# LadyNightraven's Betta Journal



## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

I thought that since I'm starting a new adventure in betta keeping with the purchase of my new marble yesterday, it might be fun to keep a "journal."

I'd had bettas when I was a kid, but I was young and ignorant and inexperienced, so it generally didn't turn out well for the poor fish. I hadn't had any interest in having fish as an adult, but then Rakki came along. My little rescue fish was left behind in a rental house when the renter moved out, and my landlords gave him to my fiance and me because they know we're animal lovers. I fell in love with the little guy's flowing fins and feisty personality. He suffered through my learning curve, and he's been with us for about a year and a half so far. He's been happily living it up in a 5-gallon tank for almost ten months now.

I didn't have any other bettas other than him. Until yesterday.

As an early birthday present, my fiance took me to Petco to pick out a betta. I was looking for a mustard gas initially, but then I spotted this little marble deltatail. We walked around the rest of the store while I decided if I wanted to get this fish or go to Petsmart to see if they had a mustard gas. I ended up deciding I couldn't leave him, so he came home with us.

New fishy is temporarily settled in Rakki's old 1-gallon bowl until I can buy a proper tank and heater in a week or two. He seems to be making himself at home. He already ate three NLS pellets for me today once he figured out pellets are food. He let one sink, then inspected the second one and decided to try it. I guess he liked it because he ate two more. I put a little silk plant, a new anubias I'd bought, and an extra leaf hammock in the bowl with him, and he already loves the anubias. I guess that means I'll have to make sure he has some live plants in his future tank.

Rakki is, of course, getting plenty of attention so he doesn't get jealous, haha.

No name yet for new fishy, but I'm already turning over names in my head. I want to see what his personality is like first. And how his colors develop, I guess, since he looks to be a marble. He has a couple of blue spots on his tail right now, a transparent area in his tail, and the most adorable black mask on his face.

These are some ideas that are floating around:
Darwin (because he might change color over time, ha)
Ghost (suggested by my mom)
Phantom
Yurei (Japanese word for ghost)
Olaf (a snowman with a colorful personality, and I like Disney princess movies)
Yuki (Japanese word for snow)
Borealis (like the aurora borealis)
Bandit (because of his mask)

More ideas to come, I'm sure.

I'd love to hear any name suggestions you might have.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

Your new guy is lovely! Rakki is cute too  

I think Borealis is nice, maybe something to do with Ice, Glacier, Arctic and such?


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

New fishy got his first 50% water change tonight. My plan is to do a 50% WC on Mondays and Wednesdays and then a 100% on Fridays for as long as he's in the 1-gallon bowl. I tested his water tonight and the ammonia was only up to 0.25, so I think I'm on the right track. Maybe his anubias is helping a little, too. New fishy was so good during the WC. He seemed more curious than anything. I hope he's as good for his first 100% WC later this week.

Both boys got their evening pellets and seem happy.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

I think I've finally settled on a name for my new fishy. I'd narrowed it down to Borealis and Yurei, and I started catching myself thinking of him as Yurei.

So, my new little DeT boy will be known as Yurei, a Japanese word for ghost.

Even if he ends up changing colors on me, I still like the name.

Yurei got another 50% water change tonight. He wasn't happy about me removing water, but he played in the bubbles when I added new water. I usually feed my fish after water changes, and I think he's starting to understand he'll get something nice after the water change is done. He got a little overenthusiastic when I dropped in the first pellet and missed when he first grabbed for it, but he did fine after that.

Rakki has been hanging out in his tube, adding onto his bubble nests, and generally being his little tough guy self.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Yurei made his first bubble nest tonight! I'd like to think this means he's getting more comfortable being in a home instead of a Petco cup.

He's getting his first 100% water change tomorrow. I'm a little nervous since I haven't done this in a while. Rakki is never easy to catch when he has to be cupped. Maybe Yurei will be a little easier. I can hope, right?

Today was my birthday, and I celebrated by going to work. I work at a small-town library with a great little group of people, so it wasn't such a bad thing. We do a "Birthday Fairy" thing, which is like Secret Santa except with birthdays. One of my friends at work drew my name, so today I received a pumpkin pie complete with Cool Whip and a really cute card signed by all my co-workers with $25 in it.

I like pumpkin pie better than I like most cake, so it was a good thing. :lol:

The money will be going toward getting Yurei a bigger tank. Last year the gift card I got for my birthday ended going toward buying Rakki's 5g tank and getting him out the 1g bowl Yurei is currently in. I guess it's becoming a tradition that money received on my birthday goes toward new tanks.

Hmm... does that mean I might get another fish next year? Who know! :-D


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

I've been trying to figure out why Yurei sometimes looks weird to me, and I think I finally have it. I'm so used to having a betta who's a fin biter, even though Rakki doesn't bite as much as he used to. Yurei's fins, even his tail, are still pristine. Granted, I haven't had Yurei quite a week yet, but he seems more chill overall than Rakki. A little more skittish, too. And I have yet to see Yurei flare. But I guess he could still be getting used to things. He seems to like peeking at me from behind a leaf and then coming closer and wiggle dancing for me. 

Rakki has been hanging out in his tube for the past hour now, but if I wave to him, even from across the room, he'll meander out and flare at me and wiggle around before making a circuit around his tank. Crazy fish.

Quick bit of randomness... there's a spider, maybe a wolf spider, hanging on the outside of the window screen. Watching it got me thinking that it could be interesting to have a tarantula, but that's probably not a good idea when my fiance hates spiders and one of my friends is terrified of spiders.


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## Jonthefish (Jun 16, 2014)

I would like a tarantula one day ^ 3 ^

Cute fishie ! Very creative name , I like it !


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Thank you, Jonthefish. 

Rakki is supposed to be Japanese for "lucky," or at least that's what Google said. *shrugs* Since he was originally supposed to be my fiance's and my fish, my fiance helped name him. But I ended up being the one who took pleasure in taking care of him and reading about how I could keep him healthy and happy. My fiance likes him, but mostly he just plays with Rakki or feeds him for me sometimes.

With Yurei, I ended up deciding to continue the Japanese name theme, so he ended up being named a Japanese word for ghost.

...I tend to be a little long-winded when I write, if you couldn't tell.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Yurei got his first 100% water change tonight, and he handled it like a pro. I tried not to rush him when I was trying to catch him with a coffee cup, and once I had him in it, I gently transferred him to his Petco cup to wait. Taking a leaf from myexplodingcat's journal, I put his anubias in the cup with him, and he seemed very calm while I rinsed his silk plant and thermometer and rinsed out his bowl. Once I'd refilled the bowl with new water, I gently tipped him back home. He got an extra pellet tonight for being such a good boy.

The only mistake I feel that I made was being a little off on the temperature of the new water. I thought it couldn't be more than 2 degrees different by feel. It was more like 4 degrees. I think I might buy another thermometer to measure new water for water changes.

My fiance thinks Yurei is getting a little more color on his body. While I'd be happy if he kept the colors he has now, I'm kind of excited to see how his colors might change.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Yurei just flared for the first time! :-D I decided have a quick peek at him, and he zoomed over to the side of the bowl flaring. So cute!


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## starlight910 (Jul 25, 2014)

Aww a betta's first flare is always special  And happy birthday!


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Thank you, starlight! And yeah, the first flare is always special. But then every first is special with a new fish. :-D


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

I've been at work most of the day and then had to go grocery shopping after work, so I didn't see much of my boys until a couple hours ago. Rakki and Yurei were both happy to see me when I got home. So were the cats. They seemed excited when I told them the store finally had their preferred wet food. Or maybe they were demanding to know where I'd been and when I'd feed them. One or the other.

I bought another aquarium thermometer for water changes so I don't have to use the tank/bowl thermometers. Of course I forgot a replacement eye dropper for the one that somehow managed to shatter when I dropped it last night. I use the eye dropper to measure out Prime for the tanks, so it's kind of important. Back to the store tomorrow, I guess.

I just ordered a Hydor Theo 25w heater, a bottle of Tetra SafeStart, and another leaf hammock on Amazon for Yurei's upcoming tank. They should arrive sometime between Thursday and next Monday. My fiance and I have made plans to go to Petsmart next Saturday to buy the tank itself. I decided on a Top Fin 5.5g kit since Yurei seems annoyed with the way the bowl curves and this tank is a traditional rectangle shape. I have sand left from when I bought some for Rakki's tank, and I should have enough extra silk plants to make a new tank comfortable. If not, I can always buy a couple more. I have a new hiding ornament I want to try in Rakki's tank, so Yurei can have Rakki's flower pot if all goes well. Ah, planning new tanks is so much fun!

It's funny, but Yurei's arrival has made me feel more appreciation for the animals I already share my life with. There's this feeling of completeness that I've felt for the first time since two of my cats made their journeys to the Rainbow Bridge earlier this year. It doesn't make me miss them any less, but there's a comfort in having someone new to love in addition to the critters still with me.


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## DaytonBetta (Feb 4, 2014)

I'm happy for you! Pets are such a sweet part of life.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

I definitely know that feeling, I lost my 14 and 8 year old dogs at the start of this year. I felt rather empty and knew I needed to focus on something new - and now I have bettas. Like you said, there is comfort in having something new to give your love and attention to.

And I'm jealous, I was eying one of those Top Fin 5.5g tanks that was on sale here but didn't have the money. Let me know what it's like!


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Thank you, Dayton. I can't imagine not having at least one animal of some kind in the house. Life is definitely better with pets.

I'm so sorry for your losses, Tress. It's so hard to lose a beloved pet, never mind two pets.  I lost my two cats in April within a week of each other. Kumo was just shy of five years old, and Bo was only two months away from his ninth birthday. I remember them fondly and miss them every day. The ones we loved and lost live on in our hearts and memories.

I'll definitely update when I get the tank and have it set up. Hopefully I'll like it as much as I like Rakki's Hawkeye 5g!


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

I'm sorry for the loss of your cats, only a week apart must have been heartbreaking... Our two passed a month apart but both were battling sickness for a while. 

it's the one with the normal bulb hood right? Not the LED?


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Thank you, Tress. Only a month apart must have been really hard, too. I'm sorry they were sick, but now they're young and whole and happy at the Rainbow Bridge. That doesn't make it any easier when they're gone, but I like to think we'll see our beloved animals again one day.

Yes, it's the one with the incandescent hood and bulb. Here's a link: http://www.petsmart.com/fish/aquari...d36-17829/cat-36-catid-300013?var_id=36-17829 I like getting the ones that don't have the LEDS so that I can change the bulbs out if I eventually decide to grow plants in my tanks. Right now, Rakki and Yurei each have a little anubias plant, and they seem okay without any special lighting.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Today was water change day for Rakki. I meant to do it yesterday, but I was worn out and had a nasty headache building. I put in the little urn thing I got from Petco as a new hide for him. I'm not sure I like how big it looks in the tank, but Rakki's opinion is the one that matters. His anubias plant is floating around right now since the hide took over the old spot where I had the roots loosely covered in sand. I think I'll be buying some fishing line next time I go to the store to anchor the plant. He seems to like it better floating as he's already inspected it and wiggled through the leaves. I turned off his light as his water change so that he can explore the changes more comfortably.

Yurei has been so cute today. He's made a huge bubble nest in his bowl and is sitting on a leaf of his anubias near it to guard his creation. Earlier my fiance was playing with him. He has this "jellyfish" game he likes to play with the fish where he wiggles his hand and fingers to resemble the movement of a jellyfish, and Rakki and Yurei will both chase after it and flare. They're so funny.

I think Yurei might be trying to change colors on me, or at least getting some more color. There's a blue patch on his side that I'm pretty sure wasn't there before.

I'll try to get some pictures later after Rakki has time to explore his tank again.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

I thought so, that's the same one I was looking at  and yea I hate LEDs in tanks to start with.

Haha that's so cute xD I just point my fingers at my guys and they flare, I should try the jellyfish hand!


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

First, here's a picture of Rakki's tank after I changed some of the water and added the new hide and let his plant float. He's peaking over the top of the silk plant on the right side of the tank.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

And here's Yurei being cute. You can see the big blue patch on his left side in the one of the pictures. I'm fairly sure it wasn't there when I got him. He's also getting more dark spots on his right side.

The last picture is of his latest bubble nest. He seemed pretty proud of it.

Sorry this post got a little photo heavy. I got a little carried away taking pictures of Yurei tonight, haha.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

Rakki's tank looks lovely! Love the dark blue sand  That vase is nice too


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Thank you, Tress.  I'd read that sand is easier to keep clean than gravel, and the only choices at my LPS at the time were black and dark blue. I thought the blue would compliment Rakki's colors better, so blue it was. I still have a lot left, so Yurei will be getting the blue sand in his tank as well. I think it'll look great with his white body and mostly-white fins.

Rakki was being so cute earlier. He mostly ignores the dragon ornament in his tank, but every once in a while he has to circle it several times and flare it into submission again. Now it looks like he's napping in his floating tube. :-D


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

Welcome  I have glass stones that colour in one of my tanks so I know what you mean. I think it will definitely look good with Yurei!

Haha that's adorable!


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

I think I'm being paranoid tonight. It seems like Rakki has been spending more time in his floating tube than normal the last few days, so I starting thinking something might be wrong. I added a new little jug from Petco as a hide on Sunday when I did a water change, so I started thinking things like, "Is the jug chipping paint? Is it leaching something into the water?" So I took the jug out for a moment to check it over and sniff it. No bubbling paint, no chipping paint, no weird smells. His temperature and water parameters are fine. Rakki looks like his normal serlf except for deciding to "trim" his tail again. So I guess he's fine. Maybe he's just getting older? I've had him for almost a year and half, and I have no idea how old he was when I rescued him, although I guessed somewhere around nine months to a year. He was already bigger than the bettas you normally see at Walmart, which is where I suspect his first owner bought him. So with that bit of rambling, I conclude he's around two or 2.5 years old.

Now he's zooming around his tank to see what the heck I did. I finally got to see him in his jug for a few seconds! Maybe he knows he scared mom, so he's trying to make up for it by being more active. I love that fish, haha.

I'm becoming more and more sure that Yurei is getting more blue on his body. Other than that, he's still my cute little masked fishy.

That's all that's new on the fish front today. I hope everyone's had a good day!


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

haha I get like that too. I bet he zoomed around while you were looking and just tired himself out. I have the opposite problem, I can't get mine to hold still when I notice them resting.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Good to know I'm not the only one who goes a little crazy sometimes. I'm the same way with my cats if I think they're acting a little different than normal.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

It's cause we love our animals and the thought of something being wrong with them sends us into overdrive.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Today Yurei got the second of his 50% water changes for the week. I try to feed the fish after water changes so that hopefully they associate good things with water changes (I have no idea if fish, even bettas, are that smart or not, but it makes me feel better to give them something nice after the stress of water changes), and I think Yurei is definitely starting to associate hands with food. He even nipped my finger while I was messing with his plants. He still doesn't like the lid on his bowl and dives to the bottom every time I put the lid back on. Otherwise he's wiggly and friendly and seems happy.

This probably sounds weird, but has anyone noticed their fish choosing a certain area of their tank to poop and doing most of their pooping in that area? It seems like every time I use the turkey baster to clean the bottom of Yurei's bowl during water changes, his poos are always gathered around his silk plant. He's my strange little fishy, haha.

Rakki was more active this evening and played in his floating anubias a little bit. He's definitely used to me putting his pellets in one at a time. I accidentally dropped two pellets in at once and had to show him the second pellet because he ate the first one and was waiting for me to drop in the next one. It's amazing how you can train these little guys without even meaning to.

I'm getting really excited about getting Yurei's tank this weekend. Trips to a pet store are always a treat, and I discovered with Rakki's tank that I love setting up new tanks.

We have the potential for severe weather here tomorrow, or I guess later today since it's already after midnight. The dreaded "t" word was even mentioned (tornadoes). I have a bit of a tornado phobia, so I'm already freaking out. I don't want to leave my furbabies and finbabies alone while I'm at work if the weather turns nasty. :-( Hopefully it won't get too bad.

I guess that's all for tonight. Have a good one!


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

I've noticed my betta Aris poops mostly in the one corner, though he spends most his time there anyways because he is creepy and stares at me all day xD (nah he's just a big baby who just wants my attention). I also have to lead him to food, and be careful when feeding him cause he's taken chunks out of his dorsal before when turning too fast and launching himself at food.

Yea the top of that weather system is heading up here to drown us in more rain. The thought of tornados worries me too, but it's rare to get one up this far (getting less rare lately...). I've to a lot of pets to suddenly pack up and run with, so I am afraid of that too. I hope you guys will be alright!


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

The line storms has moved out of my part of Oklahoma, thankfully. We just got some heavy rain and a little wind and lightning. We came through it just fine. Living in Tornado Alley, severe weather is a part of life, but that doesn't stop me from being anxious about it.

I hope you and yours stay safe, Tress, and weather doesn't get too bad there.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Ahh, I forgot to mention that the items I ordered from Amazon for Yurei's tank came in today! He has a nice Hydor Theo 25w heater which I will be testing tonight or tomorrow and a bottle of SafeStart to give the cycle a kickstart. I also got another leaf hammock because it's nice to have a spare. All that's left to get now is the tank itself and maybe a different cave and some more silk or live plants.

The fish are doing well. Rakki is zipping all over his tank tonight, and Yurei is cute and wiggly as always.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Late night browsing of Craigslist is such a bad idea. I want a community tank at some point in the future, and I just discovered a 29g for sale for $25 located only a 30 minute drive away from where I live. There is absolutely no room in my house for a larger tank right now. I'm lucky to have space for two 5g tanks. Argh, why do I do this to myself???


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

We're getting pounded by rain and 60+km/h winds at the moment, suppose to be like this for a few days. Glad you guys got out of it safe. I could never live in tornado alley, even though tornadoes and storms fascinate me. 

That's funny, just a few days ago I picked up my 100w Theo. Hydor is a pretty good company. I have a 50w in my 5g and it's very good a keeping temp where I want it.

Lol I have the same problem with Kijiji (basically Canada's craigslist). I seen a 10g full set up with a (non-led) light hood for like.. $10. I wanted to cry.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

*sigh* I had a nice long post written, hit Submit, and *poof* it was gone. I'm too tired to try to rewrite it all tonight (I haven't slept very well the last couple of nights), so I'll just update on the bettas for now.

Yurei got a 100% water change tonight, and hopefully it'll be the last of those. Tomorrow we will be going to Petsmart to get the 5.5g tank I picked out and then possibly to Petco to browse for more plants and decorations for both boys since I seem to have better luck with Petco aquarium items. Can you ever truly have enough decorations and plants? I have birthday money to spend, so that may or may not be a bad thing, haha. I'll still need to pick up a new gravel vac for Yurei as well. If all goes well, Yurei will be in his new tank by Monday at the latest. I'm pretty excited. :-D

Rakki has been all over his tank tonight. I love seeing him active and happy. Yurei was great during his water change, and now I think he might be working on a new bubble nest already.

I really love these little fish.


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## Schmoo (Oct 3, 2014)

LadyNightraven said:


> Late night browsing of Craigslist is such a bad idea. I want a community tank at some point in the future, and I just discovered a 29g for sale for $25 located only a 30 minute drive away from where I live. There is absolutely no room in my house for a larger tank right now. I'm lucky to have space for two 5g tanks. Argh, why do I do this to myself???


Agreed! I'm tormenting myself by browsing CL currently... >___<


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Today was the day my fiance and I made the 30-minute trip to Petco and Petsmart.

Unfortunately, Petsmart did not go as planned. I found the Top Fin 5.5g tank I was wanting, except it had LED lights instead of an incandescent hood. I asked an employee about it, and he asked the manager. The manager pretty much told me I'd have to go a bigger city with a bigger Petsmart if I wanted the 5.5g with the incandescent hood since they were a smaller store and didn't stock all the models. My fiance walked around the store while I thought it over and checked out the bettas. None of them stood out to me, thankfully. I thought about grabbing a couple of Marimo moss balls, but $10 per Marimo was a little much for me today. I decided the tank wasn't worth it, so we left Petsmart empty-handed.

