# My Betta Journey



## Elleth

Well, I've been considering starting a journal on here for a little while, but wasn't sure if I'd have too much to say or if anyone would be interested in it. Then I realized that I've only had my first boy since February 24th, and so much has already happened that I never want to forget. 

So, even if no one else ever reads this, I will personally be grateful for having the ability to look back and remember how my addiction to bettas began, and remember all the funny things my bettas do. 

Since I've had a pretty eventful ownership so far, I've decided that I'll begin by writing about what happened when I first started considering purchasing a betta, and then continuing through the arrival of my first betta, purchase of my second betta, and all the way through to the present day, after which I will do my best to keep updating this journal. Of course this probably will not all be written in one post, or even in one day. I might break each section down into different posts, kind of like chapters. Lol!

I will do my best to include photographs fairly frequently, but not overload the journal with pictures.  I've noticed that I find it much more interesting if I can see the fish that are being written about.

Without further ado, I will post this and then write my "pre-betta" post. I hope you enjoy adventuring with my on my betta journey!


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## Elleth

*Before Bettas*

I am a newlywed, I got married in October 2014, and I am living in an apartment for the first time in my life. It's a tiny two bedroom thing, completely different from what I am used to. Not only is it small, but it doesn't allow dogs, and only allows cats that are declawed. 

Don't get me wrong, it's a nice place and we are grateful to have it. But I am disappointed at my inability to have animals. I've grown up with animals all my life, and have spent the past nine years or so working with dogs. I currently work at a boarding, grooming, and training facility for dogs, so that helps me stand being without pets a bit. But I still want one! I work part time (plus some intermittent babysitting) and it can be lonely in the apartment when my husband is at work, which is frequently. He works two part time jobs which do not have regular hours, so frequently his time off is when I am at work, and vice versa.

In December, I flippantly asked my husband if he would mind if I got a betta fish. My sister had one when she was in college, and I remember thinking that it was very pretty. He said that he would prefer if we waited a bit, because we had just began budgeting and were not sure if we actually had any extra money per month or not.

So I waited. And then, in early February, I randomly remembered the question, and I asked him again. By this point we could see that we were operating with a sufficient surplus of money to support a pet. So, no surprise (he's not a dictator, and he wants me to be happy, lol) he said that it was fine with him if we got a betta fish.

I actually did not say anything after hearing his answer. To be honest, I hadn't really been seriously considering a betta. I am a very serious pet owner, and I don't like it when people get a new pet without knowing what they need and what to do to keep them healthy. So, before committing to getting a betta, I began doing a whole ton of research about bettas.

After some research, I decided that I most definitely wanted a betta. I also decided that I would need a 5 gallon tank, a heater, some live plants, an API test kit, water conditioner and food (of course), and some decorations for my betta to hide in before I got one. So I purchased most of these items on Amazon. I also wanted to cycle my tank before my fish came, so once my tank arrived I set it up and began feeding it ammonia, so that it would begin to cycle.

Then I began to think about where I wanted to get my betta from.


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## Elleth

*Choosing a Fish*

I have a few internet friends who have or currently keep fish, so I talked to them and commented on how I wasn't sure where to get a fish from. They mentioned Aquabid and that they had purchased fish from there before, so I went and looked at some fish.

And oh boy, I was hooked! I read up on the transhipping process and decided that I was comfortable with it. I also decided that I would start looking for my fish now, because it sounded like it would take between 2-4 weeks for my fish to arrive after I ordered, and I had been feeding my tank with ammonia for about a week at that point. 

I went wild looking at bettas, and was having a hard time choosing. Then I found this auction: http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/closed.cgi?view_closed_item&fwbettashm1424625031

With this little guy (breeder's picture, not mine):









And I was hooked. I read his breeder's reviews and asked them quite a few questions. The reviews were really good, and they answered all my questions very quickly and to my satisfaction. So, I bought the fish! Boy was I excited, and nervous, too. Imagine having a fish come all the way from Thailand! What if he died? I knew that if he did, I would be heartbroken. But all there was that I could do now was to choose a name, purchase decorations for him to hide in, and wait.


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## RNHime

He's gorgeous! Are you waiting for him to arrive? Can't wait to hear more, as you have a really nice writing style and your description of getting married and only being able to keep (awesome) fish in your place totally hits home. We've gone through the same thing. (Congrats on being married, too!)


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## Elleth

RNHime said:


> He's gorgeous! Are you waiting for him to arrive? Can't wait to hear more, as you have a really nice writing style and your description of getting married and only being able to keep (awesome) fish in your place totally hits home. We've gone through the same thing. (Congrats on being married, too!)


Thank you!  He's here, and has been for about three weeks. I'll tell that story in my next post, complete with pictures. Oh boy was that interesting... ;P I'm actually really glad about only being able to have fish now, because if it weren't for that I would have gotten a dog and never known what I was missing out on in not having a betta. I mean, I know I like dogs, so it's a given that I'll have some further down the road, but bettas weren't even on my radar until this past half year or so. And boy would I be missing out! 

And thank you again!  

I'm planning on posting my next post later today, hopefully it works out that way.


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## Elleth

*The Arrival*

So, after purchasing the fish, I was informed by the breeder that he would be shipped from Thailand that weekend. What this ended up meaning was that he arrived on February 24, 2015. This was only a week from when I had purchased him. A week sooner than the earliest I expected him to arrive. So, of course, my tank wasn't finished cycling and I was freaking out about that.

I decided to name him Arausio, for several reasons. I like the sound of it, and it's the name of an old Celtic water god, a local deity. I love anything Celtic/Gaelic/Irish and I use that mythology frequently in my writing, so it was perfect.

One thing that I was exceedingly grateful for was that he was due to arrive on a day when I wasn't working. We can't get mail at the apartment, but my parents live in the same town as us, only about 5 minutes walk away. So I had put their address as my address, not only because I can't get mail at the apartment, but because there is almost always someone home at my parents, which would have been good if he had been due to arrive on a day when I was working. 

The day that he was supposed to arrive, I went over to my parents house at about 9am. My mom reminded me that we are about last on the route, and that he wouldn't get there until the afternoon. Thus the waiting commenced.

I almost died of nerves that day. The thought of him sitting on the vehicle while it drove around town all day was terrifying. Somehow, I made it. At about 3:17 or so, I saw the UPS truck (what he was being shipped by) drive by. It goes down our dead end road, turns around, and then comes back to our house. So I was literally waiting at the door as the driver approached. I yanked the door open, and the UPS man was holding my fish box on its side, jiggling it. This despite the writing which I could see on it which clearly said, "Live Fish, This End Up" with an arrow pointing.

Yes, I knew I was supposed to sign for him. But all I could think about was getting him out of the hands of this inept UPS worker. So I reached for the box. Of course, the UPS man withdrew, jolting it around more. "You need to sign first". He told me, looking at me like I was an idiot.

I gave him a look to equal or outdo his. "Will you please turn him right side up?" I gasped. "He's alive!" ('I hope!' I thought snarkily). I snatched at the signature pad with hands that were literally trembling, and signed it as Mr. UPS man replied.

"Oh, really?" Jostling the box around even more than he had previously, he looked at the words on the box and finally turned my poor fish right side up. By this time, I had finished signing and snatched the box from him and walked inside, trying not to let my jitters shake the box.

My mother and little brother gathered around as I put the box on the dining room table and began cutting the tape with a knife. This took a little while, and I had a stomach full of butterflies by the time I finally was able to open the flaps and pull back the newspaper. And my heart sunk at my first sight of my poor little fish.

This is the first picture I took of him. I took it and the following picture as proof of him being DOA, or dead on arrival, so that I could get a refund. 


















I don't know if you can tell from these pictures, but he was laying at the bottom of the bag, on his side, completely still. My heart broke for him. He looked as fragile and small as a butterfly, and I felt like someone who has seen a child crush a butterfly under their boot.

I wasn't positive that he was dead at this point, but I was pretty sure that he was. I knew that even if I was 99% sure that he was dead, I was still going to take him home and attempt to revive him. Since my husband had the car and was at work, I waited while my mother got ready to drive me to my apartment, where I had the tank all set up to acclimate him to it. My brother and I stood their waiting, staring at my poor fish. I fought back tears.

Then, after about five minutes of standing there, my little brother nearly jumped up and down. "He's moving! I can see his gills moving!" My fish has a small patch of iridescence in back of his gills, and my brother could see it shifting colors in the light. I stared at him, too, and thought that I might maybe, possibly, be able to see the shifting that my brother was talking about.

This was when my mother came out, and I carried the box to the car like he was made of a glass bubble, and sat in the passenger seat. I lifted a flap on the box and peeked in, and felt my heart leap when I saw my fish sitting right side up on the bottom of the bag, fluttering one of his pectoral fins. I did what any sensible person would do. I immediately burst into tears. Seeing him sitting up was when I was certain that he was alive.

We had to go by my in-laws house (they also live in the same town, only a few minutes away) to get my API test kit which had arrived that day so that I could test his tank water and make sure it was safe to put him in his tank. And once we got to the apartment, I realized that I had forgotten my keys. So we had to race back to my parents and grab them. Then we went up the stairs to my apartment (poor fish, been through all that and now had to handle stairs)!

When we opened the box up in my apartment, he was on his side again. But this time it only took a minute or two to sit back right side up. My mom helped my figure out how to stack containers in his tank so that I could put his bag in the top one and acclimate him to the water temperature in the tank, because his bag wasn't big enough to float it or tape it to the side or anything.

Then I cut his bag open (we were concerned about the amount of air he had, because there wasn't as much air in the bag as I had seen in pictures of people showing how they pack their fish to ship), and we put him in the container in the tank. I could tell very quickly that he appreciated being warm, he began perking up almost immediately. He had a heat pack in his box, but it wasn't very warm by the time he got to me. My mom left, and I spent the next six hours acclimating him slowly to his tank. As he got more active, he began touching his nose against the sides of the bag, trying to get out.

At one point, I touched my finger to the surface of the water in his bag to see what the temperature felt like. My little darling swam up towards my finger! Not wanting him to over stress himself, I removed it before he could reach it, but oh how that melted my heart. If I hadn't been before, I was now officially wrapped around Arausio's pectoral fin.

Here's a video of him during the acclimation process. Sorry for the poor quality, it was taken with my phone and not my camera. https://plus.google.com/11839690161...6128488077199408274&oid=118396901615726803657


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## copperfish

Beautiful betta. Glad he (and you) made it through that!


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## Elleth

copperfish said:


> Beautiful betta. Glad he (and you) made it through that!


Thank you! We're glad, too, lol!


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## copperfish

Did you have to go through a transfer shipper with the aquabid seller?


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## Elleth

copperfish said:


> Did you have to go through a transfer shipper with the aquabid seller?


Since he came from Thailand, yes, I did. Transhippers are who make it legal to import fish from other countries, to my understanding. There are people on Aquabid from within the US (not sure about other countries, US is the only one I've specifically looked for) who you wouldn't need a transhipper to purchase fish from.


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## RNHime

Wow, what a ride! For you and for him. I'm so thankful that so far all my live critters have gone through USPS, and our PO & mail man is SUPER aware and careful of the boxes that say "live fish"! He always reassures me with saying that he went to pick up the bins of mail for his route, but my package wasn't in a bin, but right on top. He'll even put the package in the front seat with him instead of in the back of the truck. =)

I enjoyed your cell phone video, too!


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## Elleth

RNHime said:


> Wow, what a ride! For you and for him. I'm so thankful that so far all my live critters have gone through USPS, and our PO & mail man is SUPER aware and careful of the boxes that say "live fish"! He always reassures me with saying that he went to pick up the bins of mail for his route, but my package wasn't in a bin, but right on top. He'll even put the package in the front seat with him instead of in the back of the truck. =)
> 
> I enjoyed your cell phone video, too!


Thank you!  That's awesome that your postal carrier is so good about live fish and all, I'm jealous.


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## Elleth

*The First Few Days*

Arausio settled in well, he even chose to use the hamster tunnel I suspended just under the surface of the water to sleep in. He was just outside it when I got up the following morning z and when he saw me, he rapidly swam through the tunnel twice. My family, well, five of them at least, came over to see him the day after he arrived. They all crowded around, staring at him. And the little guy swam over to them and stared right back. 

The filter that came with his tank was too strong for him, so after attempting to baffle it in several different ways, I finally draped a washcloth over the outflow and that worked pretty well. He swam under the outflow shortly after I draped the washcloth over the filter, and it shoved him down several inches before he recovered and swam away. But that was the only strong part of the current, and he stayed away from it after that. 

He had (and still has) a knack for finding any small spaces in his tank and swimming through them. The first time I turned his filter off (I turned it off at night and when I wasn't home, to prevent him from getting in trouble when I couldn't help) he wriggled into the tiny space between it and the wall, and then back out. He also swam between his suspended hamster tunnel and the wall. In order to do that, he actually had to shove it out. But he didn't get stuck, hurt himself, or freak out, so I've left it like that. And his hamster tunnel that laid on the bottom of his tank on the rocks, he swam underneath somehow. He was the king of giving me heart attacks those first few days! But we both survived it, lol, and I now rotate his hamster tunnels in the bottom of the tank regularly, to give him something new to explore.


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## Elleth

*Hamster Tunnel Photos*

Here are some (more current, but basically the same) photos to accompany the post above, of Arausio and his tunnels.


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## Greenapp1es

What a beautiful little guy!

I'm glad he arrived safely, despite the drama of his arrival. I'm getting a couple fish shipped to me this coming week - I'm a bit nervous about how that goes.

For the filter - are you still turning it off? You actually don't want to do that, it can mess with the cycle.


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## Elleth

Greenapp1es said:


> What a beautiful little guy!
> 
> I'm glad he arrived safely, despite the drama of his arrival. I'm getting a couple fish shipped to me this coming week - I'm a bit nervous about how that goes.
> 
> For the filter - are you still turning it off? You actually don't want to do that, it can mess with the cycle.


Thank you!  

Yeah, it was nerve wracking. I think the breeder and transhipper did everything right, since he recovered so quickly and had so little damage despite all the shaking (two tiny tears in his caudal fin, which healed within 3 days). Good luck with yours that are being shipped to you! I hope it all goes well. 

No, I have a sponge filter now. I knew it could mess with the cycle when I did it, but decided I'd rather change the water more frequently and risk screwing up the cycle than risk him getting shredded by the outflow or sucked against the intake when I was gone.


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## MikeG14

You had me hangin' on the edge of my seat there, I'm glad he's OK. 

Sponge filters are they way to go, you won't regret it. 

Good Luck!


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## Axeria

Subbing for sure! 

I love your hammytubes as decor and might just steal that idea as I have several meters of it after keeping hammies for many,many years 

Arausio is SUPER cute! I love marbles


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## RNHime

His markings are so striking! I like his tubes, too. Great idea. =)


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## copperfish

I ordered my first from thailand yesterday. Wooot! Previous to this I've just had (an abandoned) one from petco that I've learned a lot with over the past year+.

Do you know how long it took for the fish to go from Thailand to your transhipper?


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## Elleth

Thank you, everyone.  

I actually got the hamster tunnel idea on here, I saw someone do it. We'd went into Petco to get him something to hide in, but all the fish decor was too rough or jagged. Then I remembered the hamster tunnels. I'd highly recommend it, both my guys love them. (Yes, I do have another. Should be introducing him in the next post).  

And I love his markings and marbles as well. He's actually started marbling, will get to that in a future post. ^^

Copperfish, I believe it took him 4-5 days to get to me from the breeder, I'll have to look over my email records and see when the transhipper contacted me, though. And congrats! Hope you survive the waiting, lol!


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## copperfish

Thanks! That's not as long as I thought, so I feel better. It is tough waiting. I'm ok though ...The breeder has been good with email communication and I tested the tank this morning. All cycled with 0/0/20. It's been good to read your experiences, not sure I would have gotten here without ... even though you had a tough time.


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## Elleth

copperfish said:


> Thanks! That's not as long as I thought, so I feel better. It is tough waiting. I'm ok though ...The breeder has been good with email communication and I tested the tank this morning. All cycled with 0/0/20. It's been good to read your experiences, not sure I would have gotten here without ... even though you had a tough time.


That's awesome that you have your tank all cycled, kudos to you!  I'm guilty of never having one fully cycled. And I'm glad to have been a help.  You'll have to let me know how it goes with the shipping and all.


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## Elleth

*Introduction to Edgar*

Without further ado, I present Edgar! 

