# The Sparky Diaries



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

I've been looking through these and decided to start one of my own! Don't be alarmed if I start to talk from the perspective of my Betta. d:

So I guess to start off, I bought my betta Sparky sometime towards the end of August. He's my first betta so I'm still learning the ropes. He's recovering from some swim bladder problems, so now I know that he needs to learn to eat his darn pellets instead of being so picky. This probably won't be an every day journal, as the life of a college dorm betta isn't really all that exciting. Anywho, say hi to Sparky! (He's also in the process of hopefully regrowing his tail)


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

Mom got me a new tank! I've upgraded from a 1 gallon to a 2.5 gallon! Unfortunately the current from the filter was blowing me against the side of the tank anytime I got caught in it, so mom had to unplug it. I'm pretty busy exploring my new tank right now, so off I go!


----------



## summersea (Jul 26, 2013)

Welcome to the journals! Yay for an upgrade . I just bet you love all the new space!

With regards to the filter, if your mom ( ;-) ) can go to PetsMart or Petco you can buy some Fluval filter sponge (for $2-3) and cut it down to fit in the little intake valve hanging inside the tank (tweezers can help position the sponge easier). I do this with all my filters and makes a huge difference on the flow. Hope that helps you out!


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

I'll have to pass that info on to my mom. (;-)) And thanks!


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

Today mom got my other plant in the mail, so now my tank is complete! Besides the fact that she still has to find me a new pineapple since mine decided to disintegrate. She went to PetSmart today to try some of the Fluval sponge, and they didn't have any. They were also out of Omega One pellets and apparently aren't getting a new shipment till Monday. She also tried the local pet store, but they seem to only carry Tetra brand food and no Fluval anything. She was rather frustrated. However, she did come home with a Betta Hammock Leaf from PetSmart that I have already taken a liking too.


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

Sparky flared for the first time (that I ever saw) yesterday. I hadn't given him any blood worms since his whole swim bladder ordeal, and he had been doing pretty well so I figured I'd give him a treat. So I put one on my finger and held it up to the glass and was like "What's this?!" (Ya know, in that baby talk voice we all use with our pets) and BAM. It was like he was all "GIVE ME THE WORM WOMAN." I may try training him to flare on command, or some other fun things. Hmmm...


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

Some updates and pictures. 
1st Pic: Today Sparky got a good does of sunlight. Since it's winter and the sun is always low in the sky it shines right through my window to hit his tank on my desk (as long as there's no clouds) so it was a sun day with his tank light turned off for the day. Plus I like how the sunlight catches his blue shineyness. I've noticed since I put him in his bigger tank his colors have popped more. Yay for a happier fish!

2nd Pic: He also met Albert the duck today. Really, it's just this rubber duck my school set out for the Chinese New Year celebration. At first he just flared at it, then once he realized it wasn't going to eat him he was mostly just studying it.

3rd Pic: I'm seeing signs of fin regrowth! Yay! They aren't as ragged, and in this pic you can kinda see some white towards the end of his fins.

4th Pic: "Mom, you're supposed to be doing homework. Just stop with the pictures."

I also entered a picture in the Photo Contest, so, vote for Sparky! Yay! lol


----------



## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

Sparky is very handsome! Love the rubber duck too!


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

Thanks!


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

So I got the Betta One pellets in the mail yesterday. Sparky LOVES them. Much better than those darn Tetra pellets. I decided to see if he would jump for his food, and he does! Yay! I want to start teaching him how to flare on command and such. In the meantime, I'm also going to get ready to be snowed in since we're supposed to get at least 6 inches Wednesday night into Thursday. The highest numbers I've seen so far are up to 12 and 14 inches though. Fingers cross it isn't nearly that much.


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

So, I've been trying to find different ways to do water changes that doesn't require me lugging my 2.5 gallon tank from my room down to the "animal" sink in our laundry room. Here was my brilliant idea of the night: 

I'm a coffee drinker, and I use the Coffee-mate liquid creamers. One of those bottles is one quart. So to do a 50% water change, that would equal four of those. Unfortunately the bottle doesn't actually fit in my tank, so what do I do? Use a cup to scoop out the water, pour it in the very well washed out creamer container until I filled four of them. At this point Sparky was probably all WTF?

