# Tree's Betta Journal



## Tree

I decided to make a Journal of my tanks and Bettas progress. The changes they go through and the growth of my natural planted tanks. 

Here are my Bettas and their tanks

Sardine is a Mustard Gas Crown Tail. Adopted in September 2013 at Petco in Rosemount MN.










And his tank, a Fluval Spec V 5.5 gallon natural planted tank with two Amano Shrimp, a Tiger Nerite snail and one Crystal Red Shrimp.










Anchovy the Dumbo Plakat at Petco. Adopted in September 2013 in Rosemount MN.











and his 2.6 gallon tank. tank mate is a Olive Nerite snail. There are two live plants in there for now, but I will be upgrading it into a natural planted tank in the future. 










Gar the delta dragon scale. Adopted in June 2014 at Petco Rosemount MN.










And his 5.5 gallon standard tank. Natural planted with cherry shrimp a Nerite snail and two Amano Shrimp. 










Pike the Mustard gas dragon scale Plakat. Adopted in August 2014 at Petco in Rosemount MN 










His 5.5 gallon split (on the right) natural planted tank he lives with one olive nerite snail.










and my little girl Mahi Mahi. A half moon giant silver dragon scale. adopted on September 2014 at The Betta Shop in Saint Paul MN.










Living in the natural planted split 5.5 gallon tank on the left. She also has a Olive nerite snail and three small cherry shrimp. 










Enjoy,
Tree


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## BlueInkFish

Awesome tree! Always great to see your beautiful photography of your lovely tanks and fish!! Subscribing!!!


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## Tress

Love your fish  especially your girlie there, she's gorgeous


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## Tree

litelboyblu said:


> Awesome tree! Always great to see your beautiful photography of your lovely tanks and fish!! Subscribing!!!


aww thanks! 8D 



Tress said:


> Love your fish  especially your girlie there, she's gorgeous



thank you. =) she is such a sassy little girl too. I just adopted her not to long ago and she is already showing so much personality.


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## Tree

I made videos of all of my bettas today. =) Let me know if you can't get into the album. 

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/104680098748332919067/albums/6063123255839327489


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## BlueInkFish

I cant get into the album


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## Tree

Ok now try it. I forgot to share it to the public. Hehe


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## BlueInkFish

Wow, their so beautiful, their so vibrant!!! Especially your newest addition  she's colored up so well!!


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## Tree

thanks! Pictures really don't give the bettas colors justice. even with my camera. lol so it shows a lot more in video.


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## BlueInkFish

Indeed! Pictures to not show the fishes colors justice!


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## Tree

sorry that I have not been on for a LONG time been busy busy busy... and playing video games that are controlling my life right now. XD 


quick update on all of my bettas. they are all doing great! and so are their tanks. I will have pictures up sometime this week. =) 

have a good day everyone!


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## Schmoo

Mahi Mahi is absolutely breath-taking! Wow!


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## Tree

thanks! I will need to take pictures of her preset look. she looks different now. =) and their tanks/plants have changed too. hehe


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## Tree

there's the update on my boys and girl. everyone looks great and happy. =)

Mahi mahi:









Pike:









Gar:









Anchovy:









Sardine:


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## Schmoo

I love Pike's grumpy old man face. xD


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## Tree

hey all! long time no see again ^^ I have been very busy. but my bettas are doing great. though my 5 gallon spec had to be redone, blue green algae got too overwhelming and started killing the plants. I will be showing pictures tomorrow of all the tanks and how they changed over the months. My fishies have no changed. =) still the same little buggers ya all know and love.

thanks for reading,
Tree


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## Tree

My tanks and how they are doing =)


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## LadyNightraven

Your fish and tanks are beautiful, Tree! I absolutely love the tank in the last picture. So lush and relaxing!


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## Tree

thanks so much! I had a Background for the bottom one but Gar kept biting his fins while he saw he reflection in it. =/


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## Tree

I know this post is an old one but I wanna update it instead of making a new thread. ^^;

sadly Mahi, Pike and Gar had passed on to swim in the Milky Way. SIP. 