We purchased Edgar the Monday after we got Arausio, so six days later. My husband really liked Arausio, and I kept commenting on a white crowntail that I had seen at a local pet store before we purchased Arausio. I told him that if he wanted a betta, I was willing to be responsible for it. Water changes, feeding, anything that needed to be done. He could name it and enjoy it without all the work. In case you hadn't guessed, I just wanted another betta. XD He decided that it sounded like a good idea to him. 

Sooo, we went into town (the nearest pet store is in the city I work at, an hour's drive away) and looked for the white crowntail. He was gone, so we examined all the other bettas and I pointed out the two healthiest looking ones. My husband chose one and named him Edgar. 

Edgar during the acclimation process (light just for the picture):









Edgar shortly after acclimation:









We were now the proud owners of two beautiful bettas!


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## Elleth

*Edgar Was Sick!*

Two days after we got Edgar, so on Wednesday, he started looking bad. He was clamping and refused to eat. I couldn't figure out what was wrong with him! For three days I asked for help on Facebook groups I was on, and researched, but found nothing. (I was a member here at the time, but not an active one). I emotionally distanced myself from him and expected him to die. Then I was accepted onto the IBC Facebook page. And I asked for help there. 

By that time, Edgar still hadn't eaten. He had absolutely no visible signs of illness but clamped fins and loss of color. He still refused to eat, and hardly ever moved. He looked like this:










My plea for help was answered by three betta breeders. The diagnosis? Velvet. I was told that velvet attacks the gills before becoming visible on the fish. Treatment commenced immediately. This consisted of a completely dark tank, water temp of 82, and Aquarium Salt (I don't remember the exact dosage, but have it written down somewhere). Four days later, Edgar was eating, unclamping, and looked like this:










The treatment was successful, and he is now super active and 100% unclamped. He had colored up a lot, too. Here is how he looks now:










Edgar is in his own 5.5 gallon in the bedroom. Everything in it was brand new. My conclusion is that he or his water was already infected, but the stress of traveling to a new home made him far more susceptible to it than he had been, so it then attacked him.


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## copperfish

> That's awesome that you have your tank all cycled, kudos to you!  I'm guilty of never having one fully cycled. And I'm glad to have been a help.  You'll have to let me know how it goes with the shipping and all.


Don't feel too guilty, nor be too impressed. Just happens I've finally reached that point. Takes learning and patience. Oh and you have to be really good at following directions - lol. I was so happy when I first saw that orange in the nitrate tube. I'd have a hundred bettas if not careful but have had to shift my obsession to other areas such as plants and beneficial bacteria. Now that I got there, I decided to jump in after seeing how beautiful yours was. Im ready!


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## Elleth

copperfish said:


> Don't feel too guilty, nor be too impressed. Just happens I've finally reached that point. Takes learning and patience. Oh and you have to be really good at following directions - lol. I was so happy when I first saw that orange in the nitrate tube. I'd have a hundred bettas if not careful but have had to shift my obsession to other areas such as plants and beneficial bacteria. Now that I got there, I decided to jump in after seeing how beautiful yours was. Im ready!


I know what you mean. XD How many bettas do you have at the moment?


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## Elleth

So, I have a question to ask you all. I had something super exciting happen today, should I continue my story in chronological order (Arausio marbling, Edgar doing something to his tail, and then the exciting thing) or should I just tell the exciting thing and then catch up?


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## copperfish

Elleth said:


> I know what you mean. XD How many bettas do you have at the moment?


Just the one I took over a year + ago. I have 3 5 gallon tanks though. 1 w the betta, another with some neon tetras, and the one waiting. All have plants in at this point. The betta is living the good life. Eventually, I'll have the 2 betta tanks then want to go to a 16 gallon for a community tank.

My dream tank, but not there yet: 
http://innovative-marine.com/nuvo-aquarium/nano16.html

My vote, tell the news. And then as the past comes up with nothing new in the day to tell catch up on history and what you've learned along the way.


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## Greenapp1es

If you have something super exciting that you really want to share - I'd share it while it's fresh in your mind. You can always continue to catch up after!


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## RNHime

I agree with Copperfish and Green. Tell fun news while it's fresh on your mind! It's nice to read things in order but playing catch up can become a never-ending battle, haha. =P
Congrats on your "husband's" fish, hehe. ^-^


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## Elleth

*Exciting News!*

Alrighty then, here is my exciting news.  

Yesterday after church we went to Petco. I was hoping to find some live plants. Well, they didn't have any of the plants I wanted, but as usual I looked at the fish (and the bettas especially). They actually looked really nice this time, for the most part. I think maybe they got a new manager or something, because last time some fish in the community tanks had dropsy, and all the bettas were halfway dead. This time, though, I didn't see any fish with problems. They all looked active and healthy. All, that is, but one. 

A double tail male betta was floating on his side in his container. I watched him for a while, and noticed that he seemed healthy otherwise. He'd try to fight his way to the bottom of his container, just to bob back up like a cork. 

Needless to say, I felt for the poor guy. With all these healthy bettas around him, who would pick one floating on the water, half dead for all they knew? I could see poop hanging out of him, and decided that he had probably been overfed, and was constipated. Knowing that double tails are prone to swim bladder issues and that overfeeding can cause them to manifest, I decided that was most likely his problem. 

I tried to ignore him, I did want another betta at some point, but I wanted a female. And double tails aren't my favorite bettas, either. But... He kept tugging on my heartstrings. 

So I asked my hubby if he would mind if I got the fish, and explained why I wanted him. He said that if was fine, I seriously have an awesome husband, lol! They had bare 10 gallon tanks for $14, so we ended up getting one of those and some other betta necessities. I was impressed with the clerk, he felt all the plastic of our silk plant before letting us buy it. 

I named him Ahrirang. He's pale pink with light blue iridescence. And he's gorgeous! As I type this, he is asleep in his halfway filled ten gallon on my dresser (the books will Habra to be boxed). He is asleep, laying upside down on the floor of the tank, his caudal fin higher than his head, poor little fellow. At least he found a way to sleep and stay sunk at the same time, he was having a hard time of it last night. And now I must hurry off to work, I'll try to post new pictures of my baby ASAP.


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## Elleth

*First Fish Death*

Well, he must have had something else wrong with him. My husband just texted me to let me know that he is dead. He said his gills are not moving, and that he had been in the same spot for over an hour, unmoving. On closer inspection, he observed that his gills are a bloody red. My first thought is ammonia poisoning. The ammonia level in his cup was between 0.5 and 1 ppm when I removed water to test it before we started the acclimation process.

Or perhaps his constipation? Not sure if that can kill a betta or not. I asked my husband to leave him in the tank till I get home, so I can examine him and take pictures and try to figure out what happened. Then we will most likely bury him. Not taking him back to Petco, though. 

I spent over 5 hours acclimating him, so I don't think it was anything I did. At least he died in warm clean water. I think we'll be thoroughly cleaning and cycling his tank before looking for another. Then maybe I'll get that female I was thinking of. 

I'm heartbroken that my little Easter betta didn't make it.


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## RNHime

That is such a pity! I saw your post about getting him... lovely fish. Hopefully the store will at least refund him for you? =( Sorry for your loss.

At least you have another tank to have at the ready now... are you thinking of dividing it?


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## CharV

Subbed.

I'm sorry for your loss =(


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## Tress

Sorry for the loss of your rescue boy, it's hard to tell for sure what is wrong before its too late.

If you can I'd get some Methylene Blue for future use as it will help with ammonia poisoning that store fish often suffer from. It's a good med to have on hand. Some stores will have it but you may have to ask/special order or find it online.


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## Axeria

Oh no! I am so sorry to read that he has passed  Atleast you tried!


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## Greenapp1es

I'm so sorry to hear about the new boy. :-(

It wasn't your fault though, and at least he spent his last hours warm, cared for, and loved. 

It's incredibly difficult to say what the cause was, but either constipation or a bacterial infection affecting his swim bladder (among other things) are possibilities. Either way...it was likely something he was fighting before you brought him home. 

SIP little guy.


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## copperfish

Sorry to hear. but must say again for yourself ...



Greenapp1es said:


> Either way...it was likely (strike that) something he was fighting before you brought him home.
> 
> SIP little guy.


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## Elleth

Thank you, all. 

I wish I'd known that about the Methylene Blue before.  I actually have some, but wasn't aware it could be used for that. 

And yes, I am thinking of dividing the tank now. I plan to clean it thoroughly, cycle it, divide it, and get two new ones after all that has been done. I hope to find another with his coloring, I really loved his pink and blue.


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## Tress

be sure that if you do a divided to quarantine before adding both/the 2nd fish for at least 2 weeks to assure they are healthy.


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## gracem2002

Subbing  I love reading about your bettas! You should check out my journal, I need some help planning a future tank...


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## Elleth

Tress said:


> be sure that if you do a divided to quarantine before adding both/the 2nd fish for at least 2 weeks to assure they are healthy.


Oh definitely, lol. After experiencing velvet with Edgar, there's certainly no way I'd do it otherwise. I wouldn't have in any case, but that experience just made me even more paranoid. Lol! 

Do you have any tips of the best way to quarantine? I've never done it before, (having never had a divided tank), so I'm trying to figure out what would work best. Is there a kind of smaller tank I could suspend in the 10 gallon? Or will I most likely need another heater, too?


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## Elleth

gracem2002 said:


> Subbing  I love reading about your bettas! You should check out my journal, I need some help planning a future tank...


Thank you.  I'll look at your thread, but I am by no means an expert, if you're looking for advice.


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## stellenternet

Subbing. 
SIP


----------



## Elleth

*Betta Burial*

So, despite the rain, my husband and I drove to one of our favorite places to walk and buried Ahrirang. I live in a very rural area, so this was down an old logging road. We don't have a backyard, and I didn't want to flush him, so that was what we did. I wrapped him in his IAL and tucked him into the ground and covered him with dirt. 

I am now consoling myself by watching Arausio playing in his filter outflow, and trying to get a video of it. The little turkey always stops and swims over to me when he sees me, though.


----------



## Greenapp1es

Elleth said:


> Oh definitely, lol. After experiencing velvet with Edgar, there's certainly no way I'd do it otherwise. I wouldn't have in any case, but that experience just made me even more paranoid. Lol!
> 
> Do you have any tips of the best way to quarantine? I've never done it before, (having never had a divided tank), so I'm trying to figure out what would work best. Is there a kind of smaller tank I could suspend in the 10 gallon? Or will I most likely need another heater, too?


You have a boy in a 5g, right?

In all honesty - if you've had your other two boys for 2 weeks already, I'd put them in the divided 10g and leave that other 5g open for the new arrival. That way you don't have to worry about QT'ing him - and your other guys will have already essentially gone through their QT period.

Otherwise, you *can* float a tupperware or something in a 10g tank, but (having done this and speaking from experience) it is far from ideal. Firstly, the container you're floating probably won't be very large, and you'll be looking at daily water changes. Secondly - even though it is not *as* risky....there is still a risk of contamination as you will still have some cross-contamination by water vapor. You'll get water evaporating from each QT container that condenses - and drops back in the other container.

It sounds like you have the equipment you need to get everyone set in a QT setup once you get dividing materials, it's just a time factor.

Otherwise - you *can* get just a cheap tupperware tub to QT, but yes...you would need another heater for that QT period.

Hope that helps!


----------



## Elleth

Thank you Greenapp1es! I hadn't even thought of that. Will now have to consider if I want to do that or not. I love having Arausio in the living room is the only thing, lol. He's such a people fish. 

I guess I'll have to do some thinking and decision making. I do need a hospital tank, anyway... Hmm. 

In other news, I soaked the 10 gallon in salt water for several hours, rinsed, then soaked in a 10% bleach solution for 14 minutes and rinsed 10x. It doesn't smell like bleach anymore (didn't after the 4th rinse) so I'm assuming it's safe? Letting it sit empty till dry at the moment.


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## Greenapp1es

I'd rinse your tank one more time - but I'd use your dechorinator. This should...um....dechorinate any leftover bleach.

Fill the tank, then dose the tank at 5-10x dose of the dechorinator for a few minutes. Say 10 to be safe, though it should start to work immediately. Then, drain the tank again.

As for wanting to keep Arausio in the living room - you could always move him *back* after the other guy's QT is done. ;-) I completely understand though. I don't think Callisto will ever move from his tank right by where I sit on the couch. I'm pretty sure he'd freak.

EDIT: If you're looking to have something onhand as a hospital tank anyway, getting an extra heater is probably advisable though. It also gives you a spare if something happens to one of yours. All you need for a temporary QT\Hospital tank is a large tupperware bin....and a small adjustable heater (25W) would serve just fine.


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## Elleth

Thank you!  I've got it sitting dechlorinating now. 

I think we'll probably end up going the hospital tank route. Talked to my hubby about possibly moving Edgar into the divided after quarantining one new betta in there, but then realized that Edgar is way more aggressive than Arausio, and might not be the best bet for a divided tank. 

Do you know if it's okay to have a female on one side of a divided and a male on the other? Or would that mess them up hormonally or something? I suppose I should make a thread about it, lol. 

I keep trying to get a video of Arausio "surfing" in the filter current for you all to see, but he always sees me. I even crawled over by his tank on my belly this last time, but he saw me and swam over before I even sat up. Now I'm sitting in front of his tank, hoping he'll do it again and I can finally get a video. Watch, he probably won't do it again all night now.  I bet he's being super observant of me because today is their fasting day.


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## Elleth

Hah, my ploy worked! I got two fairly good videos of him. I'll try to post one or both tomorrow. He's so funny! Glad I have a current weak enough that he can exercise in it like that. It's too funny to watch, as well.


----------



## Elleth

*Daily Update and a Video*

Well, I've now uploaded a few new pictures of Arausio (all of Edgar's turned out blurry. Darn fish just won't hold still)! And a video of Arausio current-surfing, although he usually does this way longer. I also have a few pictures of my boy who passed, Ahrirang. 

Arausio:
















And the video: https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/...6129965385303687138&oid=118396901615726803657

Ahrirang:
















Swim in peace, pretty boy.


----------



## CharV

Your fish is awesome =D

Aw... poor Ahrirang...


----------



## copperfish

Good to see Arausio active and enjoying his tank. Great job!

sip


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## Axeria

Ah, Arausio is gorgeous! 

So sad about Ahrirang, atleast you tried  SIP little boy!


----------



## Elleth

Thank you guys.  10 gallon is competely clean and dry, I will hopefully be getting the stuff to divide it on Sunday. I'm so excited!


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## Elleth

*Small Town Blues*

There are times I enjoy living in a small town, and times that I dislike it. This is one of those times I dislike it.

I really want to start working on dividing my tank, but no place in town sells the materials I need. My town is literally 3000 people small, so it's tiny, tiny, tiny. So, if my hubby doesn't work Sunday, we'll go into the larger neighboring city to church and pick up materials (and maybe a fish) then. I'm planning on getting the materials to divide the tank, and a plastic tub and heater to use as a hospital tank. 

I know I said I was going to cycle the tank before getting another fish, but, well, I'm a bit recovered from Ahrirang's death now, and... I've done fish-in cycling before and I am confident I can do it again. With one fish in a ten gallon, it should be fairly easy, I think. Also, I'm planning on quarantining each fish for a full two months before having them both in the divided tank, so the sooner started the better. 

Edgar and Arausio are both doing well. I still am having a tough time taking pictures of Edgar, he never holds still and is constantly glass surfing. Which is another thing I hope to get Sunday, more plants for his tank so that I can put them along the grass and make it harder for him to glass surf. Maybe then he'll stop. I think he's tearing his fins from doing it so much. >.< I'd get a background, but he mostly does it in front, and I obviously want to be able to see him. So, hopefully my husband doesn't work Sunday and we can go shopping.


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## copperfish

Chin up! I live in a small town too. I'll be driving 1-1/2hr each way (to the big city ... woop) to the transhipper's home next week. I'll take my small town any day over going into what I call civilization. Looking forward to hearing your experiences, don't be so hard on yourself - you are thinking about and planning what you will be doing to care for your fish. Nothing wrong with that, really!


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## Elleth

That's nice that you have a transhipper so close!  I'm jealous, lol. Every one I've heard of is in a different state than me. 

I think the most frustrating part about living in such a small town is this. I work part time in the larger city, an hour away. But I take the bus there, and it severely limits what I can and cannot do. Like, I can't get a fish then, because I wouldn't want to transport it home on the bus. I can't get plants, because the pet store in the city I work in doesn't have any, and the Petco is in a city half an hour further away. So even though I've been so close twice already this week, I haven't been able to go get what I need. >.< Not to mention going to Walmart for divider materials takes getting on a different bus and going halfway to the next city. I mean seriously, it's okay when you're driving, but on the bus it's such a pain. And I don't want to wait at Walmart for half an hour for the next bus. *sighs and stops complaining*

Lol I'm just so impatient! XD Although I am looking forward to tomorrow, I don't think I work anywhere, so I'm planning on sleeping in forever. I've only had one day of sleeping later then 6:30 in the past two weeks. 

