# Cotton's betta journal



## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)

Had I figured out how to start a journal sooner, my previous 3 threads would be here too, but for those interested, they shouldn't be too hard to find. Besides, after a couple months, they needed updating anyways. I will use this space to sum them up, and tie things together. Now that I have been on here a while, and keep coming back, if anyone likes my stories, or more importantly my fish and their pics, I will start adding any friends that are interested. 

My love of fishkeeping came out of nowhere, and it was all because of my first betta Buddy. He was a veil tail that picked me, and I was fortunate enough to have a 10 gallon in my basement when I got him home. Almost 3 years later, I have literally every space and plug outlet at my disposal occupied by different fish and aquariums. I can't imagine having any other types of pet, and refuse to think of a life without fish.

Two recent developments made me do something I would prefer not to, but it was the most likely way to achieve good results, so I went this way, and thus far things are going well. First, my rescued half moon male Rocky had a return bout with fin rot, and second, after 3 months I can finally say with certainty that my "baby betta" from PetCo is a female, because with full coloration, I was able to spot a definite ovipositor. Next, my largest VT, BB moved into my 55 gallon community tank, because he was the only one who is a strong enough swimmer and tough enough customer to fit into my semi aggressive tank. Thus far, he has established a couple of previously unclaimed territories and hiding places, and he looks different enough that he isn't being harassed by anyone. I really enjoy seeing his starburst color brightening up the tank, and I do have my 2.5 gallon hospital tank for him if things were to ever go wrong, not my first choice, but a safe backup, which is important.

Rather than moving Rocky into the hospital tank, which has a cheap heater with no settings, he moved into BB's old place, where there is a good heater that can keep the temperature steady while I get him healthy (again). I had bought him from a different petsmart than I usually shop, and will never again, because the fish were mostly in horrid conditions, him included. After walking out of the store empty handed, just this one was in the back of my mind as I continued my holiday shopping next door, and so I had to go back and save him. I am quite proud to say that he is grateful for my help and company, because he is the only betta I have owned that likes to be pet (just one gentle finger along his side, I know he is not a dog). If all goes according to plan, he has that nice 5.5 gallon all to himself. He quickly blew a nice bubble nest within hours of moving in to show his approval.

Now as fate would have it, shortly after I noticed that KC is a girl, I was on my way to my regular petsmart to get some meds to treat Rocky to go along with his salt baths. While in the store, for the first time in my 3 years of regularly shopping for fish, a female betta caught my eye in a big way. Knowing enough that a sorority needs several members, and having a planted 10 gallon to do so, this beauty and 3 others that I picked out meticulously came home with me. The girls appear to be in good health. If I had been wrong about KC, this would not be a happy story, but seeing as her behavior is fitting right in, so far so good. In the first couple days, while establishing their pecking order, there are a couple nipped fins, but no bodily damage, and they do appear to be bonding for the most part. More than any of my other fish, I can use advise about the girls, because this is my first venture down that path. Anyhow, that is a good start on telling my story, and there will be updates to come.


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

Sounds like you have quite the interesting bettas! Can't wait to read more!


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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)

After three months of fairly uneventful, happy fishkeeping, the last week was the biggest rollercoaster I have been on in my three years of it. Getting the bad news out of the way first, my attempt at a sorority did not go well at all. The stress of determining the hierarchy was too much, and I had my first awful bout with dropsy. The tank was fully cycled for over a year, and I tested the water myself, and everything came back in normal ranges, as it did at petsmart when I brought a sample with me to double check. Like a lightning bolt, within 48 hours, my growing female "baby betta" KC proved to be the weak link, and was the first to catch it, and succumbed to it quickly  I had gotten her out before any pine coning had occurred, but it was too late, because despite medicating, the next day the other girl who was getting chased the most had a full bloated belly and was lethargic, and two of the other three had symptoms. The would-be queen, Belinda, is so far doing pretty well in the hospital tank, but the others all went back to petsmart, because as much as I liked the short time I had with them, I was already too sad about the only girl I had for more than two weeks, KC, to watch the rest of them pass away. It was minor consolation to read that it is such a hit or miss proposition to get a sorority tank to work, I will try again someday, especially if Belinda recovers.

The best cure for the bummer that bad news brings is some good news, and my trip to the Walpole MA petsmart (the only one I will mention by name, because I have had the best success there of the three in my region) went spectacularly. I have been looking for a green betta for the three years I have been keeping fish, and after the heartbreak of my worst disease, I have the elation of finding my dream betta, who happened to be a "dragonscale" plakat. He is my new avatar, and the cover of my bettas album. I will be showing him off on an unprecedented level in due time, once I learn how to do the photo links in here. I had always had success taking 24 hours to quarantine, and then begin a slow drip acclimation, but after my recent loss, this will be several meticulous days at the very least, probably two weeks before going into the 10 gallon that the sorority was in to ensure that it was stress, and not a bacterial cause that started the dropsy. My year old albino bristlenose pleco Lucky is fine in that same 10 gallon, which leads me to believe it was the stress, but I used some API general cure in there anyways, because my two hospital tanks are both full, one with the sole female betta, and the other with my fat paradise fish Al, who got caught behind a filter (again, three times in the year and a half I have had him, but luckily always with me around to save him) and has a small cut that is healing up nicely. 

The same trip to petsmart yielded a rubber lip pleco, my first of that kind, and it was so healthy, alert and active, I only took about 6 hours to acclimate him and send him into my 55 gal community. It is already more sociable towards me than my 2 year old male bristlenose pleco Dusty, who showed a ton of interest but no hostility to the new roommate, leading me to believe its a female, because he chased my other male BN Lucky to the point where I moved him out. The new rubber lip is a little bigger than Lucky, so I don't anticipate any problems, and I love the friendly demeanor. Speaking of the community, BB fit in well, and wasn't visibly struggling with the current, but showed a little ragged fins, so now he is in a divided tank with a gentler filter, doing just fine. Rocky is also doing well, blowing the biggest bubble nest he has ever done in his comfy 5.5 gallon home to himself. What a crazy week, I hope the next update is just names for my happy new fish and pretty pictures.


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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)




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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)

This is Belinda (for now), the last of my sorority, but despite the white spot (ovipositor?), some of the signs point to me having bought a male marked as a female that scared the life/health out of the other girls... again, mildly relieving to know it wasn't exclusively my fault, but a horrible way to find out. The ventral fins appear to be thicker than the others had, and possibly a "beard" when flaring. I had heard of the possibility of that happening, but also that it was pretty rare. I have been looking for reasons I failed, so I could learn from them. As long as this is a healthy fish, I am happy to have it, and I will take more pics to ask some of you experts on here if this suspicion is correct.