I will make it short for now but will add more things tomorrow for you all. 
From top to bottom:
Sardine
Kelp
Maguro
Anchovy
Carp










and their tanks have GROWN/ added a few more LOL









































I will add more things tomorrow


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## InStitches

great photos of beautiful tanks and fishies as usual!


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## Tree

Thanks Institches! 

PHOTO DUMP COMING THROUGH! 

so let me start out where my betta tanks are located. They are in my bedroom. I face them when I am on my bed so when I just need to relax, my tanks are there for the watching. 










Like my Hammock Haha yup still have stuffed animals. They all mean something to me in the past. now you see the flat wood used for paint? Well that is to stop my cats from going over to the tanks to drink the water and eat the plants. anyone know of a better way to do it? I also have a small tank for them to drink out of so they don't try anything funny. LOL When I am gone for the weekend I make sure to shut my room. 









and these are the little punks that like to drink out of the water and eat my plants!
Loki








Pumice:









there is one more cat (Gizzy) that does this but she hardly comes in my room cause it's the boys territory. 

Next I have my Air plants. They used to hang out in my four season porch but I kept forgetting about soaking them in the tanks so I moved them in my room. 

















Next I have added the new plants that came in the mail on the 5th on August. Here they are in the tanks. I bought a java fern and a bundle of Rotala Wallichii plants. Lets hope they do well eh? Oh and the Betta bulbs are THRIVING in Kelps tank!

















Next My Riparium is FINISHED! I moved some plants around and got the holders in the mail on the 5th as well. 









And Maguro is doing so well with her smaller home with the craft mesh on the inside of her tank. no reflection no surfing and she is now eating normally. This is my Anubias tank.









And this is my new boys tank, Carp. It used to be Maguro's but she was spazzing out. I have added betta bulbs in the tank to help cover left side. My Cyperus helferi is not doing so hot but I think it is just getting used to the change. God lets hope so. I love the look of that plant. you can even see a small red shrimp in the middle just chowing down. 









well that is it for now. enjoy the pictures and I hope to show you more improvements on the tanks and my fish.


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## Tree

More photos! I had to do a cleaning of my snakes tank! My Ball python's name is Freyja (female) I still need to buy two attachments for the lights luckily nothing has melted so far since I have had the tank for many years. 









Freyja's head lol








my fat girl:

















Pumice vs Freyja. lol No worries they both get along. 









and just for fun, my oldest cat Edgewood Dirk. Going on 15 years old!


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## Tree

More random photos! My dog Shobi:. She is a chow mix:









My other dog Shahla, she is a Shetlands sheep dog.









This is Gus, the dog I babysit a lot. 









And my sisters dog Foxy, She is a Pomeranian.


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## Tree

Oops extra post.


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## BubblesTheBlueBetta

Anchovy is beautiful! I love elephant ear bettas. They look soo adorable!


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## Tree

thanks! He is so old now and with tattered pec fins but he is still handsome in my eyes. =D


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## Tree

before and after shot of Maguro. =)


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## Aqua Aurora

Wow she's changing, hope the blue doesn't take over! I see it creeping onto her body D:


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## blueridge

Love your fish! Especially Kelp! He is such a pretty boy. Also your dogs and your cat, especially Edgewood Dirk, are super adorable ^.^


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## Tree

Aqua Aurora said:


> Wow she's changing, hope the blue doesn't take over! I see it creeping onto her body D:


Right?! I like the blue, but not much of it. On the tail is perfectly fine Maguro so keep it that way. LOL 



blueridge said:


> Love your fish! Especially Kelp! He is such a pretty boy. Also your dogs and your cat, especially Edgewood Dirk, are super adorable ^.^



thank you! My pets are my life. LOL


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## Tree

*Swim in Peace my lovely bettas*

SIP Anchovy (Unknown death but he was 3 years old)








SIP Mahi (Passed away from a Tumor)








SIP Gar (Passed away from SBD)









I'm sure you are having fun together swimming on the rainbow bridge. 

