# Bettas: My Journey with these spledid splendens (Pic heavey)



## justmel (Apr 1, 2013)

I joined this forum about a week ago and have already learned so much. For example my bettas used to have a top fin, tail, & bottom fin. Now I can talk about their dorsal and anal fins and their ventral . I still call is a tail though (note to self - find out if the tail is called the tail or if there's a proper term for it)

I started with 15 bettas (5 male VT's, 1 male HM, 1 male DT, 4 female VT's, 1 questionable betta bought as a VT female, 2 female (?) VT babies, and 1 female (?) CT baby.I had every intention to breed and sell my lovely fishies. Since I have added a second questionable female, currently nameless and learned what kind of journey I have ahead of me.

I am still going to breed and sell bettas, but I have a lot to learn first. Here I plan to keep track of my adventures with my fabulous fishy friends. Care to join me?

Here is my current aquatic family, pictured in the following order


Mr. Fish - The "ONE" for me. He started it all. The first betta I ever bought for myself. I though he was so handsome and unique that I wanted to breed him and share his awesomeness with others. I'm still in love with Mr. Fish, but he has to share my heart now.
Luv - One of my daughter's boys. We've had Luv awhile now and he shared a 10 gallon tank with guppies in my living room. Luv is, of course, a love. He's a sweetheart and very friendly and affectionate.
Gema - If I'm going to breed I need females to pair with our males. Gema doesn't match anyone we have color wise, but I fell in love with her vivid colors anyway. Plus it was the perfect excuse to get 2 females instead of one! (Little Lady Love also came home with us, but didn't stay with us long. SIP Little Lady.Little Lady is not pictured)
Monster - The biggest betta my daughter had ever seen and just had to have.
Amor - Looking for another girlfriend for Mr. Fish. None with the right coloring, so Luv gets a girl instead.
Darling - My daughter fell in love again, is indulged, and knows how to care for her fish. Plus I know I will end up caring for it & I actually enjoy changing my tanks and talking with my fish while I do so. She doesn't help me whenever I ask her to though.
Thor - I fell in love with his blue on black body; blue, black, & cellophane finage; and jagged yellow mark on his anal fin. Had to have him and REALLY wanted a HM.
Blanca - I just could not pass up an EE at VT prices. Her coloring _might_ mix ok with Mr. Fish, but I need to check on mixing types of bettas when breeding. (Blanca is one of my questionable females, but her story will be later)
Gaylord - My daughter could not pass up a blue and pink one. He's very feisty and one of our most aggressive boys.
Freya - If I'm going to breed and have hundreds of fry it's better to have names planned out because we will end up naming the all. My daughter is a mythology nut, so since we already have a Thor we start with Norse mythology.
Lofin - Bought to breed with Loki (SIP), a birthday present for Vivian (my daughter), but he did not live. Now that I know more I think the poor guy had velvet. Not sure I could have saved him as he had a gold sheen almost all over, but if I had known better then I could have at least tried. :-(
Mani - He was just gorgeous. I had to have him. No other reason.
Babies A, B, & C - nameless until we know sexes for sure. If I was going to raise fry I thought it might be good to get a little experience with them. Since I had brine shrimp at home & bought them the pellets that Petco feed them I didn't think there would be a problem. Now I know I am pretty lucky to have kept 3 out of 4 babies alive (we lost one within days)
Nameless female - not even sure is (s)he's a female anymore. My LPS knows less than nothing about bettas and sold he(r) as a female, but her story will he later too.


I swear this is my last impulse buy! No more even looking at the bettas. If I look I know I'm bringing one home, so just STAY AWAY! No more bettas until I have learned more and have everything I need for a spawing. Then it's a breeding pair, and not from the pet store.

More to come...


Blanca and the namelss females stories.
current goals
question I need to find answers too.


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## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

Very nice!


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## justmel (Apr 1, 2013)

Thanks Matt

I lost my EE over night and the CT baby yesterday. More than a little bummbed, but I'll get over it. Everyone is getting an extra water change today. Things started going south after my last water change it seems.


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## justmel (Apr 1, 2013)

Since Blanca passed last night I will skip that story and go to the story of my nameless female. (If you are still interested in Blanca's story, you can read it here: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=146242 There's a lot of good picture of both male and female EE's if you ever happen to find yourself in the same position as me)

I went to my LPS for some plants, tank dividers, a heater, extra to set up my spare 10 gallon to house a few males. Having so many bettas in separate homes I literally spend half my day cleaning tanks. I was also looking for some cory cat's to add to my sorority tank.

This PS usually sells nothing but male VT's, although my daughter said they had CT's once. While looking for the corys I saw a large (twice the size of my ladies at home) betta in a tank. It looked like the king bettas sold at Petco and was priced as $3.99 for a female betta. This PS know nothing about betta, but otherwise is very helpful. (Twice they've given me free plants I admired and asked about in their tanks.) I asked about this pretty lady, it was hard to tell her color because the tanks was dark, but I could see blue fins & what looked to be a red or purple body. They said that a lady was moving and had to get rid of them, so she gave them to the PS to sell. 'Them?' I ask. They had 5 to start with, now only have three. The other two are nearly colorless, not white, just colorless and hiding behind the filter. The one I am looking at is swimming happily around, since I wanted her for a sorority which already has a very pushy VT I picked the active one and brought her home.