Anywho, so I then measured out my water conditioner and filled the container four times, adding a bit of the conditioner at once and then carefully dumping it back into the tank. IS THAT NOT GENIUS? I think it is.

OH. And I was so angry. For some dumb reason, my filter is spitting a crap ton of water out of the excess flow thing and creating one heck of a water fall. I felt Sparky's pain as his fins were just battered about. Tried rinsing the cartridge, that didn't help. So I was messing with it and when I pulled the cartridge up the water finally mostly went out the out flow. Just. What the hell? And I noticed there's a big tear in his fin now. JUST WHEN HIS FINS WERE ALL PRETTY AND GROWING BACK. I'm so angry. *grumbles and stomps off*


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

Sparky was really active today, just swimming all over and flaring at his reflection. Yesterday when I cleaned out his tank he had a ring of bubbles all around the tank against the sides and much to his annoyance I kinda destroyed his bubble ring. Today he has already replaced those bubbles. I'll take that as a good sign that he's a happy fish and everything is grand. I'll probably try to get some good pics of his fin regrowth tomorrow if I have the time. It's crunch time for a bio exam on Wednesday. *sigh*


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

I woke up this morning to find this lovely little thing in the corner of the tank. Sparky was really busy over night, lol.



















It's the first actual bubble nest he's built for months. This really proves the whole "Bettas prefer more than 1 gallon of water."

I did manage to get some pics of his tail/fin growth. Although, it's more of his bottom fin growing than his tail which is really what I want to grow out again.




























In the last pic you can kinda see some growth on the bottom of his tail. Still, it is some progress. Baby steps, lol.


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

Today I did a 50% water change plus sucked out all the crap on the bottom and washed off his plants and pineapple. I think sometime this weekend I'm going to do a full 100% change and clean his gravel. The sides of the tank are starting to become a bit slimy as well... I'm not sure why, but Sparky doesn't really seem affected by it so I suppose it's fine for now. I think I will start doing this every two weeks from now on, especially since my tank isn't cycled.

If any of you saw my other thread about my filter, I had to buy new cartridges and replace mine already because it was clogged. Eeek. I'm thinking perhaps our school's tap water is hard on the filter. Either way it's replaced and running smoothly again. 

It's been so warm and springy here in Pennsylvania the past few days, and this weekend is supposed to be even nicer! However, next week it's supposed to drop back to the 20s again and I've heard talk of another big snow storm heading our way. Ugh.


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

Yesterday we took my friend to the mall so she could get her cartilage pierced. Personally, I didn't have anything pierced at all. But some how I ended up in the chair and now I have my ears pierced finally. My friends are bad influences.... But at least it was just an ear piercing, right? 

I also decided to do a 100% water change and clean everything up good. For anyone reading this, I have a stupid beginner question: There's always a slimey covering on everything after 3 or 4 days. Is that normal? Like it's on the filter, his decorations, the thermometer. It doesn't seem to get on the heater but I'm thinking that's cause of it being warm... Help? lol

I also snapped a few pics during my endeavor:








Let me out of this cup woman!









I MEAN IT! (Look at that grumpy face!)









FREEDOMMMM!

And then this morning I came back and looked in the tank to find this already. Crazy little fish.


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

I've been trying to figure out exactly what Sparky is. His cup was marked as Half Moon but I'm thinking he's actually a Delta... I've also been trying to decide on his color but I really have no idea on that, lol. Any ideas?


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

This week has been CRAZY. It was just one of those weeks where you're just going and going almost every hour of the day. I was up till midnight or later every night and had to be up at 7 every day except for Tuesday and still have the brain power to function in class. Monday night I might have gotten some sleep if someone hadn't burnt cookies at 11 PM and set off the fire alarms. -______- Tuesday night was the earliest out of all of them, Wednesday night I had RA training till 11 PM and Thursday night I helped out Campus Activities Board with their roller skating night till about 12. I'm about to fall the heck over.

