# MsAqua's Fishy Journal



## MsAqua (Sep 29, 2013)

10/6/2013
I figured sure, why not start a journal. Then I can put down lists of what I want to do once I have the money and keep track of what fishies I have. 
Especially since I now have an obsession with caring for fish. Well sort of an obsession. 
When I was living with my parents still, I convinced them to set their 50 gallon tank back up [it's been years since our first adventure with that tank]. All the fish have been dying off lately and of those that are left there is a major bully that is actually taking pieces out of their "competition." One tiger barb, from his eyes forward, was missing his face. He literally had his face taken off. Now the last tiger barb is showing battle scars on his face. We're not sure who the bully is but they're brutal. 
Anywayyyyy, now that I've been in a different house since June, I've been wanting some pets here of my own. I never expected to pick up a betta fish. I've always thought that betta fish are pretty but I never really shown much interest. Now that I have Diablo I don't know what I was thinking! Haha. I love him and would LOVE to get more. 
In fact, I posted a status on my Facebook saying that if anyone had fish tanks just sitting around collecting dust that I would take them. I did not expect so many replies. I've been offered a 20 gal, a 55 gal, a 75 gal, and a couple other tanks that they didn't say the size of. I was like geez. I'll take as many as I can. I don't know what it is but setting up tanks and caring for fish just appeals to me. I've always been called a fish, even when I was little, primarily because I'm drawn to water. I love to swim and could swim the day away if allowed and the sun doesn't burn me to a crisp. But I didn't realize how much of a water person I really am. Haha. Maybe I should have went into Marine biology rather than veterinary technology. Not sure where I'd get a job around here but eh. 

I have so much that I'd like to do, fish tank wise, but I cannot afford to do it all at once. No way. I'm just getting by as it is. We're lucky my fiance's great grandma and grandma are letting us stay in the house we're in. We don't have many bills to pay but we're both in debt. But anyway. My imagination has just run wild since I've acquired Diablo.

I also found Aquabid through here and while there are SOOO many beautiful bettas on there, they are so expensive. I could buy and set up whole new tanks for as much money as I'd have to put into just one betta on there. I know that shipping live animals is costly and puts the animal at risk and such but DANG! 

I would love to have a sorority tank of bettas and would love to have one or two more males. That alone will require some work and money. But would be well worth it. And I've been really debating on doing a planted tank but I have no idea where to start, how to clean a tank like that or if you even have to, and so on. And I have no idea what kind of plants to look into. So I don't know. I have a large order of silk plants that I ordered off petco.com coming so we'll see what all that looks like. I want to get Diablo out of that 1.5 gal tank and get him into the 10 gal I have from my parent's. I was going to divide it for him and Tyreal but unfortunately Tyreal passed on. So unless I find another male betta or two, he might end up having the whole tank to himself. I'm not sure just yet. 
But back to my list:
Sorority tank
My fiance wants a Glofish tank
Any planted tank of some sort
A bigger tank for Diablo
A freshwater tank [MOLLIESSSSSSSS! <3]
Learn how to breed bettas?

It's going to require quite abit of money, which I don't have. But I'm going to try and spend some money here and there on fish tank stuff. I'll eventually get some of the things I want. I want to get a Glofish tank set up for my fiance, Travis, as a Christmas present so once I get Diablo into his new tank and possibly buy more bettas, I'm going to start work on it.

I know, I keep rambling on and on but you came here to read it didn't you? Haha. 
I think Travis is tired of hearing me go on and on about what I want to do with the fish tanks and what fish I want and such. So I need to get it off my chest somewhere. :-D​


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## MsAqua (Sep 29, 2013)

10/9/13

Is it Friday yet? I'm uber excited for Friday. Friday is my payday and we plan to make a trip to both Walmart and out to Petsmart! I need to pick up a filter, heater, gravel, and such for the 10 gal tank I have here. I also need a lid and light for it. :S Not sure if Petsmart will have any. Walmart has really expensive ones. 
But once I gather up all the supplies for it, I'm going to get the 10 gallon tank set up and get it at least running. Want to get the water cycled and ready then I'm going to do one of two things, get Diablo out of his 1.5 gal and place him in this tank with another male on a divided side. Or I may just say that he is alright in his current tank and acquire a group of females to try and start a sorority. It all depends on what sort of betta I find at both Walmart and Petsmart. [Walmart will be lucky I don't buy up all their bettas just to rescue them from the treatment they'd get there.] 
If I choose to get another male or two, then I might look into the prices on grabbing up another tank. I'm not sure. I've had a lot of people offer us big tanks and I might have to snatch up one or two of them. I just don't have all the supplies I'd need to maintain says a 50 gallon tank. I'd need a gravel vacuum and different conditioners and such. I'd also need to acquire a bunch of fake plants OR start a planted tank though I would need a lot of help since I would have no clue where to begin.
Either way, I'm super excited to see what sort of bettas I come across. The last couple times we have visited Petsmart they have had some really unique bettas. More than just the typical blue and red ones they have. I wish I could have snatched up some of them. But we shall see. Once I've acquired more, I will definitely be posting pictures! I promise on that one! 

Oh and an update on my lovey, Diablo. We have rearranged our living room a bit and have taken him out of our room. I figured the lighting would be better and he'd get to see what is going on out here. He seems to be ok out here. After the water change he quickly went to making another bubble nest, since I had to destroy his other one. He's also eating Omega One pellets for me but I have to at least split the pellets once or twice for him to do so. When we head to Petsmart I'll be picking up some Omega One food since he isn't being quite so picky. I'm also going to look into other foods to try. Not sure what I'm going to do with the food and such that I bought from Walmart. I don't know anyone in the area with bettas that will eat it. :/ But we'll see. ​


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## MsAqua (Sep 29, 2013)

10/12/2013

Heehee. I'm so happy. Yesterday, me, Travis, and my sister Abby made a 45 minute drive out to Petsmart. AND BOUGHT HALF THE STORE! Haha. Not really. Though we did take up half of their stock of females. 