Edit: Scratch that. Just got called in to work for tomorrow. Waking up at 5, here I come. 

And thank you for your kind words.  That helps me feel a bit better.


----------



## copperfish

Two words solve all of that: Amazon Prime


----------



## ladymuscan

What an amazing journey thus far! Congrats on your wedding  Mine is this upcoming October, I'm so excited XD 

They are beautiful fish and I can tell how much you truly care for them. They are lucky to have such a loving home  Sorry again to hear about Ahrirang 

Seems I have a ton more to learn. You brought up things I didn't even know existed but will definitely keep on learning more about. Keep up the great work


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## Elleth

copperfish said:


> Two words solve all of that: Amazon Prime


Lol, we can order that way through my in-laws Amazon account, but I'm a visual person and prefer to get most stuff hands on. But I have ordered so much fish stuff from Amazon, I'm sure they're shocked at how much goes into a happy healthy betta! XD I'm glad they're so nice and I like them so much, otherwise it would not work at all. But at any rate, if we can't go on Sunday then Amazon is probably what I'll end up doing.


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## Elleth

ladymuscan said:


> What an amazing journey thus far! Congrats on your wedding  Mine is this upcoming October, I'm so excited XD
> 
> They are beautiful fish and I can tell how much you truly care for them. They are lucky to have such a loving home  Sorry again to hear about Ahrirang
> 
> Seems I have a ton more to learn. You brought up things I didn't even know existed but will definitely keep on learning more about. Keep up the great work


Thank you! And congrats on your upcoming wedding, that's super exciting!  It was so hard waiting for mine. 

Thank you.  I'm glad he was able to be cared for before he died. But I must confess I probably will try to choose the healthiest ones for these next two! At least he opened the door for me to get two additional bettas that will now have a proper home and not a tiny, cold, dirty place no better than their store cup. 

I'm glad that you found it helpful, I know I'm still learning lots too. I've decided bettas are like dogs, there's always something new to learn. (And I've been working with dogs for 7-8 years, lol).


----------



## ladymuscan

Elleth said:


> Thank you! And congrats on your upcoming wedding, that's super exciting!  It was so hard waiting for mine.
> 
> Thank you.  I'm glad he was able to be cared for before he died. But I must confess I probably will try to choose the healthiest ones for these next two! At least he opened the door for me to get two additional bettas that will now have a proper home and not a tiny, cold, dirty place no better than their store cup.
> 
> I'm glad that you found it helpful, I know I'm still learning lots too. I've decided bettas are like dogs, there's always something new to learn. (And I've been working with dogs for 7-8 years, lol).


Thanks! I've had dogs my whole life so yes, always a new adventure with any pets 

I'll admit, when you bought your beautiful marble Betta and had it shipped, I was worried. I'd love to have one similar but the whole ordering online thing really scares me. I didn't think it was an option until I joined this site to be honest. Would you ever buy another online in your opinion?


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## Elleth

ladymuscan said:


> I'll admit, when you bought your beautiful marble Betta and had it shipped, I was worried. I'd love to have one similar but the whole ordering online thing really scares me. I didn't think it was an option until I joined this site to be honest. Would you ever buy another online in your opinion?


Yes, I would definitely buy online again. I'm actually considering whether I want one of the two to go in the divided to be purchased online or not. I think it's going to come down to where I see the fish I call in love with, in the end. One of them is definitely coming from the LPS or Petco, though. And hopefully this Sunday, too. Although I still don't know if my hubby is working or not. *sighs*

My reasoning behind why I would order online again:
Fish do die when being shipped, but they can die even if you just get them locally. 
My Thailand betta is far healthier, more interesting, and less trouble than my LPS guy. Lol I don't like playing favorites, but I believe Arausio is both me and my husband's favorite. 
There's far more variety online, and you're more easily able to find a fish with good form, etc. 
And so far, my fish bought online is healthier than either of the two I bought locally. 

So, that's my reasoning. Hope it helps.


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## Elleth

*That Edgar Fish*

That Edgar fish is trouble! 

He is doing something to his tail. I'm not sure what on earth is causing it, if it's because of his constant glass surfing, or if he's tailbiting, or something else. I really don't think he's tearing it on anything, because everything that was in his tank is what has been in it from the start, and this first happened about a week ago.

I did finally get some good pictures of him, though. 200+ photos and one hour later, here's what I've got. Thirteen photos good enough to post here. Lol now you can see why I have so many more pictures of Arausio than Edgar. Edgar is just impossible to photograph, and the lighting in his tank isn't as good as the lighting in Arausio's. So that doesn't help.

Tail Damage:

























Good Photos:









































































BLOODWORM! GIVE IT TO ME!









This is what I do when Mom tries to take a picture of me:


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## Elleth

*Arausio Marbling*

Arausio is marbling! Mostly just turning more blue in his caudal fin.

Here is his breeder photo. I did not take it, this was the picture I saw on his auction that caused me to buy him. How could I resist the cuteness?









Recent photos showing marbling:


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## Greenapp1es

Yeah- for Edgar that looks like biting. Keep his water clean to provide a sterile enviornment while he heals. You could also add aquarium salt - 1tsp per gallon for 10 days (or 1TBSP per 5 gallons for long term use).

Pretty boy though! Good to see pictures of him!


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## Elleth

Greenapp1es said:


> Yeah- for Edgar that looks like biting. Keep his water clean to provide a sterile enviornment while he heals. You could also add aquarium salt - 1tsp per gallon for 10 days (or 1TBSP per 5 gallons for long term use).
> 
> Pretty boy though! Good to see pictures of him!


Thanks!  I'm hesitant to use AQ since he just got done with velvet treatment using it about a week ago. But I've been keeping his tank super clean. 30-50% water changes every other day. I wish I could figure out what's triggering it. The first instance occurred after uncovering his tank after the velvet treatment. The second about 3 days ago. I'm pretty sure it was not a water change day. *sighs* So I just am not sure what set him off. I'm going to be adding another silk plant to his tank today that's identical to his favorite one. Maybe that'll help. Our maybe it'll trigger more biting.  I guess we'll see what happens.


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## Starburst44

Arausio is so pretty! I love his coloring.


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## Elleth

Starburst44 said:


> Arausio is so pretty! I love his coloring.


Thank you!  I do too.


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## copperfish

Hang in there and remember to give it time also. I'm sure it is a big adjustment for him. He has gone through all of the travels and a new environment. You are doing great and he will settle in and be just fine. 

.... mine is on its way now from thailand -- i can't wait -- he left yesterday and has a 3 day voyage to the transhipper in a closed box ... i can imagine him sloshing around (as yours had to also) as I type this ...


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## Elleth

copperfish said:


> Hang in there and remember to give it time also. I'm sure it is a big adjustment for him. He has gone through all of the travels and a new environment. You are doing great and he will settle in and be just fine.
> 
> .... mine is on its way now from thailand -- i can't wait -- he left yesterday and has a 3 day voyage to the transhipper in a closed box ... i can imagine him sloshing around (as yours had to also) as I type this ...


Yeah, I'm sure Edgar's two weeks of darkness didn't help matters much. Oh well, even if he tail bites the rest of his life, we'll still love him. 

How exciting!  I hope he arrives safe and well, and soon, lol.


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## Elleth

Monday cannot come soon enough! (For once). XD My husband works Sunday, but not Monday. So Monday he is going to drive me into work, and after work we are going to go fish shopping!  I'm planning on getting more plants, both silk and live, more hamster tunnels, more decorations/hidey holes, divider materials, craft mesh to make floating betta hammock thingies, a heater, a plastic tub for a quarantine tank, and... A betta! 

I cannot wait! *does a happy dance*


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## Elleth

*The Many Ways to Use a Betta Hammock*

In which Arausio demonstrates all the different ways a betta fish can relax on their hammock.

Traditional Style:









Sideways:









On the Suction Cup:









I Am A Sucker Fish:









Yup, that's my fish! He held each of those positions for 30 seconds or longer.


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## Elleth

*Rescaping Edgar's Tank*

Today I just added an extra silk plant I had on hand. Monday we plan to take out the jug - he doesn't use it - and add in more hides and maybe more plants. He loves his new silk plant, so I'm hopeful that more hiding places, etc, will make him stop tail biting.

The tank with the new silk plant:









Checking it out:


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## Axeria

HAHA I love the suckerfish pick xD And your tank is looking beautiful! I bet he loves his new plant


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## copperfish

Those are some great pictures with the hammock!


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## Elleth

Thanks guys!  

I'm also stalking another fish from Arausio's breeder on Aquabid. I think I'm going to get him... We'll see, though.


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## Elleth

I got him!  Sooo excited I can hardly stand it. This is my new guy! Oh gosh I dunno how I'll manage waiting again! XD Isn't he lovely? 

http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/closed.cgi?view_closed_item&fwbettashm1428074502


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## Axeria

Oh gosh! He is stunning!  Congrats!


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## Elleth

Thank you! I'm just so excited I can hardly stand it. *does a little dance* He's the one I'll quarantine in the (to be) divided (hopefully tomorrow!) 10 gallon. The other will be quarantined in the hospital tank I should be getting tomorrow. Cause I'm expecting it to be more likely that the one I get locally will need treatment. Oooo gosh I'm so excited!


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## Greenapp1es

What a gorgeous boy!


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## Axeria

Heve I would also be excited if I where you  
I cant wait to see your setup and your new boys in their home


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## Elleth

Thanks! 

I'm planning on my hospital tank being pretty big, so that a 2 month quarantine won't be a big deal. We're also going to hunt around and see if we can find something to use as a stand to tuck into the now empty corner in the living room and put Edgar and the ten gallon on it. I did some rearranging and I really like the area it freed up. What caused the big change? I moved my favorite sitting chair to by Arausio's tank. We love it! XD

Anyway.... *Runs off to make a shopping list for tomorrow* I'm so glad we got our tax return, it means I don't have to penny pinch.


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## Tress

lol 2 months is a bit overkill, especially if coming from a good breeder. 2 weeks is good if they look healthy overall, if they look a bit off a month may be safer.


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## Greenapp1es

Tress said:


> lol 2 months is a bit overkill, especially if coming from a good breeder. 2 weeks is good if they look healthy overall, if they look a bit off a month may be safer.


+1. A 4 week quarantine should be fine. Most people only give 2 weeks - but 4 weeks is safer.


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## Elleth

One will be coming from the local Petco or local pet store, so I really don't want to take any risks with it contaminating my boy from the breeder.  Lol 6-8 weeks is what I am comfortable with right now, but it might change. Then again, maybe not. >.< I tend to be on the overly cautious side when it comes to the safety and wellbeing of my pets.


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## Tress

Overly cautious is better than regretting things later


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## Elleth

My thoughts exactly. Especially since it's my first time doing a divided tank, and my biggest concern with divided tanks is and was cross contamination. I'd never forgive myself if one got sick just after the quarantine ended, and got the other sick, too.


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## Elleth

Bringing home my new Petco guy! Picked the healthiest looking this time and added a drop of Prime once in the car. He looks like he probably has fin rot, and I'm guessing ammonia poisoning cause his water's dirty, but other than that seems healthy. Flared a little at me when I first looked at him, fins aren't clamped, active, not breathing heavily, no signs of Ick, dunno bout velvet as don't have a flashlight. Going to get him home and set him up in the hospital tank, which we also just got. Lol! He's lovely, red with blue iridescent scales on his sides.


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## Elleth

*He Has A Name!*

New Petco guy has a name!  It is Finrod Felagund, or just Finrod, after one of my all time favorite Tolkien characters! I think it suits him well. I have a few pictures of him in an album here, if anyone is interested in seeing him. I'll post better, smaller photos here later. In the meantime, you can enjoy this snippet of The Lay of Leithian, by JRR Tolkien. It tells of the battle between Sauron and Finrod Felagund. 

He chanted a song of wizardry,
Of piercing, opening, of treachery,
Revealing, uncovering, betraying.
Then sudden Felagund there swaying
sang in answer a song of staying,
Resisting, battling against power,
Of secrets kept, strength like a tower,
And trust unbroken, freedom, escape;
Of changing and of shifting shape,
Of snares eluded, broken traps,
The prison opening, the chain that snaps,
Backwards and forwards swayed their song.
Reeling and foundering, as ever more strong
The chanting swelled, Felagund fought,
And all the magic and might he brought,
Of Elvenesse into his words.
Softly in the gloom they heard the birds
Singing afar in Nargothrond,
The sighing of the sea beyond,
Beyond the western world, on sand,
On sand of pearls in Elvenland.
Then the gloom gathered; darkness growing
In Valinor, the red blood flowing
Beside the sea, where the Noldor slew
The Foamriders, and stealing drew
Their white ships with their white sails
From lamplit havens. The wind wails,
The wolf howls. The ravens flee.
The ice mutters in the mouths of the sea.
The captives sad in Angband mourn,
Thunder rumbles, the fires burn-
And Finrod fell before the throne.
~ JRR Tolkien


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## Axeria

Great name!  

And I love Tolkien! He sure has a way with words


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## Elleth

Thanks!  I adore Tolkien. If I could only read one author for the rest of my life, it would be him. *nodnod*


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## Greenapp1es

Tolkien is awesome.

I actually recently learned that there are *manuscripts* of his archived at a college about 2ish hours away from me that get public viewings every 2 months. HOW did I go this far into my life WITHOUT KNOWING THIS.

I'll be making a road trip at one of the next viewings.


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## Elleth

Greenapp1es said:


> Tolkien is awesome.
> 
> I actually recently learned that there are *manuscripts* of his archived at a college about 2ish hours away from me that get public viewings every 2 months. HOW did I go this far into my life WITHOUT KNOWING THIS.
> 
> I'll be making a road trip at one of the next viewings.


Oh. My. God. I am beyond jealous! That is so awesome. You'll have to tell us all about it when you go!


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## Greenapp1es

LOL, I know the feeling actually!

One of my friends just got a *private* viewing this weekend because he's at a sister school to the one that has the archived works. When I found out I was just...simultaneoulsly overjoyed at the existence of these and ready to throttle him for not bringing me, lol.

I won't get a private viewing, but a public one will work.

Sadly no photographs are allowed. I already heard a good deal though - apparently a draft of some cover illustrations and some doodling are in these too.


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## Elleth

Lol! Conflicting emotions.  

I love his art, I bet those doodles will be superb.


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## Yestergirl

Oh Elleth! He's beautiful! Love reading about your journey and love the photos!

Yestergirl


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## ladymuscan

Congrats on the new addition!  Loving the Tolken theme


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## Elleth

Thank you guys!  I'll try to get some better pictures of him up soon, but it probably won't happen today, cause I've got a busy day ahead of me. Two tanks need water changes, and I'm adding some things to Edgar's tank, removing one thing from it, and moving his tank out here to my new tank stand. Also am adding a silk plant to Arausio's when I do his water change. Busy busy busy, lol! Going to try to get my sister to come over and help me move things, since my hubby works all day today.


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## copperfish

Geesh, good pictures are not easy! I picked up my new betta from the transhipper today. All ok - ahhh, deep breath, the wait is over.

Here is "a" picture I managed to get
http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=540490

Thanks again for sharing, elleth, as mentioned before ... you sharing experiences here helped me along with taking the jump to use aquabid. I'm happy that I did. Keep it up! Cheers, have a great day!!


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## Elleth

Congrats! He's lovely. I'm glad it went well for you. And you're welcome!


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## Elleth

*Potential Fifth Betta*

So, we potentially might be getting a fifth betta. He would be a rescue if we do end up taking him. He belongs to a family I'm very close to and babysit for often. They got him close to a year ago, before I knew anything about bettas, and they don't really have the funds or time to give him the proper care. He's in what I believe is a one gallon, unheated and unfiltered, maybe changed once a week. 

We stopped by today to give them a homemade betta hammock today, because I'd made hammocks for our boys and I had enough extra to make one for theirs, so I did. When we dropped it off we were told that, in all seriousness, if we wanted the betta, we could have him. So I'm got to call them after dinner and tell them that if they're sure about it, we can take him on Saturday. That will give us time to get another heater and larger tank, etc, on Friday, and them time to be sure it's not something they'll regret. 

I'm not sure if we'll be able to heal him all the way if we do get him, but it's at least worth a shot. Cross your fingers and toes!