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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)

After watching some youtube videos trying to see one thing, I found something else: Belinda is just that, a female, but a dragon scale plakat, which now explains the significant edge she had over the other girls. I won't be trying a sorority with her again either way, unless I somehow come across a breeder with enough females of her kind that they all have a chance with each other. As for my "green" male plakat, who I was on youtube doing research to try to help, I was fooled again into buying a sick blue betta with a green distress color; that's how I came to fall for Rocky, and is why I most likely have bought my last petsmart betta. I had a gift card, so I took another shot there, and appear to have gotten one out of five bettas in good condition. He had ammonia burns/poisoning, and seems to be developing a fungus near his gills. He never made it into a tank, I am still quarantining him, siphoning out the waste, and doing the best I can, but he isn't eating. If I can't save the new one, I will admit defeat, learn my lesson, and just get another plant, maybe a snail for Rocky's tank too. I need a better paying job, so I can utilize the resources on here and get my true green betta from a reputable breeder someday. Until then, I am happy with Belinda, BB, and Rocky, and hopefully the new one too.


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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)

Today is mercifully a good update; things were getting too uneven for my tastes. BB is just about healed up from some ripped fins (new pic up: BB looking thrilled), and is making my 2.5 gallon hospital tank his own, until I decide whether or not to divide the 5.5 gallon for both him and Rocky. Rocky's fins still look a bit rough, but he is active, otherwise healthy, and blowing big bubble nests, so I will keep an eye on him. Belinda is a wonderful fish, by far the healthiest betta I picked up from Petsmart, and has the majority of her 10 gallon to herself, but I was pleased to have a good reason to divide a portion of it.

My second rescue, a ds plakat who I have named Tricky for letting me believe he was green, has shown that he is very tough and wants to live. The store I bought him from seems to change the water regularly, but overfeeds them, because there were pellets on the bottom of too many cups, which led to ammonia poisoning/burns in at least Tricky's case. I got him home, and he then quickly developed a fungus near his gill on top of that. Honestly, I was preparing for the worst and just trying to make him comfortable, using the meds I have in alternating patterns, but after several days of lying listlessly and not eating, he started to pull through. I was able to keep his cup clean (why did I wait so long to buy a couple turkey basters to clean small bowls/cups?) for a couple weeks, and his fungus appears to be gone, his appetite is back, and he has upgraded to a 1/2 gallon bowl with an anubias in it for him, propped up at the surface with some "blinders" and a divider in the end of Belinda's tank. I went overboard this time to make sure there is no visibility between the two fish, because stress was the first factor that I have been guilty of underestimating, with KC (SIP) before. It is hard to believe that this is the same fish, he has come so far in this short a time. If he still looks this good and healthy after a few weeks in the bowl, he will get the roughly 3 gallons he is divided in, and I will find a way to make the divider less see-through. Happy, healthy fish, always what I like sharing about


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## DaytonBetta (Feb 4, 2014)

I'm glad things are going well!


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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)

The same day I got my first betta, my girlfriend also got her first, and despite the simple name (Mr. Fishy), he lived a good long life, playing kickball with his snail tankmate for over two years together, until he finally got through and finished off the snail. He had fought through various illnesses, and always came back, but the past few months he had developed a tumor, and she was unable to treat it. He passed away this week, shortly after finally killing the snail, guess with his life's work complete, it was his time; after all, he was over 3 years old. SIP Mr Fishy.

Today was a practice in good fish karma: I can't stand an empty tank, and I have over 30 fish, so I didn't want her only tank to be empty, and I chose to give her my HM betta Rocky. He was living in the same size tank here that she has, and her setup was ready and waiting for a good fish. From the day I rescued him, she has really liked Rocky, so I made the somewhat difficult decision to give him to her. She will do well by him, because she did well with Mr Fishy. She has been very supportive of my fish keeping, so I felt it was only right to make sure she still gets her enjoyment out of it as well.

The upside is that Belinda no longer has to have her 10 gallon divided, because I upgraded Tricky to the 2.5 gallon hospital tank (for now anyways), and BB is doing well in his 5.5 gallon again now that he is all healed up. This is one of those times I wish my paradise fish Terry wasn't so aggressive; if he had fit in with the other two in my 55 gallon community, I would have another 10 gallon for Tricky when I am certain he is fully healthy, but then again, I would have already put fish in there long ago.


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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)

No news has been good news, all my bettas are doing well, and Rocky is doing well with my girlfriend. Hope everyone else is having good luck with their swimming friends.


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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)

Sad news coming suddenly, leading on a new adventure, is the review of my week; I did routine tank maintenance for BB's tank on Sunday, he was normal through bed time feeding Wednesday night, was lethargic when I turned the lights on Thursday, and didn't respond to meds or aquarium salt, and sadly BB is SIP by Friday night. I can't be sure what to attribute it to, because he was a many-colored fish to begin with, so I can't really tell what stress signs he would show outwardly; at the end he was a bit swollen, so dropsy is likely what it boils down to. I am just glad he didn't suffer long.

The next chapter is more uplifting: after deciding to upgrade my water treatment to Seachem Prime, I cleaned out BB's 5.5 gallon tank thoroughly, and started over after rinsing everything that was in there. I let the filter run a while, and then added some new peppered cories, and Moe, my new plakat betta, pictures sure to come soon. Tricky has been so cool, I wanted another iridescent dragon scale, and happened to find one. I have a strong filter, I know how to make a baffle if the current is too strong, which it might not be, he is quick. He caught my eye while in PetCo getting the seachem prime, and I knew what had to be done. I also got a small group of green cories for my young male paradise fish's tank, and a second rubberlip pleco, who is big enough to clean and thrive in Terry the paradise fish's tank. SIP BB, you can have fun flaring at my others lost before you.


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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)

I am happy to say that Mo the plakat is doing very well, and he is quickly becoming one of my favorite fish. He is keeping the 5.5 gallon thriving, where most of the bettas I have owned have spent at least some time, from my first Buddy, little KC, and BB (SIP to all 3, going back a few years), to my girlfriend's fish (now) Rocky, and now Mo's, with 3 young peppered corys cleaning the tank. I know some might feel that it is crowded in there, but BB's passing after 4 short months with me leads me to believe that there has to be some sort of cleaner in there, to maintain things in between cleanings. 

As for my other two current bettas, Belinda is thriving in the 55 gal community tank, even getting pretty big in there. I had wanted a betta resident in that tank for a while, but with the strong fluval u4 filter, only a plakat of some kind would make sense, and she seems to be happy. My most recent rescue Tricky is doing alright, considering all he has been through. He has a very strong will to live, and despite some nagging fin rot, he is an active swimmer and a voracious eater, so I am happy.