So after all three passed away this month, I think I am going to save a petco betta for my next betta. I just feel like I need to since all three made me happy. I have three aquabid bettas and one Petco betta. 

So wish me luck! Not sure when I will get one.


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## Aqua Aurora

2 of the 7 bettas in this house (and 2 that have passed before they came) have been petco buys (except the vt). I'm currently resisting an impulse buy and rescue of 2 lovely mustard plakat boys (ones been there for 2 months poor thing). But I don't have the tanks for more fish, and I like plakats to have more room than a 2.5g Xerxes and Chiyome are so active in their 5g and 7g!


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## Tree

Agreed. I like them to all have as much room as they can get to zoom around in. I always thought larger finned bettas would rather have more room than the shorter finned but they are all proving me wrong seeing how my plakats are having a blast zooming around their 5.5 gallons. Haha

So Not sure if you all knew but Sardine has had this large lump on his side for a while now. like two weeks and it shrinks a bit then gets larger when I feed him. not sure if its a tumor or bloat or something else. here is a shot of him. 









Also I bought a new betta. but I am having everyone guess on what one I chose. 
http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?p=6468458#post6468458


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## Tree

Photo shoot time to try to keep my mind off of Sardines condition. 

GAH Haha Maguro is naughty and bleeding more blue into her scales. 

















Kelp its such a snot! I love this fishes attitude. and he has a smile on his left side of his face like a smirk saying "yeah I'm naughty whatcha gonna do about it?"

















Carp is not showing too much personality but he is active and happy.

















Even though he has that lump, he is still flaring at the snail and moving around. he's just slowing down is all. 

















My new addition I just got today. She is already showing her spunk and checking her new home out. any ideas on names? need a species fish name for her to keep my theme.


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## Aqua Aurora

Sorry about your losses and Sardine's condition. Xerxes has cysts but nothing so large.
As for the new girl what about Mola, and is mola mola?


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## Laki

Aw sorry to hear about your losses, I enjoyed looking at all the photos! Mahi was just. what. I never seen anything like her, SIP. And SIP to the others :<

Kelp though, I know I seen pics of him in the koi thread and was like, "yarp. I want that". 
I love your dogs!!


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## Tree

Laki said:


> Aw sorry to hear about your losses, I enjoyed looking at all the photos! Mahi was just. what. I never seen anything like her, SIP. And SIP to the others :<
> 
> Kelp though, I know I seen pics of him in the koi thread and was like, "yarp. I want that".
> I love your dogs!!


I know I was so sad when Mahi passed from that tumor. She was such a pretty betta. 
Kelp is such a funny little dude let me tell you. He has to be one of my favorites for having such a spunk personality. 

thanks! all my animals are my life. Love them all.



Aqua Aurora said:


> Sorry about your losses and Sardine's condition. Xerxes has cysts but nothing so large.
> As for the new girl what about Mola, and is mola mola?


thanks Aqua. I hope Xerxes cysts will not grow fast for you. I had my betta Tuna for a long while with a cysts so it is possible for them to live a long healthy life. 

Aw Mola sounds so cute! I like it! Her name shall be Mola. thank you.


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## Tree

So I did a cleaning of two of my tanks. my 5.5 gallon SpecV and my little Riparium tank. I hate hard water sometimes. I hate when the glass gets hard water build up on the top. So I scrubbed that tank like crazy. 

I also Had to take out that one free plant I got from my LPS. It was doing fine in the water. But when I was moving them around to do a heavy clean after Anchovy passed away, The plant wilted and never got well. I will stick to two four plants in there, the two Lucky bamboo and the Wandering Jew and Purple waffle. I also changed the lighting. I hung a light so that all the plants get the light. 

I also was so pissed at myself. I stepped on the glass top I bought for one of my 5.5 gallons and so I had to call every petsmart near me but they did not have it. Then I checked petco and they had one. Good O' Petco. lol So I bought the one that they put at the cashier for me when I got there. I go in my car and open it up and... GAH it's CRACKED! I was debating to take it anyway because I just needed the one glass that had the plastic holder on it but I made a good choice and took it back. It was the wrong lid anyway that they gave me. Haha 
next, my air plants needed a good bath, so I soaked them in the fish tanks for 20 minutes and now I am drying them out to make sure they don't rot in the glass domes. 

here are the pictures of what I did today.