Edit to say that I think my wonderful husband has the betta bug as badly as I do.  He said he was leaving the decision of whether we took him or not completely up to me. Of course I decided we will if they're sure.  And my husband is fine with it! Lol! Totally unexpected.


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## Greenapp1es

LOL - and it starts....

I've got 5 right now, never expected to have more than one. Heck....never expected to get back to fishkeeping at all. And that's not including the boys I still have on the way. Hopefully the first of *them* arrives safely tomorrow.


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## Elleth

XD XD I'm shocked at how quickly we have accumulated fish. If you'd told me in January that I'd have 4 four for sure, and potentially 5 in April, I would have thought you were crazy. 

Now... I just think I need another surface for tanks. Lol! 

I hope your new ones all arrive safe and well! Mine's not being shipped from Thailand til the 4th, so I'm keeping myself from worrying about him at least till then. Having bettas shipped is just so nerve-wracking!


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## Elleth

On another note, my little Petco guy is worrying me a bit. He's being very inactive today. Hadn't eaten anything or pooped yet, but he's not having swim bladder issues. Actually, I almost suspect he's coming down with velvet, cause he's acting like Edgar did the day before his fins started clamping when he got velvet. I already have aquarium salt in with him since he's got fin rot, so for now I guess we'll just wait and see what tomorrow is like. Maybe he was active while I was at work, and is just tired now. *sighs* I'm worried about him.


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## Greenapp1es

Since he's still *brand* new - I wouldn't jump to velvet yet. Keep an eye out for it....but he very well could be just stressed from all the activity and change...and needing a few days to settle in.

Did you ever get a picture of Petco boy posted? I'm not seeing one. I'm really eager to!


----------



## Elleth

Yeah, I'll definitely make a post here in the forum if he goes downhill. I'd rather get more experienced people's opinions before treating, lol. But it seems that I'm probably over reacting, as he is exploring now.  I'm just terrified of losing another. Part of what made me jump to velvet was that there were a couple of other fish there when we got him who might have had it. They certainly had something. Clamped fins, and one was glancing around his little jar.

I have a few pictures in an album here, but they're not very good quality as they were taken with my phone. I was planning on posting some today, but getting sick prevented me from stopping at my parents house and using mom's camera to upload them to my computer. *sighs* So now I probably won't be able to post any that aren't taken on the phone until I am better. 

I suspect that he's going to diamond scale over his eyes at some point. He's got blue metallic scales, and I can see a tiny dot of blue on one eye. So I've made a circle out of tubing and we'll train him to eat from it once he's interested in food again. Then when he's in his permanent tank, I'll anchor it in place. I'm hopeful that we'll be able to do it all before he starts going blind. He appears to see just fine for now.


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## Elleth

*A Few Photos of Finrod*


























Sorry for the crummy quality, but here's what I've got for now.


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## Tress

Haha he's almost a brother to my new boy Sven!


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## Elleth

Oh my goodness, the similarities are striking! XD Too funny.


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## Elleth

*Finrod is Sick*

Poor Finrod is not doing well. Yesterday I noticed he was swimming with a slight jerky motion, today it's far, far worse. He's also looking slightly clamped, and only moving to gulp air. 

I've made a thread here and in the IBC Facebook page about it, and have ordered Prazipro (with one day shipping) and am currently dosing him with methylene blue. I really hope that I can save him, I'm going to be heartbroken if we lose him, too.


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## Elleth

*Finrod Has Velvet*

How ironic that my initial hunch was correct. Finrod is now displaying classic symptoms of velvet. (Clamping, gold dust). I think he had it already, I can't even imagine how he would have gotten it from Edgar, Edgar had been healthy for I think a minimum of two weeks before we brought Finrod home, and I haven't used anything between the two aquariums. 
Anyway, I'm very excited to have a definite diagnosis, and am beginning treatment accordingly. Hopefully we can help him beat velvet, just like Edgar did. And hopefully I can keep him from infecting any of my other boys.


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## copperfish

Elleth said:


> I can't even imagine how he would have gotten it from Edgar, Edgar had been healthy for I think a minimum of two weeks before we brought Finrod home, and I haven't used anything between the two aquariums.


Did they come from the same store?

Happy to hear you have some direction to follow now!


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## Elleth

No, Edgar came from a LPS and Finrod came from a Petco half an hour away. I will confess that I suspected he might get velvet when we got him, though, because several of the other bettas displayed signs of it (clamping, flashing). It just began manifesting in such an odd way that I didn't think it was velvet until today.

And thank you! I'm so hopeful that we'll be able to help him pull through, since I've already done it with one fish. *crosses fingers and toes*


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## Elleth

Going to go to Petco today to get the equipment for the rescue betta. It sounds like they are very serious about giving him to us. Cross your fingers that I come home without another fish... I really am not sure if I could handle more than 2 sick fish at once. However, if one of those tiny females is still there.... It's almost a given she'll be coming home with us, even if I am 99% sure all the fish currently there have velvet. *sighs* Just so tiny and cute, if one's lasted this long I know that I won't be able to leave her to a death sentence.


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## Tress

Just be careful not to take on more than you can handle!


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## Greenapp1es

Tress said:


> Just be careful not to take on more than you can handle!


Lol - agreed.

*counts betta*

I still have more coming too. At least I now have a nice 20 Long tank to help keep maintenance easy!


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## Elleth

Lol will try. Shouldn't be too hard at the moment, cause for the foreseeable future I'm working part time 2-3 days a week with mostly nothing to do the other days. 

Anyway, 4 of the crowntail girls were left, including the little one I was eyeing when we got Finrod. She was very active and curious about me, despite having been there for so long. So... Need I say it? She came home with us. Her name is Eowyn. And now I'm pretty darn sure I'm at the max I can be responsible for, so no more now, no matter how much it breaks my heart. She'll be going in a 10 gallon divided with rescue fish if we do end up getting him. After quarantine of course.


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## Elleth

Well, I don't think Finrod is going to make it. Despite having figured out what is wrong with him and treating him for it, he's only getting worse. He seems to have a swim bladder issue going on now as well, which doesn't really surprise me since I'm pretty sure he hasn't pooped since we got him. He also hasn't eaten since we got him. I'm trying to decide whether I should consider euthanizing him or not. I'll probably wait one more day and see if he's gotten worse or better, and decide based on that.

Eowyn is doing well, she's super adorable and hilarious. From what I've seen of her, at least. Since she came from the same Petco as Finrod, the one that appeared to have a velvet outbreak, I decided not to give it a chance to attack her, even if she wasn't showing any signs of it. I know bringing a fish home can stress them out and lower their immune system, making it easy for something to attack them. So, Eowyn is being treated for velvet right now, too. I'm going to keep a close eye on her, and if she still doesn't show any signs of it after 10 days of treatment, I'll stop treating her and move her to her new tank, which will be all set up by then. (Rescue fish hasn't been decided about yet, and he'll be doing quarantine in a different tank than the divided. I'd rather quarantine Eowyn in the divided and rescue fish elsewhere). I really hope that taking this measure will ensure that she makes it, even if Finrod doesn't.


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## Tress

Aww  so sorry that you're having do much trouble with them. I hope he pulls through.


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## Elleth

Thanks for your sympathy, I hope so too. He's a darling little fish, and it hurts me to see him in such obvious pain and distress.


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## Tress

:< I know how you feel, a few days after I got Ruben he became very ill. Turned out he was still suffering the effects of being poisoned from the poor water conditions at the store. It was touch and go for a few days. He did pull through finally and made quite the recovery. These are tough little fish, just when you think they are down for the count the spring back and surprise you. I'd give you boy a few days, unless he goes more downhill, before moving to euthanise. But seeing as were not there we can't really make a judgement, so that's up to you.


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## Greenapp1es

I'm sorry to hear your boy isn't doing well. What are you using to treat?

For the boy that's clearly sick cupramine might be the best way to go. It would be really harsh for treating the new girl though... Given she isn't showing any symptoms at this time.


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## Elleth

I'm glad Ruben pulled through for you! I'm hopeful Finrod will, but it's really difficult to see him in such distress, especially as it appears to be getting worse. I'll for sure be waiting through Monday at the least to see how he's doing.

I'm using aquarium salt and methylene blue, along with darkness and temp of 82. Considering pulling the methylene blue and using the Coppersafe I have. I don't have cupramine, and getting medication quickly is really difficult here. The best option is Amazon with 1 day shipping, but I'm not even sure if he'll make it another day or not. Edgar pulled through with just the aquarium salt when he had velvet, so I added the methylene blue based on the advice of someone on the IBC fb page. I'm second guessing it though, and wondering if the Coppersafe I ordered when Edgar was sick wouldn't work better. 

For the girl I'm just doing aquariam salt (along with temps of 82 and darkness), and I'm not going to go over 10 days unless she starts showing symptoms. My hope is that it'd nip any velvet in the bud so it can't attack while her immune system is low.


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## Greenapp1es

Coppersafe would be better for velvet than Methylene Blue. It's a harsh treatment though - don't dose unless you *know* it's velvet. It can also mess with ammonia readings. 

If you go this route, you'd want to water change the tank before starting - because you want to follow the instructions exactly to minimize the risk of overdose. I think you go the treatment without a water change - so feeding less and a large tank would be helpful. You also have to be careful with strong dechlorinators - I think you need to dose those a couple hours before using coppersafe.

I'd ask on the Diseases and Emergencies page. I don't have any direct experience with velvet - but several members do. I'm just going by what I've read in other threads here.


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## Elleth

Thanks! I'll definitely make a post. I am just shocked at how much more resistant to treatment this strain of velvet is than what Edgar had. >.< Guess I had it easy the first time. It's definitely velvet, he's got the signature "gold dust" on his chin.


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## Elleth

*Finrod's Passing*

I regret to inform you all that Finrod didn't make it. He passed away sometime today between when I checked on him this morning and when I went to change his treatment this evening.

It looks like Petco is closed on Easter, so I don't think we'll be able to return him. We wouldn't be able to take him back for about a week, and we can't have him in the apartment that long.

Arausio and Edgar are still healthy and happy, and Edgar hasn't chewed his tail up any more. Yet. 

Eowyn appears to be in perfect health, but I realized my flaw in keeping her in the dark. I can't really get a good view of her to be sure if she's healthy or starting to flag. So on Monday when my new heater arrives, I'll be setting up her tank (which is now divided, yay) and I will put her in it and monitor her closely. I really hope she stays healthy and fine, because I am head over heels in love with this tiny girl. She's barely an inch, tail included, but she is very spunky. Full of personality, and honestly my second favorite of all the bettas we've owned at this point. (My first favorite being Arausio, lol).


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## BettaStarter24

Sorry for your loss! At least he's not suffering anymore, and you did everything you could for him. Can't wait for pictures of the new girl.


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## EvaJupiterSkies

SIP Finrod. At least he's no longer suffering. 

I am eager to see pics of Eowyn though! My girl Esmeralda is unabashedly my favorite now, and I am definitely going to always have at least one girl. They are so spunky!


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## Elleth

Thank you guys. I'm hoping to be able to get some pictures of her up once I am better, I'm still pretty terribly sick, though, so I'm not sure when that will be. I'll post some better photos of poor Finrod then, too.

Something good about Eowyn is that she still appears to be acting normal and isn't clamping at all. I'm pretty sure Finrod had begun acting odd by the second day we had him. Also, Eowyn is a good little eater, she eats everything I give her right away. Finrod never touched his food. I'm hoping this means that she somehow managed to escape being infected by velvet. I'm still keeping a close eye on her, though. Tomorrow her heater is supposed to arrive, so she'll be put into her real tank, instead of the temporary container she's currently in. I'm super excited to get her all set up.

And, here's a little bit of an example of some of the rearranging I've done in my living room. My favorite chair is now right beside Arausio's tank, an excellent arrangement.


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## Tress

So sorry to hear that Finrod passed  at least you gave him a good home for a while. Glad that your little girlie seems to be fine.


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## Elleth

Thank you. There is that comfort, at least. Jusst feeling like a crappy fish owner since I've had two in a row die. I'm really, really hoping that I break the streak with Eowyn. I can't wait to move her today, I'll take lots of photos for you all.  She's just the cutest little thing, I love her.

I think she's seeing her reflection in her thermometer, because she likes to give it the evil eye. It's hilarious. She also enjoys hanging out under her IAL and in her hamster tunnel. I can't wait to see what she'll think of her new tank, with a silk plant or two and another tunnel. And so much more room! She's been in a one gallon container since I got her (with daily water changes and Prime, don't worry) and she's going to be moved into a divided ten gallon. Not as much room as Arausio and Edgar have, but still quite a bit more than what she's in now.


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## Elleth

*Faramir is in the States!*

Faramir (Aquabid boy) is in the US, hurray! I just got an email from the transhipper and paid. Super excited to get him home, now I have to make sure that everything is set up just right for him. Sounds like today is going to be a busy day for me! Setting up tanks for not one fish, but two. I wonder what day he'll get here. I'll have to make sure that I am home and not at work. Thank goodness that my boss is good about me changing days if I really need to be somewhere else.


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## Elleth

He's scheduled to arrive tomorrow! So excited!


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## Tress

Awesome


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## Greenapp1es

I wonder how hard Faramir will try to get Eowyn's attention. Unlike their namesakes though - I'm assuming they will have to admire from afar. ;-)


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## Elleth

*cackles* I didn't even think about their namesakes relationship till after I chose the names. Then it was like, oh did I do that? I guess I did! 

They will be relatively close to each other after quarantine, I plan on them being in the same divided tank. But until quarantine is over, they'll be halfway across the room from each other. And definitely no romance between the two. I don't have the room, time, or money for breeding, lol.


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## Elleth

*He's HERE!!!*

Faramir is here! I was planning on going to my parents at noon (where he was shipped to) because I wasn't expecting him till 3, when UPS packages usually arrive. Well I got a call at about 11:30, it was my brother, the only person home at my parents. He had literally been walking out the door to go to work when the UPS man pulled into the driveway. That could have been so bad! 

I've just finished cleaning the heater that was in with Finrod and put it in the tank for Faramir. I've soaked it in vinegar for 20 min, rinsed, soaked it in water with a heavy salt concentration for 20 min, rinsed, wiped it down multiple times with bleach, rinsed, wiped it down multiple times with rubbing alcohol, rinsed for 2 minutes straight under running water. It had better be good, cause Faramir's water temp in his tank is at 62 and it needs to rise! 

Faramir is in way better condition upon arrival than Arausio was. He's been upright and swimming around since I opened the box. He's very pale and washed out, so much so that I can hardly tell it's the same fish. But I'm pretty sure he is, lol. I can't wait to float him and start acclimating him to his tank. Gosh I'm so excited!


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## Greenapp1es

YAY!!!

Can't wait to see pictures of him all settled in his tank!


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## Elleth

Well, I walked over to my parents to upload pictures for you all, but... When I got here, my mom was gone and she has what I need to upload the photos. Soooo... Boo. Maybe tomorrow. *sighs*


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## copperfish

Geesh. This isn't working for me! Can we all just pitch in and buy you a decent phone so you can upload ... er something. jk


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## Elleth

copperfish said:


> Geesh. This isn't working for me! Can we all just pitch in and buy you a decent phone so you can upload ... er something. jk


If the internet cooperates, prepare for an avalanche of photos!  Finally, lol. I've been fighting the internet (which keeps crashing) for the past hour or so. >.<


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## Elleth

*Finrod Memorial Post*

Since I didn't get the chance to post any nice photos of him before he died, here are two now, to honor his memory.


















SIP little buddy.


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## Elleth

*Eowyn Photodump*

Here we go, photos of my pretty lil girlie!

In the 1 gallon waiting for the big tank to be all set up:









Acclimating to the new tank:









Her favorite thing in her tank. The thermometer:









Lovely stress stripes, huh? She didn't appreciate the hassle of switching tanks:









What's in the dirt?









Exploring:

























My two favorite pictures of her:

















She's still acting healthy. I think someone, miraculously, we got the only healthy betta there when we got her. *knocks on wood, crosses fingers* I love my little lady, she's stolen my heart.


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## Elleth

*A Few Photos of Edgar*

To prove the little bugger is still alive and (mostly) doing well. His tail is still in shreds, the bugger, but no signs of rot.


















He likes his jungle of a tank much better now. I think?


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## Elleth

*And a Few of Arausio*

He's turning all blue and red, my little beauty. Also, I think he's grown quite a bit. With the addition of Faramir and Eowyn, he's the second biggest betta in the house. He's happy not to be the smallest anymore. He's huge compared to tiny Eowyn and little Faramir.

See how much his red is spreading? It's about doubled in length.









Got him his first silk plant...









He loves it!

























New floating tunnel. He likes his hamster tunnels better.