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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)




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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)

This is an okay photo of Mo, but I got the glare, and you can't see the brilliant blue that lines his outer fins. He seems like at times he has a hint of yellow that didn't show through. After all I have been through looking for a green betta, if the yellow and blue blend when he gets older, maybe.... but he looks awesome either way, in my not so humble opinion. I have certainly taken to owning plakats, in fact I don't see me getting any other tail type in the near future. I had 2 veiltails, and a half moon, and I enjoyed them, but the stronger swimming plakats are more enjoyable, and thus far very healthy, durable fish. Here is one more pic, his close up


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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)

Since they haven't made appearances here yet, this is tricky


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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)

and these are the SIP crew, in a better place, starting with my first, Buddy


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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)

BB and KC, I miss you both


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## Huffle Puffles (Jul 5, 2013)

I really like the scaling/pattern of Mo's face! and sorry about your 'SIP crew'


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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)

So much has changed, in a relatively short time. Might as well get the bad part out of the way first. I was out of town for a week at the beginning of the month for my sister's wedding, and naturally that is when impending disaster found my community tank. I used the time-release feeders, not my first choice, but I was going to be gone too long not to leave something. The only other changes that had occurred were the addition of dwarf hairgrass, which was mostly consumed by my (late) Uaru cichlid Sean, and a school of green tiger barbs, which I had quarantined, but for only a week or so, before I added them, figuring it would be easier for the feeding. Tragically, one of those factors exposed my tank to the most dreaded disease, and my first experience, with velvet. The only blessing is it must have been the last day or so before I got home, so I was able to save mass casualties, but not everyone  Several of the barbs, Sean, and worst of all to me my female betta Belinda all were lost. She tried hanging on; she lived about 9 days in the hospital tank, but did not respond to medicine, and finally swam the other way. On the heels of losing my two old (at least 3 years old each) paradise fish a month or so prior, this sucks.

A couple weeks after treating that 55 gal, and mercifully saving my oldest catfish Dusty, all my corys, my rubberlip pleco Flair, and of all things the dither fish, the schools of red eye tetras (7) and zebra danios (6), I came to the decision that the surface was way too boring, and I solved this with the most unique fish I have owned to date, my new African Butterfly fish, which I have added several pics of. Despite a reputation for aggression, this one is only a little edgy during feeding, and very peaceful the rest of the time. So far, I have had trouble figuring out which live insects it really enjoys, but luckily it is eating well on the prepared flake food. Here is one pic, maybe someone can suggest a name, it is taking me longer than usual so far


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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)

I decided to name my African Butterfly fish Phil. He is awesome to watch hunting surface bugs; still not sure of his favorites, most he eventually eats because they have been there awhile. I know he is not a betta, but I had wanted one of his kind for 4 years before finally finding this one. Luckily I purchased him fast; they sold out of the 7 in stock in less than 3 weeks. 

In betta news, my survivor plakat Tricky is in the best shape ever, even intimidating the well fed snail in the 2.5 gallon planted, but they seem to be getting along better the last day or two. My least-healthy betta at purchase has gone on to become the second longest I have had a betta so far, and he is going strong, glad to see me anytime I get his attention. For the record, his is my only tank with no substrate; it makes cleaning it easier. Plus, he can't have catfish, like I have some form of in every other tank I own but one: Terry's, my oldest paradise fish, who is a predator, and doesn't allow others in his tank, except my longest living amano shrimp, who has survived him for at least two years together. My other 4 paradise fish were/are not as bad as the reputation I have read online, but Terry has loved intimidating (or worse) any small forms of life for at least 3 years in his own 10 gallon.


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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)

After liking the idea of owning a king betta (petco's name for what is often called a giant plakat), I found a friend of that kind in my most recent trip there. The name is no joke; he is much larger at purchase size than any of the 10 or so previous bettas I have owned. In fact, he is about 3", the size of an adult paradise fish already, and from my previous research, he can get much bigger. Unfortunately, my first round of pics of him are blurry, so I only posted one, but I will try again soon. If I had gone by appearance while shopping that day, I would have had a lovely turquoise/white butterfly half moon that was there, which had clean looking fins, but dirty water and lethargic movement. Instead, my new king friend, who I am calling Happy because he most certainly picked me at the store, and is still glad he did, because every time I am near him, even in the dark, he is at the glass saying hi. He has the wild plakat colors, which in the store I thought were pretty plain, but under the tank light, has some subtle colors that really do look very good. Of the few kings I have seen at petco, he was the only one that was active in his cup, and the second he saw me, he sprung to action, never taking his eyes off of me. I have the distinct feeling that if I had gone for looks, I would have been on the path to having another 4 month lifespan and sadness, like BB, who was visually stunning, but never seemed to like me or be very active. Happy is active, almost never clamps his fins, and eats like a pig. 

I have a while (will never make the mistake of not quarantining new fish long enough again) to decide if he will go into a 10 gallon that currently only has my bristlenose pleco Lucky, or even into my 55 gallon community, because he is strong with shorter fins, and could do just fine in there. The main hesitation of doing the latter is that I don't want to find out the hard way if he would get along with my african butterfly fish Phil. Coincidentally, Phil killed his first tankmate overnight; there are no other aggressive fish in there right now, and the red eye tetra had a big bite mark when I retrieved him today. What makes me sad about that is not only the fish dying, but Phil didn't/couldn't eat him and at least make it a cycle of life event. These things happen, I am just glad that Happy was able to bring the full excitement of fish keeping back to me after a lot of recent fish loss, including my smiling acara cichlid Lio. Lio fought for two months as hard as any sick fish I have ever had to stay alive, and that was the first time I was relieved that a fish passed, because watching him suffer hurt. Lio is SIP now, and Happy came at a time when I needed some swimming in pleasure here with me.


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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)

It is another tale of tragedy and going to find a new fish friend, but for a new-to-me reason: I had my first fatal jumper. Here we are in the waning moments of probably the last heat wave of the summer, and I left the little feeding door open to keep the tank under 84 degrees, something I have probably only done at most 6 times in several years of fishkeeping now. In the terribly short month or so that I had Happy, he jumped all of twice, both during water changes, and it looked like he could only jump an inch or two, so I thought nothing of it, because the lid was about 3 inches above the water line, because of the filter. Much to my dismay, he managed to jump, and while its possible I was there sleeping, it is more likely he did it the next day while I was out. By the time I found him, it was way too late. This is especially troubling for me, because as I mentioned before, it took years to find a healthy king betta, and he was awesome, I really wanted to watch him keep growing. I own an old 5 gallon tank that has had two residents each live years with no lid, and neither jumped out, so I guess I am somewhat lucky, but this was a tough one.