Once I added her to the sorority she picked a spot & told everyone to stay away. Being as she's bigger the other kind of had to listen. She wasn't mean about it, just flared and chased them away if they got to close. Once they were far enough away she's go back to her plant and watch thing. The other fish all changed too. Lofin, my lil red VT, decided nameless here was her friend and started hanging out just as close as she could without being chased away. Eventually nameless got used to her and they are now often found resting together by the heater. Amor still thinks she is the alpha and tries to chase everyone, but no one will run anymore. It was funny to see her try and bully the bigger female away from her plant. She does this body slam thing, where she gets next to the fish and starts slamming her body into the other one. My bigger girl put up with it for a minute or two, then all the sudden she flared and gave chase. Again, not mean, just said enough is enough. Amor still tries to bully her, but runs as soon as she flares. Sweet Freya was my most passive female. Her fins are rather beat up right now, and she used to hide alot, but I guess watching the bigger female stick up for herself has taught Freya to do the same. Amor used to chase Freya round and round the tank. Freya would go hide in the plants & Amor'd just wait for her to come out. Now Freya will run and hide in the plants. I guess she watches, because if Amor doesn't leave Freya will then come out and chase her.

After nameless was in the sorority a few days Amor and Freya started displaying eggs bands. My fiance, Brad, said he saw Lofin drop and eat eggs about the same time. I never saw Lofin do this and she didn't display any bands. This got me to wondering about this new betta that looked like the male king bettas at Petco. The filter currently in that tank puts out quite a flow, so I unplugged it for the night (it's half full of live plants and I figured they would provide enough oxygen for the night at least) and left it to see if maybe a bubble nest would start to take shape over night. In the morning all my ladies are back to normal, no bands, and there's not even 2 bubble anywhere in the tank.

So, while I was a little insure for awhile I have determined the new betta is a female. I believe she is a PK, possibly a HMPK. I also _think_ (need to look into this a bit more) think she might be half giant or at least carry the gene. Right now her body is 2" long. To me that is quite large, but Not long ago I was one of those noobs that thought a betta was happy in a little fish bowl with no heat or anything.

Here's another pic of the newest female. She doesn't often look this blue. Not sure what Brad did to get her that color. Her body more often looks a really dark read or purple.


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## justmel (Apr 1, 2013)

*Current goals and tanks*


Goals


House all of my male bettas in properly heated & filter NPL 10 gallon tanks.
Need to get 2 empty tanks, soil, sand, plants, lights, tank dividers, heaters, filter, thermometers, extra
Set up 29 gallon sorority (would like larger, but at least 29gal)
This would free up one 10 gallon tank
 
This tank still need better heater & filter and everything to make it a NPT, and tank dividers.
Prepare two spawning and grow out tanks
Put research in order so all information on spawning is in one place and easy to access
Double & triple check to make sure I have everything I might need for a successful spawning
Get and start cultures for micro, banana, and walter worms.
Put together betta first aid kit
Compare supplies to medicines most often recommended to betta illnesses. Make sure I have everything I might need and buy what I don’t have yet.
 
Find out how to make tank dividers
Buy supplies and set Brad to work making up several tank dividers
 
 

Current tanks
1) Sorority tank – 10 gallon tank home toa) 4 female bettas (3 VTs: Amor, Lofin, & Freya, and 1 unclassified female: Big Bertha(?))
b) 2 cory cats (Felix & Emerald)
c) 1 full grown female guppy with spinal deformity (Quasimodo aka Quasi)
d) several guppy fry of various ages (maybe 6 little things that will be given to new owner once they are big enough)
e) a couple snails​2) 10 gallon divided tank – home toa) DT Mani on small side (only have 1 tank divider, but going to divided it 3 ways. Mani has the space he will have when the tank is finished being divided.)
b) Baby betta A in glass chimney 4” wide in large side
c) Baby betta B swimming free in large side (I put A in the chimney & B swimming because B is about 3 time the size of A and needs a bit more room right now.
d) 2 snails​3) 10 gallon fry tank
a) Currently home to several snails with java moss, 2 banana plants, and floating water sprite​4) 5 gallon tank (bbs farm. I don’t buy frozen and my bettas love the live ones. Monster would jump out of the water to catch them wiggling in my fingers) Thinking of cleaning this out and dividing it to house a couple more bettas, making it a hospital or QT tank, or possible a tank for taking pictures.
5) 4 gallon Evo tank in my daughter bedroom is home to Monster and our last male guppy, Tropper.
6) 2.5 gallon day glo tank being used as QT tank for Ra.
7) 1.5 gallon brandy sniffer (heated & filtered) is Luv’s current home. He may be my daughters fish, but at the moment his home is in my room. I turned his 10 gallon tank into the sorority when he seemed to become depressed. Moved him to my bedroom where he gets more individual attention and he has come back around to being his normal loving self. He may become my desktop betta when I get my desktop aquarium. 
8) Four 1.25 gallon vases – home toa) Thor
b) Mr. Fish
c) Gaylord
d) Darling​9) Lee’s Dual Betta Hex, http://www.petco.com/product/9435/Lees-Dual-Betta-Hex.aspx?CoreCat=BettaHPFishTanks#description-tab – home to Gema. Really need to fix this situation. I think this is a first priority & Gema may get the Brandy sniffer while Luv goes to a divided tank for a short while. Gema was put in the sorority at first. I left her for about 24 hrs and couldn’t take it anymore. Everyone picked on her. She was the smallest & every time I looked hiding because if she came out she was attacked. She will never be put in a sorority. She was hurt bad & I don’t think will ever heal totally. She’s they shy, quiet wall flower and has more than earned the right to her own home. Her current home will be relocated to the trash can.
*Shopping list*