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## Elleth

*Last But Not Least, Faramir!*

Here's my lovely little boy! 

In his bag, after opening the box. He was much more lively than Arausio was when I got him. No doubt that Faramir was alive!









Acclimating. Lovely... Flesh colored? Fish you've got there. I thought he was supposed to be blue?

















Oh wait! He's turning blue!









Exploring his new home after acclimation:









Pretty tail! It shifts red-blue-red-blue as he swims:









And pictures from today:


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## Elleth

So, Faramir has decided that scaring the heck out of me is a good thing to do. He's taken to glass surfing a bit, and when he does, he does a twitchy thing similar to Finrod's initial symptom. But he only does it when he's glass surfing, he swims normally the rest of the time. Needless to say, I am watching him like a hawk!


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## Aqua Aurora

Do you have access to acrylic sheets, a way to cut them (utility knife, razor, one of many saw options), and Krylon Fusion spray paint?
You can make tank inserts for side(s) and back wall to reduce glass surfing so he only does it at the front and you can just distract him with miscellaneous object in front of the tank, or giving him attention.
My 6g bowgfront has sides and back wall covered by Kyrlon fusion painted black acrylic sheets, been like that for moths with no issue and keeps my elephant eat, Aristocoles, from being a pysco glass surfer.. I need to get some more acrylic cut (and paint) to fix Xerxes' tank too but waiting till I am ready to re-scape..
If you want more info on prepping plastics for kyrlon fusion painting and cure time, etc, let me know ^^


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## EvaJupiterSkies

Elleth said:


> So, Faramir has decided that scaring the heck out of me is a good thing to do. He's taken to glass surfing a bit, and when he does, he does a twitchy thing similar to Finrod's initial symptom. But he only does it when he's glass surfing, he swims normally the rest of the time. Needless to say, I am watching him like a hawk!


Esmeralda does something similar. If I go near her tank, she'll start glass surfing the front and she does this thing where she bends her body in half and then kind of pops into a little fish torpedo as she moves along. I've learned it's just her way of moving about when I'm around. I have to sit with her for a few minutes before she understands she can go back to swimming normally. Regardless, considering Finrod's recent passing and his recent acquisition, probably not a bad idea to keep a close eye on him just in case.


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## Elleth

Aqua Aurora said:


> Do you have access to acrylic sheets, a way to cut them (utility knife, razor, one of many saw options), and Krylon Fusion spray paint?
> You can make tank inserts for side(s) and back wall to reduce glass surfing so he only does it at the front and you can just distract him with miscellaneous object in front of the tank, or giving him attention.
> My 6g bowgfront has sides and back wall covered by Kyrlon fusion painted black acrylic sheets, been like that for moths with no issue and keeps my elephant eat, Aristocoles, from being a pysco glass surfer.. I need to get some more acrylic cut (and paint) to fix Xerxes' tank too but waiting till I am ready to re-scape..
> If you want more info on prepping plastics for kyrlon fusion painting and cure time, etc, let me know ^^


I'll have to see if I can find some, thank you! That sounds like the perfect thing for Edgar, he spends about 80% of his time glass surfing, despite my best efforts. I'm not too worried about Faramir glass surfing yet, he's only doing it about 5-10% of the time. I'm hopeful that with him it's just because he's settling in.

Eva - It's good to know that he's not the only fish who does it. I'm really hoping and praying that it's just an odd quirk of his, and not the beginning of him getting sick. Since he only does it when at the glass, I think it's probably just him trying to see his reflection better. But by gosh, if he does get sick I am treating him hardcore immediately. I will not let him die like poor Finrod did.


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## Elleth

*Assigns fish slightly random birthdays*

Arausio: 10 November, since he was roughly 3.5 months when we got him. 
Edgar: 2 September, I think he was around 6 months when we got him, due to size and him not growing further. 
Eowyn - 3 December, I'm guessing she is about 4 months. 
Faramir - 27 December, since he was about 3.5 months when we got him.


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## Greenapp1es

LOL!

For what it's worth - you may be able to get the *actual* spawn date from the Aquabid boys if you asked the seller. They may know what spawn they came from and the spawn date.

The lfs finkids will remain a mystery though.


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## Elleth

I actually tried, but I think there were some language barrier issues. The answer was, 3.5 months, lol. It's not a huge deal, I doubt I'll be celebrating birthdays or any such thing. Mostly I just wanted to have a general idea of how old they are.

Anyway, I was on google and found a really interesting article! (Pertaining to bettas of course). I thought I'd share it with you all, as well as ask those more knowledgeable, how accurate is it? I'm suspicious of internet information, but this seems legit. What do you guys think?
http://www.bettaterritory.nl/BT-AABDragons.htm


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## Tress

I've read that before, it's a pretty credible source. I've seen it posted/talked about in the breeding section quite a bit.


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## Elleth

Tress said:


> I've read that before, it's a pretty credible source. I've seen it posted/talked about in the breeding section quite a bit.


Thank you! I've been reading through basically the whole site now, it's super interesting. Guess I have a full blown betta obsession? Lol!


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## Tress

I've read part of it, my brain started to hurt from trying to digest so much info at once xD


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## Elleth

I was doing good til my husband came home and turned on the TV. Then my brain overloaded, lol.


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## Gandalf15

Haha, just read your whole journal..... Wow!


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## Elleth

Gandalf15 said:


> Haha, just read your whole journal..... Wow!


I'm glad you enjoyed it!  

Update for today:
Not much to say about Arausio, he's his typical happy self. Still ignoring the mirror, although I haven't been flaring him daily. He looks like he might be getting a bit of red on one of his ventral fins. I hope that is all it is, at least, and not something more sinister. It's just a tiny dot of red, though, so for now I'm going to assume it is marbling and just keep a close eye on him. 

Edgar's tail shows some new growth, but also some new bites. I'd tried not flaring him for awhile and it apparently had no affect on his fin biting, so now we'll try daily flaring for a bit and see what that does. We flared him today, using a mirror, for 8 minutes or so, and man he went nuts! Multiple full flares, rushing around his tank looking for intruders. It was nice to see him do something other than glass surf. I even think I got some good pictures! Tried a new setting on my camera (ISO) in combination with macro, and from what I can tell on my camera, I got some really nice ones. Will try to post them soon. 

Eowyn is doing well! She still shows no signs of illness and is super active. Her heater has malfunctioned and now the highest it gets the water temp is 75. I am not pleased at all, and am trying to get a refund. I also purchased a new heater of a different brand.

Faramir got his first water change today, and he did not like it one bit! He paled out and got stress stripes, the little weirdo! I didn't even jar him while doing it or anything. He was a little skittish immediately following the water change, but is now back to his normal friendly self. 

We are probably going to give the 10 gallon divided Faramir is in to my brother and his girlfriend when Faramir and Eowyn are done with quarantine, full equipped and everything. Not because we don't want more fish or anything, but because they currently have two bettas in tiny cubes, unheated and not changed enough. I hope I can get them to take the 10 gallon. 

We are thinking tentatively of a King Betta for our next fish. Won't be getting it until after Faramir and Eowyn are done in quarantine, so we'd still have the same amount of tanks. If taking care of 4 tanks proves to be too much for me, well, we'll figure that out during the quarantine and not get another betta. But so far I think it's fine. I enjoy water changes, they're very relaxing. And other than the week I was super sick, water changes haven't ever been a problem. Even then I didn't miss one, though. We're planning on a 10-20 gallon for the King. It'll be interesting to see what actually ends up happening, though, lol!


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## Gandalf15

I would love to see your king! What is glass surfing as well?


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## Elleth

Gandalf15 said:


> I would love to see your king! What is glass surfing as well?


I'll be sure and post pictures if and when we do get one. It won't be till in late May at the earliest, though, cause that is when Eowyn and Faramir are done with quarantine. 

Glass surfing is when the betta sticks its noise against the glass and swims back and forth rapidly. At least that is what mine do when they glass surf. Edgar does it the most, it's minimal with the others. I am of the opinion that if it persists for much longer than a week, it is a sign of poor mental health due in large part to lack of mental stimulation. Like how most large predators at zoos will pace in the same route, over and over and over again. 

Edgar has possibly the most simulating environment of all my bettas currently, but he was also (I'm 99% sure) the oldest at time of purchase, meaning it's much more likely that he was in an environment that wasn't simulating for a longer period of time than any of my others, especially the two I got directly from the breeder.


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## Elleth

Well, rats. I think Eowyn might have worms or something. She pooed a white poop today. I am about to siphon it out of her tank for an intense photo session and then dissection. Will make a thread in the diseases and emergencies section tomorrow hopefully, or maybe tonight if I can get good pictures with the phone. I haven't fed her anything different, and it's her first white poop since she's been with me. I can say that with confidence, since I've been sucking done out of her tank at least once every other day since she's been here.

Edit: she came over to see the phone, and then when I took a picture of the poo, the camera made a sound and she bolted! Silly little girl. She recovered from her shock and is nosing around again now.


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## Elleth

*Update on "Rescue Fish"*

We might be getting him this weekend. Saw his current owners yesterday, the parents still want to give him to me, one kid is fine with it, one really opposes it, the other two seem neutral. I showed the kids some pictures of my fish, and explained to them how their fish would have a bigger tank and more "toys" and be healthier if given to me. We'll see what happens.

It sounds like he is really enjoying the floating craft mesh tube I made for him when I made my guys theirs. They said he's always sleeping in it.

I have given them a small bottle of Prime with directions to add two drops per gallon each day (I think his tank is a one gallon), hopefully that will help him out a bit in the meantime.

I kinda really hope we get him, and am also kinda really overwhelmed at the thought of it. I'm almost positive that he has tons of issues, and I'm not sure how many can be solved by warm, clean water. Hopefully most. What I'm most terrified of is that they'll give him to me, and he'll die a few days later. >.< Cause of course if that happens the kids will assume it's my fault. I mean, if I were a kid in such a situation, I sure would.

He's a dumbo with shredded fins (plastic plants) and I'm pretty sure he was blue when they got him about a year ago, but he's been red and white for a long time now. Pretty sure sign that he's been feeling cruddy for a long time. It's not marbling, I'm positive of that. He's washed out from being in dirty water for so long. I dunno. I'll keep you guys posted.


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## Elleth

*Finally, a Heater!*

Eowyn's new heater finally came, hurray! Just put it in her tank. I'm excited for her to not have temperature fluctuations anymore. 

I also got some Hikari Spirulina Brine Shrimp, I'm excited to add something new to the fishes diet. Will be trying feeding them for the first time tonight. I've heard really good things about them, and I'm excited for my fish to get the extra nutrition.

Edit: Arausio ate his Brine Shrimp immediately, and loved every bite of it. Faramir and Edgar both ate the first bite, and then hesitated a bit before finishing it off. Eowyn, poor thing, I didn't think to crush her's first. She was her usual gluttonous self and went right for it. I can tell that she loved it, but she had to chew it, spit it out, chew it, spit it out, over and over again before she could eat it all. I will have to remember top crush it first next time.


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## Elleth

Did water changes on half of the tanks today. The other half is for tomorrow. When I got fish, I thought I'd dislike cleaning tanks. Now that I actually do it, I can say it's one of my favorite things. That sounds odd, lol. But it's true. It's peaceful, and relaxing, and doesn't take a lot of thought. I love interacting with my fish and doing something to keep them healthy. It's very fulfilling.


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## DaytonBetta

I enjoy maintaining my tanks, too. I'm glad things are going well.


----------



## Elleth

*Confession Time*

Well, my husband and I stopped at Petco Sunday to get another tank while they still had their dollar per gallon sale going on. Of course, we had to look at all the bettas. They had about twice as many as usual this time, some looked really good, others looked pretty bad. 

One of the ones who looked good was a King. He was also marked down in price. My husband asked why didn't we just get him now, since we want one and this one was on sale. So..... Strange has taken up residence in our apartment. He has a 10 gallon all to himself, and so far he has lived up to his name. 

He's named after a baseball player on the 1995 Seattle Mariners team, (Edgar's name comes from the same place), but I chose the player he'd be named after, and I think Strange fits him perfectly.  

He's been much slower to adapt than any of our other fish. He spent every day hiding, not even coming out to eat, until today. And now today he's being a total social butterfly for me, and coming and swimming by where I am whenever I go see him. He even stuck around for pictures, even when I used the flash! 

Another example of his weirdness: He clamps his fins, but he can open them fully when he wants to. It freaked me out a ton at first, because every fish I've had previously, clamping meant they were sick. But... That doesn't appear to be the case with Strange. 

I'm not sure exactly how big he is, much bigger than any of our others, for sure. It's funny to look at him and then look at Eowyn, or vice versa. If I had to guess, I think he's probably anywhere from 2.5-3.5 inches long, counting only the body. His mouth is huge, it's hilarious to watch him eat. I'll try to post pictures of him (and the others) tomorrow. I didn't love him at first sight, but I think I'm falling hard for him now. Now that I've gone and gotten attached to him, he'd better not get sick! 



DaytonBetta said:


> I enjoy maintaining my tanks, too. I'm glad things are going well.


Thanks!  I am, too.


----------



## Elleth

Arausio's been looking a little bloated these past few days. I'm fasting him till it goes down. Cross fingers it's just that I slightly overfed him. He seems normal otherwise.


----------



## BettaStarter24

My two plakats when they aren't swimming around actively seem to hold their fins pretty clamped, but then as soon as they swim around they spread their fins out. I think it might be something that plakats do. Unless it is clamping because of illness anyway.


----------



## Elleth

That seems to be what Strange is doing, and now that he's been here awhile his fins are unclamped most of the time (which makes sense because he's tons more active). He's acting normal in every other way, so I guess it's just an oddity? Curious that your plakats do the same thing. I wonder why it is.


----------



## Elleth

Well, it appears that Arausio has dropsy. I am so, so heartbroken. I don't know what I did wrong. I don't understand it at all. (I made a thread in the diseases section seeking help).

I love these little guys, and I can't imagine life without them. But if I keep losing them, I might have to give up on this hobby. I can't handle it, I love the little buggers too much. And now to have dropsy come in from out of the blue and strike my favorite little buddy? This is too much. Too, too much. I am doing everything right as far as I can tell, and I don't get it. I just don't get it. I mean, if he were older it wouldn't be so bad. But he's only 5-6 months! He should be able to live at least twice as long! 

I just don't know what I'll do if I loose my little buddy.


----------



## Elleth

*Photo Updates!*

Faramir:
























He loves his lilypad:









Strange, the new guy:

































Eowyn:

































Edgar:

































Arausio (None from now that he's bloated, I'd rather just post healthy ones).


----------



## Elleth

Arausio is being treated with KanaPlex in his water. I'll be adding Epsom salt either tomorrow or the next day, trying to decide which. His swelling is still rising, although not very quickly. Pineconing is minimal, maybe even less than yesterday. 

I managed to make it out of Petco without another betta today.  However, I'm very disappointed that none of the pet stores within a 1.5 hour drive from me carry NeoPlex. It's been suggested that I try mixing his food with that, and I'm willing to give it a go if the KanaPlex doesn't seem to work. I've ordered it with 2 day shipping. Should be enough time to tell if the KanaPlex is working or not, I think. 

I've also decided to up my water change schedule to 2x weekly for everyone, whenever possible. I know I won't be able to manage it all the time, since I work during the week, but I think I can manage it most of the time.


----------



## Elleth

Arausio's still hanging on, but he's not doing well. His energy level is very, very low, and he's still pretty darn bloated. Still treating him, and hoping and praying. 

I wasn't going to write anything today, but I realized something just now, and I have to write about it. 

I've been through something like this before, but it was much, much worse. In 2008, my mentor and friend who I loved deeply was murdered. It was one of those things that you never expect to happen, and it changed who I am. It changed who I am for the better. 

There was one point after she was killed, however, where the person I was going to become hung in the balance. It had already been a rough year for me, and the loss of her was almost more than I could stand. I remember thinking, seriously considering stopping loving people. I had been hurt so badly that completely cutting myself off from others seemed like a perfectly logical thing to do. After all, if I didn't love anyone, I couldn't be hurt anymore, right? 

Thankfully I realized what a stupid and dangerous idea that was. And I have made some of my best and closest friends in the wake of that tragedy. But, that was a defining moment for me. The decision to love and be vulnerable. To embrace the possibility of being hurt again with arms wide open. For after all, life without love is worth nothing, nothing at all. 

The reason I am recounting this to all of you is because I realized today that if I stop owning and loving bettas because Arausio dies, I will be coming upon the same decision again and taking the wrong path. 