All of this craziness this week made me have to keep putting off Sparky's water change cause I just did not have time. Today, finally, when I had the time to do it I was gonna do a 100% change since I had to put it off all week, just to find that our big scrub sink is out of order cause it's leaking. *sigh* So I had to settle for a 50% change cause that's all that is really possible with our small sinks in our bathrooms.

Also in the craziness, I had his light on the one day and forgot to plug his heater back in after I turned his light off. So his water dropped from 80 to 77 before I caught it. Did it again today. *headdesk*

Speaking of Sparky, he's had this fascination with the right wall of his tank lately. I think he sees his reflection in it. Sometimes he just kinda watches it. Other times he kinda attacks it. Right now hes just kinda swimming back and forth against it. Is this "glass surfing"? He's still eating fine and swims to the front of the tank if I walk over to it. I tried putting Albert the duck and another of my random things in my room by his tank, but he took one look and is now back at the right wall of the tank.

One last thing, PetSmart made me angry tonight. I'm working on switching the current filter out for a sponge filter and they had the air pump and the hose, but not the actual sponge for the filter. So now I have to go to amazon. *sigh* I think that's it for the night. I'm gonna lay here and watch my poor betta now.


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

So I noticed yesterday that Sparky has been biting his tail again. *sigh* I don't know what caused it this time. He's been acting strange lately, I have a thread in the disease forum about it cause I thought he might have external parasites but I'm not completely sure. And I didn't really get any responses, so I'm just gonna assume I'm being a crazy new owner. Either way, I put some new things around his tank to try to draw his attention from his tail. I told him he wasn't allowed to have a mental breakdown now, cause if he does, I may as well because people have really sucked lately.

Here's a before and after of his tail now. *sigh*


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

Today I moved everything around in his tank to see if I can get him to quit biting his tail again. I'm definitely thinking I over reacted with the whole thing about him rubbing against things. At this point I'm pretty sure it was just because he's so transfixed on the right wall of his tank and the plant was getting in his way. His appetite also hasn't changed and he's just as active, so I'm writing it off as paranoia and "new-betta-owner syndrome", lol. I feel kind of stupid, but oh well! He is also building his bubble nest I destroyed during the water change on Friday. 

The sponge I need for his sponge filter is also on its way. I was playing with the idea of making my own but I figured it would just be easier to buy one already made. I'm also looking into some new plants so I can change them out in his tank to stop any further bouts of tail biting.


----------



## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

I think we all go through the "new betta owner syndrome" at one point or another! I can relate with tail problems, my VT having an unhealthy obsession with tiny holes (-.-'). I think I've given up hope for ever seeing his tail look nice without ragged edges, but I am pleased that his tail, dorsal, and anal fins grew back nicely after his last ordeal with a tiny hole over the summer. Hopefully you can get Sparky to stop his tail biting.


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

BettaLover - Thanks, I hope I can get him to stop too... Although, to be quite honest, it almost looks better now cause he took care of that one really long strip of tail. xD His fins are growing really nicely, it's just his tail he has issues with. -.-

So I planned to do a water change yesterday, however that didn't happen. My day consisted of going to class and donating any free time I had to work on stuff for my clinical practices lab and my biology lab. I was up till 1 AM finishing everything. Blah. I would've had it done sooner, however we actually had to do things at my work study job. I work in the library, and normally we can just sit and do homework, but our library is going under construction so we had to sort our reference books in with our regular books... Fun Fun. Not.

So his water change was pushed back, but I will do it today between my last lab and my night class... We're also going on a trip to an aquarium this weekend and my roommates going home, meaning Sparky is going on his fasting day one day early, lol.


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

I had a ton of fun this weekend at the Baltimore Aquarium. Things never fail to get interesting anytime we go on a trip with our VMT club. Also, cities terrify because I've never lived anywhere but teeny, tiny towns so it was an interesting experience for me. The harbor is BEAUTIFUL though. I have now decided that when I have my own house every available flat surface will have some sort of tank on it...

Now this week is going to be absolutely crazy. I have an exam in every class this week and then finally it's time for spring break. I'm not particularly looking forward to tearing down Sparky's tank and dragging it home, but oh well, I can't leave him here because we have to unplug everything so I would have to unplug his heater. His sponge filter will be waiting for us at my house. I can't decide if I want to wait to set it up back here at college or if I want to get it up and running at home yet. Hmm...