Petco went better. I found the flowerball cave I wanted for Yurei, and I grabbed him a little blue dragon ornament. I should be okay on silk plants, I think, but I can grab a couple more at my LPS on Monday if I need to. Once again, we looked at the bettas, but again none of them stood out to me. We both fell in love with some baby corn snakes, and I have a feeling that if we'd had the money to buy it and what it needs to be comfortable, we would have come home with a new snake tonight.

Once we were back in town, we went to Walmart. I decided I may as well get the 5g LED they carry there since it was cheaper. I've heard the lightning isn't the best, but I'll have see how it looks, I guess. I had a look at the bettas and was furious to discover some idiot thought it'd be a great idea to pour a male crowntail into a cup with a female. Thankfully it didn't look like there'd been any trouble yet. I made a mental note to find an employee and bring it to their attention before we left the store.

I was looking the aquarium kit box over while my fiance grabbed a new gravel vac for me, and a guy and a girl came into the aisle to look at the bettas. The girl scampered over and grabbed a container of food, opened it, and looked over at my fiance and me with a gleeful look of, "Teehee, I'm going to do something naughty!" Then she started dumping ridiculous amounts of flakes in cups. I'm pretty sure I was turning red from fury because my fiance said, "Let's go," and dragged me out of the aisle. We found an employee in the next aisle and informed him what the idiot girl was doing and also about the two bettas in the single cup. He said he'd take care of it. Hopefully he did.

We paid for the tank and gravel vac and a new eye dropper to replace the one I broke earlier this week, and then we went home.

Sometimes I really hate people.

I'll be setting the tank up tomorrow since I discovered I don't have an extra power strip, so I'll need to get one. I'm testing the heater tonight since I didn't do it yesterday.

The fishy boys are doing well and gobbled down their pellets tonight. It's crazy to think I've already had Yurei for two weeks.

Looking forward to tomorrow and getting this tank set up!


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

Wow, if it was me I don't think I would have been able to hold my temper. Why do people have to do that :/ 

Too bad about the LED thing, something is better than nothing.. right?


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## BlueLacee (Dec 8, 2013)

Handsome boys

And I would have lost it on the little girl


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

That's what I figure, Tress. Something is better than nothing. It's pretty good except for the hood and the light, both of which kinda suck. Ah well, Yurei will probably like the dimmer light from the LED anyway.

BlueLacee, the bad thing is this wasn't a little girl. She was a teenager, someone who should have been old enough to know better, but stupid enough to think she can do things like that with no consequences. And thank you. I think my boys are pretty great.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

So I spent the last few hours setting up the new tank today. I moved the bookshelf I was planning to put the tank on and discovered there's an outlet on that wall, so no need to get the power strip today. Soon, but not today. Honestly, I didn't feel like leaving the house today, so I was kind of relieved.

It's a nice rectangle shape like I was wanting, and the sealant seems to be good on it. I was thrilled to discover the filter that came with the kit, a Tetra Whisper, is adjustable. I have it on the lowest setting, and the flow isn't disturbing the sand substrate at the bottom, so I'm hoping it won't be too strong for Yurei. I'm not thrilled with the lid or the light, but I'll make it work. I'm going to have to put some saran wrap on the back because there's a massive hole for cords, and although Yurei doesn't seem like he's much of a jumper, there's always that chance, and I don't want to risk it.

Here's a picture of the tank so far. I'm letting the filter and heater run overnight. Yurei will go in tomorrow after the bubbles settle some, and the items he has in his bowl with him currently (silk plant, anubias, leaf hammock, and thermometer) will also go in the tank then, so it won't look quite as naked.

I'm planning on running to my LPS tomorrow for more silk plants, just in case Yurei feels the need for more cover. If not, it's always good to have extra around.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

looks good, I'm sure he'll enjoy it


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Acclimation has begun! Yurei's floating in the tank in his cup right now. He's so chill about it, just calmly looking around, unlike Rakki who couldn't wait for us to let him out of the sandwich baggie we used to float him.

I put the bottle of SafeStart in the tank, and now I have little white things floating in the tank. Not happy about that, but I'm hoping it will clear up soon. 

I'll update again when he's in the tank!


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Yurei is in! And I think he loves it.

When I tilted the cup to let him swim out, he looked at me like, "Really? I really get to check out all that space?" And then off he went!

He's been all over the tank, already rested on his leaf hammock, swam between the thermometer and the wall of the tank, wiggled through his anubias, and checked to see if he could fit behind the filter (I don't think he can). He's already been through the filter current a few times, and it seems to be fine. It pushed him down, but he didn't seem freaked out by it. I won't be surprised if I see him playing in it. I wish I could have gotten a picture of him poking at the flowerball cave like, "What's this thing?" It was so cute! He just stared at the dragon ornament like, "This is interesting," and then swam on to see what else he could discover. He hasn't stopped moving yet. I think he's going to be a happy boy.

Now he just needs a floating tube and a background to complete his tank. And maybe a Marimo moss ball.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

And to round out the evening, Rakki got his weekly 50% water change that I'd been putting off since Saturday. I finally managed to flood the floor of our little office when the siphon slipped out of the bucket (oops). I knew it would happen eventually, but I didn't think today would be the day. I put my usual half-dose of Stress Coat + in Rakki's tank in addition to Prime because I never know when Rakki might decide it's a great time to chew up his fins.

Rakki got bloodworms tonight as he usually does after a water change, so I decided to give Yurei one as well when I fed him. He inspected it, gulped it down, spit it out, then realized this might be something worth eating, and chomped it again. Silly fish.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

yay :3 
Looks like he is getting more spots on him!


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Oh, he is. He's my little spotty boy right now, haha. I'm having so much fun seeing how he's changing. I'll have to try to get some closeup picture of him again soon.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

You do! He's gorgeous 
Maybe in the future you can post all the pics of him in order and see just how much he's changed!


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

I just wanted to share a couple more pictures of Rakki and Yurei tonight.

I was laughing myself silly at Yurei's fascination with the outflow of his filter. He keeps swimming up to it and staring at it, then he lets it push him down toward the bottom of the tank. Then I glance over at Rakki, and it seems that he decided he can't let the new guy outdo him. He calmly swam out of his floating tube, went down to his broken urn cave, and swam in. He then proceeded to peek out the other side and pose for me. So cute! I love these fish!


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

Rakki: ">.> she's paying all her attention to HIM again." *pouts in urn*
Yurei: "Weee" *swoosh*

hehe sorry just had that cute little dialogue in my head when I seen the pics.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Here's something that I was musing about today while watching Rakki and Yurei:

I have now observed two betta fish in two different setups now. Each of my boys first lived in a 1g bowl, Rakki for about seven months, Yurei for two weeks. The bowl was room temperature because I don't trust the small non-adjustable heaters. I did learn a lot in the time between first getting Rakki and getting Yurei though. I wasn't always so great about keeping up with water changes for Rakki, but I was better with Yurei. Rakki didn't have much in the bowl with him, just a couple of silk plants. Yurei had a silk plant, an anubias, and a leaf hammock. Both were kinda still and sluggish while they were in the bowl, although Yurei was a little more active than Rakki was.

Now each boy has his own 5g tank to call his own. Each one patrols his territory, builds bubble nests, and knows he is king of his own realm. They each have an anubias and plenty of silk plants to explore and play in. My boys are both confident, active, and happy.

After observing these two fish in two different homes, I have no doubt that betta fish are happier with more space and clean, warm water. Although I know it's not always possible to have as much as 5 gallons for each fish, I firmly believe bettas are happier and healthier when given a little more space, at least enough where they can stretch their fins and safely have an adjustable heater. I think 2.5 gallons is better, 5 gallons is better still, but 1 gallon can work, too, if done right. As for my boys, they seem happiest with more space.

Anyway, just my thoughts from my still rather limited experience in betta keeping.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Haha, that sounds about right, Tress! Rakki is such a grump, but he gets jealous if he thinks Yurei is getting more attention.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Hmm, I'm reading my last entry again and hoping it didn't sound judgey. I totally didn't mean it that way. I just think of the bettas that are stuck in tiny cold vases where the water gets changed a couple times a month if they're lucky, and then I look at my boys and see how happy they are in their heated tanks and wish every betta could know the joys of warm clean water and room to stretch their fins. I know everyone here does the best they can for their fish, and the fact that we're all here on this forum means we're dedicated to giving our fish the best lives we can.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

While looking the fish over tonight like I normally do, I noticed a discolored spot on Rakki's right side. It looks lighter than the rest of his scales. I don't know if he's getting sick or rubbed a scale off or if it's something else. I'm going to do a water change tomorrow (or later today since it's after midnight) to be on the safe side. I figure it couldn't hurt anything.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

LadyNightraven said:


> Here's something that I was musing about today while watching Rakki and Yurei:
> 
> I have now observed two betta fish in two different setups now. Each of my boys first lived in a 1g bowl, Rakki for about seven months, Yurei for two weeks. The bowl was room temperature because I don't trust the small non-adjustable heaters. I did learn a lot in the time between first getting Rakki and getting Yurei though. I wasn't always so great about keeping up with water changes for Rakki, but I was better with Yurei. Rakki didn't have much in the bowl with him, just a couple of silk plants. Yurei had a silk plant, an anubias, and a leaf hammock. Both were kinda still and sluggish while they were in the bowl, although Yurei was a little more active than Rakki was.
> 
> ...


I totally agree. Just from watching Aris in the 5g and Lux in the 1g. Both are heated but only the 5g is filtered. Amusingly, Aris only uses about half the tank while Lux will get spazzy at times and dart about the tiny tank. Soon Lux will have a 15g NPT to himself. Oddly, I've never had a health problem with Lux, Aris has had velvet, pop eye and finmelt. But he was sickly when I got him and quite small (possibly still young), so I think he may have a weaker immune system.

It's hard when you get bettas from stores. You don't know what the breeder/parents/water/shipping conditions we're. Most stores simple don't do enough water changes and don't sterilize equipment between each betta. My local store was constantly full of bettas with fin melt and pop eye, but I am noticing less and less. I figure they realized they were contaminating them during cleaning and stepped up. Now their bettas are living longer and most are looking better. Heck there is a plakat there from before I got Lux... like 2 months ago O.O



LadyNightraven said:


> Haha, that sounds about right, Tress! Rakki is such a grump, but he gets jealous if he thinks Yurei is getting more attention.


Aris was extremely jealous when I first got Lux, he's gotten over it - mostly. To be fair the "new guy" did get more attention cause he was on my desk (much to his dismay... my pretty little antisocial boy..)



LadyNightraven said:


> Hmm, I'm reading my last entry again and hoping it didn't sound judgey. I totally didn't mean it that way. I just think of the bettas that are stuck in tiny cold vases where the water gets changed a couple times a month if they're lucky, and then I look at my boys and see how happy they are in their heated tanks and wish every betta could know the joys of warm clean water and room to stretch their fins. I know everyone here does the best they can for their fish, and the fact that we're all here on this forum means we're dedicated to giving our fish the best lives we can.


You didn't sound judgey at all, I 100% agree that there is a noticeable difference in the *quality* of life!



LadyNightraven said:


> While looking the fish over tonight like I normally do, I noticed a discolored spot on Rakki's right side. It looks lighter than the rest of his scales. I don't know if he's getting sick or rubbed a scale off or if it's something else. I'm going to do a water change tomorrow (or later today since it's after midnight) to be on the safe side. I figure it couldn't hurt anything.


Aris had a tendency to knock off scales for a while, keep an eye on it though. Warm clean water and proper water changes and he shouldn't give you much worry.

I apologize for posting so much in your thread >.< I'll slow down if I'm becoming obnoxious, just let me know  no hard feelings. I can get very gabby.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Tress said:


> I apologize for posting so much in your thread >.< I'll slow down if I'm becoming obnoxious, just let me know  no hard feelings. I can get very gabby.


No, I'm happy to see posts from others on this journal! Comment away! It lets me know someone is actually reading this and possibly even enjoying it and I'm not just talking to myself. :lol:


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## Schmoo (Oct 3, 2014)

I love the picture of Rakki pouting in his urn. xD


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

LadyNightraven said:


> No, I'm happy to see posts from others on this journal! Comment away! It lets me know someone is actually reading this and possibly even enjoying it and I'm not just talking to myself. :lol:


Ahhhh ok :3 And I get the same way with my journals, you start worrying you're just talking to yourself till someone finally replies xD



Schmoo said:


> I love the picture of Rakki pouting in his urn. xD


(|-n-|) <- pouting betta


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Schmoo said:


> I love the picture of Rakki pouting in his urn. xD


I love that picture, too. :-D



Tress said:


> (|-n-|) <- pouting betta


Haha, too funny, Tress! :lol:


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

The spot on Rakki's side doesn't seem to be getting any worse, and I only notice it now when he turns a certain way in the light, so I don't think it's anything to worry about. Thank goodness. He's a little more lazy than he used to be, but I think it might just be him getting a little older. He still takes time to patrol his tank, still loves food, still responds positively (if you consider flaring positive, haha) when I come over to his tank, and builds small bubble nests by his floating tube. He sure loves that floating tube.

Yurei has been bubble nesting like crazy since I put him in his 5 gallon. His bubble nest has already covered pretty much the whole underside of one leaf of his anubias and part of the underside of another, and it's starting to spread out along the front of the tank. I'm going to feel so bad when I have to wreck for a water change. Yurei started glass surfing last night, almost like he was saying, "Hey Mom, I checked out everything in here, and it's nice, but what else you got?" I think he's going to be one of those fish I have to change things up for now and then so he doesn't get bored. I don't have anything new to put in his tank right now, so I got one of my fiance's PC game cases and propped it against one side of the tank. Yurei seems happy for now, exploring his tank again, working on that epic bubble nest, and going over to flare at the game case now and then. I'll change it out for something else when he gets bored again.

In other, but still betta-related, news, I went to my LPS with a friend from work today after we got off work. While she was cooing over a teddy bear hamster, I was busy falling in love with a blue butterfly SDeT male. Ah, if only I had space for another fish! You really can't have just one once you discover how amazing bettas are, can you?

And I have a couple of pictures for you tonight. The first is of Yurei's bubble nest he's been working on. The second is of my youngest cat, Spaz, watching Yurei glass surf the other night.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

Wow that's a crazy bubblenest xD I love when they do that. Lux is usually my bubblenest builder but I think He's getting stressed out by Puma constantly pestering him. It's hard to keep hyper kittens away from something as interesting as fish lol.

Spaz is so pretty and fluffy  so jealous, I've always wanted a calico!


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Tress said:


> Spaz is so pretty and fluffy  so jealous, I've always wanted a calico!


Aw, thank you! She's a sweetheart, but she's a little shy and skittish. She chose me, and I couldn't say no. :-D


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

The fishy boys are doing well. Rakki built his first biggish bubble nest in a while, and Yurei continues to move move move. The attached picture is Rakki with his bubble nest. He really really loves that floating tube.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Well... I tried to edit the last post to add on to it, but the 20 minute time limit elapsed before I was done typing. So here's what I wanted to add:

Yurei's anubias has developed some weird gunk on the roots and some of the leaf stems, so I'm trying to get that identified in the Planted Betta Tanks subforum. Yurei really loves that little anubias, so I'm hoping I won't have to throw it away. I have no idea when I'd be able to replace it, or even if it'd be worth replacing with the crappy LED light on Yurei's tank.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

Aris loves his tube too! But I have suction cups with plastic hooks that hold it half out of the water for him like a hammock. I moved it to the other side of his tank cause it kept getting algae growing on it - he is grumpy with me now.

maybe Rhizome rot? Sadly I don't know enough about plants yet to be much help!


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

I was told it could be either rhizome rot or a type of algae (black beard algae, I think). I'm going to try a bleach dip this weekend since the anubias doesn't present any of the signs of rhizome rot that I was told to look for (smells bad, roots falling off, rhizome getting soft, and cut end of rhizome turning black) except the cut end of the rhizome looks a little dark, but it could just be dirty or from the algae. So I'm going to treat it as algae unless I start seeing more signs of rhizome rot.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

I thought I'd share some new pictures of Rakki and Yurei tonight.

Yurei is so hard to photograph. He never stays still when I want pictures, and he loves to photobomb when I'm trying to take pictures of something in his tank other than him. I can't believe how much blue he has on him now! It's starting to spread into his fins, too. I'm a little sad about that because I was kinda hoping he'd turn blue on his body and keep the beautiful white fins, but it's okay. He's beautiful no matter what. I hope whoever is reading enjoys my attempt to get a picture of his crazy bubble nest while he photobombed. (Yes, I know I need to trim off those yellowing leaves on the anubias. That will happen at his next water change.)

Rakki, on the other hand, was so good about letting me get a few pictures. It's like he wanted to show me that he could stay still for more than 0.5 seconds, unlike that *other* guy. He decided his tail needed another trim recently, so he looks a little ragged in the pictures, but I'm keeping his water warm and clean.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Changed my mind on the bleach dip idea for Yurei's anubias. Someone pointed out that getting bleach on plant roots, which happens to be where most of the potential algae is on the plant in question, is a bad idea. Which makes sense. I'm glad someone pointed it out on my anubias thread because there's a good possibility I wouldn't have thought of it myself in time. So instead I'll be gently scrubbing the plant and trimming off a couple of yellowing leaves instead.

Yurei's mad at me because his massive bubble nest fell apart when I fed him tonight. It's not my fault he built it in the corner where he's used to being fed and didn't respond to my trying to coax him to the other side of the tank to eat. Now he's going crazy with the bubbles trying to fix it. He's going to be so mad when I do a water change... *sigh* Bettas are so ridiculous sometimes, aren't they? :lol:

Rakki has some decent regrowth on his tail again. Who knows how long he'll leave it alone this time.

That's about all I have to report today. I hope everyone's had a good day!


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

Oh, Rakki is a fin ripper? Aris just decided to become one (I blame his filter, I can't figure a way to baffle it cause it's inside the tank). Any tips for how to deal with it and encourage regrowth? I had to turn off his filter, so his cycle (if it even had one is out the window lol) so I was thinking AQ salt and 25%-50% water changes every other day.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Rakki has been biting his fins for the majority of the time I've had him. Sometimes it's just a few nips, and sometimes he completely shreds his tail and dorsal fin. I've tried everything I can think of to get him to stop, but the best I've been able to do is reduce the frequency of the biting. I tend to think he does it so that he can move faster, so I've (mostly) stopped worrying about it.

Rakki's tank is cycled, so if I see that he's bitten his fins, I keep a closer eye on parameters of his tank and do an extra water change if needed. I routinely add both Prime and Stress Coat + when I change his water since I never know when he's going to decide his tail or dorsal needs a trim.

I've personally never used AQ salt for fin biting, but I don't think using it for a few days until you start seeing signs of regrowth would hurt. I think the extra partial water changes are definitely a good idea until his fins start growing back. In my experience, clean warm water and maybe a little Stress Coat is the key to helping your betta heal from a fin biting episode.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

Got a better filter now, he kept flaring at it so I had to put a paper towel between it and the glass. Plus I turned his tank around so that he gets the length of it to watch me. Seems much happier overall. I think I'll just keep the water warm and clean as you said.

Thank you!


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Anytime! I'm not always sure about giving advice regarding bettas even after keeping them for over a year, but fin biting is one thing I'm definitely familiar with thanks to Rakki.  I hope Aris's fins heal up nicely and the changes you made solve the problem.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

I hope so too! I should have seen it coming though, when I first got him he had a big nip out of his tail. He was rather small so I figured he got it from a grow out tank or something. I've had him for almost 5 months and this is the first time he's done it. Not counting the time he spun around to lunge at a pellet and got his dorsal instead. Lol maybe he developed a taste for it 

Anyways, how is the Anubias plant doing? How are your fishies?


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## DaytonBetta (Feb 4, 2014)

LadyNightraven said:


> Changed my mind on the bleach dip idea for Yurei's anubias. Someone pointed out that getting bleach on plant roots, which happens to be where most of the potential algae is on the plant in question, is a bad idea. Which makes sense. I'm glad someone pointed it out on my anubias thread because there's a good possibility I wouldn't have thought of it myself in time. So instead I'll be gently scrubbing the plant and trimming off a couple of yellowing leaves instead.