And I refuse to do that. I will live life without hiding from pain, because I know that if I try to hide from hurt, I will miss out on the best things in life.


----------



## stellenternet

Elleth said:


> Arausio's still hanging on, but he's not doing well. His energy level is very, very low, and he's still pretty darn bloated. Still treating him, and hoping and praying.
> 
> I wasn't going to write anything today, but I realized something just now, and I have to write about it.
> 
> I've been through something like this before, but it was much, much worse. In 2008, my mentor and friend who I loved deeply was murdered. It was one of those things that you never expect to happen, and it changed who I am. It changed who I am for the better.
> 
> There was one point after she was killed, however, where the person I was going to become hung in the balance. It had already been a rough year for me, and the loss of her was almost more than I could stand. I remember thinking, seriously considering stopping loving people. I had been hurt so badly that completely cutting myself off from others seemed like a perfectly logical thing to do. After all, if I didn't love anyone, I couldn't be hurt anymore, right?
> 
> Thankfully I realized what a stupid and dangerous idea that was. And I have made some of my best and closest friends in the wake of that tragedy. But, that was a defining moment for me. The decision to love and be vulnerable. To embrace the possibility of being hurt again with arms wide open. For after all, life without love is worth nothing, nothing at all.
> 
> The reason I am recounting this to all of you is because I realized today that if I stop owning and loving bettas because Arausio dies, I will be coming upon the same decision again and taking the wrong path.
> 
> And I refuse to do that. I will live life without hiding from pain, because I know that if I try to hide from hurt, I will miss out on the best things in life.


Listen, I know it's hard and your friend seemed like a really great person. But things happen and for some reason they have a way of working out. 
To stop loving people isn't the best decision and I think you already know that. Plus, Arausio isn't even gone yet. He's still hanging in there. He's a fighter and I think everyone should be proud of him. 

But whatever happens just remember this quote:
Stars can't shine without darkness.

I wish you all the best!


----------



## Elleth

Oh, no, you misunderstand. I must not have written that post too well, what I was trying to say is that I've already learned that stopping loving is not a good option. 

Arausio passed away today. We're going to bury him on a hill overlooking the town, where we like to walk.


----------



## stellenternet

Elleth said:


> Oh, no, you misunderstand. I must not have written that post too well, what I was trying to say is that I've already learned that stopping loving is not a good option.
> 
> Arausio passed away today. We're going to bury him on a hill overlooking the town, where we like to walk.


Awwwww SIP Arausio! He was so really cute though. That is a wonderful place to bury him. I am also currently dealing with dropsy as well. It's horrible to watch your fish go through it.
Sorry for misunderstanding your post. :/


----------



## PrettyInPinkFloyd

SIP Arausio. He was so cute. He seemed like a fish I'd like to have. I absolutely adored him. I have read through this whole thread and I love your fish so much. I want to get another betta because Marv doesn't seem to use the space in his 10 gallon very much. So I think I'll divide it. Lovely pictures. I have enjoyed them so much! You have made me feel a lot better. This is the best thing when I'm sick. (Except the betta deaths along the way, but I love how you continue giving good homes to bettas that need you &#55357;&#56832;.


----------



## Elleth

Thank you, guys. I'll have to take pictures of his grave and the surroundings so you all can see what a pretty place it is sometime. I know our doesn't matter to him, but it makes me feel better knowing he's in such a place. 

I'm currently bleaching and cleaning out his tank to get it ready for another fish. We're hoping to go by Petco on Monday. Hopefully we're able to find a pretty and healthy one, or any the very least one we can save. I'm secretly hoping for a baby. 

It's kinda strange. I mourned for Arausio all this past week, and now that he's gone, I just kind of feel at peace. Maybe it's because the agony of not knowing is finally over. And I don't have to see him in pain anymore. I know he's at peace, and it gives me peace.


----------



## Greenapp1es

I'm sorry to hear about the passing of your little guy. SIP Arausio.


----------



## Elleth

I am so, so upset right now! Edgar is bloated, I'm positive he has dropsy too now. I've begun a more intense treatment than Arausio's. 

What could be causing this??? I'm at my wits end! I don't know what I'm doing wrong! I don't know what to do. I am so pissed at myself, I must be doing something wrong for this to happen twice, right? But what is it? What is it?


----------



## Elleth

Strange has made a huge bubble nest! It's about 1 inch deep and 3-4 inches wide.


















He got very upset with me after I took these pictures, and was flaring away at me. It was pretty darn adorable!

Those will probably be my last pictures for awhile. My camera died today. >.< *sigh* Trouble comes in threes, right? Maybe that'll be the end of it.


----------



## Elleth

Meet Sweet Lou! He's our first veiltail. Very spunky little guy, not afraid of anything. I'm going to be monitoring his water parameters, especially TDS, very closely. At this point I'm 99% that what's been going on was/is either a bacterial infection or a problem due to TDS in the tanks being over 500. I'm cutting everyone's water with lower TDS now, and we're looking into getting an RO filter. Anyway, here's Lou!


----------



## Elleth

The view from my bed. I think it's a pretty darn good one!  Can you see Strange? He likes to hang out at the end by me.


----------



## Elleth

Went to Petco for more silk plants. We happened to choose the day they got in a new betta shipment. Soooo... Two babies are coming home with us!  Looks like a boy and a girl. Will take a closer look when we get home.


----------



## Greenapp1es

LOL. Petco shipment day is dangerous. That's how I got Neptune.


----------



## Elleth

Greenapp1es said:


> LOL. Petco shipment day is dangerous. That's how I got Neptune.


Lol! Just before we walked in, my husband said, "At least this won't be another $80 day". He was right, between the fish and decorations, new tank and heater, it was a $100 day.  He's such a good sport. Technically, I'd had room for 3 more fish without getting another tank, but... I haven't cleaned Edgar's out yet, and I didn't want to put Faramir into the divided with Eowyn till we have the heavy glass lid to go on top. I'm afraid one would manage to do something ridiculous if we tried it with just the craft mesh lid. 

So I got the 6 gallon long "bookshelf" tank I've been coveting for months. Yay! Currently both babies are living in it (it is temporarily divided). When they get bigger, one will go in one of the 10 gallon divideds, and one will have the bookshelf tank to itself. Who gets which will be determined as I observe them and decide who I like best/who is most interesting, lol. 

I've been watching them all day, and after careful observation I'm fairly sure that I do have a boy and a girl. I'm also fairly sure that Petco got the genders wrong, and Pippin, who was labeled a boy, is a girl, while Merry, who was labeled a girl, is a boy. My sister came over with her nice camera today and took lots of pictures. So there will be a photo update relatively soon, and you can chime in to say what genders you think they are. I'll be the first to admit that I am not very experienced at sexing bettas. But to my eye, Pippin has the build of a female, I think I've seen ovaries when the lighting is right, and has an eggspot. Which taken all together makes me fairly positive. Merry has the build of a male, I'm fairly sure no ovaries unless they're wayyyy smaller than any photos I've seen, and no visible eggspot. Which makes me lean towards male when taken all together. 

Anyway, I'm excited for the soon-photo-update. Should be tomorrow.


----------



## Elleth

Hah, just saw Pippin's ovaries very clearly. The light hit her just right, and I could see them glowing pink inside her. Which just makes me more sure that Merry is a male, his insides don't have anything that looks like that.


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## Elleth

*Fishie Photos!*

You guys ready for a fishie photo update? My sister got some good ones, so prepare yourselves for photo spam! I'll start with the fish I've had the longest to the new babies.

Eowyn:









































Faramir:

































































Strange:

















Lou (Yes, his fin rot is still fairly bad):

















































And now for the babies!  First Pippin, the one who is a girl, since I saw her ovaries. Then Merry, the one I am 90% sure is a boy.

Pippin:

































Merry:


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## ThisDragonisNerdy

I've read through your journal! The newbies (and the rest of your fish) are super cute! Good luck with them!
Every time I see pics of the babies I'm like: I HAVE to get those... >·<
But it won't happen any time soon... my current boys like to heap my plate with problems of theirs (GRRR they are such punks)


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## BettaBoy11

Subscribing!!! I love how you named your fish after Lord of the Rings characters


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## Elleth

Thanks guys!  

Everyone is doing well, and today my "fish sitter" is coming over to be shown what to do with the fish while we're out of town for a few days. He's my father in law, and I trust him, but I've heard so many horror stories about the fish sitters that I am more than a bit nervous. Still, all I am going to ask him to do is feed the babies and check to make sure that no heaters are over 82 degrees and to unplug them if they are, cause it'll mean they're broken and overheating. We'll only be gone for a little while, so everyone else will be fine without food. 

Hopefully all goes well.


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## Elleth

Going to be going by a different Petco or a Petsmart tomorrow to look for meds to kick Lou's finrot. Hubby says if I see a betta I like I can get it, yay! We'll be moving Faramir into the vacant side of the divided with Eowyn tomorrow or the next day, so we'll have one divided 10 gallon empty and one 5 gallon (that still needs to be cleaned out) empty. I'm hoping to find a pretty betta or one that really needs me. Excited for getting a new fish!


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## ThisDragonisNerdy

Yay!New fish!
(Btw.. your husband seems cool, he lets you get a bunch of fish :3)


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## Elleth

Thanks! He's a great guy, even let me bring home two new fish yesterday. I think this'll be it for awhile, all my tanks are at/going to be at max capacity now. I do have room for 1 more 5 gallon, so we'll probably add that at some point, but not for awhile since our funds are depleted from our trip and new fish & fish accessories. 

The two new guys are a stunning King who makes Strange look small, and a plakat. I think the King is a black copper, and he appears to possibly be a halfmoon plakat. He is gorgeous and very fiesty and so, so huge! I'm slightly distressed that Edgar's old 5 gallon is the biggest tank we have for him. Once I'm sure he's disease free, he and Strange might end up switching tanks. We'll see. The plakat is a marble, and he's adorable. They both appear to have survived the 450+ mile trip home just fine. 

Everyone survived our short vacation with no apparent problems, so that's super good. 

Today will be a big day on the fish front. Water changes for the babies and Lou, adding sand to the babies tank and more to Lou's, switching Faramir to his side of the divided tank with Eowyn (yes, quarantine is finally over, after 7 weeks both still seem healthy and active), cleaning out Edgar's old tank with bleach, salt, and rubbing alcohol, and acclimating the two new guys to their new tanks. 

As mentioned before, the King will be going in Edgar's old 5 gallon. The plakat will be going in where Faramir has been in quarantine, in a divided 10 gallon with no other fish. One of the babies will be going in the other half of that tank once they are bigger.


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## Elleth

Eh, I spoke a bit too soon. Must've been having my pet sitter feed the babies a bit too much. Merry has a bit of a swim bladder problem, and I didn't notice till I fed him. Poor lil buddy is going to have to be fasted for a little while. Other than that, all seems well.


----------



## Elleth

Photos of the new boys! I think I have these photos on a site so they can be seen here, let me know if it didn't work.

Celeborn (He's feeling lots better since this first photo was taken):

















Elendil (He is 6.5cm BO, a very big and very energetic boy. I think his color might be some kind of copper?):

















And a bonus picture of Eowyn and Faramir's shared divided tank. Both are handling it very well, they can't see each other at all. The only way I can tell that they know another fish is in the water is because they're swimming with their fins more flare-y than usual:


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy

Such cute fish! Btw, clever idea having the filter in the middle like that.


----------



## BettaStarter24

Are you talking about the black on Lou's Caudal? That doesn't look like rot to me, just coloring


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## Elleth

Thanks Dragon.  

Yes, I am talking about the black on his caudal. I'm 99% sure it's rot, the edges are jaggedy and it changes. It used to be a lot more dense, but it's getting thinner. And the jaggedness of the edge changes, too.


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## BettaStarter24

ah, from the pictures it looks a lot like he just has a black band. But it could look different in person. I have two boys with a black band (not as thick as Lou's pictures have though) that always throw me into a panic thinking about fin rot. Hope it heals up soon!


----------



## Elleth

Yeah, the pictures don't really show it very well. He's sort of a difficult fish to photograph. I've been watching him pretty closely, and based on how is been changing I think it's rot. I have another guy with dark blue/black edging on his caudal, and it doesn't change like this. He was confusing, cause he did have fin rot when I got him as well s the naturally dark band, lol.


----------



## Elleth

Alrighty, update on fishies time! 

Everyone is doing fine, Eowyn and Faramir are doing well in their divided tank, although Eowyn isn't too pleased with me for cutting back on her food. I'm feeding her starvation rations for the next 4 weeks, because I don't want her to get eggbound from sharing a tank with Faramir. In 4 weeks Lou will be done with quarantine, so I will switch him and Eowyn, so that Lou is in the divided tank with Faramir, and Eowyn is on her own in the 5 gallon. Then 3 weeks or so after that, Celeborn will be through with quarantine, so I'll put him in the 5 gallon and Eowyn in the divided 10 gallon where Celeborn is in QT. Then I will put Pippin in the other side of that 10 gallon, so I'll have a female only divided tank and a male only divided tank. 

Oh, and that's also when I plan to have Strange and Elendil switch tanks, because Elendil is so much bigger than Strange and would put the 10 gallon Strange is in to better use. So, lol, we will be playing musical tanks. 

Lately I've had to be very careful with feeding Merry, he's very prone to "floating butt syndrome".  I think he might be OK if I only feed him one tiny .5 mm NLS pellet per feeding. 

He and Pippin are growing like weeds! I'm shocked and proud at how much they have grown in the short period of time that I have had them. I can't wait to see them all grown up.


----------



## Elleth

D'awwww, Merry just flared at me! He poofed his little cheeks out and looked so mad.  The cuteness is just too unbearable! 

He flared at my husband yesterday, but I missed seeing it, so I was super excited to see him do it just now.


----------



## artemis35

> Eowyn isn't too pleased with me for cutting back on her food. I'm feeding her starvation rations for the next 4 weeks, because I don't want her to get eggbound from sharing a tank with Faramir.


I'm pretty sure that amount of feeding and degree of "eggyness" are unrelated. IME, some females just seem to be naturally "eggier" than others. I certainly see a wide variance among my own females, all of whom live in equivalent environments. 

I have also read that female bettas becoming eggbound enough to cause physical harm is rare. Maybe that will ease your mind a bit?

So glad to hear that your babies are flourishing!
I can't wait to see new pictures.


----------



## Elleth

I wouldn't be too worried about it if not for two reasons. 1. She's a crowntail, and all my recent research says that they are far more likely than the average betta to become eggbound. 2. The day after I put Faramir in the tank she egged up noticeably more than she has before. Not that she's badly egged up by any means, she's actually quite small, but she didn't used to be visibly eggy other than having the shape of a female rather than a male. She's been staying at about the same eggyness since I cut her rations, so I'll probably keep them where they're at for now. I haven't read of any cure for being eggbound, so I figure a pinch of prevention is worth a pound of cure in this case. Thank you though! I know I'm probably overreacting, but she's inherited the rank of longest owned living betta since we lost Arausio and Edgar, so I'm being extra careful with her (and all of them, tbh). 

And thank you!  I'm trying to get a new camera, but I don't think it's going to happen for a little while yet. So pictures depend on if my siblings come over with their cameras. Lol! 

I'm so pleased with how well they are coming along, I was super scared that I'd kill them or stunt them or something, especially since they were such an impulse buy.


----------



## Elleth

Merry has decided to hate me, lol! Every time I lean close to look at him he does a mini flare by poofing his cheeks out, and he clamps his fins. Then when I sit back he unclamps and is normal again, little goober!


----------



## Elleth

*Update on Celeborn*

Don't know if I mentioned it here, but he'd been showing signs of worms. No weight gain, (super skinny), white stringy poops, occasional random swim bladder issues. So, I dosed him with Prazipro and ordered API General Cure in case that didn't work. 

I added the Prazipro on the 6th, so it's been 4 days. He's already showing great improvement! Finally putting on weight and looking healthy instead of emaciated, passing normal colored and shaped poops, and oh my have his energy levels went up! He was active before, but now he's Speedy Gonzalez, lol! 

He's also marbling, and doing what Lil predicted and losing the white on his head while his fins are growing darker. 

I'm so pleased with how he's doing!  He's come a long way from the motionless little dude in a Petco cup.


----------



## Elleth

Celeborn appears to be completely over the worms and is doing awesome! He's the most interactive of my current group, always curious to see what I am doing when I am near him. It's wonderful to see how far he's come since I got him. 

Lou is still struggling with fin rot, it's driving me nuts! I've managed to reduce it to a thin line, but it's still hanging in there. I've tried daily water changes, I've tried stress coat, and I've even tried Kanaplex. I know that's a pretty hard hitting med, but I wanted an antibiotic and it is one that said it could work on fin rot, and what's more, I have a ton of it. He's off the Kanaplex now (it's what reduced the rot to a thin line) and is getting daily water changes with stress coat added. 