2 – 10 gallon tanks (to house males & spawning tanks, 5 in total)
3 – 29 (or larger) tanks (sorority & grow out tanks)
3 heater for 10 gallon tanks
3 heaters for 29 gallon tanks
4 sponge filter for 10 gallon
3 sponge filters for 29 gallon
5 10 gallon tank dividers
Tank for plant QT and growing (size ? can it also house extra snails & shrimp? Heater? Filter? Soil? Sand? Need light source & plant food)
4 heaters for QT homes
8 thermometers
11 nets
11 turkey basters
? pounds of soil (to make sorority & divided tanks NPL. Can grow out tanks be NPT too?)
? pounds of aquarium sand for NPTs
4 filters for QT homes
Heating source for fry once they need separated
Several hundred $ worth of plants
Snails (? Depends on how fast they multiply)
Shrimp ( what kind? How many? Can I raise them? How? Food?)
7 tank hoods & lights
4 for 10 gallons
3 for 29 gallons
 
Betta first aid kit (need to make list)
Measuring spoons
Various tank decorations
5(?) cory cat (for 29 gallon sorority, I have 2, so 7 total. To many? Should the grow out tanks have a couple? What about shrimp & snails for grow out tanks?)
11 - 3 gallon buckets for water changes
 


If you have actually read all this, WOW! I kind of rabbled a bit & probably repeated myself more than once trying to get all my thoughts in order. If you have read it all please feel free to make comments on my goals or shopping list. I admit I am still learning and both my fish and I would appreciate know what I can do to make them healthy and happier. I will be adding to both my shopping and goals list as I learn and figure out more anyway.


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## justmel (Apr 1, 2013)

Since starting this journal I've lost 3 betta. My baby CT passed, not sure why. Blanca Got the body slime thing, just a tiny bit hang off her(his) face. I also got a gift of a blue marble DT from my fiance that passed overnight. In exchange for him I got Ra (first picture below). Today my daughter picked a VT from the LPS that seemed to have SBD (second pic), and he is already doing better. His name will likely be Prometheus, but she hasn't decided for sure. The formerly nameless female has also been named (not Big Bertha as listed above), but Pandora. Still trying to get a decent picture of her that really shows her color & shape.

Ra & Prometheus(?); Ra: and finally Prometheus


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

You've got some beautiful fish!


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## justmel (Apr 1, 2013)

Thank you drama. I know all my babies are breed or show quality, but they are still all my babies.

Got 2 new 10 gallon tanks yesterday. Was supposed to get a 29 also, but Petco was out, so we'll be making a special trip Monday (when they get more in) to pick that one up.

I work on a pretty strict budget, my old man won't really help with the bettas finacially (which is pretty sad considering when he started tattooing I put a couple thousand into equipment to get him started.). Anyway, I get $85 a week to buy all my needed supplies. I also have to pay for things like the cable/internet/telephone and our sons ABC mouse account with that money. So next week I'm spending my money on supplies to make sponge filters for all my tanks because I don't want to put more than 1 betta per 10 gallon tank without a filter. After the filter it's time for tank dividers & heaters (I'm keeping my house about 80 until I can get the heaters). Then it's my bettas first aid kit. After all my current finned friend have the best care they need I will work on getting everything I need to start breeding.

All bettas have a story and mine wants theirs told, so over time I will be introducing each betta with a little more about them, but first, my mystery lady above. I was finally able to get some good pics of this betta and it turns out that Pandora is not a female. I ended up with a male PK, so the sorority got taken apart (he/she was the 4th girl).


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## justmel (Apr 1, 2013)

*Meet the Bettas:Luv*

I'm going to do this as much as possible in the order they were added to the family.

We've had Luv for almost a year now, and is technically my daughter fish. He's a VT male that I believe would be classified as bi-color, maybe multi. He used to look purple, but as he's gotten older there are patches of red and blue that show clearly. I think he is read with blue over the top which makes him look purple in the right light.

Vivian, my daughter, got perfect attendance her 8th grade year. I reward perfect attendance with a gift and she's been wanting a betta for awhile. At this time I still believe bettas were happy in little bowls, but I didn't like having them in that little space. I picked out Luv while she stayed with her grandma over the summer. Bought a 2.5 gallon tank, a little whisper filter, and 4 neons. Set it all up and surprised her when she got home. 

On our next trip to the pet store (after she got home) she had some money of her own & stopped to look at the bettas. She feel in love with an orangish-pink guy. She bought him and a tiny little plastic dividable tank for bettas (I'm sure every ones seen the little thing I mean). She took Luv out of his tank and put him in this little things while her new betta (Sweetheart) got the bigger tank next to her bed. After awhile I realized how much Luv was being ignored now and offered to let her put him in my 10 gallon guppy tank. 