I'm not sure if you have the same issue, but I did have that terrible black algae on my Anubias. It was especially bad on the roots, rhizomes and leaf edges. I removed as much as I could manually. I did dip the whole plant in a bleach and water solution. This did not harm it at all. I'm sure if you left it in straight bleach overnight that would not be good, but just swishing it around in bleach and water for a couple minutes won't hurt. The algae will kill it.

You may need to reduce the amount of time your lighting is on. Eight hours a day is good, and will help control the algae.

edit: I looked back at your pictures and I don't see any algae on the Anubias. The yellowing leaves might be because it's floating at the top and the light there is too strong. You might try tying it to a rock or piece of driftwood so it's on the floor of the tank.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Tress said:


> Anyways, how is the Anubias plant doing? How are your fishies?


The anubias seems to be doing fine. I cut off the two leaves that were turning yellow and rubbed off as much of the algae stuff as I could. The weird thing is that even before I rubbed it off, it wasn't as thick as before. I wonder if it had something to do with being moved from a little 1g bowl to a cycled 5g tank? I'm going to keep an eye on it and see if the algae stuff starts building up again or if it was an isolated incident.

Yurei and Rakki are both doing well. Nothing much to report right now.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

DaytonBetta said:


> I'm not sure if you have the same issue, but I did have that terrible black algae on my Anubias. It was especially bad on the roots, rhizomes and leaf edges. I removed as much as I could manually. I did dip the whole plant in a bleach and water solution. This did not harm it at all. I'm sure if you left it in straight bleach overnight that would not be good, but just swishing it around in bleach and water for a couple minutes won't hurt. The algae will kill it.
> 
> You may need to reduce the amount of time your lighting is on. Eight hours a day is good, and will help control the algae.
> 
> edit: I looked back at your pictures and I don't see any algae on the Anubias. The yellowing leaves might be because it's floating at the top and the light there is too strong. You might try tying it to a rock or piece of driftwood so it's on the floor of the tank.


I didn't post the picture here of the anubias when it had the algae stuff built up really badly, though on hindsight I probably should have. Here's what it looked like when I was so concerned about it.

The lighting in Yurei's tank is a single LED light that came with the kit, although the tank is positioned to the left of a north-facing window. I didn't think it was too bright, but I don't know for sure. The lights in my tanks generally off during the day, and I turn them on in the evenings to enjoy my fish when I get home from work until I feed them and turn off their lights for the night. The weird thing about the algae is that it was only present on the live plant. Everything else in the tank has no algae on it.

I'm considering getting some fishing line and using it to tie the anubias to a decorative glass stone, but first I'm going to soak some of the stones in a bucket to make sure they won't leach anything into the water.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

After reading how a fellow forum member recently lost one of her bettas to dropsy possibly brought on by an ornament leaching chemicals, I started getting a little paranoid. I started considering how Rakki has been fairly lazy for a while, spending a lot of time in his floating tube, and I couldn't remember if this behavior started before or after I put in his urn. So tonight he got an unscheduled 30% water change, and I took out the urn to soak for a while. The urn does not and has never smelled like anything other than you would expect something to smell like after spending a decent amount of time in aquarium water, but I'm being paranoid, as I said. I put in the old china-looking vase that was in his tank before, not wanting to leave him without a cave, even though he never cared much for the vase. Now he's swimming around to see what I did to his tank this time.

Of course, I'm also considering how Rakki's laziness might have nothing to do with the urn and instead with his age. I estimate him to be some where between two and 2.5 years old, and I've never had a betta this long, so I don't know if they start to slow down a bit as they age or not.

Yurei is doing well. He's on the move tonight like he always is and rebuilding the massive bubble nest I demolished when he got a water change earlier in the week.

Anyway, that's my fish-related news for the evening.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

If its not bubbling, chipping, or smelling bad, you shouldn't worry. They do start slowing down, and even losing colour as they age. Here's some good info on aging http://nippyfish.net/sick-betta/aging-bettas/


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Thanks for the link, Tress. My fiance teases me that I'm not a hypochondriac regarding myself, but I'm a hypochondriac when it comes to my critters. :lol: I figure that even if there's nothing wrong with the urn, a slight change in his surroundings isn't a bad thing, and I can always put the urn back in the tank another time if I want.

Edit: Just wanted to add that although the article linked seems to have good information, the comments are another story. They are dark and full of misinformation. *shudders*


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

I was finally able to order some Kanaplex and API General Cure tonight. I don't need it right now, but it gives me peace of mind to know that I'll have it on hand if I do end up needing it.


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## Schmoo (Oct 3, 2014)

I keep telling myself that I need to pick up some Kanaplex. My LFS down the road sells it for like $7.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

LadyNightraven said:


> Thanks for the link, Tress. My fiance teases me that I'm not a hypochondriac regarding myself, but I'm a hypochondriac when it comes to my critters. :lol: I figure that even if there's nothing wrong with the urn, a slight change in his surroundings isn't a bad thing, and I can always put the urn back in the tank another time if I want.
> 
> Edit: Just wanted to add that although the article linked seems to have good information, the comments are another story. They are dark and full of misinformation. *shudders*


No problem  Lol my boyfriend is very patience with my anxiety and crazy-pet-lady-ness. I find that though animals help with anxiety, they can also feed it. "OMG is that Fin rot?! I swear that ray looks wonky! But there is new growth over here.. it can't be rotting and growing at the same time... can it?" Poor Aris, he gets the worst of it cause he was ill when I got him.

I never looked at the comments on that site, will do so now. I just read through comments on a lava lamp fish tank on Amazon... some of those made me want to slap some people...

Also you guys are lucky, our shipping costs are insane here and half the items I want/need for my fish aren't available in Canada. Also it's snowing ;-;


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Schmoo said:


> I keep telling myself that I need to pick up some Kanaplex. My LFS down the road sells it for like $7.


My LPS sells API General Cure, but for like twice the price as I found it online. I figured I may as well get both meds from the same place since I was going to have to order the Kanaplex online regardless. With the shipping it pretty much evens out anyway.




Tress said:


> No problem  Lol my boyfriend is very patience with my anxiety and crazy-pet-lady-ness. I find that though animals help with anxiety, they can also feed it. "OMG is that Fin rot?! I swear that ray looks wonky! But there is new growth over here.. it can't be rotting and growing at the same time... can it?" Poor Aris, he gets the worst of it cause he was ill when I got him.
> 
> I never looked at the comments on that site, will do so now. I just read through comments on a lava lamp fish tank on Amazon... some of those made me want to slap some people...
> 
> Also you guys are lucky, our shipping costs are insane here and half the items I want/need for my fish aren't available in Canada. Also it's snowing ;-;


My fiance is pretty patient with me as well. He just likes poking fun at me sometimes to help me see how silly I'm being and to get me to quit worrying so much. :lol:

I just discovered a notch missing out of Yurei's dorsal fin. His tail, which is huge, is still flawless, so I'm trying to convince myself he had a fin blowout from flaring so much and he isn't taking up fin biting. He flares constantly anymore. Swim stop flare, swim stop flare, swim stop flare. So I wouldn't be surprised if it is a blowout. Brat. Oh well, he's due for a water change anyway.

I love snow! It's rare enough in southern Oklahoma that I still act like a little kid when it snows here. I imagine it gets tiresome quick if you get lots of it every fall/winter though.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

LadyNightraven said:


> My fiance is pretty patient with me as well. He just likes poking fun at me sometimes to help me see how silly I'm being and to get me to quit worrying so much. :lol:
> 
> I just discovered a notch missing out of Yurei's dorsal fin. His tail, which is huge, is still flawless, so I'm trying to convince myself he had a fin blowout from flaring so much and he isn't taking up fin biting. He flares constantly anymore. Swim stop flare, swim stop flare, swim stop flare. So I wouldn't be surprised if it is a blowout. Brat. Oh well, he's due for a water change anyway.
> 
> I love snow! It's rare enough in southern Oklahoma that I still act like a little kid when it snows here. I imagine it gets tiresome quick if you get lots of it every fall/winter though.


Hehe mine pokes fun at me too but usually it's me poking at him. But it is nice to have someone to remind you to keep your head out of the clouds.

Sounds like a blow out, or at least you can tell yourself that until you catch him in the act. I've caught Aris chasing his tail a few times, even spun around and flared at it once. 

We got almost 4" in like 12 hours. Probably gonna warm up and melt this week so you can have it  *dumps bucket of snow on* Enjoy.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Tress said:


> We got almost 4" in like 12 hours. Probably gonna warm up and melt this week so you can have it  *dumps bucket of snow on* Enjoy.


Haha, I wish you could send me some snow. I'm keeping my fingers crossed we'll get some this winter.



Tonight Yurei got a water change. His dorsal fin is looking fine, just a little ragged where it tore from his blowout, so I'm not going to worry about it. He's a little mad that I unintentionally destroyed his bubble nest, though I have no doubt he'll start on a new one soon.

Yurei's plant is looking okay, but I'm a little concerned about the rhizome. There's a yellow spot on it where I cut off one of the two yellow leaves, and there's no way I can get this spot off without cutting off part of the rhizome itself, and I don't really want to do that. I will continue to keep an eye on it, I guess.

While I was changing Yurei's water, Socks, my senior orange tabby girl, came wandering in and thought she'd try to sneak a drink from the bucket of aquarium water. So I had to chase her out of the room and close the door until I was done. She couldn't care less about the fish themselves, but she'd happily eat their food if I'd let her and, apparently, drink their water. :roll:

Rakki is doing well, working on a bubble nest and hanging out in his tube as usual.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

Bahaha, sounds like my cats. Except mine skip the bucket and go straight for the tanks. Though the kittens try to climb in/tip over/drink from the buckets during water changes too.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Today was voting day. My fiance and I both did our patriotic duties and got up bright and early (okay, maybe not so bright since it's been raining here since 4 a.m.) to vote.

Since there's nothing new to report about the fishy boys today, I thought instead I would introduce you to the cats.

Picture #1 is Socks, my orange tabby girl. She is 14 years old. She was a barn kitten and part of a litter my family rescued because their mama cat disappeared and they were getting much to close to our dogs who, while they were very good dogs, were not cat-friendly. The kittens were feral, but we kept them in a quiet room and I worked on taming them and gaining their trust over the next few weeks. All four kittens were girls, and all four were white except for the orange tabby girl with white paws. My family found homes for the white kittens when they were ready, and I got to keep the oddball orange girl for myself. Socks is a real firecracker. She's always been very strong-willed and opinionated and completely obsessed with food, but she's very lovable when she wants to be. It's hard to believe sometimes that I've had her for 14 years, but she's in good health other than her allergies, which we finally seem to have under control, and a bit of arthritis. She's still my baby girl even after all these years.

Picture #2 is Spaz, my calico girl. Spaz is nine years old. Spaz was one of several feral kittens produced by the feral cats who lived around my fiance's mom's house. Most of the kittens my fiance and I had been able to tame and find homes for or my future mother-in-law decided to keep, but this pretty little calico took longer than most others. She would watch how we'd interact with the friendly cats when they were outside, and finally, gradually, she decided to trust us. Her name came from the first time I tried to pick her up. I thought she was ready for that step, and, well, she wasn't ready yet. :roll: Nowadays, she is still shy and a little skittish, but once she trusts you, she is very sweet and lovable. And she is sooooo soft. We love seeing how she's blossomed with plenty of kindness and patience.

Picture #3 is Sparta, my fiance's Siamese mix. Sparta is ten years old. My fiance rescued Sparta as a kitten. No sign of a mama cat or siblings, just a young kitten who was lost and alone and had infected eyes. My fiance took Sparta in, got him healthy, and bonded with him. Sparta can be very overdramatic and will tell you exactly what he thinks, just as you would expect from a Siamese, but he's lovable and crazy and we both adore him.


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## Schmoo (Oct 3, 2014)

beautiful kitties :3


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

Aww love the kitties :3 All of my cats are rescues and 4 of them were barn/feral born. So I know exactly what you mean about patience. There is a reason one is named Monster...


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Schmoo said:


> beautiful kitties :3


Thank you, Schmoo!



Tress said:


> Aww love the kitties :3 All of my cats are rescues and 4 of them were barn/feral born. So I know exactly what you mean about patience. There is a reason one is named Monster...


 
I think rescued animals are some of the best pets. There's something so satisfying about gaining the trust of a feral cat.

And Monster is such a cute name.  I've thought about naming a future cat Chaos or Trouble. :lol:


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

Haha well she was/still is a Monster. As a kitten she was a biter, as she was about 5-6 weeks old before she was tamed. You know how normally you blow in their faces and they stop? She'd bite harder. She drew lots of blood her first year. She's much better now, once we got her half sister a year later she learned some manners. And rescues are most certainly some of the best <3


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

I went with a friend of mine to my LPS after work today. By now, you'd think I'd know better than to look at the bettas...

The betta I was dying to take home today was a crowntail, which is surprising since I'm usually not much of one for crowntails. He was mostly yellow with a bit of purple on his body. Soooo pretty! The LPS had a large Kritter Keeper, which I understand holds about 3gal, for only $11, and then I'd need a heater. And it would have been a good excuse to try out a sponge filter...

But no. I have no space for another betta right now, sadly. So I just bought some silk plants for Rakki and Yurei instead.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

I applaud you for being able to walk away. It's hard, but sometimes we have to put ourselves first and think about it before taking in another pet.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

It wasn't easy. At all. I'm still thinking about that fish. When I told my fiance about it, he said, "You already have two fish. You don't need another right now." I *know* that, but ;_; *sigh* he was so pretty...


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

It never is easy, it's how I ended up with Lux. Mine is like that too, I think he's worried I'll try to rescue every betta I see x.x


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

So these (in the attached picture) arrived... Saturday? I think it was Saturday. It'll give me some peace of mind knowing I should be pretty well prepared now if I have to treat illness in my fish.

I got a message today that the floating tube I ordered for Yurei will be here Thursday. I'm looking forward to that. He's using his leaf hammock more, so I think he will like having another place to rest near the surface.

I've been going through a frustrating phase lately where, other than going to work, I want to be left alone. I've always been an introvert, even if I start to get depressed without some kind of social interaction after a while. Nowadays, work pretty much covers the social interaction need, so I find myself wanting to hole up at home with zero desire to go out, call people, or interact in any way. Thankfully, my friends seem to understand, but I don't know how long this phase is going to last. It's frustrating, but it is what it is.

As much as I love both my fish, I still find myself going to Rakki when I want to watch a fish to relax. Yurei is so energetic that, while he's cute and fun to watch, he's not exactly relaxing. Rakki is like an old friend who understands. (I'd feel really crazy saying this anywhere else than here. I know the people here understand.)


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

*hugs* I know how it is, I get like that a lot too. I think it's best to just wait it out and try not to think about it, then before you know it, you feel fine again.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Although my mood hasn't improved much since I last posted, I'm still happy about some things. For example...

The floating tube I ordered for Yurei arrived today. Since I was planning to clean his tank today anyway, I rinsed it in warm water and popped it into the tank after the water change. I also added in a couple of new silk plants.

Yurei has been swimming around happily checking out everything. I even caught him in his tube a couple of times already. But what made me laugh so hard tonight was when he actually tried to sit *on top* of the tube. It's floating right at the surface and the little dorkfish was trying to climb on top of it. Now he's floating just outside of it and pecking at a spot on it. *sigh* Yurei, you little dork, what are we going to do with you?

Pics of Yurei's tank after re-design coming tomorrow.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

haha that's so cute. It's a mesh tube like Rakki's right?


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Yep! I ordered both of them from a forum member, ricepattyfish5. I'm not the best when it comes to being crafty, but her tubes are very well made and very safe for betta fins. This one is lavender in color as I thought it would best complement both Yurei's colors and the rest of the decorations in his tank.

With the new plants in there, there are actually times I can't see Yurei now. My understanding is that's a good thing with bettas.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

I thought so  I make my own, but removed it to remake it. It's still sitting on my desk xD

I think it depends on the betta. Aris hangs around in the open part of his 5g, then sleeps in the back of it under some plants where he is impossible to see, other than that he doesn't care about what is in his tank. Lux needs a ton of stuff in his tank to give him places to explore to keep himself busy. When he goes to sleep he hides in crazy places where is literally impossible to find. But as a general rule of thumb, the more cover the better


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

So I went to the LPS again with my friend from work. It's starting to become a weekly tradition, it seems. She got a rat, and I once again had to leave the gorgeous crowntail betta behind. Fiance says no, two is enough. I can find room for another small tank, really... It's getting harder and harder to tell myself no... :-(

Here's a couple of pictures I took this time. If he's there again next week, I really might have to bring him home. Maybe I'll be able to change fiance's mind then...


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

And as promised yesterday, here's a Yurei photoshoot.

Rakki gets his tank cleaned tonight, so there will probably be a Rakki post tomorrow.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

Oh wow! he's gotten so blue O.O


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## andakin (Aug 10, 2009)

Wow. What water clarity. What's your secret?


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## AlwaysAnimals (Oct 21, 2014)

You should put up a comparisson post of Yurei, back to back of what his colors were on his first day with you, and then his most recent pic! It would be interesting to see the difference! 
:nicefish:


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

but yea, I hope you can convince him sooner than later to get the other one. He seems in good enough shape still to bounce back. Good Luck!


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Tress said:


> Oh wow! he's gotten so blue O.O


I can't believe how much he's changed since I got him. I'm not sure if he's done yet or if he still has more surprise color changes for me.




andakin said:


> Wow. What water clarity. What's your secret?


I wish I had some great wisdom to share, but I honestly don't know how it's staying so clear. It's been running for about a month and a half, and I change 50% of the water every week. My filter is the one that came with the kit, a Tetra Whisper 2-10 (I assume) set on the lowest flow setting. The only live plant is a little anubias. So I really don't know. I guess I've been lucky so far. 




AlwaysAnimals said:


> You should put up a comparisson post of Yurei, back to back of what his colors were on his first day with you, and then his most recent pic! It would be interesting to see the difference!
> :nicefish:


I've been meaning to do something like that. I'll try to get something put together soon. And thank you!



Tress said:


> but yea, I hope you can convince him sooner than later to get the other one. He seems in good enough shape still to bounce back. Good Luck!


Thanks. I'm crossing my fingers, but I'll just have to wait and see what happens.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

I hate algae. Absolutely hate it. I spent an hour tonight scrubbing algae out of Rakki's tank, especially off of and out of his filter. I wish I had thought to take a before picture so I could share the absolutely gunky grossness of the filter with everyone. But the filter looks and seems to be working a lot better now. Rakki was probably confused that it took me longer than normal to get the cleaning done, but he's examining his urn cave and flaring his dragon into submission now.

I know I promised a photoshoot with Rakki, but I'm going to wait until tomorrow. I'm tired, and I think he's had enough excitement for the day.

My friend's betta went to the Rainbow Bridge today. She got him close to the same time I got Rakki, and she kept him in an unheated half-gallon-ish container. I tried to gently convince her a couple of times that he might be cold (his fins were constantly clamped) or that he might be happier with a little more space by telling her how much Rakki liked his 5gal tank. I even gave her the link to this site. But she insisted that he was happy in his little container, so I just decided to leave it alone. When I first switched to Prime, I did give her my old bottle of conditioner to use for him because I wasn't sure if she was using any though. He lived almost two years with her. SIP little fishy.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Oh! While I'm thinking about it, here's a picture of Yurei when I first got him and picture of him now, almost two months later. He's changed so much!

...Also, I just ordered another heater because, you know, it's good to have an extra one around, just in case... ;-)


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## andakin (Aug 10, 2009)

LadyNightraven said:


> My friend's betta went to the Rainbow Bridge today. She got him close to the same time I got Rakki, and she kept him in an unheated half-gallon-ish container. I tried to gently convince her a couple of times that he might be cold (his fins were constantly clamped) or that he might be happier with a little more space by telling her how much Rakki liked his 5gal tank. I even gave her the link to this site. But she insisted that he was happy in his little container, so I just decided to leave it alone. When I first switched to Prime, I did give her my old bottle of conditioner to use for him because I wasn't sure if she was using any though. He lived almost two years with her. SIP little fishy.


I was a bit confused at first because there really is a Rainbow Bridge.