The babies are doing superbly well, still growing like weeds. Merry has a bit of a swim bladder problem, he gets floaty butt after eating. So he's been getting one tiny crushed NLS .5mm pellet 3 or so times daily, and that appears to be helping. 

Strange now has a Finnex Stingray light fixture on his tank, and I absolutely love it! I plan to get one for each tank eventually. We're working on getting a filter in his tank, last night I tried the one that came with the bookshelf tank the babies are in, but it is hideously noisy, so out it goes. It was going to get tossed anyway, so I thought it was worth at least trying. 

Other than that, everyone is healthy and happy, myself included. Talked my hubby into another fish, so we're planning on adding another 5 gallon towards the end of this month or the beginning of July. I'd really like an EE, but we will see what I end up choosing. I'm tentatively planning on choosing the fish from the Petco near his grandparents, it's a further drive away than the closest one, but we're planning on going to his grandparents towards the end of this month or the beginning of the next anyway. The Petco is only half a mile from their house, and I want to stop there anyway to look around, and well, I know I'll probably see one I want, lol.


----------



## Elleth

*Picture Time!*

Hello all! I am here with pictures from today of everyone except for Lou. He wouldn't cooperate, and my sister gave up.

*Strange:*

































*Meriadoc:*

































































*Pip:*

































*Celeborn:*

























































*Elendil:*

































































*Faramir:*









































*Eowyn:*


----------



## SunnySideIvy

I just read all of your log and I love it! I absolutely love all of their names (I took care of some alpacas named Merry and Pippin once!), and it's so nice to see the daily life of your bettas in a sense. I hope you post more, you and the fishes are so lovely!


----------



## Elleth

Thank you!  Don't worry, I'll keep updating. I'm excited for tomorrow cause my new tank comes. I do have to wait a week or two before we're going to Petco, but I can't wait to pick out a new betta.


----------



## Blake My First

These fishes are gorgeous. I love the names you have given them. (I was wondering why your first baby was not present in your latest pictures of your betta clan, now I know why :[ ...) Give me some time to delve into the entire journal (so far).


----------



## Greenapp1es

I love the last picture of Eowyn and the face on one of Merry! Adorable!


----------



## Elleth

Thank you to both of you! And Greenapp1es, I'll pass the compliments along to my sister.  She's been my photographer for the last few photo shoots, since my camera broke. (I really need to get a new one, lol. I keep dragging her over here).


----------



## DangerousAngel

Your boys are looking gorgeous!!


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## Elleth

DangerousAngel said:


> Your boys are looking gorgeous!!


Thank you!  I hope the girls are, too?


----------



## Elleth

The babies are now big enough to eat whole .5mm pellets, yay! They're so cute, Pip attacks hers in a similar fashion to how Strange does, and Merry jumps either before I drop them in, or in completely the wrong direction. It's too cute! 

Last night while doing a water change I accidently siphoned up Eowyn. She's lost some scales and her fins are a bit tattered, but I think she'll pull through just fine. I added two new IAL to their tank, a double dose of stress coat, and some AQ salt.


----------



## DangerousAngel

Elleth said:


> Thank you!  I hope the girls are, too?


Of course!


----------



## Greenapp1es

Lol - Dione jumps in much the same manner as you describe for Merry. She'll either jump before I drop it, be *SO* intent on watching my hand that she doesn't see me *DROP* the pellet, or just flip across the surface of the water. Often times she'll jump and splash the pellet AWAY from her, and then I'll have to hold my hand over the pellet and pretend I'm dropping another one until she finds it. It's hilarious, and adorable.


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## Elleth

Thanks! 

Lol that sounds almost exactly the same.  It's hilarious to watch.


----------



## Elleth

*An Update of the Adventure*

My fish are all doing super well. Eowyn is healing well from her bout with the siphon, you can hardly tell she got hurt at all now. 

Strange adores his DWL and fake lilypad. He rests under the water in the lilypad, and blows bubbles in the DWL. He's got a huge bubble nest going on. 

Lou's fin rot is finally almost over, I think. Yay! I might dose him one more time with Kanaplex, just to give it the boot, it's hanging in rather tenaciously, even though you can tell it's on its last leg. 

My new 7 gallon is mostly set up, and waiting for an occupant. 

And... 

We are pet sitting my friend's betta, the one I talked about way back towards the beginning of my journal. He's in a two gallon tank, so that's not so bad. But it's not heated and they only clean it like 1x weekly. They brought him here tonight, and I gave him a 50% water change right away. His ammonia level in his tank was 0.5 before the change. I also took out his spikey plastic plant that's been tearing up his fins and put in an extra silk one I had instead. I have a heater and a siphon coming for him on Friday. He's an EE plakat, and his pectorals are shredded from the plastic plant. He also has pop eye, and I think he might be blind. I'm being super super careful not to get any of his germs in my tanks. My fish are all so healthy, and he's so... Sick. 

We have him for at least a week and a half, so I'm trying to decide on a course of treatment. Daily 50% water changes, I think, and I think I'll add Epsom salt for the pop eye. Depending on how that goes, I have Kanaplex or Neoplex as needed. I know one of them treats pop eye, just can't remember which at the moment. I can't wait to see how this goes, I'm hoping it all goes smoothly. I'll keep you all posted.


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## ThisDragonisNerdy

I'm glad everyone seems to be doing well! And uh oh.. that empty tank isn't going to stay empty for long, is it? ;-) I hope you can nurse this guy back to health, and teach the owners about how to properly care for him! Could you post pictures of everyone?


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## Elleth

Lol! No, that empty tank won't stay empty long. In fact, I'm trying to decide right note whether to wait to fill it till our planned trip next week, or wheedle my husband into going the extra half hour to Petco when we go shopping today. >.< I want two new fish, but I can only get one. 

Yeah, I'm certainly going to try. I think the biggest thing for them is that they're so short on money. They can't really afford a heater or a siphon. Also they got their fish before I got mine, so that tends to make them think they know more. But hopefully the siphon will make water changes so much easier that I can convince them to double the amount they do. And feed him less! Oh my does his water still have tons of rotting food in it. Can't wait to get a proper siphon and not just a turkey baster.


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## Elleth

New fish is waiting for next Thursday.

When I got home today, Eowyn was doing an odd bobbing, dipping motion in her tank. Turns out she was struggling to get a breath of air and suffering from super severe sinky butt (SBD). I found a long and wide tupperware container that I'd had books and CDs in, emptied it and put her in that. It's got about 4-5 inches of water, and holds right about 4.75 gallons. So she can get to the surface super easily now, but is still in a large enough container that it won't skyrocket with ammonia levels. Also put in basically all her decor, minus one tunnel, so that she feels more secure.

She's currently being treated with 1 tsp of epsom salt per gallon, and fasting. If that doesn't work by late Saturday/early Sunday, I'm going to dose her with Kanaplex. I'm hoping she's just a little constipated and that it's not anything too serious. I'm so glad I got to her on time, it was scary to see her like that. I have little doubt that she'd have drowned if left like that for too long.

If it turns out to be permanent damage due to being siphoned, my hubby has agreed wholeheartedly that she can live in the tupperware for the rest of her (hopefully long and happy) life. 

Friend's fish is doing way better with his clean water! He looks about the same, but is acting more like a healthy betta. He also loves resting in his new silk plant. Tomorrow I'm going to add in epsom salt for his pop eye. Will try that for a few days and if it doesn't work, will dose him with Kanaplex, too.

Edit: Oh! Pictures! My camera is broken beyond repair, and I can't afford a new one at the moment. The only way I can get good photos any time soon is if I convince my sister to come over with her camera and take pictures of them. I will hopefully be getting a new camera soon, but both my hubby and I's laptops are breaking down (they're over 4 years old) so we need at least one new laptop too. X.X Someday, I will be rich and have a huge fishroom and loads of fancy cameras and equipment and not have to worry about all this, lol.


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## ThisDragonisNerdy

You know it was the better choice.. ;3
Oh really? That's too bad... but I almost feel like in that case it's better to try to rehome it to someone who can care for it, ya' know? But it worked out, becuase your helping him/them now! I'm so glad he's feeling better already!
Oh no, I hope Eowyn feels better! It's a good thing you saw her in time..
Money problems I can definatly understand... :roll:


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## Elleth

Despite my best efforts, Celeborn passed away today. I'm going to miss my little buddy. I think I'm going to scrap the whole tank except for the lid, because I don't know what he died of. I haven't cross contaminated at all that I'm aware of, but now I'm kinda scared for my others.  This is why I quarantine for 2 months. I'd had him over a month already before he started looking ill from this.


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## BettaBoy11

OH NO!!! S.I.P Celeborn


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## ThisDragonisNerdy

Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry...


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## Greenapp1es

:-( SIP little guy.


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## Elleth

Thank you guys. He got sick only about two or three days ago. I thought his worms came back, so I dosed him with Prazipro again. He was still going downhill fast the next day, so I asked for advice a few places. Some guesses were gill flukes or bad water, but I tested the water and it was 0, 0, and 10 (and I did a minimum of 1x weekly 25% water change on him). So that wasn't it. Prazipro is supposed to work on flukes, but it didn't do anything, so I doubt it was that either.

My husband and I have plans to hike to Arausio's grave tomorrow. I didn't realize when we made them that I'd be bringing another little buddy to put to rest.  I'll take a few pictures while we're there, and post them. It's a really pretty place. I'm looking forward to visiting Arausio.


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## Elleth

I'm actually thinking of buying a cheap, large plastic tub and sticking it where Celeborn's tank is currently, and getting two new bettas this week. One to go in the 7 gallon in the bedroom, and the other being the tiny little white and blue veiltail I saw at the crummy LPS on Friday. If he's still there on Wednesday... Hm.

I mean, don't get me wrong, I really miss Celeborn. But I did all I possibly could for him, and now I have room to rescue that poor veiltail from the Betta Falls of Death. 

I think I will stop after work Wednesday and see if he's still there.


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## Elleth

*Visiting the Burial Grounds*

Well, maybe that's a bit over dramatic. I only have Arausio (and now Celeborn) buried there. But, I hiked up there today (by myself as it turned out, because hubby wasn't feeling too well) and buried Celeborn beside Arausio's grave. 

I also took lots of pictures! It took me 28 minutes to reach the top of the hill that they are buried on, and I took multiple pictures along the way. So I thought I would share them.

Just starting along the path:









That's where I'm going:









The view from halfway up the hill:









One of the many game trails that cross the gravel road:









Up the hill again!









You can see the holes in this old stump that the loggers made to put the springboards in to use while they cut the tree down. Pretty neat!









Mere seconds before I snapped this picture, there was a pair of ravens sitting in that tree. They took flight as I pressed the button, and you can see one of them in the air:









Arausio's grave is marked by the white rocks on top of it. Doesn't it have a nice view?









View in the other direction:









I buried Celeborn right by Arausio:









View on the way down the hill:









There's the river! It's really low, they usually aren't this low till late August or early September. I swim in this river a lot during the summer, although not there. Further down stream it runs close to my parents' house.









Going back down:









Scat. I believe it was coyote:









Elk bedded down here last night:









And that's all. I'm feeling fairly content. Just really not looking forward to cleaning up and disposing of Celeborn's tank.

I am now wondering if it was perhaps columnaris. It seems possible, maybe even probable to me. Which is scary.  Hopefully my measures against cross sontamination have been enough.


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## Elleth

Crap, crap, crap. I just realized that Eowyn (and thus Faramir by default) have been exposed to what killed Celeborn. 

Cause when I siphoned her, she went into the bucket that I siphoned all the dirty water into. 

Well, I guess tomorrow they are having treatment started. No signs of it in them as of yet, but there's no way in heck I'm just going to sit around and wait for some. Golsh darn it all! I'm going to need to get another bucket for quarantine dish from now on. Speaking of, now they're "back in quarantine" together.


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## SunnySideIvy

Where you buried them is beautiful. I kind of feel guilty for putting my guy in the almighty trash can now. 
I just had a scare like this with the betta I am betta-sitting. I accidentally used the same cup while doing water changes from Drax (who was exhibiting dropsy and had to be euthanized) to Crowley. It has been about a week and Crowley is still making bubble nests so I think he is clean. How long was she in the dirty water? If she was in there for only a couple seconds I don't think the disease could get into/onto her that quick, because she would be put into the bucket with the "clean" water from her tank, yes? Either way I'm hoping for you!


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## Elleth

She was in it less than 5 minutes (she went to the bottom and was being skittish, so I couldn't get her out immediately), and it was water from her tank. But the bucket had been exposed to columnaris, if that's truly what Celeborn died of. So I just don't know what to do. I've read that columnaris is very contagious, and I know this strain was super fast acting. *sigh* Hopefully everything turns out okay. I'm glad that everything seems to have turned out okay for you.


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## SunnySideIvy

Well I suppose treating just encase is the best method, what are you planning on using? I know some people are opposed to hard medicine without a justifiable illness visible but I would definitely pre-treat if I was in your case.


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## Elleth

Lol I've got a thread that I'm discussing just that right now, with Lil. It sounds like the best course of action is lowering their temp, adding some AQ salt, and turning down their filter so there's less aeration in the water. Since columnaris thrives in heat with lots of air and doesn't like salt, this should at least slow it down. And then if I do start seeing symptoms, I can move on to a more hard hitting treatment. Probably Kanaplex and furan-2 together, and methylene blue/salt baths in addition.


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## Elleth

Here's a few photos of my newest boy, a marble CT. Yes, he's in a funny QT container.  I'm tentatively planning on putting him in my fancy new tank, so I want to QT him in something I'm comfortable throwing away until I'm pretty darn sure he doesn't have fish TB or columnaris. I don't want to throw away my fancy new tank, lol.


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## Greenapp1es

Pretty Boy!


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## Elleth

Thank you! He's so stunning, and is my favorite shade of blue, which is my favorite color. He's a spunky lil bugger, too. I really hope he makes it and becomes a permanent member of my fishy menagerie. He seems totally healthy as of now. *knock on wood*

Oh, I thought you guys might like to see a picture of my friend's fish and hear an update. So, here. Picture:









And an update:
He has colored up a ton since they left him with me! His sides are dull because he has ammonia burns. He also has ammonia burn on his chin. Today it was so awesome to see him, he was acting like a real betta does! Nosing around his tank exploring and poking around in things. It makes me smile to see him so energetic. I really hope they let me keep him. His eyes are even looking a bit better since I started the Kanaplex/Epsom salt treatment. I'm ordering a feeding ring for him and one for Elendil today (Elendil is not blind, but is starting to get scaling over his eyes). So, I am hopeful that I can eventually train him to find his food in the feeding ring right away.

Edit: The new boy has a name now! Following my Tolkien naming theme, his name is Manwe.  (http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Manwë)


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## Greenapp1es

You don't even need to order a feeding ring, you can make one! Take a short piece of airline tubing, stuff one side into the other so that it makes a ring. This will float, but if you want to make sure it's watertight seal it with a dab of aquarium sealant. That wouldn't be necessary unless you keep it in the tank all the time - the ring floats and you can put it in when it's time to feed.

You can make semi-floating hoops using a similar method - only the tubing would be half-filled with water before the ends are put together.


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## ThisDragonisNerdy

I think the burial site is beautiful....
OO! Manwe is sooooo pretty! I'm kinda jealous- I only have one crowntail right now and it's not even technically mine >.< Crowntails are my fav... No but really, I'm happy for you. ;P I bet he'll have a long amd happy life with you!
I'm glad the boy you took in seems to be feeling better!


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## Elleth

Greenapp1es said:


> You don't even need to order a feeding ring, you can make one! Take a short piece of airline tubing, stuff one side into the other so that it makes a ring. This will float, but if you want to make sure it's watertight seal it with a dab of aquarium sealant. That wouldn't be necessary unless you keep it in the tank all the time - the ring floats and you can put it in when it's time to feed.
> 
> You can make semi-floating hoops using a similar method - only the tubing would be half-filled with water before the ends are put together.


Ohh, I like the idea of sealing them with sealant so you can leave them in the whole time. Thanks! 



THATDragonLovesBettas said:


> I think the burial site is beautiful....
> OO! Manwe is sooooo pretty! I'm kinda jealous- I only have one crowntail right now and it's not even technically mine >.< Crowntails are my fav... No but really, I'm happy for you. ;P I bet he'll have a long amd happy life with you!
> I'm glad the boy you took in seems to be feeling better!