She allowed me to do that & Lu developed quite a personality. His name fit him well as he really was a little love. Vivian did not care for Sweetheart properly and she lost him. She asked if she could take Luv back and after a big fight was informed it was a big, definite NO. Luv was getting the care he needed out here and was part of the family. I wasn't going to let her take him back and ignore him again. (Btw, Vivian was 14 at this time, now 15)

I believe Luv is getting up there in age. His color is starting to fade. In places it's almost like he's going white (like old men get grey hair). I know I am going to be totally heart broken when Luv leaves us.


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## justmel (Apr 1, 2013)

Got my first betta in the mail today. Sad to say it was not a good experience for me. It was cold where he came from & hot here, so even sent yesterday he got to hot on the trip. I think I'm going to give up on the 4 that were shipped on Tuesday being alive when they show.


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## justmel (Apr 1, 2013)

The other shipment showed. The three females were DOA, but I consider myself lucky to say the male was feisty enough to flare at me while he was still in his shipping bag. He's acclimating now, once he's had a chance to calm down a bit I will try and get a couple pictures.


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## justmel (Apr 1, 2013)

I'm happy to say our newest addition, Hades, is doing good. I put one of my ladies by him for awhile and that seemed to do the trick for him. All his color came back and he started flaring and flirting like crazy. I was only able to get a couple good pics before he calmed down. I also got a couple pictures of our other boys, Ra & Prometheus, who are still in QT trying to show off to each other. 

Here is Hades, & Ra flaring at Prometheus


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## justmel (Apr 1, 2013)

Brad, my fiance, felt sorry for me yesterday I guess. Today we added 4 new females to the family (I really need these since my girls keep turning out boys and I am trying to fill a 29 gal sorority) and my mom brought her boy over. She's moving in next week, so I told her to bring him on over so I can get him in the rotation for tank changes.

Here's Ming & the 4 new ladies.


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## justmel (Apr 1, 2013)

*Meet the bettas: Mr. Fish*

Mr. Fish is the first betta I ever bought myself. Growing up we had 1 or 2 over time, and I've bought my daughter a few, but never one for myself. When I saw Mr. Fish I just had to have him. I thought he was unique and absolutely gorgeous, of course being here I've found he's not so unique, but I still think he's a very handsome fish.

He started his life with us in a 1.5 gallon (roughly) brandy sniffer, sitting here at my desk with me. He loved to play with me while I worked, or just swim around and watch me. He even seemed to come when I called him. He had quite a little personality and was fun. Being such a super special betta in my eyes I wanted to breed him and share his awesomeness with everyone.

That started the hunt for the right lady for Mr. Fish. Found a little VT female with a white body and pinkish fins, so we brought her home for Mr.Fish. (Gema came home with us too because I loved her coloring.) I put Gema and Little Lady Love in one of those tiny things made to house 2 bettas that holds maybe a quart of water. I forgot to put the lid back on one day and my Little Lady jumped. :-(

I haven't found another perfect lady for Mr. Fish, but I'm not really looking anymore. I will likely still breed VT's as they are my favorite, but I'm going to work on breeding some giants and HMs first.

My love for Mr. Fish and wanting to breed him got me researching. Within 2 weeks he had a heater and filter for his little bowl. Now he is swimming all over a 10 gallon tank by himself. Eventually this tank will be divided 3 way, but for now he's king there.

Mr. Fish in his original home


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

justmel said:


> The other shipment showed. The three females were DOA, but I consider myself lucky to say the male was feisty enough to flare at me while he was still in his shipping bag. He's acclimating now, once he's had a chance to calm down a bit I will try and get a couple pictures.


I'm so sorry about your females.


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## justmel (Apr 1, 2013)

Thank you drama, just a bad day for bettas and me. Hades, the male I got that day is still doing great. So is the rescues I got from MoonShadow yesterday.

Hades doesn't like to hold still for a picture, so it's a bit blurry, but you can see his colors here, & the second picture is my adopted rescue Patrick.


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## justmel (Apr 1, 2013)

With my mom moving in this weekend it's very busy here. We have to combine my son's room with ours so my mom can have a bedroom. I also played musical tanks today.

Got my 29 gallopn tank for my sorority yesterday, but I don't have sand or anything to hold down plants, not enough plants anyway, and not enough females yet. SO I moved my 21 1 month old fry to the 29 gallon as a grow out tank, and added my 2 cory cats (Felix and Emmy). Cleaned out the fry's 10 gallon tank and moved Pan and the few guppies we have left upstairs to that tank. Cleaned out Pan's old 10 gallon downstairs and put the girls in there. Something is going on with my daughters 10 gallon and the water keeps getting cloudy no matter how well it's cleaned, so I removed Darling from that tank and put him in QT just in case he might have got sick in there, emptied that tank and cleaned it out. We've filled it back up and will see what happens. If it keeps getting cloudy we will clean it daily for awhile. No fish in there until we figure it out. 

While cleaning the tanks I had to move furniture around so we could fit 3 10 gallon tanks & the 29 gallon tank in my bedroom as well. Moved the unwanted desk from my daughter room upstairs to my room, the new desk into her bedroom, my sons bed from his room to my closet, and I'm not sure what we are doing with all the boxes from his closet. 