Like many things in life, some people are very reluctant to accept advice. A lot of it might have to do with their egos and not wanting to be told what to do. I'm guilty of this too, but only when it comes unsubstantiated opinions or bad advice.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

andakin said:


> I was a bit confused at first because there really is a Rainbow Bridge.


Sorry about that! I'm so used to referring to an animal's passing as "going to the Rainbow Bridge" or "making their journey to the Rainbow Bridge" that I don't even think about it anymore. I didn't mean the Niagara Falls Rainbow Bridge obviously, haha, but the Rainbow Bridge where animals go when they die.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

I love how Yurei looks now, that dark blue against the white and the light blue fins <3 Ahhh my fave colours :3 *steals him*

As for your friend, it's hard to convince someone to change. I think its because they believe someone will blame them for it, or will call them abusive (which some places on the internet will readily do). You can't change people, they have to be willing to change for themselves. Maybe if she goes to get another betta, get her a tank and stuff. The cost of stuff is another big player in why people wont change how they do things. Sometimes though you just have to let it go.

SIP little fishie


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

I think I mentioned before that part of the reason I got him because he looked like he was a marble, and I wanted to see how his colors would change. He turned out to be even more gorgeous than I was hoping he'd be.

If my friend gets another betta, I'll try to help her, but I have to remember that the only fish I have a say in the care of are my own fish.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

Yup, I still regret not picking up a gorgeous light blue/white marble CT. But I got Lux, so I guess it's only fair. Oddly I don't see many marbles around here, mainly just multis and solid blues, reds and such. So sad :< I love marbles.

Do you think Yurei is done changing? Or is he still getting bluer?


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## Schmoo (Oct 3, 2014)

Mein Gott, Yurei has changed! He's such a beautiful betta.


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## AlwaysAnimals (Oct 21, 2014)

LadyNightraven said:


> Oh! While I'm thinking about it, here's a picture of Yurei when I first got him and picture of him now, almost two months later. He's changed so much!
> 
> ...Also, I just ordered another heater because, you know, it's good to have an extra one around, just in case... ;-)


Amazing! What a find he was!


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Tress said:


> Yup, I still regret not picking up a gorgeous light blue/white marble CT. But I got Lux, so I guess it's only fair. Oddly I don't see many marbles around here, mainly just multis and solid blues, reds and such. So sad :< I love marbles.
> 
> 
> Do you think Yurei is done changing? Or is he still getting bluer?


 
I still think about a mustard gas betta I saw at Walmart once. He was gone before I could go back to get him. I'm honestly still trying to figure out how I can get that crowntail at my LPS if he's still there. 


I'm not noticing any more super drastic changes in Yurei's colors. He might be done for now, but I'm not sure.




Schmoo said:


> Mein Gott, Yurei has changed! He's such a beautiful betta.


 
Thank you, Schmoo! :-D




AlwaysAnimals said:


> Amazing! What a find he was!


 
Thanks, AlwaysAnimals! I'm really glad I got him. He's been a lot of fun to have around.


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## Aqua Aurora (Oct 4, 2013)

He looks like he chose to match his substrate with his color change "I'm a chameleon... You can't see me!.. Wait.. Why are you pointing a camera at me? I'M INVISIBLE DAMN IT!"


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Aqua Aurora said:


> He looks like he chose to match his substrate with his color change "I'm a chameleon... You can't see me!.. Wait.. Why are you pointing a camera at me? I'M INVISIBLE DAMN IT!"


His blue does match the substrate! I don't know how I didn't notice that before. Neat!


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

LadyNightraven said:


> I still think about a mustard gas betta I saw at Walmart once. He was gone before I could go back to get him. I'm honestly still trying to figure out how I can get that crowntail at my LPS if he's still there.


It's easier to ask forgiveness than permission... 



Aqua Aurora said:


> He looks like he chose to match his substrate with his color change "I'm a chameleon... You can't see me!.. Wait.. Why are you pointing a camera at me? I'M INVISIBLE DAMN IT!"


Bahaha XD


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

As promised, a Rakki photoshoot. He wasn't the most cooperative fish tonight, preferring to zoom away and leave me with a Rakki-colored blur most of the time, but here are some of the better pictures I got tonight.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

He's a pretty boy too. I love his blue streaks in his fins


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## Schmoo (Oct 3, 2014)

Rakki's such a good-looking betta. c:


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Thank you, Tress and Schmoo! ^_^


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## DaytonBetta (Feb 4, 2014)

LadyNightraven said:


> Oh! While I'm thinking about it, here's a picture of Yurei when I first got him and picture of him now, almost two months later. He's changed so much!
> ;-).


Wow! He is looking so handsome.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

DaytonBetta said:


> Wow! He is looking so handsome.


Thank you, DaytonBetta!


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

So I just realized I've had Yurei for two months today! Happy two-month gotcha day, Yurei!


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## AlwaysAnimals (Oct 21, 2014)

LadyNightraven said:


> So I just realized I've had Yurei for two months today! Happy two-month gotcha day, Yurei!


Happy 2-month Gotcha Day, Yurei! Gotcha Day celebrations all around today! lol :cheers:


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## Schmoo (Oct 3, 2014)

Yay Yurei! All this talk of Gotcha Day made me look it up, and...Mace's one month Gotcha Day was on the tenth!


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Schmoo said:


> Yay Yurei! All this talk of Gotcha Day made me look it up, and...Mace's one month Gotcha Day was on the tenth!


Happy belated one-month Gotcha Day to Mace!



So I'm upset with Yurei tonight. He decided it would be a great idea to bite his tail. His beautiful, beautiful tail. *sigh* It's not that bad, just a few nips out of the end of it, but I'm really really hoping this isn't going to become a habit.


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## Schmoo (Oct 3, 2014)

LadyNightraven said:


> So I'm upset with Yurei tonight. He decided it would be a great idea to bite his tail. His beautiful, beautiful tail. *sigh* It's not that bad, just a few nips out of the end of it, but I'm really really hoping this isn't going to become a habit.


Oh no! D: Mace took a few nips out of his tail once. I treated his tank with AS, and then broke up his feeding schedule into two smaller meals. That was when I first got him though, and Yurei's been established for awhile...

Maybe his beautiful tail just looked too appealing, and he had to see if it tasted as good as it looks?


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

I just stuck another plant in the tank, and he keeps wiggling through the leaves. I'm hoping maybe this will keep him entertained until he gets a water change tomorrow. I'll probably move his plants around to see if that helps.

I wonder if he decided his tail is too heavy. He's a delta tail, and when he flares it doesn't look like he's too far off from being a full-blown halfmoon.

Sometimes I think bettas enjoy doing things that irritate us or make us panic. :roll:


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## Schmoo (Oct 3, 2014)

LadyNightraven said:


> Sometimes I think bettas enjoy doing things that irritate us or make us panic. :roll:


I think you're on to something there. xD


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

*Puts a muzzle on Yurei* No, bad fish :I


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Tress said:


> *Puts a muzzle on Yurei* No, bad fish :I


I literally laughed out loud. Seriously laughing about the idea of fish muzzles. :lol:


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Just a quick photo dump of Rakki and Yurei. Because why not? 

Other than the fact I have two fin biters instead of one now, both boys are doing well.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow American betta keepers! And Happy Thursday to everyone else!

Yurei reached a point where he's taken two good-sized chunks out of his tail before apparently stopping with the tail-biting. I'm hoping that's it and he'll not do it again. I'm not holding my breath though since I already have one chronic fin-biter, but I can hope, right?

Yurei has been funny today. I turned on the boys' lights around 5 p.m. because it's getting dark, and my fiance came over to Yurei's tank to play with "Fishface #2." After a minute or two, he started to go over to Rakki (aka "Fishface #1"), and Yurei got mad! He darted over to the side of the tank closest to my fiance and flared and wiggled and basically threw a fit. My fiance had to come back and play with Yurei some more. He even opened the lid and "petted" Yurei, which Yurei apparently loved since he kept coming back to my fiance's finger for more.

Rakki, of course, had a look of "What the heck, man?" after my fiance came over to him and then almost immediately went back to Yurei, so I went over and played with Rakki, poking my finger against the glass where he was and laughing at his flaring and wiggling through the leaves of his anubias.

These fish are crazy!

I'm off to eat turkey and veggies and other yummy things. And pumpkin pie! Mmmm... my favorite thing about Thanksgiving. Have a great day, everyone!


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

Bahaha jealous fishies x3

Enjoy your Turkey! Gobble till you wobble!


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## Schmoo (Oct 3, 2014)

That's adorable. xD


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## AlwaysAnimals (Oct 21, 2014)

I've always thought bettas were smart!!


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Wow, it's been a little while, hasn't it?

Yurei's fins are healing up nicely from his fin biting episode. It's hard to tell if there's regrowth with his still mostly-white fins, but they don't look so ragged anymore and there are no signs of fin rot, so I think he's fine. After a long bubble nest drought, he finally built a new bubble nest by his floating tube of all places. I know it's not an indicator of health or happiness, but it still bothered me that he hadn't built any bubble nests in a while when he was such an enthusiastic bubble nester during his first month in his 5 gallon tank. So yes, I'm happy he's finally built one again.

Rakki is still Rakki. He's still my silly little tough guy and still loves his floating tube. He hasn't bit his fins in a while and has some great regrowth going, but who knows how long that will last.

Both boys get Stress Coat + added to their tanks now at water changes. It may not be necessary, but it makes me feel better if one of them decides to bite his fins.

Other than that, there's not much to report. The boys are doing well.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

I just spent an exhausting hour and a half cleaning my two aquariums. I did Rakki's first because it was the worse of the two. I spent an hour scrubbing disgusting, thick, gunky algae off the silk plants, the urn cave, the filter, and especially off the anubias plant. I sat on the floor with a bucket of tank water and a toothbrush scrubbing away, and Rakki kept swimming down to stare at me as though asking, "What's taking so long, lady?" At least the tank looks a lot better now.

Yurei's tank was a breeze after Rakki's, just a simple water change with no scrubbing required. I did have to trim two more leaves off Yurei's anubias because they were turning yellow. I'm not very happy about that.

Does anyone have any ideas on what I can do to combat Rakki's algae problem? Or to keep Yurei's anubias healthy? I'll gladly read any advice.


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## DaytonBetta (Feb 4, 2014)

How much light is the tank getting? What are your nitrate (and ammonia, nitrite if you are not fully cycled). Lighting and Nitrogen are the biggest culprits. Try gradually reducing the photoperiod to less than 8 hours a day and increasing water changes/adding more plants.

If you are keeping nitrate below 40 and light at 8 hours a day, you might consider using a small amount Flourish Excel, depending on the type of plants you have (some are sensitive to it).

I had a bad algae problem. A big part of it was keeping my lights on too long. Snails and otocinclus will not solve the problem, snails just poop a lot and clean minimally. Adding more plants will help take up excess nitrogen. Once I started using Excel and keeping my lights on for only 8 hours, I have no problem with algae.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Rakki's tank is located on the right side of a north-facing window. The sun never shines directly on the tank. His light is on for a couple hours in the morning while he wakes up and gets fed breakfast, and I turn it on again in the evenings for a few hours, somewhere between three and five hours depending on the season and when it gets dark, so that I can enjoy watching him after getting home from work and feed him his evening meal.

I went ahead and tested both Rakki's and Yurei's parameters tonight. Both tanks are 5 gallons. Rakki has an incandescent bulb for his light, and Yurei has an LED light.

Rakki's tank:
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite:0 ppm 
Nitrate: 0 ppm

Yurei's tank:
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 5 ppm

Rakki's nitrates are always low though. Weirdly low, even. Usually somewhere around 5ppm at their highest before water changes. Honestly, I'd be questioning the accuracy of my test kit if Yurei's water didn't come up with different readings. The only live plant in Rakki's tank is an anubias nana which is doing really well. Is it possible for one anubias to soak up that much nitrate?

I'll definitely have to look into the Flourish Excel. I'm also considering getting some more live plants, especially floating plants, for both boys. Live plants are still a new world to me, so they'll have to be easy to care for.


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## Aqua Aurora (Oct 4, 2013)

Can you show a photo of the anubias (in a whole tank shot to give proportion). 
Are you VIGOROUSLY shaking nitrate bottle #2 and the final solution? And by vigorously I mean shaking so hard you arm hurts and you look insane to anyone passing by madly shaking some tiny bottle/vile with extreme rage. Many recommend hitting bottle #2 against a hard surface as sometimes the chemicals within crystallized against its walls, and also to shake for 35-45 seconds instead of just 30 for bottle #2.
Are the bottles stored somewhere that gets above 90 or below 40F? Have you checked the expiration date stamped on the bottles?
I know for a fact you can get bad solutions that do not give proper readings. If you are willing to take the time to do it, you can Google up "calibrating nitrate test solution", I did not do this but one solution i tried always bumped up nitrates to the next highest tier so I bought a new one and some distilled water to test/compare.. tossed out the 'original' bottles as they did not give a 0ppm for distilled water like they should.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

I'll get a picture this evening when I turn on the boys' lights.

I shake the Nitrate #2 bottle like a madwoman for 30 to 35 seconds. I'll have to try hitting it against the computer desk next time. I shake the test tube with the final nitrate solution so hard that once I actually managed to accidentally send a tube flying across the room to shatter on my tile floor. 

The test kit is stored in the computer room closet when it's not being used. The room doesn't get higher than 85F and never gets lower than 70F. My fiance's gaming computer makes sure of that. The expiration date on every bottle in the test kit is somewhere between June and August of 2018.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Okay, here are a couple of pictures of Rakki's anubias. The first picture is of the whole tank, and the second is a slightly closer picture of the anubias. Please forgive the photo-bombing fish. He only seems to want to be in pictures when I'm not trying to take pictures of him.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

It's always exciting to find a product you thought you wouldn't be able to find anymore. I've tried googling Estes Ultra Reef Marine Sand several times with no luck, so tonight I decided to simply search "blue aquarium sand." And wouldn't you know it, I find the exact sand I'm looking for on Big Al's website. I know what I'm going to be buying after Christmas...


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

Have you looked into Crayola Play Sand? It comes in royal blue


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Can't say that I have. Right now, I'd prefer to get a couple more bags of the Estes sand to be sure it matches the sand I already have since I want to add more to both my tanks. But I just did a quick Google search, and I'm loving the green play sand. I think I might use it for a future tank. Thanks for the tip!


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

The green looks out of this world, literally. Neat though. I'd love to get some.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

I have a quick, funny little story.

I was on my laptop earlier reading something when I saw movement in one of the fishtanks out of the corner of my eye. Not normal swimming movement. No, Yurei was attacking something at the surface of the water near his floating tube. I watched for a moment thinking, "What the heck, fish?" Yurei was attacking bubbles at the surface of the water. _Bubbles._

I got my fiance to watch, and he shook his head and said, "Babe, there are dorkfish, and then there are _derpfish_. You have both."

*sigh* My fish, you guys...


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

So cute <3


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Happy New Year, everyone! It just rolled over to midnight here. May we all have many wonderful adventures with our fish (and the humans and furry/scaly/feathered beings we love) in the new year!


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

*A Cold, Rainy Day Rambling*

It's another cold, rainy day here. Yesterday we just barely missed the cold rain becoming freezing rain by one or two degrees. Today it's in the high 30s, so just cold rain. It thundered a few times, which was strange. Although I shouldn't be surprised, I suppose, because Oklahoma weather is weird regardless of the season.

Because of the gloomy day, the computer room where the fishtanks are set up is very dim, so I have the little lamp on the desk turned on, and Rakki and Yurei both seem to like the minimal light. Yurei keeps swimming around his entire tank and weaving through his silk plants instead of acting obsessed with one little bottom corner like he often does when the tank light is on. He also loves his floating tube a lot more when his tank light is off. I've been watching him turn circles inside it like a little dance. First he'll stare in one direction for a minute or two, then he'll turn and stare in the other direction. Right now he's staring at me, but in another minute or two he'll be back to exploring the tank again.

Rakki also seems to be enjoying himself. He keeps swimming around his tank with the occasional rest in his floating tube. I've seen him wander into his urn cave a couple of times today, which makes me happy. Rakki has been pretty consistently building a bubble nest under a leaf of the silk plant closest to his floating tube. As I've said so many times before, he really loves that floating tube.

Since I got paid today, I will be ordering more sand either tonight or tomorrow. I've been feeling like the fishtanks don't have quite enough sand, especially Yurei's.

Other than aesthetics, the main reason I'm wanting to add more sand to the tanks is because I am wanting to try some more live plants this year. It's getting old fighting with the algae in Rakki's tank, and I'm seeing the beginnings of algae in Yurei's tank, too. I've been told that live plants are one way to help combat algae. Plus, live plants are beautiful, and it'll be a new challenge for me to learn how to help any plants I might get to grow and thrive.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

It seems that the minimal light today has inspired Yurei to build a bubble nest... by his floating tube, of all places. It would appear these floating tubes are a hit with both my boys.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

*Rakki Photo Spam*

I felt like doing a photo spam since I hadn't done one in a while. So here's Rakki first. Please excuse the ragged caudal fin. Rakki decided he wanted to be a crowntail recently. I keep hoping he'll embrace his veiltail-ness, but no luck. :roll:

The last picture is of Rakki's bubble nest by his beloved floating tube.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

*Yurei Photo Spam*

And now for a Yurei photo spam. I'm pretty sure his caudal fin is showing some regrowth, but it's so hard to tell with the fin coloration. I am sure there has been no further signs of damage, so he might be over whatever made him bite his fins in the first place.

Oh, that bubble nest you see in a couple of pictures? Secretly, that was my main reason for wanting to take pictures of the boys tonight. Don't tell Rakki. ;-)


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## Schmoo (Oct 3, 2014)

Rakki is such a handsome boy!


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

:< I miss getting bubblenests. I swear my guys only make them in the 1g I put them in for treatments or QTs.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Schmoo said:


> Rakki is such a handsome boy!


Thank you. I love my little rescue boy.



Tress said:


> :< I miss getting bubblenests. I swear my guys only make them in the 1g I put them in for treatments or QTs.


Yurei went on strike for a quite a while and has only recently started building bubble nests again. Rakki's used to be pretty impressive, but nowadays he seems to favor small ones by his floating tube.

I hope your boys start building nests for you again soon!


Today has been one of those crappy days where everything that can go wrong does go wrong. Needless to say, I'm not in the best mood as a result and feeling pretty low and a little lonely. At least I have the cats and the bettas to distract me.


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## Schmoo (Oct 3, 2014)

8< Sorry you're having a bad day, Lady! <3 *hugs*


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

awr *makes it a group hug*


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

*hugs Schmoo and Tress back* Thanks, guys.  Today is a better day. I ended up spending yesterday evening watching good movies and reading things that made me laugh. Things like that, along with a good night's sleep, tend to help.

I was planning water changes for both Rakki and Yurei today, but my town had a water main break in the early hours of the morning, and as a result they are recommending that people boil their water before using it today. Looks like the fishy boys will have to wait until tomorrow for their water changes. But they're doing well, just being their usual silly fishy selves.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

So I just realized my humble little journal has almost 2100 views. :shock: I guess that means someone is reading it. I just want to say thank you to everyone who is reading my silly ramblings about my fish, my cats, and occasionally my life, and most especially thank you to those of you who take a few minutes out of your day to occasionally drop me a reply. It's nice to know I'm not just talking to myself and someone might actually be finding my "adventures" interesting.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

*hugs* Of course hun! I enjoy your journal and adore your kitties and fishies :3


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Thanks, Tress. 

I've figured out that Yurei seems a lot happier when his light is off. He mostly hangs around the bottom of his tank when the light is on, but when I turn it off, he's all over the place, hanging out in his floating tube, and bubble nesting his little heart out.

Rakki doesn't seem to mind much either way, although I have noticed he seems to use his urn cave more when his light is off. When it's on, he likes to hang out in his floating tube or burrow into one of the silk plants in the back of his tank.

So I finally ordered the Estes sand I've been wanting tonight. I also went ahead and ordered a small bottle of Seachem Flourish and a 10 pack of Seachem Flourish Tabs. I also, to my delight, found a 6500k fluorescent aquarium bulb at my local Walmart tonight. I'm sloooooowly working toward my goal of live plants. Hopefully I'll be able to get some later this year.