On the brighter side of things, a closed entrance ramp to a highway diverted me towards my local Petsmart instead of Petco, after checking in my LFS Ned's first. To my pleasant surprise, someone is taking immensely better care of the bettas there. Some of the bigger fish tanks were not immaculate, but I have seen much worse in that store, so improvement should be celebrated. While I have done a lot of research on types of bettas, I am still unsure about what is truly a dragon scale and what is not; a female I had last year looked a lot like one, but someone with more experience on here corrected me. The ones the store had labeled as DS didn't have the reflective qualities I read about, but my new HM seems to. Other than my old friend BB, I have never really gone for red bettas, but my new friend has subtle reminders of several fish I have lost, including Happy, the jumper who left me this week, so I took to him quickly, and after feeding him one of the pellets they leave on the tops of the lids to feed them quicker, I was satisfied in his health/appetite, and he left with me. His face appears that he is still young, and his expansive finnage makes me think he could be something other than a HM. Then again, after checking comparable images online, he does appear to be a "normal" red HM, with some red/black appearance on his body, and red fins with just a small rim of black along the edge. If I ever get good at taking fish pictures, I will have my first entry into the monthly contests, because this guy is a real looker. After his quarantine, hopefully he will get along with Lucky (albino bn pleco), because they would make a beautiful pair in Lucky's 10 gallon, and the filter is in a place that he can get plenty of rest away from it. Updates with his name and hopefully better pics coming soon.


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## hrutan (Jun 25, 2014)

I am sorry to hear of your loss. :-(

Looking forward to pics of your new baby, though. Maybe someone here can positively identify him.


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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)

I thank you hrutan, pics will be up soon, and I am almost certain after watching him for a couple days that he is accurately labeled as a half moon, he is just in the best shape of any HM I have seen in this (maybe any) Petsmart.

While I am trying to decide the names for my fish, sometimes it comes immediately (I had named Mo before I drove home from the store, and Buddy was my first fish friend), some by circumstance (Tricky looked green when I rescued him, he tricked me; Rocky was another rescue, and put up the fight to survive, BB was my birthday betta purchase, Happy was just that), and occasionally I have to wait, or search (Belinda means very beautiful). This was a search occasion, and while not a direct translation for what I was looking for, I found this new HM's name, and he just responded when I went in to ask him, so its official: Niran, which is Thai for eternal. He did not look at me when I tried out another name that translates to warrior, which is fine, because I am sure someone has used it somewhere in this forum before. With any luck, that means he will not harass his tankmate Lucky, who has seen it all (lived with many fish over his 3 years with me so far, including my most aggressive, Terry) and will be fine either way, but I will be glad if there is no stress factor. I have had enough loss to understand that Niran will not be here eternally, but I know that I care enough about my fish to think of them that long, and his pics/story will be here too. I have been on this site waiting patiently while Niran has been drip acclimating, for about two hours now, so it is time to go, and probably move him in now.


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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)

Finally, a fish that poses. Niran was pretty patient for a happy young fish, took a few good pics of him. I may make a thread later, asking about differences between caring for half moons and other bettas, because I couldn't find much. Niran is swimming and eating well, and comes over to see me, but his fins do have fraying near the edges, despite my best efforts to slowly (3 hours) acclimate him. One great bonus is that he eats small snails, and the 10 gallon he lives in has a pretty large number of them; I like snails, but don't want too many, and he will help keep their numbers in check. Enough of the small talk for now, here is my new friend saying hello


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## hrutan (Jun 25, 2014)

Why, hello back, Niran!


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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)

When a post is all positive, it is better to write and read, and this is one of those times. Niran is doing quite well in his 10 gallon, blowing a bubble nest next to his floating anubias, and he and Lucky are coexisting well. In fact, he did so well, that after I got paid a couple weeks ago, I found myself ready to find a new friend for Happy's house, the new name for the 5 gallon so many of my bettas have called home. I thought I knew exactly what types of bettas I did and did not want to have, but a new one caught my eye, and he is stunning. There are some strong opinions about double tail HM bettas that I have read, about it being cruel to breed this feature or something, but I have at least one example of my twin tail being one of the healthiest bettas I have purchased. In a new twist on my naming sagas, all I have for this one's name is the first letter, A. just feels right, mulling over a few names that start with A. He does not, however, need a full name to introduce himself on here









His tails appear thicker than some that I have owned, including Niran, who is healthy, but had a couple ripped fins while acclimating. He has a wine colored body, and his tails are more a shade of violet. He blew a bubble nest of his own to help the picture; not sure what is in the air or water, but all 3 of my bettas blew some bubbles in the last two days, even Tricky, who rarely does it. Three happy, healthy bettas, and I am pleased with that.


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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)

While the chain stores provided me with some healthy new bettas, I do have love for many types of fish, and the filtration in my 55 gal community has proven too strong for most male betta types (only Belinda did well in there, SIP). When I want something different, or feel like a free trip to a freshwater aquarium, I go to Uncle Ned's. On my last visit, I fell for a fish that is in the "oddball" category, who coincidentally is an anabantoid, an air breather like all of our lovely bettas. After seeing african leaf fish every now and then at petsmart, I always thought they were cool, and had done some research on them. I thought I saw an enormous one at Ned's, but I was at best half-right: while one of many names for them is also African leaf fish, it is more commonly referred to as a leopard bush fish, or African bush fish, with the proper name being leopard Ctenopoma. The two species look very similar, but to my delight, the bush fish has less demanding care requirements, is bigger, and has more personality. Most importantly, they have been known to coexist with my other African tank resident Phil, the African butterfly fish. Get ready for pictures, because I think he looks awesome. Judge for yourself:









I knew that I had to be careful picking out a bigger fish, so I didn't upset the tank's conditions too bad, thus I have been researching so many fish over the two years I have had this tank up and running. My failed previous attempt at raising a small, young fish that would have gotten bigger (Uaru cichlid) made me very wary about getting one that small again, so the healthy size of this new bush fish was a plus. Another plus is that he was unmarked in a fairly predatory tank at the store, neither picking on anyone, nor being picked on. I had a fairly grim choice to make in regards to my aging dither fish; both schools are over two years old and have started dwindling in numbers, so I could either watch them go, or perhaps find a fish that could benefit from them while they are healthy. Thus far, none have gone missing, and better yet, they are schooling in the most organized fashion I have seen in at least a year. 