Had to break up a fight between two of my female bettas 3x, same pair, so they got put in time out boxes. All the others are picking on them now, coming up and flaring at the two trouble makers while they flip out because they can't reach the others. 1 was the previous alpha and the other fighter was the runner up last time the sorority was together. Going to have to watch them and make sure they can handle sorority life. The others are getting along fine.

To brighten my day I had Helios. My new betta, a yellow delta tail that is skinny as all get out, so watching him closely and feeding him several times a day. I shouldn't have brought him home, and I told myself no, it happen anyway. I told myself no bettas before leave the house, before going in the pet store, while looking at the bettas & made it out of the first store with just my 29 gallon & some frozen mysis shrimp. Of course we had to stop at a second pet store where I again said no more before going in, and while looking at the bettas, even when my daughter showed him to me. I made it all the way to the check out before I sent he back to grab him, I couldn't resist.

Here's Helios


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

You took Patrick? I'm glad he got a good home. He's beautiful!!


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## Elsewhere (Dec 30, 2012)

Helios is such a beauty and has such an appropriate name


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## justmel (Apr 1, 2013)

Thank you Elsewhere. Helios just need a little time to fatten up & let his caudal heal. He's already doing both and is starting to show a very attentive & loving personality. He's always right there to say hi when I come in the room and follows me around whenever I am near his tank.

Yes DQ, Patrick found his forever home here. My fiance would have had a bit of an issue with his name because it's the same name as my ex, so I just made him my 3 year old sons fish. Jesse loves Sponge Bob & has already got 3 Sponge Bob figures added to my tank, so him have a Patrick is no problem. Of course is tank is in my bed room, next to my bed. :-D


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## justmel (Apr 1, 2013)

Took some pictures while cleaning tanks today.



In order of appearance we have Hades, my CTPK & first betta shipped to me. Had to wait 4 days before they showed. The 3 girls I was getting with him didn't makes it, but this handsome guy did. I'd like to breed him but not sure he has a good form for it or not. He's got giant geno, so I'd really like to pair him with my king female it I can't get a better female for him.
Then there's Ra. He's my HMDT & it looks like the male I will be breeding. At the time of the pictures he's showing off to Hades while Hades flares at him.
Next comes baby B. We picked up 3 babies from petco (A, B, & C). We lost baby C, but A & B are still going good. I don't think B here can be considered a baby anymore and is definitely a boy. He needs a name.
Baby A I just don't know. I go back and forth between if we have a boy or girl here. Still really small. (S)he does display an egg spot, but the ventrails are getting awfully long and the anal fin is rather pointed. Opinions anyone? Is baby A a male or female?
Then we have Gema. My sweet little girl that got hurt in the sorority. I mean really hurt. She's not made for sorority life & will live in her own tank unless I need to divide a 5 gallon because I get another female that won't do well in a sorority.
And finally a few pictures of some of my 33 day old fry!


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Aww, cute!


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## justmel (Apr 1, 2013)

Lots of things going on here that is making everything more difficult. I live in a 3 bdroom townhouse that allows no 4 legged, furred pets. At the same time my brother is going through a divorce. My mom has been living with my brother & his family for the last 3 - 4 yrs, and the sister-in-law said she HAD to go once the divorce started. SO with no other family in the area my mom had to move in here. Of course she has pets that I can't ask her to give up, so we've ended up with 2 dogs, 2 cats, 2 ferrets, & 2 rats (8 furred, four legged pets). She moved in last weekend and the rental office told us yesterday the dogs (they don't know about the others) have to go or we do. Again, no family here. No one that can take the pets for a couple weeks to months while we find a new place and move. We are looking at being evicted & homeless again for the 2nd time in 3 years. Lots of stress. Not sure what we are going to do, but these pets are the only thing my mom has. She's lost everything else in the last 4 years and been made to feel like a burden when living with my brothers family (my brother is in the Navy and not always home to see the way she was treated, I don't blame him). She lived in her bedroom with all these pets. No she's here, we want her here, but what are we supposed to do? Mom feels totally out of control of her life and taking her babies away would only make that worse.

With everything going on I don't have a lot of time to enjoy my bettas anymore. Just do the work I need to to keep them clean and healthy. They've become a job rather than a pleasure. I'm sure once things settle I'll be able to enjoy them again & will just keep up until that time comes. ANYWAY, I did take time to take a few pictures of my fry yesterday while cleaning their tank. 

5 weeks 2 days old


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## justmel (Apr 1, 2013)

I've found out this last week that I can count out getting any help from my family with my fish, even if 5 of them I am left caring for belong to my 15 year old daughter. I broke my foot a week ago today, and keeping up with all my bettas has not been an easy thing at all. I admit I've even had to let a few go an extra day between water changes. While I have been limping around carrying gallons of water here & there my foot has been swelling and by dinner time I can't keep the tears from slipping out because the pain is so bad, my family has just watched. I have to give my mom credit, she did offer to help. Now, my mom is disabled, has diabetes, and enphazima (spelling?) yet she's offered to help while no one else has. Sad, huh? Of course I couldn't let my mom help because the work is more than she should be doing. In fact once I get her betta upgraded to the proper size tank I will have another one to take care of, in yet another room, but that is because it's my mom and she physically cannot do the water changes herself.