Does anyone have any suggestions about plants? I'm looking for something easy to care for since I'm a total newbie when it comes to live plants. I've managed to keep a couple of anubias alive so far, but that's all I've tried at this point. I know I love anubias plants though and want to get some more. I've been browsing plantedaquariumscentral.com quite a bit and like a lot of their beginner and low light plants, particularly some of the hygrophila and cryptocoryne. I know I definitely want some floating plants as I think Rakki and Yurei will appreciate them, although I'm not sure what kind. And I definitely plan on some Marimo moss balls, but I can probably get those at Petsmart next time I get to go there.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

Hygro are pretty easy, I have some Angustfolia in my barely lit 20 and it's surviving. It gets tall though but creates a neat surface cover when let to grow. Crypts are nice too, I have a wendtii brown and my gosh it's growing like crazy lately. 

I've tried wistera and moneywort without much luck, but I think they are from a bad set up. But I hear they are easy too. I love my java ferns. I have narrow leaf adults, and normal leaf babies, in my 5g just under a 3500k CFL clamp light. 

Other easy plants:
- Water Sprite
- Pretty much all floaters (duckweeds, dwarf water lettuce, salvnia, red root floaters)
- I think I heard that ludwigia is easy, mine is being slow but it was kinda mangled in the mail.
- Limnophila Sessiflora (This MAY be illegal in the US. You'll have to check it out)
- Mosses
- Pennywort

With any plants, be sure to read up about how tall they grow to make sure you don't end up with them growing too big. Things like swords are too big for any thing under like.. a 20g tall.


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## DaytonBetta (Feb 4, 2014)

I like plants that grow tall rather than floaters. I think it's easier to control planted plants. Our betta loves hanging out in the Bacopa and Water Wisteria. They grow pretty quickly and would probably do great for you. Cryptocoryne and Java ferns are nice too.


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## Schmoo (Oct 3, 2014)

Lil sent me some dwarf water lettuce that I love. :3 It's a floating plant that's super easy to care for. However, I've discovered that it's kind of annoying to have to push the plants around whenever it's feeding time. I have DWL covering most of the surface of my tank's water, so I always have to make room for the pellets.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

The 6500k bulb I found will go in Rakki's tank hood since it already has a fluorescent bulb that I can easily switch out.

I'm not sure what to do with Yurei's tank in regard to light though. It has a flat black plastic hood with a little LED light that clips into it, so I'm thinking I'd need to buy a separate lamp of some kind if I wanted to grow much more than the anubias that's already in his tank. I was thinking I could look for a clear glass or acrylic cover to put on it and get a lamp with a proper CFL bulb for growing plants. Or if it comes down to it, can a lamp penetrate through saran wrap well enough for plants to thrive?


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

I was in a hurry earlier when I posted and wanted to say thanks for the plant input, everyone. It's giving me some more plants to research and consider. So exciting and fun.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

My blue sand and Seachem Flourish arrived today! I know what I'll be doing this weekend.

Today was water change day for Rakki and Yurei. And it sure was eventful!

I started with Rakki's tank since I knew it would be the worse of the two with the algae. As soon as I stuck my hand in the tank to start removing a few decorations to make maneuvering the gravel vac easier, Rakki nipped my hand! I called him something unflattering, finished removing the decorations, and stuck the gravel vac in the water. Just as I was about the start the suction, again Rakki nipped my hand! I yelped and almost dropped the gravel vac. Then, after scowling at Rakki, I finally got to work. I'm sure he was annoyed as I removed decorations to scrub the algae off them even though I tried to give an ornament back for each one I took out. He followed my hands in the tank, and he had to investigate each decoration as it was returned. He even let himself get caught in the suction of his urn cave when I put it back in the water, which made me laugh. Swoosh! He concluded his "helpfulness" by surfing in the flow of the new water I poured into his tank. Finally, when I was done, and he looked at me like, "It's about time, lady."

I also managed to break off two of the four "tabs" that keep the clear plastic cover that protects the light bulb from the water on Rakki's tank in place. While I was busy fretting and being upset about that, my fiance managed to rig together a clever solution to keep the cover in place. I should have known I could rely on my resourceful babe, but knowing you broke an important piece of a tank that is no longer available tends to distract you a little. I have a tendency to overreact when it comes to some things. On the bright side, I finally changed the default fluorescent bulb in Rakki's tank to the 6500k CFL I bought. I hope his anubias appreciates the drama that resulted from trying to get that done tonight.

Not to be outdone, Yurei also made a nuisance of himself while I did his water change. He followed my hands around and generally got in the way while I vacuumed his sand and covered the bases of his silk plants again. He even wiggled between the leaves of one plant while I was messing with it. Then he decided to try to give me a heart attack when I was adding in the new water. He surfed in the flow of the new water, just like Rakki did. I age their water in gallon milk jugs I cleaned out, and I ran out of water from the first when Yurei's water level just barely covered his leaf hammock. I turned away for a moment to get the second jug, and when I turned back, Yurei was lying flat on his side on the leaf hammock! I uttered something I wouldn't repeat in the company of most people, and he wiggled and swam away. Probably laughing to himself, the little brat. We finished the rest of the water change with more surfing.

Finally, finally, the water changes are done, and my little tricksters have been fed and are checking out their abodes again. They definitely keep things interesting. :roll:


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

Hehe, I have nippers so I'm use to it - at least till another starts and takes me by surprise. Ahh bettas.. making water changes more enjoyable since forever <3


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

They've both nipped me before, so that part isn't new.  But they were both so mischievous last night. That's what surprised me so much. Little scamps lol.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

So I opened my package from Big Al's last night, the one I was so excited about yesterday. The two bags of sand look fine. The root tabs look fine. The bottle of Seachem Flourish, on the other hand, is not fine. The bottle is dented and the liquid has leaked all into the bag it was, thankfully, put in before shipping. I'm thinking the box was thrown around during shipping, and the bottle got crushed by the sand. Needless to say, I am not happy. I've pretty much decided it's not worth fussing with Big Al's and UPS about a $6 item, so I guess I'll be ordering a new bottle of Flourish. Still, lesson learned: do not order things that can be crushed and damaged if you're also ordering something heavy like sand. :roll:


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## Schmoo (Oct 3, 2014)

That stinks. :c I'm sure if you sent Big Al's an e-mail they'd replace the bottle?


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

I changed my mind and just emailed them. Maybe they'll be able to do something. If so, great. If not, at least it was only $6.

Just in case anyone was curious, this is what it looked like when I pulled it out of the box. Not pleasant, but it would have been a lot worse if they hadn't put it in the bag before packing it. I attached it to my email in the hopes that it will help the people at Big Al's decide what, if anything, to do.


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## JHatchett (Aug 24, 2014)

LadyNightraven said:


> The 6500k bulb I found will go in Rakki's tank hood since it already has a fluorescent bulb that I can easily switch out.
> 
> I'm not sure what to do with Yurei's tank in regard to light though. It has a flat black plastic hood with a little LED light that clips into it, so I'm thinking I'd need to buy a separate lamp of some kind if I wanted to grow much more than the anubias that's already in his tank. I was thinking I could look for a clear glass or acrylic cover to put on it and get a lamp with a proper CFL bulb for growing plants. Or if it comes down to it, can a lamp penetrate through saran wrap well enough for plants to thrive?


My 5 gallon has the same kind of thing. When I went planted I ended up getting a glass lid and a clip on desk lamp which I equipped with a 6500K CFL. The plants seem appreciative.

My boy Levi is also a nipper when I'm working on his tank, Sassy used to do it too. The others would rather hide when I'm messing with their stuff.


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## DaytonBetta (Feb 4, 2014)

Last week I ordered a Excel, Flourish, Potassium, Phosphorous and Iron on Amazon. The only one that made it was the Iron. The rest got sent back from the fed-ex facility as damaged. Amazon will credit me, I hope you get credited too. It would be unreasonable for them not to take care of it.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

I got an email back from Big Al's today thanking me for sending them a picture of my damaged bottle of Flourish and apologizing that it arrived in that condition. The rep went on to ask how I wanted to proceed? Did I want a refund or a replacement? I replied saying I'd like a replacement if possible, so we'll see how that goes.

My mom wanted some company while she went grocery shopping at Walmart tonight, so I agreed to go. My Walmart still stocks fish (and snails and fiddler crabs), and I came very close to buying a gold mystery snail tonight. I was watching the snails for a while and saw one I liked that seemed pretty active, but I decided I wanted to read up on them a little more before bringing one home. I don't want to make an impulse purchase. The Petsmart and two Petcos closest to me don't carry snails anymore, so Walmart is my only option without having to pay a bunch of money on shipping. I know buying from Walmart isn't ideal, but I don't want to spend a fortune on a critter my fish might end up hating. So I guess it'll be a long quarantine for the snail if and when I do get one.

If I got a snail, it would probably go in Rakki's tank after quarantine. I feel like he's slightly less aggressive than Yurei nowadays. When I first got Yurei and was keeping him in the 1-gallon bowl for a couple of weeks, he seemed so mellow and laid back. Then, when I put him in his 5-gallon, it was like his personality exploded. He's very active, he flares more than Rakki does, and he's easily distracted yet always intent on something. Rakki spends a lot of his time in his floating tube, and I feel like there are more places to hide in Rakki's tank.

With all that said, I'd love to hear any tips anyone might have to share about mystery snails. I'm also curious whether a snail would be okay long-term in a small Kritter Keeper if things end up not working out with the fish. Do mystery snails need a heater? Would one be okay without a filter as long as it got frequent water changes?


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

Well, I know Vivian ended up having to keep her snail separate in a small KK and she also got two more. I think she does daily wc? not sure. You could try pming her.

My local store only gets apple/mystery snails, and I think I saw some ramshorns the other day. But they want like $4 each .-.


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## Schmoo (Oct 3, 2014)

I know nothing about mystery snails. ;~; I only have Gary, my nerite. Well, that's not true... I got a hitch-hiker from Lil's plants, but I have no idea what it is. xD I'd say it'd be okay without a filter, though, as long as you were doing frequent water changes. Before I added a filter to Revan's tank, she and Gary didn't have one (obviously, haha), and they did just fine.

I had a very similar experience (Yurei's) with Mace. He was in a 3 gallon KK for several months, and he was very docile. He'd flare when I exercised him, but aside from that he was a pretty chill betta. Then when I put him in the divided 10g with Grievous, he became such a fiesty, aggressive stinker.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

I got an email today that my replacement bottle of Flourish is on its way! I'm glad I decided to go ahead and contact Big Al's. The customer service rep I've been communicating with has been so courteous and helpful.

I've been reading up on Mystery Snails a little more, and I think I can care for one properly, but I still posted a new thread to make sure I'm not misinformed and to garnish any more information others might have to share. At least I understand how to blanch vegetables now.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

My decision has been made in regard to a mystery snail: not going to happen right now. I worry about the snail outgrowing a 5 gallon, and I don't like my virtual lack of options for if the snail gets picked on. I have nowhere to set up another tank right now, and the more I think about it, the more I'm uncomfortable with the idea of keeping a snail that can get fairly large in a smallish container. I'm still playing with the idea of getting a nerite or two at some point, and will probably continue to play with the idea for a good while yet. But I'll probably just wait. I dream of eventually having a 20 or 29 gallon community tank, and snails would probably be much happier in something of that size with non-aggressive fish. As much as I'd love another watery critter of some kind, my two fishy boys are enough for now.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

I haven't felt much like writing lately. However, since it's been a little while since I last wrote, I thought I'd least offer a list of things of interest that have happened, fish-related and otherwise.

- My replacement bottle of Flourish arrived on Friday in great condition. I haven't used it yet, but I'm pretty excited to try it out soon.

- On January 30, my fiance and I celebrated eleven years as a couple. He had roses delivered for me on Friday, and then on Saturday we visited our little museum of history for our town and county, which I had been wanting to check out for a while, and then we went out for sushi.

- Yurei has managed to give me a couple of scares in the past week. A few days ago I happened to glance at his tank, and he was staring intently at something at the bottom of his tank. What scared me was how he was positioned: body bent in half with his head pointed down. Before I panicked completely, I waved my hand at him to get his attention, and he glanced at me briefly before swimming off. Then yesterday, he was staring at something at the top of his tank, then jumped about an inch and a half out of the water to try to get at it. Have I mentioned I'm glad I have lids on my tanks?

- Rakki has been building an impressively stacked bubble nest. I'll try to get pictures before the next water change if it doesn't disintegrate first.

That pretty much sums it up. I'll try to catch up with everyone soon.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

Congrats to you two, that sounded like a wonderful day  

Haha I swear our bettas live to scare us. I heard a sploosh earlier and I thought I had my first jumper. I ran over to check and couldn't see Ruben at first but then he came out acting all innocent. Since I'm guilty of not having lids (SHHH DON'T TELL MY FISH), I stuck some crafting mesh on top after glaring at him.


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## DaytonBetta (Feb 4, 2014)

Congratulations!

Our betta was hanging out upside down in the water wisteria a few weeks ago! He was fine. These fish are crazy!


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## Schmoo (Oct 3, 2014)

Happy 11th anniversary, Lady!


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## AlwaysAnimals (Oct 21, 2014)

Pretty roses, how sweet!

And I second the notion about bettas always trying to scare us, lol. I know you've recently visited my journal, and you know what I mean!


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Thank you so much, everyone. 

Yeah, I'm pretty sure one of the purposes of a betta's existence is to scare the living daylights out of the people who love them. Good thing they're so beautiful and fun, right?

I got it into my head last night that I wanted to clean Rakki's tank. The algae on back wall was making me mad, so I decided to scrub down everything. Wouldn't you know it that somehow, in the middle of the water change, I moved wrong and pulled a muscle in my back. I can be stubborn when I get an idea in my head, so I still pushed through and finished cleaning the tank. It looks better, and Rakki seems happier, but I'm still hurting today. Sleeping last night was not easy, not only because of my back making it impossible to get comfortable, but also because my kitty girls decided they both wanted to sleep on Mama's pillow, and they went as far as trying to sit on my head to make sure it happened. Brats. Work was interesting today, but as long as I kept taking ibuprofen and didn't bend or move wrong, it was okay.

With all that being said, I'm still determined to do a water change for Yurei tonight. I might be a little crazy.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

Aww, feel better soon! Pulling muscles when you have tons of stuff you need to do is the worst! And I know your pain about the cats, I had my big girl stand on my chest for 10 minutes while kneading the spot she wanted to sleep in to perfection. And Theo frantically kneads my face and then flops next to or on my head xD


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

I got Yurei's water change done. I'm pleased to report that my back behaved, and I was able to get things done with a minimum of discomfort. That being said, Yurei's tank is much easier and quicker to clean than Rakki's, mostly because it doesn't have much algae growth yet. I did have to scrub a bit of brown algae off his anubias leaves and also off his floating tube and a couple of his silk plants, but it was nothing bad.

Yurei happily derped about while I added fresh water, pecking at an anubias leaf, chasing bubbles in circles, and generally being adorable. Ah, I love that goofy little fish!

My tanks should be good for another week unless I randomly pull something out for a moment to scrub a bit of algae, which is such a relief.

I'm planning to wash the new sand tomorrow or Saturday, and depending on how my back is by Sunday, I might put some into both tanks.

That reminds me, and this is probably a silly question, but when I add the new sand, should I remove my fish from whichever tank I'm working on? Or will they be okay staying in there while I work as long as I'm careful?


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

Personally I'd remove them because I wouldn't want any floating particles getting into their gills. I lost Shreddy to a similar thing so I might just be bias but I think of it as better safe than sorry.


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## Schmoo (Oct 3, 2014)

+1 to Tress


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

That's kind of what I figured. Thanks for the confirmation, guys.

So it appears I picked up a mild stomach bug and spent yesterday feeling like crap. I still went to work since apparently I seem to be one of those people who goes to work unless I'm contagious or dying. Then I came home, took a three hour nap, and then still managed to sleep almost eleven hours last night. My appetite and energy levels are still a little off today, but other than that I'm feeling mostly better. However, I'm thinking the sand is going to wait a little longer to be washed and added to the tank. I'm not in a huge hurry, so it's not a big deal.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

Aww, I hope you get feeling better!


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

So, it's been a little while again since I last wrote. I seem to be making a habit out of this.

I hope you won't mind me updating a bit about my life first...

My opa (German for grandpa) got really sick last week. It turned out he had pneumonia and lung cancer. He passed away Saturday evening, or early Sunday morning German time. I'd only met him once during my only visit to Germany, but he was still my opa, and I'm still sad that he's gone.

I had planned a girls' day with a couple of friends for yesterday, and I was hesitant about still going after getting the news. But ultimately I decided I needed a fun day to forget things for a little while. So we shopped, we ate pizza, we watched a movie at the theater, we laughed and joked, and we generally had a good time.

Okay, enough personal things. This journal is supposed to be about the fish!

While I was out with my friends yesterday, one of our stops was Petsmart, so I finally picked up a couple of Marimo balls. The fishy boys don't seem to care one way or another about them, but I think they're cute. One of my friends also got a Marimo ball, which will have a bowl all to itself somewhere in her house. I also got a new silk plant for each boy, which will be added to their respective tanks at some point in the next couple of weeks.

I haven't been the best about spending time with the fishy boys lately, and I think they're a little aggravated with me. Neither one wanted to be particularly photogenic today, but I still got a few pictures. After all, I haven't shared pictures in a while, so I figured it was about time. Please excuse the algae in the some of the pictures. I took these before doing water changes.

Also, just for extra smiles, here's a picture of my girls, Socks and Spaz, napping on the bed.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

Wow I can't believe how much Yurei has changed, I hope he doesn't end up being pure blue as I love how his deep blue contrasts with the white  Glad to see both your boys in good health! Yay kitties! I'm scared to start posting more pics of mine, I might not stop xD I have tons and tons of pictures of them!


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

I'm hoping he keeps some of the white in his fins, at least. I thought he was done changing colors for the moment since it seems like the blue's spread has slowed down, but I noticed some red in his tail last night that I'm pretty sure wasn't there before.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

So I have a quick story to share tonight.

I went to Walmart this evening with my mom, and of course I stopped to look at the bettas. I picked up a cup with a red crowntail to get a better look at him, and the cup was cracked and started leaking very slightly in my hand. A Walmart associate happened to walk by, so I stopped him and showed him how the cup was cracked and leaking. He looked concerned and said, "Let me see if I can find another cup." He located one and brought it over and, right there in front of me, he _very gently_ tipped the betta and its water into the new cup. He put the lid on and placed the fish back on the shelf. I smiled in relief and thanked him, and he said, "No, thank _you_."

I chatted with him for a minute or two while he was looking for an undamaged cup. He asked if I was thinking about getting a betta, so I explained that I already had two at home and didn't have room for more right now, but I still liked to look. He told me his grandmother used to keep bettas, so I'm going to guess that's why he seemed to have more respect for fish than your typical Walmart associate. He said he was more of a reptile person himself, and he seemed surprised and pleased to hear that I've owned an iguana and two ball pythons in the past. I guess women who aren't squeamish about reptiles aren't that common around here, haha.

Anyway, that's my positive story for the day. It was a pleasant change to have a good experience when it comes to Walmart. 

I wish I could have taken the crowntail home, but I just have to hope he'll find a good home.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

*"Snow" Day Ramblings*

There's about an inch of sleet on the ground right now. The schools in the area are closed. My work is closed, too, so I have a "snow" day today. Most of Oklahoma north of here got snow. We're almost as far south as you can get while still being in Oklahoma, maybe 20 miles from the Texas border, and down in Texas they got a mix of freezing rain and sleet.

With this wintry mess going on, my mom and her friend drove down to Dallas Fort Worth International Airport this morning. My mom is about to fly to Germany to take care of things there after her father passed away. To say I'm a nervous wreck right now is putting it lightly. I don't think I'm going to be okay until I know she's safely on the ground in Germany. She will be staying there for nine days.

I'm taking care of her little dog while she's gone. He's a dachshund/terrier mix. His name is Mickey. He's a rescue dog, and he's going to be so lost without her while she's gone. He's fond of me, but there's no doubt he's her dog.

The cats have been hibernating most of the day. I don't blame them. It seems like a good way to pass the day.