There was one interesting exchange, thankfully brief, that opened my eyes a little. My oldest living fish is Dusty, a 4 inch long BN pleco, and he was literally the first fish into this aquarium once I got it cycled. He has a big piece of driftwood, visible in my 'big tank' pics, and the underside of it is his territory. He generally doesn't care if an occasional red eye tetra camps out under there with him, and didn't move a fin when Phil got scared during a water change once and sat right up against him under there for a minute or two last month. However, the bush fish is the first larger fish than Dusty that I have ever owned, so this was the first chance I have had in the several years I have owned him that I got to see Dusty defend in a fair fight. Thankfully, I had bought a melon sword in anticipation of the bush fish wanting shady places to hide, and I put another anubias floating in there as well, but while exploring the tank for the first time, bush fish found out that under that piece of driftwood is a no parking zone: Dusty came at him with a suckermouth attack, possibly damaging a scale (I can't be sure if that was like that or not), and it startled the new fish, but when he turned to look at Dusty, he was quick enough that I didn't notice him take a little chunk out of Dusty's tail. I put a little aquarium salt in, just to make sure neither has any issues, but they both look fine the next day. To clarify, that was just a little squabble; both have been fine today, now that Dusty let him know what his territory is. If it was anything more than a minor territory issue, I would have been very sad, as there is no contingency plan for either fish; with good luck and continued care, they will be living together for years to come. The bush fish has ventured into Phil's hanging fern in his corner of the tank, and they seem to be fine with each other so far. Alright, enough bragging, I am going to go hang out with my fish, and hopefully keep coming back with more all-positive updates.


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## DaytonBetta (Feb 4, 2014)

Glad it's going well! I love the color of your new betta.


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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)

Thanks, and best yet, his colors are getting more vibrant after feeding him quality food for a month.


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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)

I have finished the name for my lovely new double tail, and it does start with an A. I needed longer than usual, but his personality ruled out a lot of the names that mean something like warrior, or peaceful, because he is somewhere in the middle in terms of aggression in the 10 bettas I have had long enough to find out. His stunning looks, however, were worthy of naming rights, and thus he is Adonis. After feeding him quality food for a month, the fin colors are taking on a lovely blue hue. Because of my new bush fish Bob's dietary needs, I am soon going to be starting a worm box, to have a constant supply of live red wigglers, and some smaller ones will be helping every fish that feels like eating them. While I haven't had any large fish before, I wish I knew just how easy it is to raise these worms, because cutting them up would have been a simple way to supplement the diets of some fish that have already passed, but I am glad I have been learning lessons well, and my fish have benefited from it. I will be trying again to take more pics of Adonis and Niran soon, because both are likely to end up being contest entrants when I get better pics.


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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)

A quick, happy response, my fish in general are doing well. Niran caught me by surprise the other day; his tank has more snails than is necessary, and while I do my best to take out excessive ones, some of them keep breeding constantly. Niran usually eats a couple, and ignores the rest, but before I cleaned the tank tonight, last night he made a mad dash across the surface, knocking at least a dozen baby snails down to the bottom. Seeing as how Niran is a pretty relaxed fish, and has long flowing HM fins, this was no easy achievement, but it was cool to watch. I took out as many smaller snails as I could today. I wish I had an open tank, so I could get a puffer, and make better use of the excess snails. A puffer of some kind is next on my wish list, and time usually helps; I waited 4 years until I found Phil, my African Butterfly fish, and he is awesome, well worth the wait.

Speaking of Phil, he gets along very well with Bob the Leopard Bush fish, and that is a big relief for me. After moving the red eye tetras to another tank, Phil is out and about more, turns out he didn't like the "dither" fish I had in there for the previous generation. They both have nice territories, and Bob doesn't stay under Phil's bush for very long if he does visit. They both enjoyed some crickets tonight, and Bob was very polite about it; it was his first time here getting some crickets, and he looked at me for approval, not once but twice, and after I nodded and pointed, he went up and ate a couple, checking with me both times, lol. For anyone like me that wanted a pretty Oscar, but prefer a community feel to such a large tank, I highly recommend leopard bush fish. They are similar in appearance, can still hunt live food if that is something you like to watch, but are tolerant of my catfish, which was very important to me. He is one of the top "wet pets" I have had; as much as I like most fish, only a few have come to feel close to me, and interact as well as him.


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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)

Today took a most unexpected turn at the fish store. I went back today to look at what they labeled as a koi betta, and while it certainly looks like one, my research here last night leads me to believe it was simply a pretty red, white and blue marble, and it wasn't lively enough to invest in. I go as often as I can to the LFS, sometimes to see whats new and consider purchases, sometimes to relieve stress on a tough day and just look at fish I can't afford/house properly, and once in a while to show off those fish to friends. In my countless trips, I have naturally walked past thousands of goldfish, and generally, their behavior doesn't even catch my eye, and their beauty is not my type. Due to tank requirements and a lack of preference, I would have bet money that I would not be coming home with any kind of goldfish, and for the first time in my adult life (won one at a fair as a kid), I would have lost that bet. 

A quirky little red telescope goldfish kept coming over to look at me, then he chased away his tankmates, and came back to see me again, several times. I realize most goldfish like company, but this guy didn't seem to enjoy his neighbors, and I only had a 10 gallon available, so I took the little guy home. He is maybe 2 inches long, so I have time until the next petco dollar/gallon sale to grow him out and then upgrade. Interestingly, he acted like a regular goldfish (IMO) and didn't really look at my girlfriend, but when I looked at him, he was staring and wiggling; he seems to like me, or at least be interested in me, which is good to start. His aggressive streak in the store reminds me of Terry, my long living paradise fish, and that was a selling point. Still surprised that this guy got me; literally thousands of goldfish never even crossed my mind, and this happens so suddenly. His big eyes happen to be two different colors, one blue, one orange, and he was the only goldfish I noticed this trait in at the store, out of dozens of them for sale. When he gets upgraded, I might finally be able to get a very cool looking fish, because it likes the cooler water: a hong kong plec. I have only kept tropical fish to this point, so there was never an appropriate place for one, but they look cool, act different, and can help clean, which will be very helpful with notoriously messy goldfish. Pics and a name will be up soon.


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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)

Soon is a relative term; my picture attempts so far on the goldfish are not upload worthy, but I did finally name him Bill. Partly because I am a Bill Murray fan, but more so because this guy is a friend, whereas some fish have been more like pets to me. Some other fish friends got their names before I knew if we hit it off, and inspiration can be fickle when figuring out what to name fish. If the camera on a kindle is any good, I will have a lot of new pics of fish in general soon, but I haven't tested it. 