Normally I wouldn't complain. I didn't expect any of them would help me, at least not until I can start paying my teenager to do the work. What really gets me is the fact that my daughter cares for 1 of her 6 bettas and has an empty, heated 10 gallon tank in her room too. As for my fiance he has 2 goldfish that he does nothing for. He moved their bowl awhile back to where I don't see it regularly and I noticed today the water was brown! I don't see the goldfish often, so I hadn't realized it got so bad, but they have no been added to my water changing schedule. So while I care for their fish, when I have a broken bone they can't even offer to give me a hand. My daughter doesn't know it yet, but she gets no more fish. MAYBE I will reconsider when she has all of her bettas and has cared for them properly for 6 months.

Everyone is caught up on water changes now & I think I've got myself a good schedule worked out. I don't get a day off from tank cleaning, but I wanted the bettas. I still do and generally I still enjoy caring for them. I just wish my foot would stop so I could do it without all the pain.


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## justmel (Apr 1, 2013)

*Meet the Bettas: Monster*

Monster is my daughters second betta on the list. Luv was a gift, but she picked Monster. He's a pretty blue VT with some white strips through his fins. Vivian fell for him because he was the biggest betta she'd ever seen. It was rather funny, I didn't see as he was any bigger than Mr. Fish or Luv but she came up to me all :shock: thinking this fish was HUGE, hence the name Monster.

He's really quite a sweety. Of course he flares at any male he sees, but with us he's a lover. He was the first betta I got to hand feed. He used to jump out of his tank and eat live brine shrimp from my finger. It scared me the first time since I wasn't expecting it, but it came to be great fun & he'd start jumping when he saw me coming. I think he enjoyed it as much as I did.

Here's Monster


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## justmel (Apr 1, 2013)

Things are starting to look up and I get to move all 46 betta (6 week old fry included) and 7 other fish over the weekend. We're moving from our 3 bdroom place to a 4 bdroom place. The living room is quite a bit longer than our current one and I'm planning on putting shelves along one wall for all my bettas [any suggestions on shelves that hold up well to multiple fish tanks? Mostly 10 gallons ( 3 -5 of them) and possibly a 29 gallon. I might keep my sorority somewhere else though.] It's going to be nice having them all in one place rather than three different rooms! Should still have room in my bedroom for my spawning and grow out tanks as well. There's oak trees all over the yard, so this fall I should be able to gather some of my own for the bettas and mix them in with the IAL I'm picking up.


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## justmel (Apr 1, 2013)

*Busy week - 12 new bettas (pic heavy-2 parts)*

It’s been a couple of crazy weeks here. We’ve moved and are still settling in the new place. Been here for over a week and we’re still living out of boxes. Only thing totally unpacked and set up are the bettas! Since the move I’ve gotten 12 new bettas also. A few were a surprise, a few I expected.
The second day of moving my computer was still hooked up at the old apartment because I still had to do school work. Luckily I decided to check the forums while there because I had a message from a member that told me she had shipped the 2 girls she said she was going to over a month ago! No big deal really, at least not since I got the message and was able to arrange a ride and sit at the old apartment waiting for the mailman to get there with my fishies. So Monday, May 6th, I got 2 blue grizzle sisters for my sorority. They have got the cutest little faces and I feel in love right away and named them Artemis and Selene. I can’t wait until they are out of QT and I can introduce them to the other ladies.
Then awhile back, before I found the forums even, I had arranged with someone I know on FB to buy a breeding pair of chocolate HMs from her. She had stuff going on in her own life that has made her have to quite breeding and sell off her stock, so I was going to buy a pair of yellow grizzle HM’s from her as well. When the time finally came that she was ready to ship she asked if she could send me ‘a few more’ of her babies. No charge, she just needed a good home for them. I said yes, and ended up with 6 new males and 4 females from her. All were supposedly breeding stock, and while at least half the boys are recovering from fin rot not a single one really looks good enough for breeding. Still Hephaestus, Kanaloa, Loki, Jupiter, Proteus, Quetzalcoatl, Pele, Cocomama, Nyx, and Minerva have joined the family as well. 



The new family members – 
First the sisters *Artemis & Selene*. Not breedable, but I knew that when I agreed to take them in and help a forum member out. These poor ladies are about 8-9 months old and were originally bought by one forum member for breeding from Aquabid. When she got them and saw the quality she rightly got upset since it wasn’t what she paid for and rehomed them with another forum member trying to set up a sorority. This forum member had a family emergency and had to cancel her plans for a sorority and rehome her ladies, so I took them in. In their short lives they’ve been shipped 3 times. They aren’t going back in a box, but are home to stay.

Now these are all supposed to be HMs, but I’m still not sure of that. Since all the males are obviously starving and in poor health I will wait until they get better to make too much of a judgment on them, but I am less than happy with the quality of fish I received when I was told all were good enough to breed. I have a feeling at least half of them may be looking for new home after I help them get better.