The 3 of us searched through the groups of bettas, looking for ones we liked. I have that 10 gallon tank to use, afterall. So We decided on starting a sorority. Especially since the females seemed to outnumber the males they had. None of the males really caught my attention, either. 
We picked out 5 crowntail females and 1 veiltail. Well before we left all of us fell in love with a male on one of the shelves. A blue and white colored dragon scale plakat. So we had to pick him up too. So I am now up 7 more bettas. Making it 8 in total. 
6 crowntails, 1 veiltail, and 1 plakat. ^.^

We picked up all of the supplies to start up the 10 gallon tank as well. The silk plants I ordered from Petco also came in yesterday so it was perfect timing.








There's the large hide (sorta) and a total of 6 full silk plants. Then two pieces from a plant that I cut up. I think it looks really nice. Another member said that there should be more plants in it. I'm not entirely sure where I'm going to fit in plants without hiding the whole thing but we'll see. I still have a few plants laying around that I could use. I also have another decoration we had picked up to put it in as a hide. I might find a spot inside to try and put it in too.

Anyway. There's 6 young females now, all nameless. 
The veiltail female is a nice little girl with red coloring. Then the crowntails are all different shades. One is a pretty blue color that changes to shades of green as she moves. Another is a light almost white color on her body with small, dark spots in random spots. Her fins must be fairly faded because she seems to be getting in some blue now that she's here. The one with lots of attitude is a grayish blue color. They other is a gray color and almost has purple coloring to her finnage. Then the last (who did her darndest to get my attention by showing off her coloring) has a dark colored body with a slight blue tint and red fins. 
I'm hoping they all get along with each other though it wouldn't change the fact that I adore them all. ^.^

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## MsAqua (Sep 29, 2013)

10-14-2013

I did 100% water changes for everyone today. This gave me the chance to get a good look at how everyone is doing. I also manage to snap some pics of everyone while they were in their cups waiting for their homes to be cleaned. 
Can't wait to get these girls into the tank and out of these containers. ^.^


Diablo
Diablo is doing pretty good. I don't think he's too thrilled to have other bettas around him though. He seems sort of depressed unless it comes to bubbles. He had a HUGE bubble nest in the corner of his tank. I'm sure he'll rebuild it after this water change.
He's pouting like a big baby in the pic below. You can see some of the left over bubbles floating there too.









Triton
Triton is enjoying having more space. He's all over that tank throughout the day. I think he tires himself out, honestly, cuz there have been a couples times where he sits at the very bottom for abit.
He's looking so much better than when we bought him.









Athena
Athena seems to be ok. She's gets excited at feeding time and eats great. She still has stress stripes on her though. I'm not sure what to do to help. Hoping that they fade before the end of quarantine.
I can never get good pics of her but you can make out her colors and see her stress stripes.

















Darcy
Darcy is a spitfire. She's definitely got an attitude on her and viciously grabs the food when I feed her. Like there is an actual noise when she snatches it up. Right now, she's the only one I think might pose a problem in the bigger tank. Maybe. She might surprise me. But I get the feeling she'll try to be head honcho.

















Jade
Jade is either really laid back or just lazy. She doesn't move very fast unless there's food involved, really. Well, at least when I peek at her. 
She's such a pretty girl. <3

















Luna
Luna is a very active girl. She also seems to change colors. Well...maybe. She's definitely different from when we chose her. The spots and coloring around her head definitely show better. Though I wonder if the red that I see around her head is just coloring or maybe something I should worry about. 
The color of her fins change with how she moves, I noticed. 

















Phoenix
Phoenix is such a sweet girl. She loves to greet me when I come into the living room in the mornings. She also enjoys to pose for pictures....except when we did the water change today. Haha. Although it very well could have been my camera. It didn't want to focus on any of them right.

















Selene
I haven't really noticed much about Selene except that she's a brat. If I put a piece of food in the tank that she thinks is too big, she'll hold it in her mouth and swim around with it. And I know that's what she does because she'll just spit it out and leave it after I freak out and worry. Little booger.
Couldn't get the camera to focus on her but you can see her coloring.


















10 Gallon Update
I added more plants to the tank and put the other hide inside, so there are plenty of hiding places inside. I also added some more stress zyme to the water. I've also kept an eye on the temp. The heater keeps it at a steady 78 degrees. I'm a little worried that the filter might be causing too much of a current so I need to look into aquarium sponges. 
We also have test strips for the tank but it doesn't measure ammonia. So I either need to invest in a big testing kit like my parents have or....I dunno. I'll probably stick a strip in here in a little bit to see what I get.
But, it's going good so far. ^.^
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## MsAqua (Sep 29, 2013)

10/16/13

Everyone is doing pretty well today. The girls still have great appetites. 
Triton is still all over the place. 
Diablo....well. He seems depressed. He'll randomly just float near the bottom and sit there for a little bit before floating back up. I'm not sure whether to be worried or not. Nothing else seems to be wrong. He's got his bubble nest built again and he eats fine. 
And now, I have two more boys to care for. Their names are Casta and Alistair, both veiltails.
Me and my little sister were at Walmart after a very.....bad event at my work with a family friend yesterday. I had been to Walmart once already, early in the morning after work. And both times there were only two betta fish left on the shelves. Two veiltails in some nasty water. I felt awful the first time I saw them but I walked away....I do not want to support Walmart's fish section. It only leads to them bringing in more fish and more bettas dying unnecessarily. But my little sister couldn't do it. She wanted to save them and got mad when I even suggested leaving them there. So, I am now caring for both boys for my sister.
They're much happier with the space they have and they have both eaten for me. Well, Casta spit out pellets the first time but he actually ate one or two this morning. 
And since there isn't really any room on the shelf everyone else is on, they're on top of one of our bookshelves. 