Also, last week we were doing an experiment in biology that involved using different citric acids to see if they would stop that reaction that turns fruit brown. Out of curiosity, we tested the different substances for their pHs and got 4 on everything... Including the water. Now, we thought maybe it was just the test strips failing, but our professor pulled out some buffer and we tested it and the strip read 7. So now we're slightly concerned about the fact that the water coming from the taps in our science center has a pH of 4. Eek. I tested the water from our dorms with my API kit and it came back as 7 so I don't have to be concerned about Sparky, however the thought of drinking from the water fountains in there scares me a tad...


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

So I was looking at Sparky's tank and I was confused to see that his water looked cloudy. I just did a change on Friday, so that couldn't be right. I walked over to do a closer inspection and found that it's actually the slime that I talked about before in my journal. So I did some research and I'm thinking it may be a form of algae... I read that it's pretty easy to take care of with a wipe down once a week, but I was throwing around the idea of getting a snail to help take care of it, but I'm afraid that there won't be enough for it to eat if it's not actually algae.... Decisions, decisions.


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

Almost done with this week... I can't wait for spring break. I just want to shut my brain off for awhile, lol. Sparky already has new growth on his tail where he was biting. I don't know what his problem was... but I'm glad it's fixed. I just want his tail to grow out nicely again.

I went to PetSmart tonight with some friends and as always I had to go through their betta collection. Generally, they're usually pretty healthy but there was this one guy at the front that was extremely bloated and had started to pine cone. I was so sad for him and I wish I could've brought him home with me even though I know pine coning is pretty much a death sentence for them... There were a bunch that had wilted fins too, I'm assuming from ammonia. *sigh* I'm thinking perhaps a project for me over the summer is getting a 10 gallon and dividing it so I can have two bettas. I'll be an RA next year so I'll have a suite, meaning more room for a bigger tank, lol.


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

Yesterday was an interesting day. I spent it going to class and packing. Sparky was not amused with being put back in his little cup. And then, my friend and I packed our cars and planned to drive over to our math class and then leave right after because it was our last class of the day. However, it was a little chilly yesterday so she didn't want to leave her mice in her car and I didn't want to leave Sparky, so we brought them with us into math class much to the amusement of our professor, lol. And now we're home and Sparky is settled back in his tank with his new sponge filter! Yay! I had some issues with it last night because it just wanted to float to the top, so I taped the tube to the tank and forced it to the bottom of the tank and now this morning it'll stay down without the tape. I'm going to PetSmart today so I may pick up a small thing of gravel to put on the sponge to keep it in place better.








"Again? Really?"









"Seriously. You know how much I hate this thing."









My desk looks so empty without his tank on it, lol.









Sparky brushing up on his math skills. d:









Here he is all bundled up and sitting all comfy in my cup holder for the trip home. (I took this while sitting at the bank in the drive through, that's why my car is in drive, just fyi. lol)









Andd here's his tank with the new filter! Yay! (You can see it wouldn't sit on the bottom. Grr.)


----------



## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

I almost brought my two boys to my accounting class with me lol. I have that same calculator too!


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

Lol, my professor didn't really bat an eye at Sparky, however he was a bit concerned about the mice. It was interesting. But they were our moral support for our midterm. xD


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

It's been a pretty uneventful past few days as far as betta news. I'm pretty sure Sparky likes his sponge filter better than he did his other filter. I did learn today why the sponge wouldn't sit on the bottom, because I didn't know you had to squeeze it under water till all of the bubbles stopped coming out. I mentioned something to my boyfriend about it and he promptly made me feel like an idiot. "....you mean you didn't know that? It's common sense! If I would've known you didn't do that from the beginning I could've told you that!" ....thanks there bud. (Btw, him and his dad are really big into fish. They're how I started getting into fish, they've done freshwater and saltwater and had almost every fish possible in those two categories probably. So he actually knows what he's talking about.) So now that I feel like a dunce, I'm gonna go curl up and go to sleep. Good night internet world!