The boys – 
*Hephaestus*: This guy, I’ve been told, is a green marble. As you can see his body just isn’t right. No breeding for him. He also has no ventrals. I personally have no clue what causes this, but the lady I got him from swears he had them when she put him in the bag for shipping. Since we’ve gotten him he chewed his caudal almost completely off (my fault, with all the new bettas I haven’t been able to give each the amount of attention they should get and didn’t realize he was doing this until yesterday.) He’s got quite a bit of spunk and a wonderful little personality, but with wanting to breed 30 pet quality bettas is just too many. This little guy will likely be looking for a new home, but not for a while yet.


*Jupiter* – I fell in love with this guy’s coloring. He was sold to me as multi-color HM. Out of the males I received his fins are in the best order. I haven’t seen him flare, so I have no clue if he’s an HM or not. If it turns out that he’s really not desirable as a breeder I will likely rehome him as well. Still, he’s as skinny as all the others, so he’ll stay here at least until I’m sure he’s a healthy boy.


*Kanaloa* – This guy’s fins are in the saddest condition and I believe is the 1 bettas I was warned was recovering from fin rot. I cannot get straight answers as to how he’s been treated so far, just that he’s been in and out of AQ salt. For right now I’m just keeping him clean and warm. Wednesday I plan on putting him in AQ salt again since I will know he’s had at least a weeks break then. I’ve been told he’s a yellow grizzle/pineapple boy. I’m hopeful that I will be able to breed him with his sister, Pele, and may hold onto him.


*Loki* – My daughter has claimed this boy. He’s healing from fin rot too, but she fell in love and named him as soon as he came out of the bag. Of the 6 boys I got this is the only one I am definitely planning on keeping in the family. I was told he’s a blue/yellow multi-color betta, just like Jupiter above. Loki’s blue looks more green most of the time though.


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## justmel (Apr 1, 2013)

*pt 2*

*Proteus* – The second green marble HM I was sent. Not a whole lot I can say about him. He looks starved. I don’t know how to express how starved these poor boys look. They are tiny, my 4 ½ month old boy I got from titolatino, Hades, is probably 3x the size of this guy (& bigger than all the others too). In fact, some of my 7week old fry are fatter than most of these boys L. Luckily everyone is eating. I’ve feeding them between 3-6 times a day, a mix of pellets and frozen beef heart right now. I want to get something else to feed them this weekend too, but that’s what I have for now. Hopefully I got them in time and they will all pull through.


*Quetzalcoatl* – This guy is starved, healing from fin rot, and as you can kind of see in this picture was covered in a grey slimy/fuzzy stuff when I got him. I put him in AQ salt when I unbagged him regardless of what treatment he may have gotten and the fuzzy/slimy stuff is gone. Not sure what he is going to be when his fin grows back. Looks like another Loki or Jupiter to me, so what I was told is a multi-color. Which also means I did not get the chocolate breeding pair I was supposed to get? 

And the ladies I received in this shipment. Not as bad off as the boys. These girls are fat and sassy for the most part, but I’m not so sure about breedable quality.


*Cocomama* – Chocolate HM (?) Still trying to learn everything on breeding, but I believe her top line is not quite good enough, it dips quite a bit at the nose (more than the pic shows) and her fins are uneven. If I’m wrong about her worth for breeding someone please correct me!


*Minerva *– I actually thought Minerva was rather ugly when I first got her. Since she has been here and she’s unstressed she really is a pretty lady. I was told she is a yellow grizzle HM. Breedable? I just don’t know at this point. 



*Nyx* – Not a very good picture & she hates the camera. I was told this is the chocolate female HM that I bought as part of a breeding pair.


*Pele* – blue & yellow grizzle/pineapple HM. Can they really be both? This is what the ‘breeder’ I got these bettas from told me she was. She is my favorite female from the bunch so far and will very likely stay with us. I _might _end up rehoming some of the girls, but since I am still trying to stock a 29 gallon sorority they might all stay. I am hoping that Pele will make a good match with her brother, Kanaloa, above and I can get 1 decent breeding pair out of these 10 so called good quality, breedable bettas.


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## justmel (Apr 1, 2013)

Along with all these new bettas, 2 of my heaters broke in the move. So I've had to combine a few things to make it work. My 29 gallon sorority tank now have 13 males is little container so they can be heated & my 10 gallon spawning tank has 8 ladies,all my new females plus 2 that got into it in the sorority.

I have 3 girls; Amor, Lofn, & Freya, that were part of a failed sorority. Amor was the alpha, Lofn the runner up, & Freya the one that got picked on all the time (I had more than 3 ladies! 1 ended up being a boy & the other female ended up so hurt she will never go back in a sorority) Anyway, I got enough females to try again. It was quickly apparent that these 3 lady just would not get along. i removed Amor & Lofn because they were the worst of the three. Freya flared at all the other ladies and gave a little chase, but it was like she was just making sure everyone knew she was not going to be on the bottom again. Amor I put in a breeding box in the tank to see if I could get her to behave. The first time I released her she cornered Freya and just started beating her. Needless to say Amor came out quickly, so did Freya as I wasn't quick enough to keep her from getting tore up so she went into AQ salt. Amor went back to time out & after 2 weeks in there she was fine. She'd flare and chase, but as soon as the other ladies backed down she was happy. SO, I put Lofn in the breeder box. Less than 1 week later she found a way out of the box and into the main tank. I didn't notice until then next morning (I think she got out over night) when I saw Amor. She was all beat up. Her anal fin tore to shreds and almost gone & her caudal all frayed. I'm not sure who got the worse, as Lofn's dorsal was shredded and one side was so scrapped it was almost all flesh colored. Freya got a bit too, but only her dorsal. All three have been removed and are being treated with AQ salt. I'm very happy to say all are mending well.