I'm a crazy betta woman and I love it. Haha. :-D​


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## MsAqua (Sep 29, 2013)

10/17/13

Time for updates on the fishiesssssssssss. :-D
I took pics of everyone and uploaded them into my albums. ^.^

Buuuut anywayyyy. I've been keeping a close eye on my sister's bettas. Alistair is doing really well. He has a big bubble nest in the corner of the container and he's not as shy. He now understands that when I lift the lid, I'm feeding him. So he eagerly awaits food.
Casta, on the other hand, is not so social. He tries his darndest to avoid me, if anything. When I lift the lid to put in food, he retreats under one of the silk leaves or as far away as he can. He also tends to just float near the bottom or wedge himself under one of the silk plants. I think Walmart scared the poor fish. 
They were both so shy and scared when we brought them home. Alistair has adjusted quickly, Casta has not. I'm hoping he perks up soon. 
But the Walmart employees that care for the fish need smacked upside the head. These fish were so unhappy in those conditions. *shakes head* 

Other than that, everyone else is doing very well. Well, Diablo is still acting depressed and upset though. Travis said something about Diablo possibly getting old and slowing down. Considering he's from Walmart, who knows how old this fish is. Just hoping he perks up some. :/

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## MsAqua (Sep 29, 2013)

10-26-13

Got some updatesssssssssss. Woot woot. Haha. 
We went shopping yesterday. Our first stop was at Walmart and I was very happy with them. All the fish had fresh water including some of the ones from the last time I went. Now if they care for them like that all the time, I'll be good.
Also made a trip to Petsmart yesterday. There were a lot of bettas but none of them looked good at all. The water looked good but the bettas did not. There were all sorts there, though. DTs, DSPKs, CTs, VTs, HMs. But none really caught my fancy. One of the female CTs was so tiny and cute but she didn't even react to my fingers or me picking up the cup, really. I don't think she would have made the trip back home if I had bought her. And only one of the males really grabbed my attention. He's an orange dalmatian VT with only a couple spots here and there. He seems very...slow and lethargic. He picks a spot and floats there. But he has eaten twice for me now so I have hope for him. But he's the only one I brought home. He's in a little 1 gallon tank and seems to like the space more than that cup. Haven't come up with a name for him just yet but I'll figure something out. :3









Update on all the other boys:
Everyone is still doing great. Casta is starting to sort of warm up to me. If I don't move slow he'll take off and hide when feeding him.
I bought heaters for Triton and Diablo's tanks. We'll see how well they work. I ran out of plugs in my surge protector so only Triton's got plugged it. It's brought the temperature up to about 76 degrees now. So I'll keep monitoring it. 


Then the sorority. Yesterday marked the end of the 2 week quarantine for all the girls. But seeing how we were gone almost all day, I did not put them in the tank until this morning. 
Darcy wanted nothing to do with the fighting over alpha position. She just wanted to explore, to my surprise. She got nipped at a few times but she'd flee anytime someone came after her. 
Jade sort of hid and only got into one of the fights for a little while. She gave up on it after awhile and went into hiding.
Luna took part in quite a few fights but she sort of just swam into hiding after abit too. 
Athena took up the offensive as soon as she was in the tank. She flared at everyone and took off after some of the others. Once Selene was in the tank the two went into a battle. So it seemed, at the time, that either Selene or Athena would come out on top. 
Things sort of calmed down, both girls were tired out. Then all of a sudden Phoenix took the opportunity to go on the offensive. She chased everyone and I mean everyone all over the tank. She had hid until the competition was tired and then chased them all down. Smart girl. She has been chasing all the way up til now. Peeking in there it seems they've all sort of calmed down. Every so often I'll see someone take off across the tank but other than that it seems to be working out. 
I'm hoping Phoenix will chill out by tomorrow or I may find myself putting her by her lonesome again. We'll see. 

I plan to order some more silk plants and stuff so I have some stocked up in case I buy more bettas or need more plants. I'll probably look around for tanks for Casta and Alistair. Then not sure what else I'll look into. ^.^​


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## MsAqua (Sep 29, 2013)

10/30/13

Well, aside from darn ladybugs being everywhere, things are going pretty good. 
All the boys are doing good. The new VT, Sol, is doing much better. He's quite the booger. When he sees me come over with the camera, he'll swim over and get all flared like he's posing. Then just as he sees my finger move on that button, he takes off behind the plants so I can't get a picture. I've also noticed that there are dark spots that have suddenly appeared on his sides. It's as if right where his scales end, it's turned dark. So I'm wondering if he might be a marble or if something is up. Because those were not there the day I bought him or the day after. We'll see what happens.

My sorority is going great. The girls have all been calmed since Day 2. The first day was the only time there has been any fighting or chasing, as expected. Although I have seen them chase each other a couple times lately but I think it's either a playful thing or a territory thing. 
All the girls come to the top to eat together and some seem to be buddies with one of their fellow sorority members. Phoenix and Luna tend to frequent the middle and the right areas of the tank. Everyone else tends to be on the left end.

I need to order a proper testing kit for the tank next pay or I need to borrow my mom's every so often. I only have test strips that don't touch on the ammonia levels. And I think I only have one left anyway. I have cash in my savings I could use to order one but I'm trying not to touch that money. So it'll have to wait. I didn't get the chance to order more silk plants either. However, I did have a relative contact me about a tank that she has. She says it still has the filter, plants, gravel, and so on. Her husband was in the background saying it was a little over 5 gallons. She's just going to give the tank to me. I'll probably just throw out the gravel, not sure on the plants. If it is about a 5g, then I'll probably set it up and divide it, then put two of the boys in it. Have to see what shape everything is in first. 
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## MsAqua (Sep 29, 2013)

11-4-13

UPDATEEEEEEEE! Woohoo! Haha. 

It's Monday, therefore, it was water change day. 

I changed everyone's water 100% except for the 10 gal with my girls in it. I'm going to wait to do a water change for it. I want to hurry and get a big testing kit asap. I don't want to clean and then end up putting the girls into water that isn't ready yet. So hopefully I can pick up a kit this weekend. Maybe. Depends on how much my paycheck is this Friday. :S Hoping to have some extra money for the kit since they're kinda pricey. 

Anywhooooo, onto the boys. I did Abby's fish first and come to realize the containers they are in actually hold a little more than a 1 gallon tank does. Which honestly surprised both me and Travis. They used more water than both Triton and Sol's 1 gallons did. So I was kinda like wow. Haha. 
Casta is doing pretty good. He's still kinda ify with people. He'll finally come up and wait for food to hit the water when I feed them. He'll come to greet me every once in awhile, too. But he's still a little shy. He also will not flare. He doesn't flare at Alistair beside him or flare at the hand mirror (think it might be hard for him to see the mirror through that container though). So he's pretty docile and shy from what I've seen. I blame Walmart! Lol.









Alistair is a social guy. He's constantly coming up to see me, he'll go to the side of his container to see Casta, and will come right up for food. So he's a prety happy guy. ^.^ Also, one of the males with the biggest body. Out of all the boys, I'm thinking he's one of the oldest. Because body wise, he's a tank. Haha.









