups and ran the heater wire up and around the mirror over to the outlet on the other side. Infra Red is quite happy with her new place!


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## Pendulum (May 12, 2014)

averyecho said:


> One notable moment of weakness of mine was when I saw Smaug at the local Petco. We were technically only there to get some more bloodworms, but I liked Smaug so much I DEMANDED that my dad let me buy him. He said no, my mom didn't want any more pets. I kept on arguing, and after half an hour of this, he was so tired of me bugging him about it he bought both Smaug and a very nice 3 gallon setup (even though I was intially supposed to buy him with my own money and use the spare 2 gallon at home). Needless to say, my mom was not happy... But Smaug became her favorite fish in the end


It seems to work out that way in the end haha. I had a similar argument with my bf about buying my second betta and he just said he didn't want another pet and mentioned the lack of space we have. But I bugged him about it for 5 days before he finally caved in and even though I told him I would use my hospital tank temporarily before I had enough to buy her a nice big tank, he just bought another 2.5g tank and even told me to pick out plants and toys for her. Before we bought the green marble this past weekend, my second betta, Luna, was his favorite even though I practically had to pull his arm off to get her haha.





BettaBeau said:


> I had a moment of weakness almost a month ago. I got out of work early, and since my bf was still asleep I had about an hour to kill. I went to a shopping center that is sort of on my way home, I had never been there and I wanted to see what stores were there. They have a Target, Trader Joes, Michaels, a bunch of others... and a Petsmart. Cool, I thought, I can kill some time in there. I've had bettas before, but after the last one died about 5 years ago I gave away all of my tank stuff. So I went over to the bettas, and they have a nice selection. I look at the female bettas, I have never had a female before. One of them was very curious about her surroundings. I set her to one side to look at the others, and when I looked back at her she was staring at a hanging price tag card. That did it! She was on sale for 99 cents, but I bought her about $50 worth of housing and equipment, lol!


I, too, had never owned a female betta and I never thought I'd ever buy one or adopt one. I was always attracted to the long flowy males and I told myself I wouldn't ever have a female betta or plakats. Aquabid destroyed those thoughts especially since that website introduced me to Dumbo bettas. Last month I went to the store where I saw a female Dumbo. I flipped out because of all the ones I saw at Petco and Petsmart, I've never seen a female Dumbo. My bf said no but like I mentioned earlier, I harped about this female betta for 5 days before he finally caved in. It didn't take long before he decided the female betta was his favorite haha. I read a lot about how the females have so much personality to make up for their short fins and they're all right! Our Luna has the biggest personality, the most active, and just rather crazy. 

I see those female bettas at Petsmart for 99 cents all the time and I just go crazy haha. They're mostly very young and I keep telling my bf, "It's the best sale because you'll raise it for years and get the added benefit of seeing them change as they grow bigger. It's just a dollar!" But he said he didn't want to see me spend (or have him spend) over $50 on more stuff for another betta and have them sit on the floor since we literally have no space here unless we buy those death bowls. But still... 99 cents for a betta is extremely tempting indeed!


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## Ratness17 (Jun 23, 2014)

My moment of weakness was the other day, when I went to Walmart with my mom. I have a thing for charity cases at walmart, they always look so sad! But I already had three 10 gallons in my room. The older two already both had a betta in them with some guppies. I was looking for a betta for my third and ended up getting two females and a 2.5 gallon aquarium kit. Citronella was in dirty water and was one of the healthier looking ones. Juniper was in crystal clear water so I am assuming she just went on the shelf that day. But here are my two beautiful girls. They don't like sitting still for pictures!

Citronella is the one with the light orange fins and Juniper is the other haha
Cant figure out how to get them not to be sideways.....