Still, at this point I do not think that Amor or Lofn will be going back into the sorority. I have 1 female already that doesn't handle sorority life, so I will divide a 10 gallon for these three ladies. Once Freya is better I will put her in the box for awhile, then re-release her.

The good news is this new place is HUGE compaired to my old apartment. I've gotten permission to set up all (not my spawning or grow out tanks) my tanks in the livingroom. We have an empty 13' wall and are going to be building shelves to house my tanks. It will be a little while (more likely a long while), but once it's done I will post pictures.


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## justmel (Apr 1, 2013)

YEAH! My mom's two bettas have been moved to her room. Now I just need to get her to do the water changes as needed. I already upgraded her betta, Ming, from a little .75 gal tank to a divided 5 gallon and got him a heater. Her second betta, previously my Mani, shares the other side of the tank.

Now to get my daughters room finished so she can take her 4 gallon tank with her HMPKEE, Aragast, to her room. I know her divided 10 gallon is staying in the living room because of the lack of space in her bedroom. She swears she will still clean it. We'll see. She knows if I end up doing all the care for her bettas I reserve the right to rehome them as I see fit.


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## justmel (Apr 1, 2013)

Last week my mom adopted my DT, Mani. He died 2 days after moving him to her bedroom. I don't believe she did a thing, he had been acting just a little funny for a couple days prior, but nothing really seemed to be wrong. Now I am watching Mr. Fish closely. They shared a divided tank for awhile & he's doing the same thing Mani did, just not acting quite right. I also rehomed my HM, Thor, over the weekend with one of my daughters friends. In a couple weeks I will be sending 2 of my VT's to a user who want to work on a line of giant VTs! Can't wait to see what developed there.

I've finally decided myself that I want to work on a line of giants as well. I have a long way to go, but once I get a good giant line going I've been thinking I may try and work on giant HMs or giant EEs, maybe even giant HMEEs. I've just got to figure out how the extra finnage might affect the giants since I generally see them as PKs. I may just go with HMPKEEs. 

I also picked up what I will call my first rescues this weekend. I've brought home the occasional starving betta, ones with SBD, or fins that needed a bit of healing, but nothing serious. Anyone with a basic knowledge with betta care should have been able to help those I've brought home in the past. This weekend I stopped at what used to be my regular pet store & I haven't been in in a couple weeks. I looked at the bettas because they were busy & I wanted to talk to someone (I've been avoiding the betta section so I wouldn't be tempted to bring anyone home). Anyway, I noticed a beautiful bettas swimming in their large plant tank. I watched him for awhile & Brad (my fiance) walked to the other side of the tank. He looked at me and said 'There's 2 more in here.' He knows enough to know that unless its females they CANNOT be put together. I rushed to the other side (this is a wide, short tank. 40-50 gallons) and sure enough, to males that kept flaring and fighting, then retreating to separate corners and watching each other. These two were pretty tore up and tired from fighting. I sat there shaking & sick to my stomach trying to figure out how to talk Brad into letting me bring them all home. Finally, ready to cry, I just asked. I couldn't leave them there & I think he knew how close the tears were for these poor babies. He allowed me to get 2 of them because if I removed 2 the 3rd would get peace from fighting too.

I got the sales person back to remove them. I didn't want to hear their excuses or anything, so I just kept my mouth shut, but he explained the situation while he caught them anyway. They have 3 of these tanks kind of stacked together, one a little higher than the next, and the water flows from one to the next through holes in the side of the tank. I was told that the person to released the bettas must not have realized that whatever fish you put in one tank end up being washed to the next tank, and then the next, until they are all in the bottom tank. Originally 1 bettas was put in each tank and they washed together into the bottom one. My question is, if that's the case why didn't they fix the problem when they saw it? All three males were still alive, so I suppose there is the chance I was the first to notice it. 

On Saturday I brought home the best & worst looking of the three. I isolated them so they wouldn't have to even look at another male and slowly drip acclimated the to AQ salt over night. I notice the most tore up one had some sort of fungus growing around the wounded ends of his caudal (real fuzzy, like the dead ones you see in little cups in some pet stores), and the one that managed to hide had scraped a lot of his scales off, but only had 1 tear in his caudal. I lost my poor tore up boy over night. I knew there was a good chance of internal injuries and all, but it still hit me real hard. I keep trying to make myself feel better by telling myself that at least during his last few hours he was safe and no one attacked him.

When I took him back the 3rd guy from the tanks was still swimming around, so I wasted no time in bringing him home. He has a case of fin rot, but he's very feisty & active. I really thin he's got the best chance right now. I am very happy to be able to say that both are still swimming around this morning and have started building bubble nests to mark their territory. I know that them still swimming this morning doesn't mean they are fine, but I am hopeful. The orange boy is not eating & the other ate 1 pellet, but I will give them time & keep trying to tempt them with frozen treats & food soaked in garlic juice.

Here's some pictures. The first is my poor boy that didn't make it.


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