I did Sol's water next. He has really perked up since he's been here. I constantly see him swimming around and he loves to play hide and seek apparently. I think it's cute. He's still orange colored and has like a blue iridescence on parts of his fins. I thought he was an orange dalmatian but I'm starting to think otherwise. 









Triton was next. I felt kinda bad because he had just built a big bubble nest the day before and I had to destroy it. Oh well. Gives him time to build another one, I guess. Though I've noticed something, Triton does not really build many bubble nests. Every so often I'll see one but not as often as Diablo. Other than that, he still swims all over and knows right when to come to the top for feeding time. 









Then mister pouty fish, Diablo was next. I had to destroy a couple bubble nests this time around. The silk plant on the right of his tank had two leaves that sat right at the top like an indian leaf would be for breeding. So he had bubbles under both leaves. One was kinda scrawny but the other practically filled the corner of the tank. He gets so upset when I destroy them every Monday then builds a bigger one to spite me. Haha. 









Next was Blackbeard. He has yet to eat anything for me. I'm not sure if he is sick or stressed or just depressed. He'd sit at the bottom of the container and rarely move. Then he shows no interest in food. I placed him beside Alistair and you would think World War 3 broke out. Both of them were flaring and trying so hard to get at each other. I wondered if maybe Blackbeard feels lonely. But anytime you put him near another male's tank, he instantly gets aggressive. So I'm not sure. After his water change, he seemed to perk up more. He's moving around more but still won't eat. He doesn't have any spots or tears or anything to suggest he's sick though. [Bad pic, I know.]









The other new boy isn't interested in food either. He just swims right passed it. Most of the time he swims around and around, every once in awhile stopping to rest near the top. I also noticed something hanging from him today. I thought something was going on with the scales on his side but then I realized it was poop. Poop white enough to blend in with his body, practically. It was there before the water change and still hanging after the change. So I'm honestly not sure what might be going on with this one. I had thought that his fins looked clamped before the change but I don't know. [Not a great pic but eh.] 










Then I didn't change their water but the girls are doing great! They all get along well and all come up to be fed together. Jade even jumps out of the water for food. Haha. One thing I noticed though. The other day I noticed that Darcy's belly was huge and there was a big white spot on her underbelly. I only noticed it with her. Then today I'm looking and everyone is huge except for Phoenix. I'm quite sure they're all full of eggs. Darcy and Luna are huge. Athena, Selene, and Jade aren't quite as big. Then Phoenix looks like she normally does.


















I ordered 4 plain 1 gallon tanks to put Alistair, Casta, Blackbeard, and the other boy in. I know...the tanks are small. Too small. But any bigger than a gallon is expensive from what I've seen. I'm not rich here. XD
Then I ordered a bunch of silk plants as well. 
Then I plan to head to Petsmart this weekend to see what I can pick up. ​


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## MsAqua (Sep 29, 2013)

11-6-13


Well, I'm at a loss for what to do for the nameless VT I have. Someone said it's Columnaris, another just asked a bunch of questions then never said a word. The scales on his face are all a mess, he still has cottony stuff hanging on him, his fins are deteriorating where the red streaks are on him. Maybe it is Columnaris. I don't know. Tyreal had the acute case that killed him in less than 24 hrs. He had dark coloring so I wouldn't have been able to see any red on his tail. But this one is very brightly colored so it's hard to see any white spots but the red stands out like a sore thumb. I'm going to start adding more salt to his QT container as the each day progresses. Hopefully he keeps hanging on and I help him enough for him to make it. He is such a pretty betta and I'd hate to lose another due to Walmart's stupidity. 
Then Blackbeard still will not eat, mostly hangs out near the bottom but will move around. I don't see anything else wrong with him. I honestly don't. I'll probably make a post and see if anyone will answer me. I don't get many answers to my disease posts. The answers when Tyreal was sick didn't come until it was too late. -.-' Not getting much help with this VT either. :S 
I'm going to run to Walmart after work in the morning and see what I can pick up meds wise there. Probably nothing useful but it's worth a look.

Oh, on a happier note, Alistair either has an attitude problem or likes to show off now. Haha. I walked up to look at him and he sorta flared at me so I stuck my tongue out at him. He instantly started showing off his beard. He didn't full out flare like he would against another betta, he just showed me is big ole beard. I laughed. I managed to get him to do it twice before he didn't want to do it anymore. 
I also finally saw Casta flare and show off his beard. My 4 new tanks came in so I moved those two into their new tanks. While they were floating in their cups, they spotted each other and both flared up. That's the first time I've seen Casta ever flare. Yayz! XD Haha. 
Let's see...Diablo has another bubble nest already in the making. Luna is now massive compared to all the other females. Definitely eggy. Sol and Triton are their happy selves. All the other girls are doing good. Got them to eat bloodworm treats earlier. 

Planning a trip to Petsmart probably on Saturday morning. May or may not come home with more bettas. Lol. We're going towards the mall for Christmas ideas and shopping so I don't need to blow my money on a bunch of betta stuff. XD
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## MsAqua (Sep 29, 2013)

11-14-13

Was going to do another update Tuesday but didn't quite get there. Haha. So here we go. 
I didn't do water changes on Monday due to feeling like crap and being very tired. So I did the changes Tuesday. Changed some plants around in some of the tanks. Still have not cleaned the 10 gallon. I'm probably going to test the water again in the next day or two and then do at least a 25% water change. Last test I still didn't have any Nitrites or Nitrates but had Ammonia. So we'll see what happens.
Everyone is doing great. Everyone is in at least a 1 gallon tank. I know, they do better in a minimum of 2.5 gallons. Right now, the 1 gallons were cheap and fit my budget. Until I find some cheap tanks that are bigger....which is unlikely, these are the tanks they'll stay in for now. 
Anyway, after I got the boys all settled back in their tanks, I tried to get them to flare with the hand mirror. The only boys that wanted to play were Sol and Alistair. Everyone else didn't show any interest. 
I also figured out that Blackbeard is going to be stubborn like Diablo was. He'll ate the little pieces of shrimp but not the pellets. Grrr. Stubborn crowntails. Haha. So unless he's secretly eating the pellet or two I always put in with the shrimp, he's not eating the pellets like everyone else. Butthead. XD
PIC TIME! Haha. I don't have pictures of everyone but here are a few.
























Casta didn't want to play at first. Haha.