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

So, today when I woke up Sparky was immediately doing his little "feed me" dance at the front of his tank. So I threw in some pellets and turned his light on like every morning and went about my morning routine. I came back into my room to grab my laptop and looked over to see Sparky just flaring all over the tank at his reflection. I've never actually seen him flare at his reflection before, so I took a picture opportunity. 

















And then I turned off his light because I didn't want him to blow out a fin or anything. At this point my cat had jumped up on my bed to watch the show with me.










So yeah. I'm not sure what's going on with Sparky but he is just Mr. Grumpy Gills today.


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

Not too much to update on. Sparky is still flaring at his reflection like a nut. It's been pretty sunny the past few days so I've just left his light off. Hopefully when we're settled back at college he'll be fine. I have to tear his tank down again on Sunday and head back down, so that should be fun. I'm trying to come up with ideas on how to keep my sponge filter wet...

Some other fun news, my boyfriend's dad came home from the pet store today with some piranhas. He had some before and they were the coolest fish and fun to watch when eating, lol. He's putting them in his big 210 gallon tank he has built into the wall that's been sitting empty for awhile. I've been trying to convince my boyfriend that we should start our saltwater tank back up, but to no avail. However, I did infect him with the betta bug at PetSmart today and now he's in the process of digging out one of their old tanks to clean up to get one of his own. MWUAHAHAHAHA.


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

Short little update, today Sparky and I made our trek back to college. He's all settled back into his tank and such. He's quite grumpy with me right now, but I promised him no more moving for awhile. Which is the truth, he'll be happy in his tank till the middle of May, then we'll be headed home for the summer. Then my first year of college will officially be over, yay.


----------



## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

Glad that you and Sparky made it back safe and sound!


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

Thanks! Same to you!


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

So when I set up Sparky's tank yesterday, I couldn't get the air pump to stop vibrating really bad, so below in the result of my idea to get it to stop being so loud.









That would be my air pump Command stripped to my floor and I destroyed a wash rag and shoved some of it under the sides, and WALLAH, no more loud vibrating. I am a genius.  (not really)

I tried taking pictures of Sparky earlier and he flared at my phone. I was like "Excuse me! Just remember who feeds you!" and then had to leave for class. So when I came back after class, I tried again and this time he was a bit more patient with me. d:










"Lalala" (Look at how nicely his fins are growing out!)










"What?"










"Oh, hey mom!"










"Oh, you have that dumb box thing again..."










"Enough of this!"










"Maybe I can blend in with my plant and she won't see me..."










"NOBODY'S HOME. GO AWAY."


----------



## summersea (Jul 26, 2013)

His fins are looking great!! Yay Sparky! 

I had to jimmy rig my best friend's air pump in a similar way. Those things can get so darn loud!


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

Thanks! I'm so excited! I'm buying him some new plants like ASAP so I can switch them out and keep his attention away from his tail. I also have little toys that I move around his tank. I refuse to let him bite his tail again, lol. I tell him every day "Your tail looks so nice! NOW DON'T BITE IT."


----------



## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

Look at that lovely tail! Good idea with moving the decorations/toys around!


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

Thanks, let's hope it pays off, lol.

So I woke up to it snowing this morning. -.- It's then end of March, can't we be done with winter yet? I really wanted to just hide under my blankets the rest of the day, but unfortunately homework calls my name. I have Sparky's light on and he doesn't seem to be flaring too much at his reflection... As I look over and see him doing just that. But I figure as long as he isn't doing it all the time he's fine, right?

Another thing I like about having this new filter is that the old filter blocked half the tank from getting light. Now with it out of the way, the entire tank is lit up. Yay sponge filters!


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

Darn, I can't edit the above post but while I was walking to class I realized that maybe the reason Sparky started flaring at his reflection all of a sudden is because there's more light getting to the entire tank. He does mostly do it at the back corner where the old filter was and no light got to before. Huh... lol


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

It has been one crazy hectic week. I had so many things with school work thrown at me at the same time, it was terrible. So much sleep deprivation, lol. Today was a relaxing day, I have two exams next week but studying can wait a day, or two...