The fish are great. Rakki has wedged himself in one of his silk plants and is napping currently, and Yurei is doing the same in his floating tube.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

He's a cutie! Crazy weather down there eh? Its cold here but the sun is shining and I swear the cats have charged up their solar panels cause they are bursting with energy!

Love your Spaz, I have such a soft spot for calicos. I don't think you've posted a picture of "Sparta" before o.o *nudges for pictures*


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

My future mother-in-law is keeping Sparta for us right now, and she lives in the town to south of us, so I'm afraid I have no pictures of him from today. But I can post one from a couple weeks ago. This is his favorite spot in her living room. I'm not sure what he was so focused on.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

Cutie <3


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Just a quick update to say that it's snowing here and I'm super excited. I know most people are sick to death of winter already, but winter had been holding out on us here until the middle of this month, and this is the first real snow we've gotten all winter.

I took this quick picture from my driveway to show you what it looks like right now.

And here's a quick selfie of myself and my fiance in the snow. I'm not a big fan of selfies, but I make an exception for snow selfies.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

You're a cute couple :3 

Despite the annoying things that come along with winter, I still love it! Snow is so beautiful and fun to play in, no matter what age you are lol!


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Aw, thank you. 

Our snow is already in danger. The temperature is hovering right at freezing, and it's raining. The snow kind of looks like crap now. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

The boys got water changes tonight.

Rakki has a spot on his dorsal fin that looks a little fuzzy. :-/ I haven't been as diligent about water changes as I should have, and I know it's my fault if he's sick. I feel pretty terrible about it.  I'm going to keep an eye on the spot for the next few days, do another water change or two, and see if it goes away on its own. If not, Rakki will be moved to a Kritter Keeper with aquarium salt to see what that does. It's helped in the past, but I'd rather not move him if I don't have to.

Yurei is doing fine. He FINALLY noticed his marimo ball tonight after the water change. I caught him staring at it and pecking at it a bit like, "What is this thing?!" He's already decided it's not a threat. Now he keeps hiding in his silk plants and scaring me when I don't see him immediately.

I discovered tonight that anubias roots are stronger than I thought. I had to scrub Rakki's anubias again because of the cursed algae, and I finally got sick of trying to pick the algae off the roots and just scrubbed them with the fine-bristled toothbrush. I didn't lose any of the roots, and the plant looks a lot better now.

I also finally got around to adding some Flourish to each tank. Just a single drop each. I'm hoping it might help with the algae problem in Rakki's tank by giving the anubias and marimo ball a boost, and I'm really hoping it will encourage Yurei's anubias to grow. It's hanging in there, but I don't feel like it's really thriving. We'll see!

We had a bit of a winter weather event yesterday. We started getting a little sleet and freezing rain about 2:00 pm and it started getting really steady just after 5:00 pm. By 9:00 pm it had changed over to snow. We probably ended up with two or three inches of snow. So pretty. Of course, everything had already pretty much melted by 2:00 pm today. Gotta love Oklahoma weather.

My mom has been away in Germany for the past ten days taking care of things after her father passed away. She's coming home tonight. I can't wait to see how Mickey, her dog I've been looking after, freaks out when he sees her again. And of course I'll be glad to see her myself.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

That doesn't sound to good  I hope it's something simple. Not to scare you but when Aris got fuzzy white fungus on his fins it was only taking advantage of a bacterial infection that was already attacking him. So just keep a very close eye on him and try to avoid sharing tools (or clean them between tanks) till its cleared up. I'd also post it up in the disease thread just in case someone might have something to offer. Good luck!


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Rakki has had something similar in the past when he was still in an unheated one-gallon bowl and I wasn't the best about proper water changes. Aquarium salt took care of it then. Of course I still worry, so I'll be keeping a very close eye on him, and I have aquarium salt and antibiotics ready to go if he needs them.


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## Axeria (Feb 6, 2015)

I hope Rakki wil get better soon and that it is nothing serious  
Subbing


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Rakki is still doing fine. The bit of fuzz is still there, but it doesn't seem to have gotten worse. Rakki is still swimming around, enthusiastic about food, and comes to greet me when I get near his tank. I'll be doing a water change again tonight. Maybe I'm being paranoid, but if it's still there tomorrow, I will probably be moving him to the Kritter Keeper for an aquarium salt treatment.

I thought I'd share pictures of a couple of bettas I saw last time I was at Walmart. They looked pretty healthy and their water was clean, so I assume they hadn't been there long. If I had space for another, one of them probably would have come home with me. My fiance really liked the first one, while I was more partial to the second one. Funny how I wasn't too fond of crowntails before, but they seem to be slowly growing on me.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

The 2nd one reminds me of Ruben and the first looks like a few of the ones I've at my store, though most were DTs.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Maybe that's why I liked the second fish so much. I've always thought your Ruben was gorgeous.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Thanks for the sub, Axeria! ^_^


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

LadyNightraven said:


> Maybe that's why I liked the second fish so much. I've always thought your Ruben was gorgeous.


Aww thanks  you want my tail biting grump? my PK wannabe? That one in the pic is quite pretty and has a much nicer web reduction than Ruben ever did. I'm sure he'd colour up gorgeously if you did get him.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Haha, I think Ruben is better off staying with you. But I'd ship the pretty guy from Walmart to you if I could.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

Haha I think I'm good at 6 for now xD


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

I tried to go to my local pet store today for a Kritter Keeper to use to treat Rakki's fuzzy spot, only to discover they close at 4:00 pm on Saturdays now. Crap. So I got a "Pet Carrier" from Walmart instead. Which will be going back because it's even smaller than I thought. It holds less than a gallon of water. Even temporarily, I don't like keeping my bettas in something less than a gallon. Plus, I have no way to safely heat something that small.

So my choices with Rakki are 1) keep doing 50% water changes every day until Monday when I can get a decent-sized Kritter Keeper from my LPS, 2) use the old fish bowl, which at least holds a gallon, but I don't have the capability to heat, or 3) use the little "Pet Carrier" and feel uncomfortable about it.

I'm probably going to go with option #1.

A small Kritter Keeper is supposed to be about 1.7 gallons, while a medium is supposed to be about 3.3 gallons. I'd prefer a medium as I'd feel safer putting my spare 25w heater in it, but I think it would be safe enough with the small, too.


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## artemis35 (Jul 11, 2014)

> A small Kritter Keeper is supposed to be about 1.7 gallons, while a medium is supposed to be about 3.3 gallons.


I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but those KK capacities are not correct :-(

Your math to calculate the capacities is absolutely correct (L x H x W x 0.004 = capacity in G). However, the LHW measurements given for the KK _include_ the lid :evil: - this is such a pet peeve of mine with them!

I have never used a small or medium KK, but I did use the large KK before switching to glass tanks. Using its stated dimensions and the above formula, you would think the large KK holds ~5 gallons. However, the large KK actually holds only a smidge over 3 gallons, when filled to the very rim and with nothing but water in it. For me, in actual use (bare bottom tank, heater, décor & fish - filled to within ~1/2" from rim), it held ~2.75 gallons.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Well, crap. I really appreciate the info, Artemis. Knowing this now, I think I'll look for a simple 2.5 gallon tank at the LPS instead. They sell them plain with no extras for fairly cheap, which will do just fine for a hospital tank. Only the best for my boys.


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## Axeria (Feb 6, 2015)

I am also looking for a good hospital tank to have on hand  Hope you find a good one for your boys


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Thanks, Axeria! I hope you find a good one, too!


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

I've been doing 50% water changes on Rakki's tank everyday since I first spotted that little spot of fuzz on his dorsal fin. I am doing this because I don't want it to get worse before I have a hospital tank for him where I can start treating him with AQ salt, and I'm also curious to see if super-clean water might not take care of the problem before then. I think it's gotten better, but it hasn't completely gone away yet.

You'd think a fish would get stressed out by such frequent water changes, right? Not Rakki.

Oh no, Rakki seems to be enjoying it. I feel he's making a game out of it, even. I have to remove the silk plants and decorations from the tank to vacuum it properly, so he's used to me doing that. But now he's taken to following my hands around when I'm putting everything back, and he has to carefully inspect each silk plant base and peck at it before he'll move enough for me to cover it with sand. It's like a game of "let's see how much I can get in Mom's way." :lol:

He is such a little dorkfish. I love him so much.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

Lol bettas are so funny <3

What temp do you have the tank at? I heard that lowering the temp slows fungus growth.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

When this happened with Rakki in the past, I was told it was probably a low-grade bacterial infection rather than fungus. It looks and is behaving the same way this time, so that's what I'm treating it as.

The tank stays at 80'F except on rare occasions when the room gets really warm. This is going to sound weird... but unless I change heaters, I can't lower the temperature really. Rakki's tank stays at 80'F with the heater set at 71'F. Maybe it's a defect with the heater, and maybe I should change it, but I've been using this heater for over a year without problems.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

What wattage is it?


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

25w Hydor Theo. Yurei has the same kind and wattage of heater in his tank, but I have to set it at 81'F to keep his temperature at 80'F. Then again, they have different tanks, and Yurei's lid has more open spaces where air can get in more easily.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

A lot of people recommend 50w for 5g if you live in cooler places, but I'd think a 25w would be fine where you live. Personally I've had a bad run with Hydors. 2/3 showed condensation and the 3rd is one of those 7.5w slim heater and though it works it's annoying. I do think Rakki's heater is malfunctional though.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Oklahoma usually doesn't get too cold, although it occasionally has its freak cold spells.

I know I have a spare heater somewhere which I'll be hunting down tonight. If it behaves more like Yurei's heater when I test it, then I think I'll be getting rid of Rakki's current heater. I've always thought it was a little weird that it ran that warm, but I didn't worry about it too much because the tank never got too hot. Now, the more I think about it, the more I'm feeling irresponsible for not changing it sooner. I guess I've been lucky with it so far.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

My LPS did not have a 2.5 gallon tank in stock, and their only large Kritter Keeper had a crack in it, so I didn't buy it. Instead, I finally caved and spent $20 on a 1.5 gallon Tetra cube aquarium Saturday afternoon.

Since I've been feeling poorly since midday yesterday and stayed home from work today, I went ahead and set up the tank. It only has conditioned water, my spare 25w heater, and a thermometer in it right now so that I can test the heater to make sure it won't warm the water too much. I actually like this little tank so far and would consider a bigger version for a future betta.

Rakki has continued to get daily water changes, except for last night when I was feeling particularly bad. The white fuzz appears to be gone, but I'm still keeping an eye on the spot. Maybe I'm being paranoid, but the spot looks like it might be tipped in black now, which is making me think possible fin rot starting. If it looks worse and confirms my fin rot fears, or the white fuzz reappears, Rakki will be moving to the new hospital tank tomorrow to be treated once I've confirmed the heater is safe.

Despite all the extra water changes and my fussing over him, Rakki has been acting perfectly normal and eating like a champ.

Yurei is doing well and got his weekly water change on Saturday. He's still my derpy little bubble chaser. It looks like he's starting to marble again, too. There is a new spot of blue on his tail that I'm positive wasn't there before, and the red spot on his dorsal appears to be spreading out more.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Just a small update tonight. Rakki is still fine. No sign of the white fuzz, and I'm starting to think I'm being overly paranoid about the tip of his dorsal fin. He does have random bits of blue in his otherwise-red fins, and that might be what I'm seeing. Still, I'm continuing to keep a close eye on him.

I finally got to hear Rakki crunch on his pellets tonight when I fed the fishy boys. Is it weird that I thought it was adorable?

Also, I've had this 1.5 gallon hospital tank set up for a couple of days now to test the heater and keep it ready for Rakki if he ends up needing it. I definitely need to dismantle it soon though if Rakki is healthy because... I keep looking at it and thinking how nice it would look with a new fish in it. I have to keep reminding myself the desk is not a good spot for a permanent setup...


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## JHatchett (Aug 24, 2014)

It would be really nice with a fish in it though...


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

JHatchett said:


> It would be really nice with a fish in it though...


+1


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

JHatchett said:


> It would be really nice with a fish in it though...





Tress said:


> +1


You guys are _not_ helping. >_<

It doesn't help either that my friend told me the LPS had some really pretty bettas when she went to get snake food yesterday. I'm going to have to avoid the LPS and even the Walmart fish aisle until I dismantle this hospital tank.

On a good note, I'm about 85% sure that Rakki is okay. The spot of concern on his fin looks normal to me tonight. Cross your fingers for him please!


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## Axeria (Feb 6, 2015)

Lol! That is why I picked a critter keeper as my QT/hospital tank  Too mutch temptation with a whole new aquarium just standing there, yelling to be filled xD


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

Subscribing, it sounds like you've had some fun adventures with your bettas.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Axeria said:


> Lol! That is why I picked a critter keeper as my QT/hospital tank  Too mutch temptation with a whole new aquarium just standing there, yelling to be filled xD


I tried that, but my local stores didn't have what I wanted, and I didn't want to wait for something to be shipped to me, lol. The hospital tank will be stored away tomorrow, I think. Rakki is looking great, other than him biting his tail again. But that's normal for him, so as long as he has warm clean water, I'm not going to worry about it. :roll:




BettaLover1313 said:


> Subscribing, it sounds like you've had some fun adventures with your bettas.


Thanks for the subscription! It's definitely been an interesting journey so far. I hope you enjoy the journal!


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## Axeria (Feb 6, 2015)

LadyNightraven said:


> I tried that, but my local stores didn't have what I wanted, and I didn't want to wait for something to be shipped to me, lol. The hospital tank will be stored away tomorrow, I think. Rakki is looking great, other than him biting his tail again. But that's normal for him, so as long as he has warm clean water, I'm not going to worry about it. :roll:



I totally get that! I waited ages for mine! xD Rakki is being a bad boy biting his fins, but I agree with you on the not worry part, I think its unhealthy to be overly anxious about your pets


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Axeria said:


> I totally get that! I waited ages for mine! xD Rakki is being a bad boy biting his fins, but I agree with you on the not worry part, I think its unhealthy to be overly anxious about your pets


Funny that you say that. I have anxiety, and I do tend to worry overmuch about my fish or my cats if I think one of them is unwell. Rakki is a chronic fin biter and the best I've been able to do is to slow down the frequency of the biting, so I just try to keep his tank clean and keep him as happy as I can.


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## Axeria (Feb 6, 2015)

I also have general anxiety disorder, social anxiety and agoraphobia so I feel ya!

I worry myself sick sometimes, and wont eat or sleep until I have been at the vets with my dog or hamster if I suspect anything is wrong.... there usually isnt anything wrong, but I gladly pay the ekstra money for peace of mind ^_^

I hope he heales soon and stops that awfull self mutilating


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Today I dismantled the hospital tank and put it away. Honestly, I'm a little relieved since it means that Rakki is okay and doesn't need it right now. At least I know my heater will work just fine in a 1.5 gallon.

I'd been thinking that Yurei wasn't bubble nesting lately, but I think I may have been wrong. He's still "bubble nesting," but not in the expected way. I'd noticed that bubbles would start randomly appearing at the surface of the water in his tank within a day or two after a water change. I thought it was from his filter, but it seems that's not the case. Tonight I've been watching Yurei go to the surface, take a breath of air, spit out a bubble, move an inch or so, and do the same thing again. Over and over. Instead of a cohesive nest of bubbles, he's going for a more abstract look. You go right ahead and decorate your home however you want, Yurei. Do whatever makes your little fishy heart happy. :roll:


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Hello again, everyone. It's been a while.

If anyone still visits my humble little journal thread, there hasn't been much to report. Rakki and Yurei are doing well. Rakki got a water change yesterday and Yurei got one tonight. I'm still fighting with algae in both tanks, especially Rakki's. I've kind of resigned myself to scrubbing at least a little algae with every water change. Still, I love how bright and clear the aquariums look after a good cleaning.

This is just a small, insignificant detail, but I managed to break another eyedropper tonight. Glass eyedroppers and tile floors do not get along well. Looks like I'll be buying another pack of eyedroppers next time I go to the store.

Today, or I guess yesterday now since it's past midnight here, was a difficult day for me. It was the one year anniversary of the passing of my cat Kumo. I made it through the day thanks to my fiance, good friends, and work to somewhat take my mind off of things.

Here's a picture of my baby boy. Wasn't he beautiful?

Someone else here does "Fishy Photo Fridays," and I rather love the idea. I may start trying to do something like that myself in an attempt to keep myself posting a little more frequently. I have a bad habit of starting journals and abandoning them after a while, and I don't want to do that here.

Thanks for checking in with us.


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## JHatchett (Aug 24, 2014)

Just say yes to Fishy Photo Fridays!


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## artemis35 (Jul 11, 2014)

Kumo certainly was beautiful!
I'll bet that he had really, really soft fur, too (most grey cats do).

Those sad anniversary days are so difficult. I'm glad to hear that you are surrounded by people to help you. As hard as it is to believe, eventually enough time passes that we can remember our departed friends with a smile rather than tears ((hugs))

Also, yes to fishy photo Fridays!


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

He was a pretty boy, looks a lot like my sister's cat Pearl. I feel bad about not having done anything for the anniversaries of my dogs passing, but I've got my living pets that need my focus.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

artemis35 said:


> Kumo certainly was beautiful!
> I'll bet that he had really, really soft fur, too (most grey cats do).
> 
> Those sad anniversary days are so difficult. I'm glad to hear that you are surrounded by people to help you. As hard as it is to believe, eventually enough time passes that we can remember our departed friends with a smile rather than tears ((hugs))


Thanks, artemis. His fur had an interesting texture, almost like velvet. Funny how I still remember that. I think the first year anniversary is probably the hardest, but if you can get through that first year, you know you're strong enough to carry on. Even though they may longer be by our side, they're always in our heart.




Tress said:


> He was a pretty boy, looks a lot like my sister's cat Pearl. I feel bad about not having done anything for the anniversaries of my dogs passing, but I've got my living pets that need my focus.


Thanks, Tress. I don't think you should feel bad. I think one of the best ways we can honor the memories of our deceased pets is to lavish the same love and care on our living pets as we did on the ones who now live on our hearts.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

*Fishy Photo Friday! Rakki Edition*

Rakki didn't seem excited about pictures today, but he still indulged me somewhat. If you notice a white spot on his head in some of the photos, please don't be alarmed. I think he rubbed his head on something and scraped a couple of scales. It's been there for a few days and has not gotten any worse, but I'll be keeping his water extra clean to be on the safe side until the scales are back to normal. His tail is growing out really nicely, so I'm fully expecting him to chew it up again soon anyway.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

*Fishy Photo Friday! Yurei Edition*

Yurei would not stay still for anything, so these photos are not great. Hey, at least I tried. Maybe I'll just take a video next time. He also decided to build a couple of bubble nests, so here are pictures of those as well.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

Haha Rakki is like the grumpy old man. Yurei is gorgeous <3 I'm such a sucker for blue/white marbles.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Haha, Rakki really is a little grump. I just realized April 27 will be his two-year gotcha day. Which means he's probably somewhere between 2.5 and 3 years old. Wow.

And thank you! I was hoping for a dramatic change when I chose Yurei, but he's turned out to be even more beautiful than I hoped.


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

it's so neat how he is changing compared to how Gaston is changing. Yours seems to just fill in with colour solidly, but Gaston just gets like sprinkles of colours here and there. I wonder if it's something in the genetics.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Welcome to Water Change Wednesday, or Where Did You Come From Wednesday. Whichever you like better.

Rakki and Yurei are still with me, and both are still doing well, although Rakki seems to be slowing down a little. April 27 made two years that I've had him, and someone else had him before me for an unknown amount of time, so I'm guessing him to be three or three and half years old. So maybe it's to be expected?

Yurei seems to be determined to turn completely blue, or least mostly blue. I'll try to share a picture of the stubborn little derpfish soon so you can see what I mean.

I seem to be losing the battle against algae in Rakki's tank. I spend a ridiculous amount of time scrubbing algae off everything every time I clean it, and the filter media and filter itself are usually clogged with algae. Rakki gets weekly 50% water changes, and I even moved Yurei's anubias to Rakki's tank because it wasn't doing well in Yurei's tank. I add Prime and Stress Coat with every water change, and I put in three or four drops of Flourish most weeks. The tank light is on a couple of hours in the morning while Rakki (and Yurei) wake up and eat, off all day after that, then on for a few hours in the evening after I get home from work so I can enjoy my fish. There is a north-facing window nearby, but the blinds are usually closed, so the tank is not getting direct sunlight. I don't know what to do anymore. I'm so frustrated. It should not take an hour and a half to clean a five gallon tank, especially when Yurei's takes maybe twenty minutes.