As for my bettas, all 3 seem to be doing well, with only the usual issues keeping Niran's long flowing HM fins from having minor fin rot/biting damage. Adonis keeps finding places to sleep that are ninja quality disappearing acts; in a 5 gallon with one cave, there shouldn't be many hiding places, but he likes to sleep under a pretty healthy bed of java moss. Tricky, however, takes full advantage of having the anubias with the widest leaves in any of my tanks, and sleeps right on top of it at the surface.

I almost forgot; my sister has a fish tank, and her guppies had passed, so I told her I would take care of it for xmas. I did, getting her a delta tail (labeled HM, but not unless he is still juvenile), who has pretty blue lips, and a feisty personality. After acclimating him and rigging a baffle for the filter, I figured he was set up, I noticed he too had the ninja hiding ability, but his skill was fitting tight places and not getting stuck. I went home, and a few days later, she texts me and says he had passed. Before I could figure out what to do next, the following day, I get another text saying nevermind, he sleeps upside down, and apparently pretty deeply. Sneaky fish, very funny, hope he does well with her.


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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)

As is often the case, a trip to the LFS has yielded me a new friend, this guy is named Muggsy. Despite extensive research, and having owned quite a few myself, I actually am not certain of his "type." He has a split veil tail, but it seems a bit different than a double tail to me. His coolest feature is his eyes: they are the same color as his scales, with only a small dark pupil varying at all, and even then only if he is looking right at you. I can't exactly describe a color either: he looks powder blue through the glass when he is relaxing, more of a purple when looking straight down at him, or when he is on a rampage, and other times there are multiple colors, including some red on the tail. I am overdue on pics, and he will be posing for a few when I make that happen. 

What I do know about him is that Muggsy is an amazing swimmer, probably the fastest I have had, and is very agile. At the moment, he is living with the last survivor of my 3-plus year old school of red eye tetra, but that will change soon; despite the tetra being there first, Muggsy has decided that it is his 5 gallon, and I will make other arrangements, if he doesn't change his mind about it. Catching tetras in a well planted tank is a lesson in futility and/or patience, I would prefer not to try that again. Muggsy is also a very diligent bubble nest guy; he has already blown more bubbles this week than Tricky, who I have had close to two years now. 

I am wondering if Muggsy might be wild caught; I didn't ask any questions when I got him, I just bonded with him and paid. Speaking of which, he did seem a bit expensive for his tail type, but I can't be sure how much, because I got two plants as well. Either way, he is awesome, and is a welcome addition to my living bettas, because Niran, Tricky and Adonis are pretty laid back, and Muggsy really represents the Fighting fish name, which is a fun viewing experience. Just to be clear, I would never go in the fighting direction; I rarely even let them see each other, even though 3 of the 4 tanks are on the same bureau. Tricky and Adonis can see each other, but I have never seen a flare war, at most they swim up against the glass once in a while glancing at each other. On Tricky's left, however, I moved the visual barrier for a moment the day after I got Muggsy, and Muggsy flared immediately, scaring Tricky into hiding in his big anubias. That will not do, luckily that is why I made the divider in the first place, now it will be staying there, unless either one ever seems bored, then only briefly to get a reaction out of them. Anyhow, following some research and picture taking, there will be more info on my aggressive new friend.


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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)

Quick update, I moved the tetra out of Muggsy's tank; he is too old for that stuff, his time is coming, I sacrificed space for privacy for him. Also, while I still have questions about Muggsy, he has traits of a dragon scale, specifically his eyes. Tricky was labeled as such at petsmart when I got him, but I am speculating that he was maybe bred from one DS parent.


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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)

Today's adventure was one that could keep on giving, with some luck and care. I finally bought some ghost shrimp, because Bob is a big eater, and he needs more variety in his diet, so I am hoping to breed a supply myself. As it turns out, for once a chain had bigger, healthy looking ghosts, and I was in time to buy 3 pregnant females. While floating the bag to put in Adonis' tank, one released her live young, and since quite a few were alive, I had to speed up the process a bit by putting the bag water into a half gallon bowl, which I propped inside the tank to keep temps steady. With a good amount of java moss in there, I have good hopes that a decent amount of them might survive. The three adults were introduced to the tank itself, and at least one of them is no longer with eggs; can't tell if it was the first one that released in the bag, or if Adonis scared her into dropping them prematurely. I did see him eat at least one live young, which is fine, but I hope a good number made it into the large java moss jungle to hide and grow. I haven't seen any violence directly upon the adults, but it wouldn't be shocking. If he injures any adults, then Bob will have a shorter hunt in the 55 gal is all. Even if these first clutches of eggs don't produce a lot of live ones, I can always get a couple males, since I know these ones are females capable of carrying them. 

In other, sadder news, my favorite rescue Tricky is either battling old age or swim bladder. I had not seen him sleep anywhere other than his favorite anubias' leaves in a long time, but lately he has been sleeping slouched over on the bottom. I did a major water change, and the temp is steady at 80, so all I can do is wait and see how he responds. Today, it seemed like he might have just been waking up slowly, but it is part of a pattern, so I am taking steps to try improving his health. It has been a year and a half since I thought he wouldn't survive coming home in horrifying condition, and I knew a day might come that it would catch up with him, all I can do is try my best to keep his water clean, and hope if he does take a turn for the worse, that it lets him pass quickly, he has been one of my favorite fish of all time. I do believe he still has some fight left in him, so I will be trying everything I can.


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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)

Almost forgot, I have pretty drastic color changes going on with two fish, both Adonis and Muggsy. My choice not to take good pics of Muggsy when I brought him home was a poor one, because he is coloring in, and now I have nothing to compare it to. He started a lighter blue, with hints of purple and red as I mentioned above, but now he is developing dark purple spots on his body, specifically near his head, but not all of them. The first spot scared me, I thought he was losing scales at first, but looking closer, the scales are all there and accounted for, he is just marbling for now, possibly turning a deep purple (no smoke on the water yet) with some red on the fins. I have never seen this color combination in an adult, so I will keep posted, and hopefully get some decent pics along the way. 

Adonis, who is currently my avatar, has kept his wine-colored, sometimes violet, mostly yellow body color, but it is his fins that have been changing. They are darkening, and appear to be a bit darker purple than his body. Hopefully, living with the ghost shrimp as they grow helps him get more live food, and his colors continue to shine, because finding a healthy double half moon tail was no easy feat. As for Niran, his only news is that his fin rot finally stopped, and he is slowly growing back his once long-flowing red hm fins of his own.