My 5.5 specV









My 2.5 riparium tank:









My 2.6 anubias tank: 









My air plants drying:









My other 5.5 gallon tank. and the betta bulbs are growing like weeds! I will have to cut it down some. lol









And my other 5.5 gallon tank. I added some of the betta bulbs in there cause that one plant close to the glass did not make it. Though the other one is growing just fine. Hmm strange. 









and the glass top I had to replace. lol right now it is just placed on the top of the tank but I might make it slide in the future. =)


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## Laki

Love the anubias tank! Have you had any go terrestrial and flower?


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## Tree

nope not yet but I hope to have some flower. also I bought one from petco with a flower. =O I was amazed.


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## andakin

Tree said:


>


The Crypt Balansae is an awesome plant.

I never know how to properly plant crypts. Some say bury it as deep as you can, others say leave the crown above the substrate. Some crypts even have what looks like rhizomes.


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## Tree

Yeah the Crypt didn't have a rhizomes that I know of and I did not plant it too deep. In fact, some of the roots are starting to poke out of the gravel in my other tank.

In this tank, It seems to want to sprout everywhere and anywhere at the moment. Haha! So it will be interesting once that one in front grows larger.


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## Tree

I am going to make an age chart for my bettas and it seems that they all will grow old together like siblings. 

Sardine: bought him in September 12, 2013 at age 8 months old. 
Maguro: bought her in July 10, 2015 at the age of 3.5 months old
Kelp: bought him in July 21, 2015 at the age of 3.5 months old
Carp: bought him in Jul 29, 2015 at the age of 3.5 months old
Mola: bought her in August 13, 2015 at the age of 2 months old


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## BettaLover1313

Very jealous of your tanks, they look amazing! 

You have gorgeous bettas as well, they have such lovely coloration!


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## Tree

thanks! It took a good while to get the tanks where they are now. =)

and thanks again. I like to keep my bettas I buy each a different color than the others. So they don't look alike.


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## Tree

So come to find out, we have two little friends living by our door bell. two barn spiders made their web by our door and when I get the mail the female bounce on her web showing how tough she looks. Their names are Bonnie and Clyde. lol










also Mola is showing more red/pink on her head. So happy that she is getting some color on her head. I always wanted a red headed betta.


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## LadyNightraven

I just caught up on your journal. I'm so sorry for your losses. Kelp is gorgeous, as are the rest of your bettas, and I love little Mola. Your kitties and dogs are adorable. I have a fifteen-year-old kitty, too. She's rotten and grumpy, but she's my baby. 

I have several stuffed animals hanging around my house, too. Some of them are special to me for one reason or another, and a lot of them I especially treasure because they came from my grandmother in Germany who is in poor health now

May I ask where you bought the glass globes for the air plants? They have this wonderful minimalist look I can't help but love.


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## Tree

LadyNightraven said:


> I just caught up on your journal. I'm so sorry for your losses. Kelp is gorgeous, as are the rest of your bettas, and I love little Mola. Your kitties and dogs are adorable. I have a fifteen-year-old kitty, too. She's rotten and grumpy, but she's my baby.
> 
> I have several stuffed animals hanging around my house, too. Some of them are special to me for one reason or another, and a lot of them I especially treasure because they came from my grandmother in Germany who is in poor health now
> 
> May I ask where you bought the glass globes for the air plants? They have this wonderful minimalist look I can't help but love.


Thanks for viewing and reading. Old cats are the best. wise enough not to get in trouble and just want to be pet and fed. 

Yeah most of mine are from my dad long ago. he passed away from lung canser at the age 55 back in 2011. very sad day for my whole family but I have a lot of loving memories of him. 

I bought them both from my local plant store. But I know there are some at the food markets like Cub or rainbow But they had plants in them.


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## InStitches

Mola is soooo cute. I love the red coming in  What a pretty fish.