I did get a new phone, so that was exciting and somewhat of a reward for the craziness, lol. However today, we have a big open house here at our college for potential incoming freshmen and me and another member have to give a presentation on our collegiate FFA club to them to try to get them to join next year. It's 4, 15 minute presentations. Should be interesting...

Not much news on the fishy side of things. Sparky got a water change yesterday and has started building a little bubble nest again. He's still flaring when his tank light is on but not as much. The weather is finally starting to look like spring here, so I shouldn't have to have his tank light on too much anymore with the coming sunshine.


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

So the new plants I ordered for Spark's tank came in today. Unfortunately they're a tad bit bigger than I thought. Not in height but just, way bushier than I was thinking. I'm trying to decide if I want to cut some things off or if I just want to wait and save it for my 10 gallon project.. Here's a pic of the two that fit the best in the tank.










I might have to cut some off of the green one yet too... I'm not sure. But I have to at least play with a bit more when I have time. There are little white flowers on it too bit they're so folded up it's not showing them. Maybe tomorrow when I do a water change I can play with them some more.


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

Not much to say, it's actually been a pretty tame week. Sparky is enjoying his new plants and I found a bubble nest built this morning. Yay! I plan on doing a water change tonight hopefully, then I can get these plants moved around and situated better. It's also schedule making time the next fall semester. Four of my classes are pretty set in stone but I'm left with a 5th spot to fill and there are so many choices I could possibly do. Thankfully, it's looking like the earliest class I'll have so far is at 10 AM. Yay! No more 8 AMs!


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

It's been crazy busy the past few weeks with school and everything. The professors have been piling on the work since there is only about a month left in the semester. O.O

For some fishy news: It appears Sparky has been biting his tail again. -______-
He has chunks out of his tail and a chunk missing from the part of his anal fin closest to his tail. *sigh* I also realized that the flowers on his plant have small plastic pieces in the center, so Friday when I have time I'm going to pull them out and cut off the plastic pieces as a precautionary measure... Although he does seem to enjoy his new plants, I see him swimming through them and sleeping in them more than his old plants. I'm not sure what else I can do for his tail biting habits at this point anymore though...


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

Well hey everyone! It's been awhile since I've posted, school has kept me pretty busy. Sparky is still alive and well, if not a bit unkempt from his tail biting. Here he is to say hi!









He was given a new heater and a new thermometer that hes been busy exploring as of lately, so it's kept his attention from his fins, at least for now. There's little bits of new growth on them, so we'll see how long it lasts.

And! Here's the best (maybe) new news: Yesterday we had what we call Spring Fling, it's a big tradition here, and they decided to go with bettas as center pieces for the tables and were giving them away, sooo....









Meet Moon! The poor little guy had stress stripes when I got him. And I mean little, he must still be young. He's definitely smaller than Sparky. Right now he's settled in Sparky's old one gallon tank. He'll be there for the next 2 weeks till I head home for the summer, where him and Sparky will be sharing a 10 gallon. He seems to be pretty energetic, he hasn't stopped swimming since I put him in the bowl. I'm actually not supposed to have him, I have to tell certain people he's my roommates fish since I already have a tank but oh well. d:


----------



## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

lovee1795 said:


> Well hey everyone! It's been awhile since I've posted, school has kept me pretty busy. Sparky is still alive and well, if not a bit unkempt from his tail biting. Here he is to say hi!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Moon is very cute! I've thought about getting a third fish and setting up a second tank and saying it's my room mate's (room mate would go along with it too :-D) but I have resisted!


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

I couldn't resist, lol. My roommates totally okay with it too. I added some stress coat to his tank and this morning he was really active and had some bubbles around the top of the tank so thankfully he seems to be doing well. I have to buy him a house yet but I think I'm going to get him the Squidward house to match Sparky's pineapple. Lol


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

So last night I came back to my room to find Sparky laying on the bottom of his tank inside his pineapple. That's not out of the norm, but when I went over to his tank he didn't swim out to greet me. I could see his eyes moving to follow my movement but that was it. So I moved his pineapple a bit and he swam out but then just went to the back of his tank and laid down. I kind of shrugged it off because it was 11 PM and I normally head to bed around that time. But this morning he was still laying on the bottom and only ate 2 pellets when he normally eats 6. So I pulled out my testing kit and found .50 ammonia in the water. EEK. I JUST did a water change on Sunday, but I'm wondering if this is the spike from my cycle starting. Either way, I did another quick water change and then had to run off to work, so here's to hoping I'll find him in better spirits when I come back.