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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)

Less good news than I would like, but nothing terrible yet. The ghost shrimp experiment ended up being a good binge of live baby ghosts for Adonis, and that was pretty much it, the three adults didn't last very long either. Not a concern, was just hoping to luck into a good live food source that isn't more work than raising the fish themselves. In good self-sustaining tank news, I finally saw my first baby assassin snail in my 55 gal; I bought two about six months ago because the trumpet snails were taking over, and they brought that number down to something manageable. I had been seeing more trumpets, and haven't seen much of the adult assassins, wasn't liking that development, but the baby assassin gives me hope on keeping the right balance of snails to aerate my sandy substrate, but not stress the tank balance.

In soon to be sad news, Tricky is definitely struggling now, the trauma of saving him almost two years ago is definitely catching up to him. He is weak, lethargic, and has trouble eating when he makes it to the surface with me nearby. I have been doing research to see if it was something curable, but swim bladder is at least part of it, and I know his left gill had issues when I saved him back then. I can't imagine how cool a future fish will have to be to inherit his tank, and more importantly, the broad leaf anubias, a veritable king sized bed/entertainment center for a betta.


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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)

I generally never buy a new betta before an older one passes, but a chance stop in to a pet store (my girlfriend had an errand in the same area) has been known to produce encounters with new finned friends. Time will tell, but I either have a pretty female halfmoon, or a mislabeled young male plakat. She was just brought into the store in the past 48 hours; I know, because I was there then too, and always look at the bettas, with improving discipline over the years. I am about 70% confident in the accuracy of the label, because of the shape of the face and mouth, but the pretty tail colors leave some doubt, despite the visible egg spot. I hate keeping any betta in such small conditions, but I will be quarantining her in a gallon bowl until I am certain of both health and gender, so I know if I have a chance of adding her to my community, or if it will be her own tank when Tricky passes, which is closer than I want, but fairly imminent. The water tests clear, it is just his time, he has been slowing down for well over a month, and went through more in the first week I had him than some of my others could handle in their full lifetimes.


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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)

As much as I hate winter, there is a big downside to seasonal changes here for betta/fish owners: fluctuating temperatures, along with crappy non-adjustable heaters, make life difficult for my fish. My oldest betta Tricky passed away this week after a brave fight for the last month or so. Keeping a steady temp in a 2.5 gal during this time of year is very hard, it was the only variable I couldn't control. To make a tough week worse, Muggsy, whose tank is next to Tricky's, has a white patch on his left gill, which I am still trying to diagnose/treat, just hoping that it isn't columnaris, but I can't remember the other possible ailment right now. Both of those tanks are subject to the temp swings, so I at least understand how they had issues, which brings me to the confusing one: Adonis has one of my good heaters, his temp is a steady 78, no overcrowding, and somehow his top fin has a bad tear in it, which was hard to recognize since his fins have been darkening for months, and he is a HM double tail. Salt baths should help him, they have been helping with Niran's difficult fins for about a year, but I am worried that the base of that tear might get body rot. It is crazy that I am having this many issues all at once with my bettas, where my other dozen or so other fish of different types are all doing pretty well.

In what I really want to be good news, my new female betta moved into Tricky's tank, after being very active in the acclimation bowl. In her first day in there, she spent a lot of time hiding under the java moss, which normally I would find cool, but in a difficult week, it is hard not to panic. One thing that did make me feel better was seeing her sleeping in Tricky's huge anubias. It was a good choice for her to claim it, because I had given thought to moving the plant to a bigger tank. I will give it time, but two names I am mulling over are Heidi, because she was hiding and I like the name, or Miho after the assassin from Sin City. Another positive is I have about a dozen young assassin snails, the most successful accidental breeding that has occurred in any of my tanks in all my time keeping fish, they look cool and keep the ramshorn snail population right where I want it, despite the tendency for them to overrun the tank in the past.


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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)

My girl Heidi is doing well in her new tank, and Muggsy is looking a lot better, whatever the white stuff is came off in a salt bath, and he seems to be improving. It will take a little longer to have good news for Adonis, his situation is not improving yet. happy fishkeeping folks


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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)

It has been an interesting summer, both in my aquariums and in my own life, and I have a lot of news, both good and bad, about fish I have gained and lost. First, I will share an amusing moment I didn't have a camera to capture, but I had to make note of, and wonder if anyone else has seen this behavior before.... so I was sitting watching TV, and out of the side of my eye, I noticed Lucky, my BN pleco, sleeping on Niran's Anubias. Worried this might upset him, I look to see where he is, but I didn't have to look far; he was sleeping perfectly parallel, and "cuddled up" to Lucky, for at least five minutes. They have lived together for well over a year, and generally they get along pretty well, but Niran usually defends his plant, this one time they shared and it was good luck I even noticed it. Hopefully I can convey more of that positive energy, and that I have gained from a school of 10 congo tetra that I added to my 55 gal, than the negative that kept me away from here for a while. Sadly, my SIP crew got larger in terms of my bettas, as I lost Muggsy, which I can only suspect was parasites that I thought I had treated; and Adonis succumbed to body rot after having the bad fortune to rip his top fin to the body, while maintaining a strong swimming ability with otherwise perfect fins, I had no reason to suspect any issue until the body rot got bad, he never even had fin rot. I am now more superstitious than ever that 3 is my healthy betta number, as I waited after these losses to look for another. 

Eventually, I came across a wild betta (a good LFS claims he is), definitely a plakat with a more subdued appearance, named Rickey. He is certainly enjoying my more natural setup, I like the "blackwater" effect of Indian almond leaves, and he has taken to it quite nicely. Just for fun, he did get constipated shortly after I got him, nothing like a dropsy scare to keep you on your toes, but he is alive and well, bubbling a beautiful nest in the last day or two. He and Heidi can see each other, but both have visual retreats that they can utilize for some privacy. They both are primarily blue, but the differences do support the LFS's claim that Rickey was wild. I seem to have my 3 bettas all in setups that agree with their behaviors, and the tank I have had so much trouble with anabantoids in got a change of lifestyle, a lone female convict cichlid that got my eye in the LFS, where she was alone as not to conceive more of them, so I named a lightning quick, potentially territorial warrior princess Nermal, after the cat Garfield always tried to mail to Abu Dhabi. I do these things.