Anyway, I hope you haven't forgotten about me, but if you have it's totally understandable. I needed a break, but I've missed this forum. Sorry to return with a bit of a rant, but it's good to be back. I'll try to get you some photos of these silly boys soon because I know that's what you're really here for. ;-)


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Rakki has been doing very poorly since last night. He is lethargic, refuses to eat, and barely moves. For a while he was staying in his anubias, but now he is at the bottom of the tank, lying on his side. The water parameters are perfect, his tank got a water change and cleaning on Wednesday, there's no sign of injury or ich or velvet, so I think it's just his time, as much as it breaks my heart to consider it. I'm just checking on him now and then, keeping his light off so he isn't stressed, and... waiting. It's crazy how you get so attached to these little fish. I'm already crying a little off and on knowing he'll probably leave me soon, so I'm going to be a bawling mess when he does go.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Rakki is now swimming under the Rainbow Bridge. To be honest, I'm pretty devastated.  But at least he didn't suffer long. I think he had a good life.

I can barely see what I'm typing right now because my eyes are so full of tears. I'll do a memorial post later.

Swim in peace, my dearest Rakki fish. I love you.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

It's been two days now since Rakki passed. It's still not easy seeing his empty tank, but I'm dealing. I posted my memorial post in the Betta Memorials subforum yesterday. If you're interested in reading the memorial post, it's here, just follow the link.

Yurei got his weekly water change last night. It's comforting to have one fish that is still healthy as far as I can tell. Yurei's been his usual wiggly, goofy self, strutting around his tank in full flare, hanging halfway out of his floating tube, and being damn near impossible to photograph. I love my beautiful derpfish.

Yesterday was my fiance's birthday. He's never been much of one to want a huge fuss made over him, and honestly that was probably a good thing for me. In some small way, I'm glad that if Rakki had to go, he did it the day before my fiance's birthday and not on his birthday. Still, I made a cake and gave my fiance a Star Wars t-shirt and a box of his favorite vanilla Tootsie Rolls because I love him and he deserves to be spoiled a little.

For pictures today, the first one is one of the last pictures I took of Rakki. You can see how his tail had grown out really well before he passed. The second picture is the little metal container that is his final resting place after my fiance cremated him for me.

The next post will be pictures of Yurei.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

*Fishy Photo... Monday? Yes!*

Here are some photos of Yurei from tonight. He is the most difficult fish to photograph. He hardly ever stops moving. I sometimes question if he even bothers to sleep.

I love picture #2.
Me: "Yurei! Come out and show us how beautiful you are!"
Yurei: "No!" *sulk*

I thought it was cute how he posed by his dragon in picture #6. Picture #4 is probably the best one of the night, but you can see his adorable face really well in picture #7. In the last picture, my fiance set his bottle of tea next to the tank, and Yurei was fascinated by the bright colors, I think.


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## andakin (Aug 10, 2009)

You actually gave him a proper cremation and eulogy. Rakki must've meant a lot. You have my sincerest condolence.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Thank you. He really did mean a lot to me. There will never be another one like him.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Not a major update today. Just a bit of chatter and details of what I'm considering doing next.

I realized last night that it had been a week since Rakki's final water change. I still haven't done anything with his old tank yet, although I plan to move Yurei over to it when I'm ready. Why am I moving Yurei when he and Rakki both had five gallon tanks? Two reasons. One, Rakki's old tank is only one capable of supporting plants beyond Marimo balls at the moment, and I want Yurei to get the chance to enjoy the two anubias Rakki had. Two, Yurei will be "head fish" now, so I want him in the first and, honestly, better of my two tanks.

Before Yurei's move though, I want to make some changes in the empty tank. I have practical reasons, and I guess I'll go into that first. The sand is all gunky from algae, so I'm going to replace it with fresh sand. The silk plants are going in the trash because they're also gunky with algae, and Yurei's silk plants will replace them. Rakki's old filter is also going to be removed, washed thoroughly, and stored as a backup because - you guessed it - it's gunky with algae. Sensing a theme here? I'll move Yurei's filter over when it's time since it has already has a bacteria colony, although I may get him a different filter at some point. I want something that's not so open at the top like the Tetra Whisper as I think that's how Rakki's filter got so algae-encrusted.

My other reason is simple: It hurts to see Rakki's old tank set up the way it was when Rakki was living in it, so I'm hoping moving Yurei into it and making it Yurei's with his plants and decorations will make the loss a little easier.

Rakki's cave and floating mesh tube will be washed and put away in case a future fish needs it, and his green dragon will be retired permanently and moved to my dresser with Rakki's urn. It's in my head so firmly that that dragon is Rakki's that I can't imagine another fish using it.

After all that is done, I'll be left to figure out what to do with an empty tank. I figure I have three options. One, a new betta. Two, I could try turning it into a shrimp and snail tank. Three, a couple of African dwarf frogs if I'm not mistaken about them being okay in a five gallon. But that's further down the road.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Today marks three weeks since Rakki swam under the Rainbow Bridge, and tonight I finally took the first step toward moving forward. Rakki's tank has been sitting idle, filter still running, in the same condition it was in the day he passed. The only thing I've done was top off the water a couple of times. My plan is still to move Yurei over to this tank after "remodeling" it, and a new inhabitant or two will eventually move into Yurei's current tank.

Tonight, I spent an hour washing sand. I want to put fresh sand in Rakki's old tank because the current sand is gunky with algae. Plus, it just feels right to make the tank as much Yurei's as I can. Same color blue, but fresh sand nonetheless.

A few pictures tonight...

First is a last photo of Rakki's tank before I start changing it up for Yurei.
Second is the washed sand. ten pounds worth, bagged up in Ziploc bags.
Third is my adorable helper, Spaz, who kept me company while I washed sand.
And fourth is my old lady, Socks, from earlier today, just because she's adorable with her judgmental expression.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Tonight I've been thinking about Rakki again. There are two things I've been missing about him lately. The first, he would always get so excited when I'd wave at him from across the room. He would zoom out front and center and wiggle and stare at me so that I'd come and pay attention to him. The second, whenever he'd take a breath at the surface, he would pause for a split second before spitting out a bubble or two. I've been feeling a little melancholy lately. I miss my little aquatic comforting presence.

Yurei is doing well. He's wiggly, silly, and frequently begging for food. He also seems to enjoy hiding in a plant and scaring me when I can't find him immediately.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Yurei got a water change tonight. He's still in his old tank, although I may move him over to the other one this weekend. He seems to be having fun exploring since I added a new silk plant (the purple one in the photo) and rearranged a couple of the other silk plants. Once or twice he stopped and stared at his dragon as though deciding whether he'd seen it before or not. Goofy little fish.

Here's a photo of the tank now. I like how it looks fairly full now and hope I can replicate it or at least achieve a similar look in the other tank when I move him.


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## DaytonBetta (Feb 4, 2014)

I'm sorry about Rakki.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

DaytonBetta said:


> I'm sorry about Rakki.


Thank you.



So I'm a little mad at Yurei at the moment. I changed his water last night, added a new silk plant, and moved one or two others. I came home from work this evening to discover that he'd torn a chunk out of his tail. Little jerkfish.

I'm starting to think I might have to leave him where he is. He's never reacted badly to my making changes in his tank before, but if this is what he's going to start doing, I don't want to see what kind of shape he'll be in if I move him to the other tank. :-/ I so wanted him to get to enjoy those anubias plants. I guess I'm going to have to look for a different hood or lid with proper lighting to see if plants do better in his tank that way.

First photo is the best I could get of chunk missing out of Yurei's caudal. This fish never stops movinggggg...

Second photo is him sitting on his Marimo. He's so cute, even if he is a jerk.


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## Dragon135 (Aug 13, 2015)

I'm sorry about rakkiAnd yurei changed a lot


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Dragon135 said:


> I'm sorry about rakkiAnd yurei changed a lot


Thank you. And yeah, Yurei's definitely changed a lot from the mostly white fish I brought home almost a year ago.



I bought this cover (the 16" one) from the Drs. Foster and Smith website tonight. I'm hoping it will be close enough to the right size to fit Yurei's tank. Once I've received it (gotta wait a week to ten days for it to get here) and tried it out and decided whether I'm happy with it, I plan to order this light (the 12" one) from Petco to set on top of it. Does anyone have experience with either of these products? Do you think I could put a proper bulb for plants in this hood light?


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

I'm very sorry to hear about Rakki's passing. It's always painful to lose a beloved friend. 

Yurei has gorgeous coloration! He's a stunning betta to look at.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

BettaLover1313 said:


> I'm very sorry to hear about Rakki's passing. It's always painful to lose a beloved friend.
> 
> Yurei has gorgeous coloration! He's a stunning betta to look at.


Thank you so much, BettaLover, for the condolences and compliments.


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

you know it's really hard to lose a betta what it is going on three years of age. I am so sorry for your loss. I too lost a three year old boy. I have another one that mean a lot to me and I might cry just as much as you are. =( I kinda want a statue for my little guy to hang on the wall by my betta tanks. Though I do love your little heart box. so sweet.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Tree said:


> you know it's really hard to lose a betta what it is going on three years of age. I am so sorry for your loss. I too lost a three year old boy. I have another one that mean a lot to me and I might cry just as much as you are. =( I kinda want a statue for my little guy to hang on the wall by my betta tanks. Though I do love your little heart box. so sweet.


Thank you, Tree. It's never easy losing a betta, but it's especially hard when you've had them a long time and have formed a close bond with them. I'm sorry for your loss, too. I hope your betta that means a lot to you is with you for a long time yet. I love the idea of a little statue or painting or drawing. My friend makes homemade stuffed animals now and then, and she made me a betta in Rakki's colors last year. I loved it when she gave it to me, but I love it even more since Rakki has passed.


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

Awww what a cool stuffed animal! I'm sure that will be by your bed side for a long while. =)


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## SmokeyNYY (Aug 7, 2015)

I'm sorry for your loss. Rakki was a wonderful fish. I am also wondering what those floating cylinder things are? I would like to get one for my fish. Thanks.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

SmokeyNYY said:


> I'm sorry for your loss. Rakki was a wonderful fish. I am also wondering what those floating cylinder things are? I would like to get one for my fish. Thanks.


Thank you, SmokeyNYY. He really was great.

I'm sorry I'm just now getting back to you. The floating tubes are made from plastic craft mesh that can be found at most fabric stores. You can actually make them yourself if you're crafty. I'm not very crafty, so I bought mine from ricepattyfish5. Her thread is here if you want to see what she has to offer and possibly buy one.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

*Yurei's Tank Changes!*

Yurei got a water change today and is doing great. His tail is showing lots of new growth where he ripped a chunk out of it.

First, I thought I'd show you some of the changes I've made. I bought the new lid and light I wanted since I hated the LED light and lid the tank came with. I love the new glass lid, and the light seems to be doing fine so far.

I moved the two anubias that were in the empty tank over to Yurei's tank. I thought he'd enjoy them, and he does seem to like them. The tank almost has an overgrown look to it now, but I don't mind since it seems to make Yurei happy. He even built his first large bubble nest in a long time in the left back corner of his tank, so I'd like to think he's more comfortable now. I felt bad that I was going to wreck it when I did the water change, but I managed to save some of it. I think he might be starting on repairs already.

I also have a new gravel vacuum that is more suited to a smaller tank. I like it a lot better than my Walmart gravel vac.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

*New Yurei pictures!*

And now here's what you were really wanting... New Yurei pictures!


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

*Birthday shopping ramblings*

My birthday was Friday the 25th, and my fiance took me to a nearby town to shop at our nearest Petco and Petsmart. Oh, and Books-a-Million for new books and coloring books (I've been on a bit of a coloring kick lately).

We stopped at Petsmart first to look around. I was looking for a mustard gas male, or at least a blue/purple and yellow bicolor of pretty much any tail type. I didn't find one, but a little peach veiltail female caught my eye. We paid for the two anubias, leaf hammock, silk plant, and cat treats I picked out, and I told my fiance, "If I don't find a fish I fall in love with at Petco, we're coming back for her."

While we were at Petsmart browsing the bettas, we found that one of the cups had a crack on the bottom and was slowly leaking. An employee was happy to change the betta over to a new cup and thanked us several times for letting us know about the leaking cup. All the bettas looked in good shape, the water was pretty clean, and the other fish for sale also looked in good health as far as I could tell. I almost got a nerite snail since they actually had some in stock, but I decided not to since I wasn't prepared for a snail. But I may go back another time and get one or two.

Petco's selection of bettas was a little depressing. There was a decent variety, but some of the bettas didn't look too great, and there was a dead one.  There was a pretty white halfmoon male, but he didn't really "call" to me. I decided that after we went to Books-a-Million and grabbed a bite to eat, we were going back for the peach female. With that in mind, I picked out some more silk plants, a pink flower ball cave, and a purple dragon ornament. I also found three smallish Marimo balls in a cup labeled "baby betta buddy."

After book shopping and dinner at Chipotle, we rushed back over to Petsmart, and the peach girl was still there. I couldn't wait to get her home and settled in her temporary tank where she will stay for a two week quarantine. Pictures of my new little miss are in the next post...


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

*Introducing... Momo-hime!*

After kicking around names for a day, I settled on a name for my peach girl. I considered Princess Peach at first, and my fiance suggested Momo, the Japanese word for peach. I thought it was cute, so I added "-hime", which means princess in Japanese, to the end of it. So, yes, she is literally named Princess Peach. We call her Momo for short.

Her temporary tank is a 1.5 gallon, but she's so tiny she makes it look bigger than it is. She was absolutely fascinated by the heater at first and kept going over to poke at it. She seemed to know what pellets are, or she figured it out almost immediately that I was offering her food because she gladly ate the three NLS pellets I gave her the first night she was home. She can manage the slightly larger Omega One pellets as well, but I prefer to give her the NLS since she has an easier time with them because of their smaller size. She's a little unsure about me wiggling my finger at her, but hopefully she'll get used to it soon. I can't help that I like to wave at my bettas or wiggle my fingers that them. 

Now... she seems like she's a bit of a glass surfer. :/ Not happy about that. It may have something to do with the printer paper I put on the right side of her tank so that she and Yurei won't be staring at each other. I'll probably borrow some black or blue construction paper from work tomorrow to see if a darker-colored barrier will make a difference.

Still, she is so dang adorable! And she makes Yurei look huge and slow in comparison. But I love them both. 

Oh, the last picture is the parameters from Momo's cup before I started acclimating her to her tank. 0.50 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 20 nitrate. They're really not that bad for coming from a pet store. The Petsmart where I got her really seem to care about their animals, even the bettas.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

*Now for a Yurei post!*

September 20 was Yurei's one-year gotcha day.  It's hard to believe I got a mostly white fish with a few spots of color and ended up with a mostly blue fish with a stripe of pearl white-pink on his body. I still think he's so beautiful. He's not always the smartest betta, but at least he's pretty, and he knows it, haha.

Yurei has started building bubble nests now and then, which I love. He's also started jumping impatiently if food isn't being dropped in quickly enough at feeding time, which I'm not so happy about, but no harm has come of it so far. He got a water change yesterday, and his anubias plants are doing well. He seems to love sitting in the smaller anubias, which is funny since it was his originally before I moved it to Rakki's tank because it wasn't doing well with Yurei's old lighting.

Here are some new pictures of Yurei!


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

*A story about why Walmart sucks to round out the night*

Although I don't have space for another betta and really wouldn't want to buy a fish from Walmart anyway, I like to go and see what kind of fish and bettas they have in stock when I go grocery shopping. Walmart had my hopes up for a little while that they had stopped selling fish, but no, they started again. I assume they were doing a big cleaning of their tanks or an upgrade or something. Regardless, fish are sold at my Walmart again. :/

I checked the bettas tonight, and my first thought was, "Oh, are they selling fiddler crabs in betta cups now?" Um, nope. Some horrible person had gotten a fiddler crab out of one of the tanks and put it in a cup with a crowntail betta. I was pissed. I looked for an associate and couldn't find one. I went back to check on the betta and the crab, and I realized it was even worse than I thought. Not only had someone put a crab in a betta cup with a betta, they thought it'd be fun to pour another betta in there as well. There were TWO crowntail bettas AND a fiddler crab in one betta cup! Ohhhh, I was LIVID.

I finally found an associate who looked like she was coming back from her break and asked her, "Is there any way I could get an associate in the fish aisle?" She said she'd find one. I went back to keep an eye on the critters and waited. And waited. The two bettas were trying to avoid the crab, and one betta was clamped to try to appease the other betta. The dominant betta was starting act aggressively, and I decided I wasn't going to wait and would take care of it myself. The jerk who put the critters together left the net which they had, I assume, used to get the crab on the shelf with the cups, and I used it to net the submissive betta and put him back in his cup, then poured some of the water from the other cup in so the two cups were equal. This left me with the dilemma of the crab who was still one of the betta cups.

An associate wandered by while I was looking at the tanks trying to figure out which tank the crab came from. He asked me, "Were you wanting a fish?" I told him, "No, actually I have a problem over here." I showed the cup with the betta and the crab and explained to him that I had already removed a second betta from the cup and returned it to its own cup. He looked so lost for a minute, so I explained that the crab still needed to be removed from the cup and put back in its tank. He took the cup to the sink, and looked for the smaller net, which of course was still on the betta shelf. I went and got it for him, and he netted the crab and put it back in its tank. He took the betta, which was finally alone in its cup, back to the shelf. I thanked him for taking care of the crab and went on my way.

Seriously, Walmart needs locks on their fish tanks, and some kind of glass cabinet with a lock for the bettas which can only be unlocked when someone wants to look at the fish. No one keeps an eye on them, so any idiot or sadistic subhuman can come along and do whatever sick thing they want. So frustrating and disappointing. Still, I knew there was a good reason I look at the betta shelf when I got to Walmart, even if it makes me sad or pisses me off most of the time.

I'm sorry I get long-winded when I tell stories, especially when I write, but I wanted to tell this story and vent a little to people who will understand.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Momo got her first 50% water change last night. I was going to wait until tonight, but her water was cloudy, and I didn't like that. She did well and was very curious about the turkey baster. I think she's gotten used to the paper I put on the side of her tank to block her and Yurei's view of each other. She's no longer glass surfing; instead, she's zipping all over her tank when she's not begging for food.  She loves swimming between the thermometer and the wall of her tank, just like Rakki used to. I think she's going to love all the space in the 5 gallon when I move her over in a couple of weeks. I'm honestly glad I chose a veiltail. It feels right somehow that she'll be the one to live in Rakki's old tank and make it her own.

Yurei has been showing off more than normal. I don't know if he remembers seeing that pretty little lady fish, or if he's getting jealous because my attention is divided now between him and Momo. 

I was thinking about how grateful I am to have found this forum. I love gushing over my fish. Then again, don't most people here? We're all here because we love our fish and this is a place where we can talk about them without seeming crazy, right? I know that's why I'm here.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Just wanted to share some newer photos of Momo and Yurei. If I thought Yurei was difficult to photograph, Momo is about ten times harder being so small and quick without heavy fins to weigh her down.

So far, Momo isn't as interactive as Yurei is or as Rakki was. I'm hoping she'll be a little more sociable in the 5 gallon when I move her over, which should be happening this weekend. Even if she isn't, I'll still love her. She's my adorable zippy little peach princess.

I want to get Momo a floating mesh tube like Yurei has. I still have Rakki's old brown one, but I want to get one just for her. I'm thinking either a lavender one like Yurei has, or a light blue to complement her peachy orange coloration. Not quite sure on the color yet.

Yurei is doing well. He's built a small bubble nest again, and he loves wedging himself in between the leaves of his smaller anubias where the leaves grow from the rhizome. You'll see what I mean from some of the pictures in my last photo post. If he's not there, he's hanging out in his tube or swimming through his flower ball cave.

I absolutely love the attached photo of Yurei. He's so damn cute!