Also, made a trip out to Petsmart over the weekend. I was disappointed, quite frankly. They were very picked over. They only had two females and a lot of males I didn't like. After my one VT passed away, I had the tank I originally ordered for him just sitting here so I wanted to pick up another fish. Both Petsmart and Walmart disappointed me. I was actually going to attempt to go to the LPS to look at their bettas. But never did. I went to Walmart this morning and they got in a new shipment of nothing but crowntails. I just HAD to look at all of them. Alot were the typical colors you'd find at stores like walmart, blue, red, so on. One looked like a sibling of Diablo's. A couple were a real pretty blue/green coloring. Then there was just one who was different from the typical betta at Walmart. And he's the one who convinced me to take him with me. Haha. I looked at him for a good while and he seemed excited to be looked at. I actually put him back on the shelf and when I did he came to the side of the cup and stared at me and wiggled. The rest when I put them down just floated there. He seemed upset to be put back. So what the heck. I had an extra tank sitting that was never used because I lost a betta. And I liked his look. So here is Ezio [Et-see-o]. Well, I think I'm going to call him Ezio (from the Assassin Creed games). I'm gonna see what Travis thinks. That's the first name that came to mind and no other names catch my fancy for him. Haha.
The tank hadn't quite settled when I took his pics so there are lots of bubbles. I'll get better pics of him eventually. Haha.
Hoping he sort of colors up more the longer he's with me, sort of like Luna did. 
He did eat pellets for me this morning so that made me happy. So unlike Blackbeard and Diablo (when we first got him), Ezio is not going to be stubborn about eating the pellets I have, it seems. :3

















OH! I need to make name tags and draw pics for all the newer boys for on the wall! D: Oops. Haha. My "Betta Zone" is expanding.

I'm also looking into buying betas from Watercolor Bettas on FB. There's a pair I really like and bettas they're giving out for free. ^.^ Heehee. 

I'm also debating on looking into and getting info on breeding. I think Triton would make some pretty babies.  Haha. Him and Luna and Casta and Sol would. Haha. The pair I want really would too.​


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## DerangedUnicorn (Sep 5, 2013)

I love your sorority. All the girls are really cute. What happened with your sick VT?


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## MsAqua (Sep 29, 2013)

Thank ya!!
He died from Columnaris.​


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## DerangedUnicorn (Sep 5, 2013)

I'm sorry to hear that. Did you get a chance to name him? 

Anyways, I think it's quite funny how, in your first post, you did not have the funds to have more than one betta. & now you have a bajillion! Lol. I don't blame ya. I'm up to five. I would say that I couldn't possibly have room for more, but I've said that every time, so.....we'll see. 

Keep updating though. I love reading journals.


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## MsAqua (Sep 29, 2013)

No. I never did. 
He died the morning that I had made the trip to Walmart to see what sort of meds I could find. 

No. I just said that I can only spend so much money here and there. Just can't spend a whole bunch at once. Lol.

I know. Travis gave up on telling me no or that I have too many because everytime I turn around I find a betta I like. Haha. I'm trying to chill out with the betta stuff now though. With Christmas coming and the restart of paying my student loans, I really can't be spending a whole ton of money. I'm trying to go as cheap as I can manage. *shrugs* As long as my fish are happy and healthy and I have the time for them, I'm good. ^.^​


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## MsAqua (Sep 29, 2013)

11-17-13

Well, I'm at a stand still with buying bettas. I bought another new CT yesterday, giving me a total of 14 bettas now. I don't have anymore room on my shelf for more tanks!! Haha. And I need to chill out with them anyway. Travis just gave up on telling me no and has lost interest in even looking at the bettas. So I'm trying to take it down a few notches....I keep saying I'm going to stop and end up with more fish. So I'm going to avoid looking at bettas when I go shopping and try to avoid Petsmart for awhile. I was going to buy bettas from a breeder next pay but I'm not sure I'm going to do that now. :/ We'll have to see what my paycheck looks like.

Anywho, everyone is doing pretty good. 
Ezio has settled in to his tank pretty well but he seems, depressed? I'm not sure. He had himself wedged under one of his plants and wouldn't come out even when I put in some food. So I'm going to keep a close eye on him.
The new CT, who remains without a name, seems to be good. I haven't seen him eat anything yet. He seems more preoccupied flaring and getting Blackbeard stirred up. So I might need to put something so they can't see each other or just move them somewhere else. 
The one bookshelf in the room would be perfect for the tanks their in and I could put two each on the shelves. I just need to clean it off and get it emptied of Travis's relatives stuff then I could put the fish there. Only issues is lighting. They'd definitely get some light from the big light in the middle of the room but that light isn't always on. Right now there's a light on a stand directed at the 10g and the shelving everyone is on. It gives everyone some light. But I don't think it'll hit where this shelf is unless I reorganize the room again.  Eh, we'll see.

PICTURE TIME AGAIN!! Haha. Did some flaring exercises the other day and got everyone to flare for me. Oh and pics of the new boy as well. ​


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## MsAqua (Sep 29, 2013)

11-20-13

Definitely need an update after what I just did. Haha. So I keep saying I'm going to chill out with the bettas and after the newest CT I said I was done. Yeahhhhhh. My addiction and a good deal got to me. I just spent $30 on a group of bettas from Watercolor Bettas on Facebook. I chose a male I really liked, who will be coming with a surprise female. Then she's going to be sending 6 others as "freebies" because she needs to clear out some tanks for new batches of fry. It was a pretty good deal. The pair was $15 and the others are technically free. $15 for shipping. 
And for anyone reading, she's giving out "freebie boxes" of 8 bettas for only the shipping price, $15. I thought it was a pretty good deal even with the $15 tacked on for the pair. I'm not sure how many fish she has left so I'd jump on it if you're interested. :lol:
But yeah. I told Travis that these bettas are going to be coming and after that I really am done. He goes "that's what you said last time." Yeah. I probably shouldn't have done it. I really shouldn't have especially with Christmas around the corner. In fact, I had convinced myself I wasn't going to. Then she changed the deals around and I was like....what the heck. I'm probably going to regret it abit. That's going to tack on even more tanks to clean. But I can do it. I'm a hermit so it's not like I go anywhere but to work. And if need be, I can find homes for the ones that I'm not overly fond of. I only know what the male I picked looks like so I have no idea what the other 7 will look like. I'm really excited to see what she sends. And nervous about having them shipped. I've never had live fish sent through the mail. I'm kinda afraid the postal service is going to mess something up. :shock:
......BUT......trying not to think about that.
Oh oh oh, here's the pretty boy I chose. He's a blue/red marble HM.