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## Thothgirl (Jul 12, 2013)

Saki and Fritz were a moment of weakness. I went to get 1 betta to fill my empty 10 after the angelfish fisaco. just one. and then I saw Saki. I even wanted a green betta, but man Saki stole my heart in a second. he is such a pretty boy. then I saw Fritz. Fritz was at the time green and blue and about as badass as a punk crowntail can be. after spending 5 mins not being able to choose between the two, my husband sighed, we got a divider and now we are planing on outfitting our other 10 as soon as we have room for it! 

(all hail petco tank sales! a 30 and 2 10s!)

Though, to be technical, we got Herbert our Featherfin African catfish in one of my husbands moments of weakness. went to get 4 emerald cories and he fell in love with that fish. heart achingly totally in love. Thus we have Herbert (named after Herbert Hoover cause that fish is a vaccum!)

You know the more I think about it... I am almost sure this is how we got the vast majority of our pets. Lol!


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## Pendulum (May 12, 2014)

Ratness17 said:


> My moment of weakness was the other day, when I went to Walmart with my mom. I have a thing for charity cases at walmart, they always look so sad! But I already had three 10 gallons in my room. The older two already both had a betta in them with some guppies. I was looking for a betta for my third and ended up getting two females and a 2.5 gallon aquarium kit. Citronella was in dirty water and was one of the healthier looking ones. Juniper was in crystal clear water so I am assuming she just went on the shelf that day. But here are my two beautiful girls. They don't like sitting still for pictures!.


Your girls are beautiful! None of the Walmarts out here sell betta fish so I'm left with Petco and Petsmart. Even my one female can't stay still for pictures. She's constantly swimming!




Thothgirl said:


> Saki and Fritz were a moment of weakness. I went to get 1 betta to fill my empty 10 after the angelfish fisaco. just one. and then I saw Saki. I even wanted a green betta, but man Saki stole my heart in a second. he is such a pretty boy. then I saw Fritz. Fritz was at the time green and blue and about as badass as a punk crowntail can be. after spending 5 mins not being able to choose between the two, my husband sighed, we got a divider and now we are planing on outfitting our other 10 as soon as we have room for it!
> 
> (all hail petco tank sales! a 30 and 2 10s!)
> 
> You know the more I think about it... I am almost sure this is how we got the vast majority of our pets. Lol!


I can't tell you how long it took before I finally made a decision on my first boy, Billy. Man, there were so many, I wish I could of just taken all of them home. I initially wanted a baby betta from Petco but they were out that day so I moved on to the older ones. But I won't ever regret picking out Billy! He's the sweetest out of my three and the most patient!

_"You know the more I think about it... I am almost sure this is how we got the vast majority of our pets."_ I know what you mean. These animals and pets have ways of stealing our hearts, don't they! 

I've been trying to convince my bf into letting me buy a 10 gallon with dividers instead of keeping three separate smaller tanks. I even pointed out all those summer sales from Petco and Petsmart and told him it would save space and time in the end... but alas, he said no especially since I'd have to keep the 10 gallon somewhere while it cycled and there's just zero space to place it... But hopefully soon we'll get a bigger place to live and I'll be upgrading their homes too!


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## Ratness17 (Jun 23, 2014)

Pendulum said:


> Your girls are beautiful! None of the Walmarts out here sell betta fish so I'm left with Petco and Petsmart. Even my one female can't stay still for pictures. She's constantly swimming!


The closest two Wal-Marts don't, but we had to go out of the way anyways. But I am glad we did! 

So all three of my girls currently are from Wal-Mart. Had another girl (from Petco).. But yesterday I was cleaning the tank and she got sucked up into the siphon... When I realised she did it was too late. I had her since Christmas and she was still only like an inch long. She was a tiny girl...


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## Pendulum (May 12, 2014)

Ratness17 said:


> The closest two Wal-Marts don't, but we had to go out of the way anyways. But I am glad we did!
> 
> So all three of my girls currently are from Wal-Mart. Had another girl (from Petco).. But yesterday I was cleaning the tank and she got sucked up into the siphon... When I realised she did it was too late. I had her since Christmas and she was still only like an inch long. She was a tiny girl...


I'm sorry to hear about your girl .