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Here's a little story about Momo that I forgot to mention in the previous post. It turns out she's a pretty smart little betta.

The other night, I was giving Momo her evening pellets, and I dropped one in that was bigger than I thought. I felt a little bad, but she knew what to do! She grabbed the pellet, spit it out, then grabbed it again and held it in her mouth until the water softened it enough for her to chomp down. I love hearing her crunch on her pellets.  Is that weird?


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

I may have overdone it with my nerves a little bit tonight. I've had no official diagnosis, but I'm pretty sure I have an anxiety disorder, possibly generalized anxiety disorder. Despite managing my anxiety with holy basil extract, I still get overwhelmed sometimes.

Tonight, I decided to clean out Rakki's empty tank finally to start preparing it for Momo. I was feeling a little emotional as I drained water, scraped out sand, and washed or trashed ornaments. It's a big step for me, and it's not easy because it means Rakki is really and truly gone except for my memories and photos of him. Still, I found some enjoyment in the work, and now the tank is clean, has new sand, is filled with fresh water, and has the filter, also cleaned, running to help with any cloudiness. Empty for now, but with the potential to be a comfortable home for its new occupant.

Add that stress to these two occurrences tonight... First, Yurei was swimming oddly for a few moments earlier and made my paranoid self think he was having problems with his swim bladder. He's fine, the little nut. Then, I noticed Momo was a little clamped. I did a 50% water change real quick, and she seems fine now.

I just don't know about these fish sometimes. Good thing they're pretty and all the joy they bring me outweighs the occasional trouble they cause me, right? :lol:


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## DaytonBetta (Feb 4, 2014)

Both your fish are so cute! I love the name, Momo.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

DaytonBetta said:


> Both your fish are so cute! I love the name, Momo.


Thank you, DaytonBetta!


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Last night was the night for Momo! When I started working on the tank last night, it was empty except for the sand and the filter. I put in the rest of her decorations and silk plants, then put in the heater to get the water at the right temperature. Once it was ready, I cupped Momo, much to her horror and displeasure, and floated the cup in the tank to acclimate her. Since everything was very similar already, I only let her float and added water every few minutes for twenty minutes before I released her. During her acclimation time, I added in the rest of her plants and decorations.

Poor Momo seemed a little confused at first about all the space and new things to explore, but she's settled in nicely. Any guesses about what she was most interested in investigating? The filter? The dragon ornament? Nope and nope. Of all the things that could possibly interest her, she was most intrigued by the sand. She kept going down to the bottom to stare at the sand. :lol: I had fun watching her check out the filter as she allowed herself to drift in the current and poked at the filter foam (? I always forget the exact name of the stuff) I'm using to baffle the filter.

She looks so small, but I think she's happy in her new home. I know I'm happy to finally have her there, even if I do lose track of her now and then. :-D


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

I'm pretty upset with Yurei right now. He tore a chunk out of his tail.  This is only the second time he's ever inflicted damage on his fins that I can recall despite him being a delta tail. My beautiful boy. 

The only difference lately has been Momo, and I'm worried he's stressed by her somehow, even though her tank is on the other side of the room. I wonder if he can see her and he's getting frustrated because he can't get to her, or if he's getting jealous because there's a new betta and my attention is divided again after two months of him getting it all.

I guess Yurei's getting an extra water change this week. I might find a way to block one side of his tank so he can't see Momo anymore. And of course, extra attention to see if that helps, and also just because I love him.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Hello again! Yurei and Momo are doing well. 

This might get a little rambly...

Both fish got 50% water changes last night. For some reason, I'm the most awake between 10:00 pm and midnight, so the water changes were done between 11:00 pm. I had to scrub algae off Yurei's plants, but otherwise it was an easy water change. I had to perform surgery on his smaller anubias as half the rhizome was turning yellow, but it seems to be doing fine now, although it is making do with considerably less rhizome. One of his Marimos is turning a little brown in places, so I made sure the brown areas are facing up in the hopes that more light on that side will help. It took a little maneuvering to get his anubias and floating tube back in the tank in such a way that he was happy with them. He seems to love his underwater jungle.

Momo is happy and zipping around like she always does. I've had her for a month today! I tested her water parameters to make sure the Tetra SafeStart had done its job, and everything looks great. 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrite, 20ppm nitrate before her water change. My new floating tubes from ricepattyfish5 arrived a few days ago, so I gave one to Momo. She bolted and hid when I first put it in the tank. Then she peaked out from behind the filter and slooooowly approached the tube. She stared at it and poked it a few times. Then she ever so cautiously entered one side of the tube and swam through to the other side. Apparently she decided she likes it because I see her swim through it now and then. At least she likes it more than her flower ball cave, which she has completely ignored so far. :roll:

I haven't blocked Yurei's view of Momo, but I'm thinking I may not have to. He's been behaving himself since the random bout of fin biting, and while he's still building bubble nests fairly frequently, he's behaving normally otherwise. I think he'll be fine. Momo hasn't given any sign of caring about the presence of another betta in the room since she was move to her 5 gallon. Still, if either of them seems stressed, I'll make sure to block them from seeing each other.

I honestly wish I could get a 10 gallon tank for Yurei. He's fine in his 5 gallon, but after seeing how big Momo makes her 5 gallon look, Yurei's tank looks small somehow. But then I'd have an empty 5 gallon, and we all know what happens when there's an extra tank sitting around...

On a different note, I bought a little glass bubble bowl the other day. It looks like it'll hold roughly a gallon of water. My plan is to make it into a little zen underwater garden, so I've been poking around on Pinterest for ideas. I'm thinking white pebbles or sand, a Marimo ball or two, and maybe some little shells and amethysts. The bowl is sitting empty on my bathroom counter until I can go to Petsmart to find my perfect Marimo.

My eldest cat, Socks, has been on antibiotics for a UTI for the past ten days, and she'll finish out the pills Thursday night. The vet wants her to come back for another panel of blood tests on Saturday because one of the levels was a little high the last time she was tested. It could have been due to stress at the vet or the meds she's on for her allergies, but I'm still a little worried. She's fifteen years old, and she's been in good health other than her allergies and a bit of arthritis, but I still worry. I guess the best thing to do is to take things one day at a time and give her all the love she can stand.

So that's what's new here. I'll post some pictures soon if I can get Momo to stay still long enough!


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

*Yurei, Destroyer of Fins*

Ugh, I am so mad at Yurei right now!

I came home from work about an hour ago and turned on my aquarium lights. I was horrified to discover that Yurei had ripped a huge chunk out of his tail. Oh, but it gets better (or worse?). I found the chunk of fin on the floor of the aquarium. At first I thought Yurei was hiding behind his Marimo ball because I was mad at him. Oh no, he was waiting for the perfect moment to snatch up the chunk of fin. Parade around the tank with it. And then eat it before my eyes. I guess now I know why I never saw scraps of detached fins lying around the tank from previous bouts of fin destruction. WTF, fish.

He looks pretty ridiculous now when he flares. I think a guppy might be more intimidating than him now. Hopefully it grows back quickly.

Just in case Momo is somehow stressing him, I taped a scrap of background over the right side of his tank and put printer paper over it to finish blocking his view of her.

So upset. So very very upset. He may have convinced me to only buy females and plakats in the future so I don't have to deal with this ridiculous fin destruction.

Also, I'm pretty sure he's not getting fed tonight. That chunk of fin should be enough to fill his little jerk belly.

Photos for illustration.


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

omg! took me a while to see that was on the gravel until I started to read. What a brat waiting until you got home to show it off than eat it. D=


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Yeah, he's a little brat. :/

He was fine this morning when I checked in him and fed him. I think he'll be getting a water change tonight even he got one on Saturday. Gotta keep that water extra clean, especially considering how close to his body he ripped that fin. I'm just hoping he won't do it again now that he can't see Momo anymore.


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

D= man more work for mama too. Gah making your life stressful isn't he.


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## Schmoo (Oct 3, 2014)

Oh, Yurei! D: 

And Momo is a lovely little girl. <3


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

I think I'll forgive him as long as it heals and starts to grow back soon. ;-)

And thank you, Schmoo! I think she's lovely, too.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

*Yurei Update with Photos*

So far there is no more damage to Yurei's tail, thank goodness. I've been really paranoid about the possibility of it getting infected and starting to rot since he ripped the fin so close to his body, but I think it looks okay and hope it will start to show definite signs of regrowth soon. Otherwise, Yurei is his normal self, demanding attention and food, although not necessarily in that order.

Maybe he wanted to dress up as a double tail for Halloween? :lol: :roll:

Also, um, please excuse the algae on his floating tube. I didn't scrub it during his last water change, although I guess I should have...


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

*Momo Update with Photos*

Momo is finally becoming more sociable. She saw me come into the room earlier and came out from behind a plant to wiggle for attention, so of course I indulged her for a few minutes. I would have loved her regardless, but I'm so glad she's becoming friendlier. :-D

She is, however, still impossible to photograph. The photos in this post are the only ones where she wasn't a little orange blur.

The last photo cracked me up, so I had to share it. It was as though she was saying, "We're done here. No more photos please." :lol:


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## Schmoo (Oct 3, 2014)

Momo is suuuuch a cutie pie! <3


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Schmoo said:


> Momo is suuuuch a cutie pie! <3


Thank you.  I just wish she'd stay still long enough for me to get a good photo. She has a knack for moving at the exact moment I press the button to take a picture.


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## Schmoo (Oct 3, 2014)

LadyNightraven said:


> Thank you.  I just wish she'd stay still long enough for me to get a good photo. She has a knack for moving at the exact moment I press the button to take a picture.


That's how my Revan was. Maybe it's just a female thing? xD


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Schmoo said:


> That's how my Revan was. Maybe it's just a female thing? xD


Could be. They just love showing off how light and fast they are. :lol:


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## Schmoo (Oct 3, 2014)

LadyNightraven said:


> Could be. They just love showing off how light and fast they are. :lol:


They seem to! 

I almost want to get another female, once I get my new, bigger tank all set up. :lol: They're just so sweet.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

I've heard it's a bad idea to keep males and females in the same tank, even in a divided tank. I couldn't say for sure though since I've never tried it myself. Not sure if that's what you meant though. 

I love having a female. She's so sassy and funny. Definitely different from having a male. Not better, of course, just different.


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## AlwaysAnimals (Oct 21, 2014)

I had Lava (F) and Flash (M) in the same tank, divided. They did just fine... however, they were both next to each other since babyhood since I got them both at the same time as Petco babies. That may have helped their situation.

P.S. Makes me miss Lava now, too!


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

I'd forgotten all about that, AA! Lava was such a pretty little girl.


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## Schmoo (Oct 3, 2014)

LadyNightraven said:


> I've heard it's a bad idea to keep males and females in the same tank, even in a divided tank. I couldn't say for sure though since I've never tried it myself. Not sure if that's what you meant though.
> 
> I love having a female. She's so sassy and funny. Definitely different from having a male. Not better, of course, just different.


Oh, I wouldn't put them together. I know AA had luck with it, but I'd prefer not to. If I did, she'd go in one of my smaller tanks - the 2.5 or 5 gallon. c: Probably the 2.5 because it's in a nice spot in my room right now, and I'd like to keep it there (my plan is to move the community 10g down onto the main floor of the condo).


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Schmoo said:


> Oh, I wouldn't put them together. I know AA had luck with it, but I'd prefer not to. If I did, she'd go in one of my smaller tanks - the 2.5 or 5 gallon. c: Probably the 2.5 because it's in a nice spot in my room right now, and I'd like to keep it there (my plan is to move the community 10g down onto the main floor of the condo).


That sounds really nice.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

*11/25/15 Update*

My goodness, has it really been almost a month since I last updated?

Honestly, there isn't much to report with the bettas. Yurei and Momo are both great. Yurei has been happily bubble nesting, and his tail is showing lots of new growth. Momo is her sweet, curious, easily distracted self.

I've had Momo for two months today! And Yurei has been here for...*calculates*...one year, two months, and five days. 

I'm still playing with the idea of whether or not to try a nerite snail in one of my tanks. Yurei's tank is more mature, so a snail would probably find more to eat there, but Momo seems like she's sweeter and would be more tolerant of a snail. Hmm. I think my decision will ultimately be made if there are nerites at Petsmart next time I have a chance to go. If neither one of my bettas will accept a snail, well, I always have my little 1.5 gallon for it to live in. I should probably try to find some aquarium-safe rocks soon though and try to grow some algae for quarantine since I understand nerites can be very picky.

How about some pictures? Pictures are always nice. :-D Yurei and Momo photo spams coming up!

Also, if you are celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow, I hope you and yours have a Happy Thanksgiving!


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

*Yurei Photo Update*

Yurei photos! He wouldn't let me get a great picture of his tail and its regrowth, but I think you still get the idea. I think he's beautiful no matter what.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

*Momo Photo Update*

And here's Momo! She's such a cute little peachy girl!

Also, please excuse the poo in some of the photos. She's also my little poo machine. :lol:


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## Tress (Jun 6, 2014)

Aww Momo is adorable <33

Omg Yurei has gotten so blue x.x he's like a complete reverse of what he was. Is he still marbling or has he stabilized?


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## Schmoo (Oct 3, 2014)

Momo~! <3

Caedus has that same flower ball decor. He absolutely loves it.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Tress said:


> Aww Momo is adorable <33
> 
> Omg Yurei has gotten so blue x.x he's like a complete reverse of what he was. Is he still marbling or has he stabilized?


Thank you.  I'm pretty smitten with her.

Yurei seems to have stabilized. I haven't noticed any significant changes lately, but who know with marbles, right?




Schmoo said:


> Momo~! <3
> 
> Caedus has that same flower ball decor. He absolutely loves it.


Momo doesn't seem to care one way or the other about hers, lol. But it's there if she wants it. I'm glad Caedus likes his.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Hey, all! It's been a while, hasn't it? Let me assure you right off that Yurei and Momo are both doing well. 

Momo is still Momo, inquisitive, active, and sweet. She's only flared a couple of times in the...almost seven months I've had her. Holy cow, almost seven months already! She's a little piranha when she eats though, jumping across the tank and even jumping up and biting my finger if I don't manage to drop in a pellet quickly enough. In fact, she managed to bite my finger tonight when I fed her. :lol:

Yurei has been having some constipation issues the last couple of weeks. This finally prompted me to try frozen food. I checked my nearest Petco and Petsmart for frozen daphnia, but neither one had it. Many other choices, but not what I was needing. So I sucked it up and paid $25 in shipping to buy it online from Doctors Foster and Smith. I got both daphnia and bloodworms to make it worth my money, at least. The bloodworms are being saved for after Yurei's constipation issue is under control.

Since the frozen foods arrived today, I fed some of the daphnia to Yurei. It was a bit of a learning curve for both of us, but I thawed the daphnia in a cup and fed it with a toothpick. I'd been fasting him, so he attacked the toothpick, the little goober. He decided that wasn't a good idea and was more patient after the first daphnia, letting me put it in the water before he went for it. I lost count of how many I gave him, to be honest, but I think it was around eight or ten. Hopefully that wasn't too much. :-?

Daphnia are so tiny! I'm glad he actually saw most of the individual daphnia I put in for him. I still can't figure out if he has some problems with his vision or if he is a bit of a dim bulb since he doesn't always see his pellets right away. But at least he's pretty. :lol:

The bettas are great otherwise, and the cats are doing well, too! That's all that's new here! If you decide to peek in after all this time, hello and thanks for stopping in!


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## AstrosMom (Apr 7, 2016)

Your fish are so pretty! :-D

**Edit** I hit the quick save instead of advanced... :lol:

What is that flower ball thing in your tank? I'm not sure if Astro would like it, but I sure do! ;-)


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Thank you. 

I got the flowerball caves at Petco. Here's a link: http://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/fish/fish-tank-decor/petco-flowerball-aquarium-decor

In addition to the colors (yellow, purple, and pink) on the website, there's also a light blue one. Yurei has the purple one and really likes it, and Momo uses her pink one now and then. They fit really well in anything from a 1.5 gallon cube tank to a 5 gallon tank. I love how they're cute and offer a nice place to hide without being too bulky.


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## AstrosMom (Apr 7, 2016)

That's a cave! That is too cute! They are out of stock, but hopefully I can get my hands on one. I'll have to look around. 

What is the mesh net thing Yurei (post 312) is hiding in? It looks like plastic canvas to me. Sorry I'm asking so many questions.  Astro's tank is pretty bare, and I'm only a week into fish ownership! :lol:


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

It is indeed plastic canvas glued to hold the tube shape.  If you're crafty, you can probably find DIY tutorials online to make your own. I'm not very crafty, so I bought mine from ricepattyfish5 on this forum. Here's a link to her sale thread: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=355170 She also has a website, which should be linked in her signature. Her prices and shipping are really reasonable, and the tubes are well-made and hold up really well over time and are available in lots of colors.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

If you read the previous post about Yurei having some digestive issues, I have an update. The daphnia seems to have done its work, and he has finally pooped after over two weeks. If I were anywhere else on the internet but this forum, I would feel ridiculous being so excited that my fish finally pooped. But we're all crazy fish people here, so it's okay, right? :lol:


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## AstrosMom (Apr 7, 2016)

LadyNightraven said:


> It is indeed plastic canvas glued to hold the tube shape.  If you're crafty, you can probably find DIY tutorials online to make your own. I'm not very crafty, so I bought mine from ricepattyfish5 on this forum. Here's a link to her sale thread: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=355170 She also has a website, which should be linked in her signature. Her prices and shipping are really reasonable, and the tubes are well-made and hold up really well over time and are available in lots of colors.


I love doing crafty things. My grandma might even have some plastic canvas I can -steal-. Thanks so much for letting me take over your thread for decor options.:-D


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

AstrosMom said:


> I love doing crafty things. My grandma might even have some plastic canvas I can -steal-. Thanks so much for letting me take over your thread for decor options.:-D


You're welcome! I love seeing new people come into the hobby. Do you have any plants in Astro's tank yet? I have mostly silk plants in my two tanks since plastic plants can tear a betta's delicate fins. Live plants are great, too. I'm still not real confident about keeping aquatic plants, but I have two anubias plants in each tank and some Marimo balls which are all doing pretty well and are really easy to take care of.

EDIT: I just discovered your journal! I'm reading through it now.


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## AstrosMom (Apr 7, 2016)

I have one live plant...I bought it for a terrarium, so I threw out the container and have NO CLUE what it is. :lol: Regretably, I do have a plastic plant in the tank...I have been watching Astro - she's not too keen on it. So I'll be taking it out when I have something to replace it with. I need hardy plants. I keep cacti and succulents in my room - those do okay. Aquatic plants I'm not so sure about. I saw Marimo balls at Petco and they did not look so good the last time I was there, so I passed on that opportunity. I have taken to the idea of "floaters." However, I do not actually have a hood with a light, so...there's that to work on. Right now silk plants might be my best option, although I am really interested in live ones.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

*Yurei Update and Photos*

Yurei is starting to look a little bloated again, even though I'm not feeding him as much as before. Looks like he'll be getting more frozen daphnia in a couple of days. If I end up having to give him daphnia once a week for the rest of his days, I'm okay with that as long as it keeps him healthy. At least he's still acting like his normal self.

Here are some new photos of Yurei. I got a new smartphone recently, so I think these are a little better quality than my previous phone photos. You can see that his vertical white stripe he used to have behind his gills has filled in with blue. And I even got a couple of photos of him flaring!

I know it's a lot of photos, but he's just so damn pretty, haha.


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

*Momo Update and Photos*

Momo is still great. She's starting to get a little bit of black edging on some of her scales, but she's still so damn cute. She hardly ever stays in one spot and loves to continuously explore everything in her tank. She's most active when her tank light is on, and that seems to be her favorite time for attention. Because she hardly ever stays still, I have a hard time getting decent photos of her, but here are a few that turned out decently. :-D


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## LadyNightraven (Jun 30, 2013)

Last weekend when my fiance and I went to the pet stores, although I didn't find the frozen food I wanted, I did pick up a new Marimo ball and a bag of gravel and some decorative stones for something I'd been wanting to put together for a while. Here's my Marimo bowl. It lives in our bathroom since that's about the only place the cats won't bother it.


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