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## Tree

I'm excited to see her grow. She is younger than all the bettas I have had making her my first young betta. Not a baby but still very young. =)


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## Tree

so I am in a contest for a Zoo in Minnesota! Here are some of the photos I will submit of mine. I hope I get into the finalist. =D


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## BettaLover1313

Those are all great shots! I particularly like the bat and the tiger.


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## Tree

thanks! let's hope one of them gets to the finalist! =D


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## Polkadot

Fantastic photos! I especially like that gorgeous tiger & the cow.Ooooh and the lynx (is it?) too.


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## Tree

yup it's a lynx. and thanks!


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## Polkadot

Welcome & good luck in the comp.


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## Tree

Me too =D

anyway, here is a video of my two little girls in their 2.5 gallon planted tanks. I will be adding the boys videos soon.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/104680098748332919067/posts/RiAsxJBsRkK?pid=6184931760518978082&oid=104680098748332919067

Carps Video:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/104680098748332919067/posts/QpvncLs8Q1x?pid=6184936028445987682&oid=104680098748332919067

Kelps video: 
https://plus.google.com/u/0/104680098748332919067/posts/HVX3JCpQRjk?pid=6184938638882137106&oid=104680098748332919067

and poor sardine feeling like crap from his tumor. along with all of the tanks at the end
https://plus.google.com/u/0/104680098748332919067/posts/AdgK1QuMRSX?pid=6184944159724226978&oid=104680098748332919067


and this is a drawing I am working on for a commission for a friend on DA:

http://sta.sh/09dwjkgem8p


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## Tree

Woop woop! my Riparium is showing growth! 

















and here are some shots of my bettas again:


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## blueridge

Love your fish Tree! But especially the female with orange on her head <3 She is a cutie!


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## Tree

thanks =) Maguro is such a calm female betta, the one with the orange head. She is a pretty one.


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## Tree

I am starting to cycle a 1 gallon tank. I know it is tricky to do so but maybe I can have it have some good bacteria in the tank yet still do every three day water change for Sardine. He is clamping his fins more and more and staying at the surface of his 5.5 gallon. He is not pooping a much. only small amounts. At least that is better than nothing But that lump on his side is getting larger. 

Here is where he will be next week, Small but that large plant will give him a nice resting place near the surface. I will also be adding Indian almond leaves in the tank later this week for him to feel more comfortable. Do you think I should keep Epsom salt at all times in the tank, or just leave it be? I will be adding stress coat as well to make him feel as comfortable as possible. The bags are from my other tank just to help the bacteria along. But like I said, I am sure it will not cycle like my other tanks. there will not be any filter in the 1 gallon.


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## Tree

So I am doing an experiment on my terrarium. I added grass seed and a plant from outside in it along with sticks. It will be exciting to watch it grow. If it grows. LOL I added gravel on the bottom and soil for the top.


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## Tree

Well I don't know if Sardine will make it through the week... His tumor has gotten larger and he has been opened his mouth wider and leaning sideways on his plants. His pectoral fins are always clamped and I have not seen him poop in two days, even when I flared him. His body is sunken in at the back while the tumor is blocking around his bladder. I don't know what to do. He is still eating and swimming around some, but I know he is in pain when he takes a break from moving. I cannot put him in the 1 gallon tank until I see some cycling going on. I think doing a 100% water change will stress him out and stress me out. T^T I just don't know what to do...


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## blueridge

Oh no! I'm sorry to hear about Sardine, Tree  I know what it is like to lose a fish with a tumor. My boy lived about 2.5 years before his caught up with him. I would just suggest that you make him as comfortable as possible, but if you think he is just struggling too much and in pain, euthanizing him is always an option. I know that is hard, but I don't like to watch animals suffer if there is nothing else that can be done to help them.


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## Aqua Aurora

If the bamboo has roots it should help absorb ammonia he produces, dosing Prime daily can save you from doing 100% water changes.