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## BlueLacee (Dec 8, 2013)

I'm sorry for your loss


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## KlutzyGal (Mar 31, 2014)

I almost had a moment of weakness today when buying new gravel for Loki's tank. They had a few gorgeous PK males that I kept eyeballing! Even a couple King's that were quite handsome. :shock: It was hard to force myself to put them all back, but I think, for right now (or until I see another Betta that grabs my full attention, lol!), I'm fine with just having the two I do now.


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## brian c (Jun 25, 2014)

man i have this betta that when i feed him peas he will move his mouth up and down like hes chewing but only when i watch its so cute


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## Pendulum (May 12, 2014)

KlutzyGal said:


> I almost had a moment of weakness today when buying new gravel for Loki's tank. They had a few gorgeous PK males that I kept eyeballing! Even a couple King's that were quite handsome. :shock: It was hard to force myself to put them all back, but I think, for right now (or until I see another Betta that grabs my full attention, lol!), I'm fine with just having the two I do now.


I said the same thing when I got my second betta... then I saw this third one. They're all bought within 1 month intervals so I'm wondering if in one month's time I'll find another and bring them home haha. I never knew how big the "giants" or "king" bettas were until our local Petco started to stock them. They're HUGE! I still go crazy when I look at a king betta and a normal one side by side. There was one PK male I saw that was all pink and purple. I was dying to bring him home but I resisted! For now...




brian c said:


> man i have this betta that when i feed him peas he will move his mouth up and down like hes chewing but only when i watch its so cute


I still go crazy when I can hear them chew their food. It's so adorable!


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## Thothgirl (Jul 12, 2013)

I adore the way Myr viciously rips the flakes from the top with a plop kinda noise. 

The first time I had a friend watch him to do that she turned to me and said "that fish will to take your arm off!" Neither of my others do it. but every time he rips it off the top. <3


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## Pendulum (May 12, 2014)

Thothgirl said:


> I adore the way Myr viciously rips the flakes from the top with a plop kinda noise.
> 
> The first time I had a friend watch him to do that she turned to me and said "that fish will to take your arm off!" Neither of my others do it. but every time he rips it off the top. <3


My goodness, my female betta does this. She likes to viciously chase my hands and jump at them when I get near the water to drop the pellets lol. Always gives me a heart attack haha. Now my bf and I jokingly say my female is waiting for the opportune moment to rip my face off. I stopped peering into the tank so close because she likes to jump at me haha.


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## Thothgirl (Jul 12, 2013)

Lol! nice to know it's not just Myr. Maybe we should breed them and end up with vicious attack bettas as watch fish. 

Picture it, a tank right by the door or under a window and then someone breaks in... all we find is wrist watch and lazy content FULL betta. Lmao!


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## Pendulum (May 12, 2014)

Thothgirl said:


> Lol! nice to know it's not just Myr. Maybe we should breed them and end up with vicious attack bettas as watch fish.
> 
> Picture it, a tank right by the door or under a window and then someone breaks in... all we find is wrist watch and lazy content FULL betta. Lmao!



Ha! It would be perfect since no one would suspect the little fishie to do something like that!


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## Thothgirl (Jul 12, 2013)

Question is your girl that does that a copper? 

I was wondering if it might be a copper thing, or just Myr is fundamentally opposed to anything other than him. My husband was making noises that he "seems lonely" to day and I shut that down fast. I adore Myr but he is the most foul tempered "I am the only darn fish in existence" type that I have ever seen.


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## Pendulum (May 12, 2014)

To be honest I'm unsure what her colors are but they're not copper. She may have the copper gene but she's mostly silvery-gray, gold and white. You can also see blue if you flash a light so I never knew what to label her colors as lol. But I know she's far from being "lonely" since she's constantly swimming up and down the face of the tank where she can see me. The funny thing is that she never flares at the two boys I have next to her tank but she'll flare like crazy if she sees her own reflection. I can only assume she does NOT want to be a part of a sorority!


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