In what is the exception to my usually limited new fish budget, I splurged on the only thing I have wanted to do for my 55 gal since I have had Bob and Phil (leopard bush fish/butterfly fish), and I bought the 10 Congo tetra I had mentioned, since all 3 species live in the Congo river area together, and I wanted each for its own behavior/appearance anyways. I am thrilled that Uncle Ned's was able to work with me and make sure I got enough of the 22 or so that were there in store to keep them feeling safe, because Bob is a 6" long monster and enjoys chasing them, to no avail. He is fast, but they are faster, elusive, and well-coordinated. It is taking some effort not to go back and buy the rest of the shoal, because this is already by far my favorite schooling fish, both in appearance and behavior, and if this tank was 75 gal, I would have already done it, but I am being responsible and keeping the bioload as low as I can manage. Thankfully, I also bought a monster anubias, that provides enough cover at their end of the tank that they can rest while Bob sleeps. The real winner in this whole process is Phil, who got an extra fern at the surface for maximum cover, and is now only getting harassed once or twice a day; Bob had been on his case lately more than usual, so I was in the market for a distraction, and the biotype concept was spot-on with this combo. Other than the catfish, that is; my large BN Dusty is going to be in that tank as long as possible, he has been in there since I established the aquarium a couple years ago. It was just the boost I needed to stay excited about my fish as a whole population, which keeps me doing extra effort, as opposed to just good enough, so everyone thrives.


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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)

I have had a very short list of fish I planned to own for the past five years or so, and when the time was right, I have checked several off the list: paradise fish (still have my first, 4 year old Terry), African butterfly fish (Phil is doing well), Leopard bush fish (Bob runs things, but Phil bit him after being bullied recently; it didn't get through the scales, but left a mark) are among them. I also had a pair of American flagfish, which were cool. But it was only a matter of time until I owned a puffer, and I knew the first time I had seen one, it would be a Congo puffer. 

That time has come; I have a young Congo puffer, who is temporarily taking over the 10 gallon that I was strongly filtering for Niran and Lucky, who have moved to other tanks. Lucky is going back home with Terry, but to be sure it is safe, I have added several hiding places for both, centralizing each at one end with any luck. Niran is in my new aqueon bowfront 2.5 gallon tank, smaller than I prefer but literally the exact size of the space I had to put a tank (its my 8th currently), and with it's little filter and his precious anubias, he seems to like it, but keeps looking next door into his old tank, probably curious how he got moved, but he will be glad he isn't in there when he might oversee the Puffer eating. If anyone is about to respond with advice, I have the 29 gallon tank in my possession to upgrade the puffer sooner or later, depending how much frozen food he eats instead of making a mess with exclusively live food. He/she was eating it at Uncle Ned's, so I am comfortable with this arrangement in the short term. All the positive reviews seem to be right on the money; puffers are a very expressive fish, mine is, and it has been only a couple days. In a couple months, I will gladly compare to the fun of owning expressive bettas, like my 3 current rockstars, Niran, Heidi and Rickey.


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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)

While my three bettas are doing well, there was sad news in my other tanks, as I lost my 4 year old pleco Lucky, and my new puffer, on the same day, a day I happened to be dealing with physical pain as well. I will be more chatty another time, just wanted to wish my lost fish a chance to SIP.


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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)

Times have been better in my tanks in general, but Rickey has a cataract in his left eye, and it is messing with his depth perception, so feeding him is no subtle feat, takes more patience than I would have imagined. He is still very active and responsive, I just hope his good eye can stay that way, or I would have to get more cleaning help than the couple snails, which I would prefer not to do. Niran likes having the 10 gallon tank to himself, but he still has a couple of his own snails, and he still flares mercilessly at them on random occasions. My girl Heidi is the strongest and healthiest of the three, and after having her with me seven months now, I can be certain her egg spot is not false advertising. For some reason, the 2.5 gallon tank has had good luck, only 3 long-lived betta occupants in 5 years between myself and my girlfriend's first betta.

I had to perform my first fish surgery, when Bob swallowed a smaller cory catfish that seemed to be acting erratically for a couple days prior. I needed to use a pair of tweezers to dislodge the spiny flares that get stuck and take some fish with them. It has been a few months, because I didn't want to report success until I was well past the normal risk of infection or other issues, I hope anyways. Even though he can be aggressive, he is one of the more responsive fish I have owned, following my hand around the room if I wave at him, and I like watching his odd habits, which include watching TV, seriously. I did lose my old one eyed (injury, likely Bob) rubberlip pleco Flair, he seems to have lived about the normal life span for his type, and I enjoyed having him. Now it is Dusty's world, along with the several corys, down bottom. I also still greatly enjoy having my congo tetra school of 9 to liven up Phil and Bob's world even more. happy fishkeeping folks, later


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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)

As luck would have it, while shopping for water conditioner and food, I came across a wonderful veil tail betta, who I apparently only wrote about in my journal, not on here. He was flaring at every neighbor in the little cups, so I figured dominant would equal healthy, and so far so good, but at first I was going to leave him there. Getting him meant dividing Niran's 10 gallon, and while I had a good divider already built, I had been thinking more along the lines of a young catfish to share his tank. 

However, when I came back around to his section, I started to look closer, and noticed that not only did he have the color pattern of my very first betta Buddy, but he did a double take to turn and look at me EXACTLY like Buddy used to, even in the only blurry pic I seem to have left of him, and it was no longer decision time. It was checkout time, lol. After a short quarantine period, the divider went back in, as did a couple extra plants to maintain steady water quality, and Niran has a neighbor. Sometimes the naming process is easier than others; this one was named Bud before I got him home. The name fits, because he is a slightly larger version of Buddy, and if there is such a thing as reincarnation, I would genuinely believe this happened. He flares as often as Buddy did, which is more than the other 10 bettas I have owned combined each, blows bubble nests every time I change the water, still does the strong double take to come see me, and when he gets excited, his colors change just a bit, in the exact combination as his namesake. While he does flare at Niran, the divider is pretty good, and Niran is used to other fish, so he seems unimpressed, he still does his thing the same way he has all this time, and all is well with him since he has his beloved anubias.

I finally took some pics of my only goldfish Bill, my wild betta Rickey, who seems to be adjusting better to his limited eyesight and is doing well, my female betta Heidi, and one pic of Bud so far, from the night I got him. There will be pics soon of the duplex, because they have matching anubias, but I will have to take the pic before feeding to get them both to pose. The pics are up in my albums, a few came out well, and I will try taking more.


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## Cotton19 (Nov 26, 2013)

been putting off reporting my toughest loss in fishkeeping, my 5 year old paradise fish Terry passed away. had to wait a while to even be able to type it, and currently using that aquarium strictly for plants and snails, since I have a large community of assassin snails in my 55 gal. all things considered, the overall health of my fish has been good.

in betta specific news, my vision impaired plakat Rickey has proven that he is simply going to be a bottom feeder for me. interesting fish, glad I have confirmed he was finding and eating the pellets, I just kept throwing them in his direction as he transitioned from a surface feeding normal betta to this new style. my female Heidi is a feisty girl, and I am glad to have found her. My other males, Niran and Bud, each enjoy their own anubias, and bubble nesting, especially Bud, he is an all time nester on a regular basis.


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