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## Tree

Agreed. I hate seeing animals suffer. what boggles me is that he is eating and swimming around, just slower. The Clamped fins and seeing him open his mouth wider is worrisome to me. So it's so hard to tell if he is feeling pain or not. =( I will watch him for about two more days. If I see a decrease in health more, then I will have no choice but you use clove oil on him. This will be my third betta that I have used that stuff on. T^T

Thanks Aqua. I also have small algae balls in there. I will watch the ammonia levels and might just add him in early because he is not using his whole tank anymore.


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## InStitches

Oh Sardine


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## Tree

T^T everything has to leave this world but it's still hard to deal with the loss.


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## Tree

So on the up side of everything, I won a black and white boy on Aquabid for $20. He will ship out on the 30th and I will pick him up next Monday. Here is a picture of him. Let's hope he has some white on his fins.


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## Tree

so I have been having trouble with some plants of mine in Kelps tanks. So I ended up buying an easy plant that has a nice red to it called Cryptocoryne Wendtii Red. my Red Ludwigia seems to be having issues with my PH being 8.0 and the bottom half of the plants leaves have died yet the top grows. Any info you can give me why this is happening? 
this is the new plant I will be getting: 









I will show you all the Ludwigia tomorrow and what is looks like.


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## Aqua Aurora

Tree said:


> so I have been having trouble with some plants of mine in Kelps tanks. So I ended up buying an easy plant that has a nice red to it called Cryptocoryne Wendtii Red. my Red Ludwigia seems to be having issues with my PH being 8.0 and the bottom half of the plants leaves have died yet the top grows. Any info you can give me why this is happening?
> this is the new plant I will be getting:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I will show you all the Ludwigia tomorrow and what is looks like.


Which tank? Lighting and height from light to substrate? Ludwigia sp. Red is a medium light plant, does better in high light for its leaves. If its new (within past month) it may still be transitioning to new tank. 
I'd bought what was sold as wendtii red before.. looks exactly like my wendtii green.. but might have been mis-sold.

Hope the new boy didn't marbled since seller photo like my Xerxe's and husband's Chiyome did >.>


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## Tree

it's in this tank: 









It will be in front of the Dwarf lily plant. 15 watt light T8.

Oh and the Ludwigia has been in the tank for months. Maybe like three months at the most.

If he did marble, I'm ok with that. I know I wanted a black and white betta but I fear if I find the betta I want it will be 100 bucks. Soooo I ended up with a betta that was cheaper. lol


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## Aqua Aurora

I don't see ludwiga sp. red in that tank, I see AR though which tends to be a pain without co2 and high light. AR is growing pretty decently in my husband's 12g long, but a little bit 'meh' in my 10g, I think it doesn't get as much light in the 10g because of the lily plant leave above it and hydro sp. japan growing around its lower leaves.


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## Tree

Ahhhhh you're right! Alternanthera reineckii!!!! lol oops I forgot the name of it and looked it up at petsmart.. lol 

Aw man well Maybe I will try my hands on CO2. I was reading up on how to make my own.


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## Tree

woop woop I finished a Deviant art commission! took me long enough. lol


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## Tree

update of my bettas! 

first, my boy Edgewood Dirk stole my spot on my bed... mean old cat. He has been sticking close to me for some reason which I am getting a little nervous of. Not sure something is wrong with him, with me, or his spot on Tammy is taken by other cats. 









Next my girl Maguro started to get that same thing Carp got with her eye clouded over. It's only on one eye so I am cleaning her water out 20% everyday until it goes away. If it does not, Might have to give her meds for it. 









Next, my poor baby Sardine in his 1 gallon tank. It's so hard to determine if he feels fine or not. He eats and swims around but clamps his fins and the lump is getting larger. he has not pooped in 3 days, not that I can tell. And if he has pooped, I'm sure they were microscopic. 

















Carp is looking like he is getting a beak. LOL He is one funny dude luckily he leaves the shrimp alone unlike Kelp.


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## blueridge

Tree said:


> woop woop I finished a Deviant art commission! took me long enough. lol


Awesome drawing Tree! :shock: I wish I could that type of work. Also you bettas are looking gorgeous, especially Carp. ^.^


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## Tree

thanks! I have been drawing when I was 10 years old (cough 31 now) So it took a long time for me to get this far. lol

I hope they stay gorgeous. Hehe And I want a miracle for Sardine's tumor to shrink!