Moon is doing really well. He's eating and is really active. He's a bit more photogenic than Sparky, so I'll probably flood my journal with pictures of him soon.


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

Update on Sparky: He's still laying in his pineapple although he seems to be a tad more active. I catch him swimming around a bit every now and then. He seems to be breathing a little hard. I'm hoping he'll recover but I'm afraid that my previous neglect to him is catching up and add in this ammonia spike and I'm not sure how well he will recover. I'll definitely be keeping a close eye on him for the rest of the day.


----------



## DaytonBetta (Feb 4, 2014)

I hope he's ok! Take care.


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

I'm happy to say that Sparky is better. He has almost completely recovered. I feel so bad, I've put him through so much as a first time betta owner. I suppose you have to learn some how. He doesn't seem to be able to eat well, but his insides are probably still sore. I might try pre soaking the pellets first. Moon is also doing well, although it appears that the Omega One pellets are too large for him, I have to cut them in half for him. I'm thinking he will definitely grow yet. He has such a feisty and playful personality, I just love him to pieces.


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

So after one long night of banner stealing (school tradition between the classes, think like massive game of capture the flag) and then having a water gun fight on the green on our front lawn with the professors I am thoroughly exhausted. Next week is finals week and its the only thing between me and summer. I'm so excited to not have any school work to do anymore. However I do need to do some job hunting. 

Everything is still good fishy wise. I am definitely going to cycle my 10 gallon before putting the boys in it. It's definitely been a lesson learned kind of week. My heater has been making some weird clicking noises lately. I did some research and found that this seems to be a normal defect of my heater... So i'll be searching for a new one to put in the 10 gallon.


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

I'm officially done with my freshman year of college! Woo! It's so weird to think about, it went by so fast. And I'm starting off my summer with a job interview tomorrow as a kennel assistant! Yay. I also put out some other job applications to a few other places. So many job applications. Too little responses back. -.-

In fishy news, both of the boys are doing fine. I've started calling Moon my patriotic fish because while he's mostly blue and black, his little pelvic fins have red and white on them and his eyes are red. He's just so cute. When he's not in the weirdly shaped glass bowl that distorts everything, I will put more pictures up on him. His fins have already grown so much since I got him. It's amazing what some warm, clean water will do for a fish. The only thing about him is that when I'm feeding him, he'll collect all the pellets in his mouth and then spit them out, only to pick up another one. I might try cutting the pellets in half to see if that helps, but they're already small since their Omega One. Grrr..

Sparky's doing well, eating and all. I've been keeping a closer eye on his water parameters now though. Lesson learned.

Everything I need for the 10 gallon is ordered and on its way here. I can't wait to get it set up and have them in one tank together. I do still need to go to the store to buy some more gravel and a thing to split my air pump between the two filters. Here's to hoping they don't mind being neighbors, lol.


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

Hey everyone. Just dropping in to say hey quick.  Both of the boys are doing really well still. Moon's fins are growing like crazy. I'm still waiting for my other sponge filter to get here so they're still not in the 10 gallon. Hopefully it'll be here soon though!

My boyfriend did get a new betta though.  Meet Rosco:









I'm currently helping him get his tank set up and such. Yayy betta fish!


----------



## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

Well, I finally got the boys in the 10 gallon! It was my big project yesterday. I'm still waiting for Moon's cave to come and the other filter, but it should be here by the end of this week. I think it turned out really well. The boys are flaring at each other a bit but I'm hoping they'll get used to each other. If not, I'll have to buy more plants or figure something out.









The boys acclimating to the new tank.

Here's Sparky! His fins are still bad but they're slowly getting better.



























And here's Moon! He's really active, it took me forever to get these pics.




































Good night!


----------