Thank you!  I'm not a huge CT fan, but he's my favorite colors and seems to have such a great personality. Lol now I'm at 3 crowntails! I'm not sure what my favorite tail type is. Lol I'll have to think on it.


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## Elleth

Hmmm, or Maybe I'll name him Vilya... Might fit him a bit better than Manwe. Gotta think about this.


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## SunnySideIvy

Whichever name he receives he is a nice Betta! Your friends Betta is looking nice too, I'm glad you're healing him up he's lucky to have you! I get so excited when I see you post I love your fishes so much lol


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## ThisDragonisNerdy

Oh! I like Vilya... It's interesting..


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## Elleth

Thanks guys! So I decided on the name Vilya for my newest boy. He's feeling way more comfortable now, yesterday I was able to add some decorations and a heater to his QT tank. Before, he just had the floating mesh hammock in with him, so he'd hide in it or at the bottom all the time. Now he's zipping around exploring everything, and being sassy. He will flare at my finger when I put it in front of his face, it's so cute. He still refuses to eat any pellets. :/ He'll take them into his mouth, but then spits them out, like "ew, gross, why'd you try to get me to eat that?". Spoiled little thing was fed only freeze dried bloodworms at the pet shop.









I did a huge project today! All three tanks in my bedroom are now filtered. They're all powered by one air pump. Took a little fiddling, but I'm mostly happy with the flow to each of them now.

Getting the sponge filters hooked up to the air tubing:









Hanging the air pump to make it quiet enough for me to sleep with it on.









And a photo so you can see how it's all set up









The babies with their new filter:

















Strange with his new filter:

















Lou still has fin rot. I just can't kick it. He's totally healthy and fine other than it, and it's only a very thin, thin band. Maybe it's just going to be visible until he gets new growth again, but isn't eating at him anymore. I'm not going to worry about it unless it starts getting worse.

Eowyn and Faramir are doing well, they're their normal selves.  Eowyn is completely healed from being siphoned. No nicks or tears in her fins anymore. And her missing scales healed up even before the fins did. She also hasn't had anymore swim bladder problems.

My friend's fish is doing okay... His popeye appears to be getting worse, his eyes are bulgier. I'm about to make a thread for him, see if I can get any suggestions or ideas of where to go from here.


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## Mo

Nice tanks and fish! How'd you get all three to work with one pump and what pump did you use? Every time I try that only one of the sponge filters work


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## Greenapp1es

Mo said:


> Nice tanks and fish! How'd you get all three to work with one pump and what pump did you use? Every time I try that only one of the sponge filters work


I was able to get two filters working on one pump with a gang valve. The trick is that the pump itself has to be powerful enough to run both - I first tried it with too small a pump and like you said, only one worked.


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## Elleth

Thanks! It's a Tetra Whisper air pump, rated for 20 gallons. I have it running a 10 gallon, a 6 gallon, and a 7 gallon. I think in my picture above you can kinda see the two adapters I have setup that it can feed to three tanks. I have the adapter with hook ups for two lines that came with the pump, and I have air line on each of those - and then I bought another and it's attached to the original one with just a tiny bit of air line, and then I've got two feeds off of it to my two smaller tanks. 

I'm really cheap, so instead of using a gang valve like Greenapp1es, I just have a kink and a twist tie on the tubing to two of the tanks. The closer to the kink I slide the twist tie, the less air gets through. I can't post a picture tonight, but I'll try to tomorrow so you can see what I mean. I just fiddle with them till I get the right amount of flow to each tank. It takes a little while, cause altering the flow to one of them changes the flow to the other two, as well.


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## Elleth

I'll post more of an update later, but I just wanted to share my excitement. Rescue fish is now mine!  They decided to let me keep him. Now I have to come up with a real name for him!


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## Elleth

Sorry guys, I've been meaning to part more/a longer post, but I've just been feeling a little off. Had a hard time doing water changes today. But I did want to update you all on a few things. 

I finally got Vilya to eat a pellet today, so yay! 

And, Elendil is catching on to the training about eating from the feeding ring really quickly. He spends about half his time hanging out under it now! Lol. 

Strange harassed the MTS I had put in with him, so I pulled them out today. Going to add more sand and then try putting them in right before I turn the lights out.


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## Greenapp1es

Elleth said:


> Sorry guys, I've been meaning to part more/a longer post, but I've just been feeling a little off. Had a hard time doing water changes today. But I did want to update you all on a few things.
> 
> I finally got Vilya to eat a pellet today, so yay!
> 
> And, Elendil is catching on to the training about eating from the feeding ring really quickly. He spends about half his time hanging out under it now! Lol.
> 
> Strange harassed the MTS I had put in with him, so I pulled them out today. Going to add more sand and then try putting them in right before I turn the lights out.


Heck, try putting them in AFTER turning the lights out. They're nocturnal anyway! :3


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## Elleth

Lol! Good idea. I'll do that instead.


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## Elleth

So I got Vilya to eat another pellet today, yay! I'm debating on a name for the betta I was given. His name was Treasure, and my husband wants him to keep that name. I don't. :/ It doesn't fit my theme, and anyway, he's got a new life now. New life, new name. 

I'm think either Harma or Harwe. Both mean "treasure" in Quenya.


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## Elleth

*shifty eyes* 

I.... Did a thing. *holds out new betta*

Yup. *tries to sound like a doctor* It's been scientifically proven that getting a new betta is good therapy after visiting a loved one who is probably dying. 

*Ehm* Well, maybe not scientifically, but it should be, lol! Today was a really long rough day, so when we stopped at a Petco to pick up a 10 gallon for me to divide with my brother and some stresscoat, I decided my heart didn't need to break twice in one day. So, I didn't leave the adorable little marble HMPK that flared at his neighbor when I pulled him out from the second row. 

Ride home was a bit rough on him, but he seemed really healthy before getting in the car, so hopefully he'll pull through fine. I'm acclimating him tomorrow since it's after 1130 here and I have to get up and go to work at 530 tomorrow. 

In other news, no one who was supposed to get a water change today got one. :/ That kinda took backseat to a chance to visit my grandma, since she's probably dying.


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## Greenapp1es

Sorry to hear about your rough day with the relative. At least you got to see them, but that situation is never easy.

Don't worry though...you aren't the only one who did....a thing. Mine is still across the state though, it was too hot to bring him home yesterday.


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## Elleth

Aw, he's too cute! Can't wait to hear his name. I'm still trying to decide on one for my boy, too.


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## Elleth

A brief update:

Vilya is now in the bedroom, beside the babies, still in his QT tank. The new guy is now on the shelf where Vilya was, in a 10 gallon. Things didn't work out quite like planned, and the container I wanted to use for his QT tank was sold out, and other options were more expensive than the 10 gallon. So. Yeah. We'll but another 10 gallon for my brother and his girlfriend. 

Vilya is eating normal now! He was fasted yesterday, everyone was, since I was gone in a sudden day trip. I guess today he decided pellets are better than no food at all, lol. He ate all three in a row that I feed him. Huzzah! 

Tomorrow we will see if the new guy will eat. I'm going to try to find him a name tonight, and then sleep on it overnight and see if I still like it in the morning.

Edit to add: I forgot to mention, Vilya made the cutest little perfectly circle bubblenest and was fiercely guarding it. Alas, his guarding was in vein,today s water change day for him, and I ruined it.


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## Elleth

The new guy's name is Tulkas. He is quite happy in his new tank, although I plan to add more plants to it. I will try to post some pictures of him today or tomorrow. 

Everyone else is doing well, no much to report on there. 

My tank for Vilya is really coming together nicely, although I do still need to figure out what other plants I want in it. I'm boiling the piece of driftwood I got for it today, and then later my husband is going to widen a few of the knot holes, so that Vilya won't be able to get stuck in them. I'll try to post pictures of the tank later, too.


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## SunnySideIvy

Where do you buy your driftwood? Or do you go beach-combing for "fresh" pieces? On second thought can you use beach-found driftwood?


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## Elleth

I bought it on amazon. (I get basically all my fish stuff from one of three places: Amazon, drsfostersmith.com, or Petco). I wouldn't use anything from the beach, I think that's what killed Arausio and Edgar. I had some beach rocks in his tank, and even though I boiled them, and did the vinegar test on them, I really think that's where the dropsy came from. It was a really hard lesson to learn. I still kick myself for it and get teary eyed when I think of it. :/


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## Elleth

It's crummy photo update time! Lol... I really need to get a new camera.

This is Vilya's QT tank from above. He's been bubblenesting like crazy, it's hilarious. In this one, you can see the bubblenest just next to the IAL.









His hamster tunnel is floating, and he loves it! Even more than his craft mesh tunnel. It's so funny, before the IAL was put in, and before his hamster tunnel start floating, he'd bubblenest in his craft mesh tunnel. Then his hamster tunnel started floating, and he decided he liked bubblenesting in there better. And then today I put the IAL in, and he decided to bubblenest under it.









Moved his QT tank to my bedroom, beside the babies, to make room for the new guy.









The tank he's going to go in. So far it has pennywort and fissidens fontunas in it, and a bunch of MTS.









The driftwood I got for the tank! My hubby is going to make two of the holes in it bigger, so that he can't get stuck in them.









Boiling the driftwood.









And this is Tulkas, my newest guy. He was really interested in the IAL I put in with him, and checked it out for like 5 minutes straight.


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## Elleth

Vilya is Mr Sassy.  Lol he has so much attitude and personality, it's wonderful how far he has come since I bought him.









































Strange is doing well.

















As are Pippin and Merry:

















Vilya and Merry giving each other the evil eye:









The ever elusive Lou:

















Tulkas finally ate tonight! He likes NLS, not Omega One. He examined the phone briefly, then decided pictures were not allowed:

































Gorgeous Faramir:

















Elendil was emphatically telling me to stop taking pictures and FEED HIM. Of course I did so after I was done with pictures. He's really getting the hang of the feeding ring. He hangs out by it whenever I come near him, lol:

























Rescue fish in his tunnel. I think he's still improving, slowly but surely. His scales did look a little bit raised the otther day, so he's on Kanaplex now.








Showing off his tunnel:









Eowyn!









And there you have it, pictures of all my current fish!  I'm hoping to get a real camera in August. *crosses fingers*


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## Elleth

*Long Promised Post*

Ummmm.... Here's the long promised post with photos of exactly how my air pump that's running three sponge filters is set up. Twist ties regulate how much air goes to each pump. 










You can see the tiny bit of airline tubing I used to attach the second.... Um... Thingymabobber that has three hook ups for tubing.

















Tubing along the wall:


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## Elleth

A few days ago when I went to feed Elendil, he jumped *on top* of his feeding ring instead of swimming under it. >.< Idiot. Thankfully he didn't hurt himself. 

Had my husband help me with a water change for the first time ever yesterday. He did a good job, and it was a huge relief to me, because I was so wiped out.


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## Elleth

Breaking news!!! Merry is a female! I repeat, Merry is a female! This little bugger has had me convinced that - He? She? It? - is a male for over two months! Pippin has been showing ovaries and the body shape of a female for at least a month and a half now. Merry, on the other hand, I've never seen ovaries until today. A little eggspot, sure. Ovaries? No. But today, there they are, gleaming yellow at me and very visible, despite being pretty small. I'm shocked! Lol! Guess I own three females, not two. Will have to post photos once my camera arrives.


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## Elleth

Well, I've got lots to tell. Where to start... 

I suppose as good a place as any is with my exciting news. A week ago, we found out that I am pregnant. I'm super excited, but also super nervous. Thankfully I'm not having morning sickness or anything (knock on wood). We think I'm around 6-7 weeks along. 

So, we're working on getting all the fish into tanks that are 5 gallons minimum, so that water changes won't be as vital if one is missed. Not a whole lot to do there, I'm just moving Vilya into his permanent tank today, and then the girls are being split up so they each have their own tank. Rescue fish will still be in his 2 gallon, though. Since he's blind, I'm not comfortable moving him into a different tank. I'm afraid it'd be too stressful on him. I am going to pull all the gravel out of his tank and leave his tank bare bottom, though. Much easier for clean up. 

This week I'm dividing a 10 gallon and we're taking it (fully equipped) and giving it to my brother and his girlfriend for their bettas, so they won't be in .5 gallon containers anymore. I'm looking forward to that. 

And I guess that's about it!


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## adlemsi

Congratulations on your exciting news!! :-D


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## stellenternet

Elleth said:


> Well, I've got lots to tell. Where to start...
> 
> I suppose as good a place as any is with my exciting news. A week ago, we found out that I am pregnant. I'm super excited, but also super nervous. Thankfully I'm not having morning sickness or anything (knock on wood). We think I'm around 6-7 weeks along.
> 
> So, we're working on getting all the fish into tanks that are 5 gallons minimum, so that water changes won't be as vital if one is missed. Not a whole lot to do there, I'm just moving Vilya into his permanent tank today, and then the girls are being split up so they each have their own tank. Rescue fish will still be in his 2 gallon, though. Since he's blind, I'm not comfortable moving him into a different tank. I'm afraid it'd be too stressful on him. I am going to pull all the gravel out of his tank and leave his tank bare bottom, though. Much easier for clean up.
> 
> This week I'm dividing a 10 gallon and we're taking it (fully equipped) and giving it to my brother and his girlfriend for their bettas, so they won't be in .5 gallon containers anymore. I'm looking forward to that.
> 
> And I guess that's about it!


Congrats Elleth! That's so exciting!


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## Elleth

Thank you guys.  I'm just praying we make it through the pregnancy safely.


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## stellenternet

Elleth said:


> Thank you guys.  I'm just praying we make it through the pregnancy safely.


I hope so too! Can you also keep us updated on the little one? I just love hearing about babies and all the exciting things. You don't need to add anything too personal. Just you know exciting things? It's your choice. I don't know if this is rude to say. Sorry. I get carried away. I'm sooooo happy for you!


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## ThisDragonisNerdy

Congratulations!!


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## Elleth

I have more fishie photos! My new camera finally came, so I have some good pictures finally. Get ready for photo spam, everyone! 

Pippin:









































Merry:

















Vilya:

























































Strange:









Harwe:









Tulkas:

































Elendil:

















Faramir:

























Eowyn:

























Lou:


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## BettaLover1313

Just finished reading your journal. You have beautiful fish. I'm really glad I read this, as I have a half-blind betta (scales coming in over his eyes) and I didn't even think of a feeding ring for him. So I'm very happy to learn something new ^^

Congratulations as well!


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## Elleth

I hate to say so, but I'm having to rehome some of my bettas. What with morning sickness and extreme lethargy, I just can't keep up very well. I expect it'll be about the same energy-wise once the baby is born. 

I'm for sure keeping Vilya, Faramir, Eowyn, and Merry. Trying to see if I can home Elendil and Tulkas to family or family friends. And Pippin, Lou, Strange, and Harwe are all available for adoption to an approved owner who can meet me in western Washington state.
http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?p=6597202#post6597202

I'm glad I'll at least be able to keep my favorites, and very hopeful that I can find good homes for the others.


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## pinkiepastel

I'm a little late to hear the exciting news, but CONGRATS! So excited that you're having a baby! Hopefully he/she will love Bettas as much as you do


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## Elleth

Thank you! Lol I'm curious to see if watching the bettas will keep the little one entertained at all.


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## pinkiepastel

I have a question for you! So, how much did you pay on Aquabid for shipping with Arausio? I really want to get a fish on Aquabid, but I don't want the price to take a lot out of my money that I'm going to spend on the tank, decor, heater, filter, food, etc.


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## Elleth

pinkiepastel said:


> I have a question for you! So, how much did you pay on Aquabid for shipping with Arausio? I really want to get a fish on Aquabid, but I don't want the price to take a lot out of my money that I'm going to spend on the tank, decor, heater, filter, food, etc.


I think both times shipping was about $36 from the transhipper to me. And it was $5 for shipping to the transhipper.


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## Elleth

Hurray! Lou, Pippin, Strange, and Harwe all tentatively have homes. We're just working out the transportation & meeting places now.


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## Elleth

Transported Lou and Harwe to their new owner today. We met partway between where each of us live. They both handled travelling well and are in their new home right now.

Lou was upset to be cupped, he flared at me when I cupped him for transportation. I felt very guilty, he must've thought he was being taken back to Petco. Very glad to know that he's being settled in his tank he's had all along, in his new home. Lol now he knows I'm not a traitor.


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## LadyNightraven

I just finished reading your journal! What an adventure! Your bettas are beautiful, and I'm glad you were able to find homes for the ones you chose to rehome. I hope the ones who are staying with you have long and happy lives. And congratulations to you on your happy news! I hope you're not feeling too rotten now.


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