He's so handsome. <3 


On to my current family of bettas. 
I haven't mentioned it here but Ezio passed away from what I'm guessing was the quick acting Columnaris or something else that was fast. He died sometime between when I left for work one night and when I came home a little over 7 hrs later. The only strange thing about him that day was that he would wedge himself under his one plant and just lay there. Then he'd move to another side of the plant and sit under that spot. Other than that he had been eating up til then and had no physical symptoms of being sick. 
I quickly sent an email to Walmart about the way they change the bettas water. Then mentioned I've had multiple fish die on me from Columnaris and such. The manager of the department called me and said that they were indeed having issues with their bettas coming down sick and dying much faster than what was normal. The vendor was suppose to show up today and JP (the manager) said he was going to have a talk with the vendor about it all. So we shall see what happens there. But I'm done buying from Walmart. I'll keep an eye on their bettas but I will not buy anymore.

Then everyone else is alright. The girls still sort of worry me. Darcy, Jade, and Selene still have the noticeable white spots on their belly that almost look like they might be injured. Luna and Selene are either really bloated or full of eggs. They're both pretty big. That's why I figured they were all eggy aside from Athena and Phoenix. But I'm not so sure. It just doesn't look right to me....someone said to take out Phoenix and Athena because they might be attacking the other girls. But I've never seen them be aggressive since the pecking order was established. They all seem to get along extremely well from what I see. Don't know what to do. I guess I'll just keep a close eye on them all. 

​


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## MsAqua (Sep 29, 2013)

11-24-13

Might as well write up an update. 
I'm no longer purchasing the fish from Watercolor bettas. I kept deciding for it then deciding against it and back and forth. I was so undecided that I just chose not to do it. 
So when we made a trip out to Petsmart, I looked at all the bettas. They were having a weekend sale on all sorts of things including select bettas. But none of the bettas really caught my attention. I was tempted to bring back one of the females they had for the sorority but compared to my girls, they were all incredibly small. So I didn't pick up any males or females while there.

Then, this morning, when I went to feed everyone.....my females all seemed a bit sluggish. Only 4 came to meet me at the side of the tank at first. Then another appeared. The last never showed for the longest of time before she come swimming out. Miss Selene was the last and I believe that she has a swim bladder problem. She's bloated, which I had thought was just her full of eggs to begin with but now she's bigger. When she swims, her body is tilted like the left side of her body is heavier than the other side. She has to rest against plants and the thermometer to really keep herself under the water and she has trouble swimming. So I placed her into a 1 gallon tank on her lonesome with a couple plants to use to keep herself down. I fed her a little bit of daphnia but plan to fast her and see what happens.
Then Blackbeard is acting weird as well. He is staying near the bottom of the tank longer than usual. He ate fine this morning so that's not it. Going to keep a good eye on him. Everyone else seems happy and healthy though. 
Darcy looks like her belly is either healed up or not sure. Jade still looks like she has a wound on her belly. So I'm going to keep an eye on her as well.

We shall see what happens the next few days. ​


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## DerangedUnicorn (Sep 5, 2013)

MsAqua said:


> 11-24-13
> 
> Might as well write up an update.
> I'm no longer purchasing the fish from Watercolor bettas. I kept deciding for it then deciding against it and back and forth. I was so undecided that I just chose not to do it.
> ...


So, I don't know if you've used daphina, but I just bought some yesterday for one of my fish who hasn't went potty for a long time now. I feed him it three times so far & he's gone potty 4 times since! I'm so happy, so I would definitely recommend feeding your bloated girl daphina. Unless you already knew that. Just wanted to share my excitement about fish poo! Lol!


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## MsAqua (Sep 29, 2013)

MsAqua said:


> So I placed her into a 1 gallon tank on her lonesome with a couple plants to use to keep herself down. I fed her a little bit of daphnia but plan to fast her and see what happens.​


*points to the quote* I already said that I fed her daphnia, dear.
And she's fine now. Back in the tank with her sisters.​


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## DerangedUnicorn (Sep 5, 2013)

I thought you said you planned in getting daphnia. Lol. I can't read. Ok. Good. Sorry for my dumbness.


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## MsAqua (Sep 29, 2013)

No. I have daphnia and an assortment of treats and such here for my bettas. 


11-29-13


Extremely upset with some people on Facebook. I've left every betta group I was a member of and deleted pages I liked and people I friended. Just not happy with the betta fish community on Facebook anymore.
Let's just say a certain breeder can kiss my butt. I'm not sure if she's on here or anyone has dealt with her. And I feel bad saying anything but I'm done dealing with Watercolor bettas. I had posted before about being interested in bettas from her and then posted that I decided against it because I kept thinking yes, no, yes, no. Well I come to find out today that she has been bashing me on her FB page (she hasn't mentioned names but it's me). She was going on about blocking and banning me, which she clearly didn't do if I could still read all this. Then was saying I put her in a "financial bind" by telling her no and that she was holding fish for me for two weeks and she could have sold them already to free up tanks. 
First of all, I told her on November 12th that I MIGHT be interested in a certain pair. But I didn't have the cash and I was still ify on shipping bettas. I also told her that if someone else shows interest or she wants to sell them to someone else, I was fine with that. So she had every opportunity to sell them. And she did, in fact, sell the female I was interested in. 
Then she was giving away freebies. So I told her I'd probably be interested in her freebie box of 8 on the 20th. She proceeds to say that she still had the male I had liked and said she could give me a different female to pair with him and 6 other bettas that she had jarred from her spawns. So we agreed to that, everything was set. 
The next day, I changed my mind, and informed her. Apologized for it and everything. 
I was as nice as a customer could be. I was willing to take other fish if she sold those, apologized, thanked her, so on and so forth. And now, I'm getting bashed on and being accused of putting her in a financial bind. 
I find that interesting since she is selling fish left and right from what I see. And yet *I* put her into a financial bind? Riiiiiiight. So I'm done dealing with her. If all she's going to do is bash on customers and give people an attitude, she's not getting any business from me.

Ok. Done with the rant.
XD

Let's seeeeeeeee. 
All my boys are doing pretty good. Blackbeard still won't eat pellets for me though. The picky butthead. He'll only eat the brine shrimp pieces I have in this one food mix. He's like Diablo use to be. Picky, picky, picky. 
Then the sorority is doing pretty good. I had to put Selene in a QT tank again because she had bloated up shortly after I put her in a few days ago. Fed her only daphnia. Then yesterday I fed her pellets and she didn't bloat. So I fed her pellets this morning and placed her back in the big tank after the other girls had been fed. So I know she wasn't overfed today. Hopefully she'll be alright now. I'll have to watch how much food I put in the tank. Though that's kind of hard since I can't just put pellets in and hope the girls stop eating before they eat too much. :/ We'll have to see, I guess. 

Travis's Aunt Shelly came up the other day and was going on about how she had bettas before and such. Then she was asking why I wasn't breeding them and so on. If I acquired a couple more tanks, I might be interested in breeding a pair. Just to give it a shot. I honestly think Luna and the marble boy would make BEAUTIFUL babies. So if I ever breed bettas, that's definitely who I'd go for. But I know that requires a lot of work and money. Seeing how Christmas is right around the corner, any breeding will have to wait for awhile. Which is alright by me.  It'll give me time to learn all about breeding and caring for fry. :3​


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## MsAqua (Sep 29, 2013)

12-8-13

Everybody is doing pretty good. I haven't had any problems. :3 
Other than our water bill like tripled, according to Travis's grandma. Soooo we're thinking the weekly water changes kinda had something to do with that. :-? So I'm not sure about getting a bigger tank for various other types of fish now. I was dead set on setting up a big tank to put mollies and plakats and all sorts of fish. But if my bettas alone are bumping our water bill up that much, I might just hold off. As much as I don't want to. 

PICTURE TIIIIIIIIME! Lol. I did flaring exercises with the boys before their water changes last Monday and took pics of the ladies. So I figured I'd share my lovies.

Diablo









Triton









Sol









Blackbeard









Unnamed CT









Casta









Alistair












The Gals







​


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

You've such beautiful fish!


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## MsAqua (Sep 29, 2013)

1-3-14

Well, Happy New Year!!! I haven't updated in awhile. Lol. 

Alot has been going on from family get togethers to money issues and friend drama. So I haven't really taken the time to get on.


First off, I am now down to 14 fish. My cousin contacted me asking if I was willing to part with any of my fish for her to take with her to college. There were a few I didn't want to get rid of and my sister outright said no. So my cousin didn't have very many fish to choose from really. But she chose my lovely Sol to take with her to college. Let's just say it was a bumpy ride for him. We decided to take him with us up to my mom's and then take him with us to my grandma's where we would see my cousin. He did fine on the ride up to my mom's and I floated him in her big 55 gallon tank for a majority of the time, only taking him out once he started flaring and getting upset by the other fish. Then he sat on the desk by me until we were on our way to my grandmas. In the process of heading out to the vehicles, we had an accident. I put the cup he was in on the dashboard of Travis's jeep and didn't push it back far enough. The cup came crashing down to the jeep floor and half the water and Sol come flying out of the big air hole of the cup. I panicked and had to grab the poor fish and slide him back through the hole. I was so worried and upset after the ordeal. I shouldn't have taken him. But as soon as we got to my grandma's, I yanked his tank out of it's box and set it up and got him into it with brand new water. I'm not sure if he was in shock or what but he moved real slow and stayed near the bottom. Then as things started going on and he saw all the people, he perked up and seemed fine. So I sent him home with them. I paid a visit to the house not long afterwards and he looked like he was doing great. He came right to the side of the tank when I moved over and he spotted me. I had to giggle though. Rather than attaching the betta hammock to the side of the tank like you're suppose to, they stuck it straight up out of the gravel. -.-' If it's like that when I visit tonight, I'm telling them it's not suppose to be like that. But he's doing ok. I think Blackbeard misses him though. The poor boy is the only one on that shelf now. Tried moving Alistair down there and neither of them liked that at all. So I dunno.

Everyone else is doing pretty good. Davy Jones wasn't eating like normal for a couple days but he seems to be ok now. And I almost thought Diablo wasn't eating but he was just waiting for me to move away, I guess. Then the baby has been great. It jumps for food now. Lol. It also follows fingers, alot. Travis and our friend Kenny found that amusing. XD

But here are some pics.  ​


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## MsAqua (Sep 29, 2013)

1-5-2014

Woohoooooo. More updates. Haha. 

Well, we made a trip out towards the mall yesterday. Came back with alot. 
I now have two more 10 gallon tanks set up in my house. I used up a majority of my gift cards to buy a 10 gallon set up from Walmart and accessories for it. Then my friend Kenny bought another 10 gallon set up for himself. So since he's pretty much been staying here a lot and I know a lot about fish, he set it up here. If you came up our stairs, you'd be like holy fish tanks! Like seriously. So now I have 3 10 gallon tanks, 7 1 gallon tanks, and 1 1.5 gallon tank. Lordy. Haha.
So we came back with 2 10 gallon tanks, 1 1 gallon half moon tank, food, gravel, plants, 2 koi fish, 1 black moor goldfish, 4 otos, and 1 halfmoon betta. 
Kenny had been wanting fish and talking about getting them so when I mentioned buying another tank for myself, he was very interested. And at Petsmart he was all excited deciding what he wanted. For sure, he wanted Koi fish. So he found two out of the two tanks of smaller Koi that he really liked. He picked up them and then took one of the large black moor goldfish. The lady told him that the three of them are still young and would be alright together. She also said he would have to upgrade to a bigger tank in a few months or so because they are all still growing. Whether he expects me to care for them once they go into the larger tank, I don't know. But we're using a lot of water....I can only imagine the water bill coming for the month. But anyway. The lady at the store said that after 24 hrs of letting the tank run, he could place these fish into his tank. So he plans on doing so tonight.
We're still having trouble figuring out the genders of these 3. Various sites say different things. So he tried choosing unisex names but I think he's questioning his choices. So he very well might change them once we figure out their genders. The koi are gorgeous, I wouldn't mind having some myself. I've always wanted a koi pond. But anyway, he plans to put them into the tank here in a few hours or so. We'll see how that works out. ^.^
Then I bought and set up another 10 gallon. I have natural looking gravel, green plastic plants, one of my green silk plants, a bubble blowing dragon, and a Asian statue thing. Kenny said it looks like China was flooded and put underwater. Haha. I really like it. It would have made a nice tank for some koi. But I want to put various other fish in there. Debating on what to choose. Hmm. We'll see. I'm going to let it run and cycle on it's own for abit, then I might pick up a fish or two to help it along. 
Then, I was looking through Petsmart's bettas. There wasn't many that really caught my eye. There was what they called a twin tail betta who was pure white. Then a white and blue marbled half moon that was real pretty. Other than that, I didn't feel drawn to any of the others. But I showed those two to my little sister and she about flipped. She begged to buy the marbled one. Seeing how I had money and gift cards to blow, I told her to grab him and pick out a tank. She picked a 1 gallon half moon tank with led lights. We put blue gravel that I already had into the tank and she chose one of my silk plants and one of the pieces I had laying around for his tank. She also named him Ace. She loves him though she's leaving him here for me to care for like the other two. *rolls my eyes* But I told her she needs to start coming down on the weekends and helping me, which she seemed ok with. 
Then my other bettas have been doing great. The girls don't mind their new tank mates, 4 otos. Blackbeard and Ace haven't gotten use to each other yet. Neither of them seemed to eat this morning. Then the baby betta has made itself a bubble nest and has a dark spot on his top fin. It keeps growing in dark spots then losing them and growing different ones. It might be a marble then. ^.^ Still don't know a gender and no one on here really knows. Haha.
So I live in "casa del fish," as Kenny called it. Haha. Buuuuuuuuut PICTURE TIME!​


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## BrotherBetta (Jan 6, 2014)

Love the Asian style tank lol. Just joined the forum and only recently indulged into the world of bettas lol. Have you ever thought of getting shrimp or snails for Blackbeard ( suggesting this cause you said he was lonely without sol)? I've heard ghost shrimp are good and you have some huge tanks so I suggest mystery snails and another kind I don't remember. But for the baby or the other bettas with 1 gallon I suggest nerite snails since they're kinda tiny but idk how long a. 1 gallon will hold 
Anyway I just started reading the journal today and basically read the entire thing at once. I really love it and can't wait for the next update!


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## MsAqua (Sep 29, 2013)

Blackbeard is also in a 1 gallon tank, dear. And he now has Ace beside him, so I'm hoping they start getting along. I wasn't going to put any snails in their tanks, it would be a hassle every time I do water changes trying to get them all out then put them back in. My males all have someone beside them. Only the baby does not because I have his tank to the side with a heater in it. 
But all my males are in 1 gallons, except Diablo who is in a 1.5 gallon. That's what I can afford for each of them and they don't have any issues in the tanks. Then I have 3 10 gallons. Two are full, one is empty. 
Awww. :3​


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## MsAqua (Sep 29, 2013)

1/13/14

Haven't been having a lot of luck lately. Life just doesn't like me lately.
3 out of 4 of my otos died. The last one is still kicking but she didn't seem like she was in very good shape either. Hopefully I can find some food to keep her kicking. Not sure if she is eating the algae wafers I picked up or not. Because they're a cheaper brand. If I can keep her alive long enough til payday, I might try picking up some better wafers and a couple more otos. My bettas don't mind them so I figured they were the best choice. If I can't keep them alive, I might have to pick up some cory cats instead. I don't know. 
Then all of my females are huge. I'm guessing they're all full of eggs. That or I'm overfeeding. I'm not quite sure. But this time around, all of them have big bellies. Luna and Selene are huge but they do not seem to have any trouble swimming. They're also making bubble nests in the tank so I presume they're all eggy.
All my boys are doing good. I think Blackbeard might be biting his tail. Other than that, things seem alright. The baby boy is putting the adult males to shame with his bubble nests. I cleaned his tank and the bubbles hardly moved when I pulled the plant and thermometer out. And even stuck inside the cup I put him in. I laughed.
Then my other two tanks are good. Kenny's koi fish and goldfish have warmed up to us. They'll come right up to the side of the tank to say hello. Then the one koi will jump out of the water when you put food in the tank. Then the goldfish is a total ham when you go to take pictures. He'll actually pose for them and try to get in front of the camera if you move it away.
Then my tank now has 1 male platy and 4 females. They all seem to get along pretty well. ^_^ My little female's fins are still healing and then the biggest female has a bite out of her fin too that's healing. Other than that, I still need to find names for the 5 of them. Haha.

I'm hoping to find a new job soon too. Because work right now sucks and I'm not making alot. We're broke almost all the time. And I'm tired of getting stressed over money. So I'm looking around. *sighs* Hopefully things start looking up.....

​


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## MsAqua (Sep 29, 2013)

12/26/2014

It has been a long, long time since I've posted about my dear fishies. A lot has happened with my fishy family and it reminded me that I haven't been on here in so long.
Well, my once big betta family has been downsized. I now own 4 males and only 2 females.
Many of the males I once had have found new families. Which was my intention for many of the males I rescued, anyway. I haven't lost any of them due to sickness or anything. I cannot say the same for my poor girls. I have lost my entire sorority except for Darcy and Luna. I do not know what exactly took all of my girls from me but it makes me sad. They were my babies.
So I am down to my crowntails Darcy and Luna in my sorority tank. Plus 6 otos that have been helping me combat a case of algae that flared up recently.
Then I have my crowntails Diablo and Davy Jones, my double tail Hershel, and my dragon scale plakat Triton. 
That is my betta family that is left.
Then, as for other fish, I have a 29 gallon with various other species. I have a platie, 5 albino cory cats, 2 dalmation mollies, not sure how many platies and guppies. I've been losing fish here and there with that tank so I'm not too too sure on the numbers in the tank right now.

But yeah....so I haven't had the best year. 
However, we got very lucky this Christmas and I plan to make a trip to Petsmart to replenish my ranks. I need to get some more female bettas before Luna and Darcy turn on each other. Which they've been doing really well and haven't been fighting or anything. So we will see. Heck, I might upgrade the tank and buy more females.
We shall see and I'll be sure to keep everyone updated. :3​


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## konstargirl (Mar 9, 2010)

I'm so sorry to hear about all of your losses! Hope you will keep updated on everyone..


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