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## Aqua Aurora

I recall an episode of House where a cat at the hospital seemed to 'foretell death' turns out people just had raised body temperatures before dieing and kitty was being "mm warm spot *rests on*".. that's not helping sorry. I'm sure you're bed/you are just the next warmest spot if he was booted from his usual toasty roost. Sorry about sardine and Magoru, hope things get better for them both.


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## Tree

Aqua Aurora said:


> I recall an episode of House where a cat at the hospital seemed to 'foretell death' turns out people just had raised body temperatures before dieing and kitty was being "mm warm spot *rests on*".. that's not helping sorry. I'm sure you're bed/you are just the next warmest spot if he was booted from his usual toasty roost. Sorry about sardine and Magoru, hope things get better for them both.




You say Me'sa gonna die?! Hahaha I remember that episode! 

thanks. I know Maguro will be just fine. The eye has not gotten any worse. It looks like it starts to get normal and then goes cloudy again. I am guessing she scratched it somehow.


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## blueridge

Tree said:


> thanks! I have been drawing when I was 10 years old (cough 31 now) So it took a long time for me to get this far. lol
> 
> I hope they stay gorgeous. Hehe And I want a miracle for Sardine's tumor to shrink!


I've been drawing too since I was about 10, but I'm not as old as you so not as much experience. 

Prayers for Sardine! Maybe something amazing will happen for the poor boy!


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## Tree

arts have different forms though,  from photography to poems. 

thanks so much. That is why I am holding out on euthanizing him. I am so worried if I am doing the wrong thing by keeping him alive.


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## blueridge

That is true!

If he is eating and swimming around some I wouldn't do it just yet. I would just keep an eye on him is all. My boy slowed down some when it got close to the end but he was eating and would always come to see me whenever he saw me. His death was fast though. One night I went to feed him and he was hiding. When I found him he was resting at the bottom kind of gasping for air. By the next morning he had passed. So if Sardine isn't doing anything like that I would hold off on it.


----------



## Tree

Aww, Yeah that is why I feel that Sardine is not as bad. So I will hold off. But he is liking the smaller tank. He doesn't need to move around much and no filter to move the water around. Though if he does not go down him by next week I might buy a critter Keeper for him.ank

Speaking of tanks I will be getting my plant online tomorrow. This is what the tank looks like before the plant will arrive.









Carps 5.5 gallon tank:









And once was Sardines tank, The new boy will be in this 5.5 gallon tank. I don't think I will be placing Sardine back in, it's just too large for him. I think of it like an old person moving out of their house and into an apartment or a senior center. lol








speaking of the specV, do you think the Micro Swords are doing okay in there? They have not melted or grew since I have placed them in there.








Maguro and her damn cloudy eye....








and that damn blue is spreading LOL!!








my terrarium is growing grass! 

















Shobi looking outside the window until I said "treat" lol








and this is an amazing sight to see, all four of my cats in my bedroom. Normally only two dominate my room but today they let Dirk and Gizzy in the room. 









EDIT: stupid photobucket not showing the pictures


----------



## blueridge

Your planted tanks look awesome :shock: I just kind of throw plants in mine and let them do there thing. Your comment about Sardine's tank is hilarious xD I'm not too sure about the micro swords, I've never had them. I have some type of grass from Petsmart and they were starting to melt but now with some natural light and Flourish they have started to grow roots.

I think your terrarium look awesome :O And I cannot wait to see the grass grow in! Love your anime posters too! Especially the spirited away one. If it goes missing it wasn't me...

Kitties!

Also I love Maguro's blue... :-/


----------



## Aqua Aurora

In my experience micro sword takes its sweet time growing and when it final doesn't you don't really notice it for quite a while. I didn't noticed it'd grown at all until 4+ months later when I pulled it from its initial tank to put in a different one (from 12g long to 2-3g bubble bowl).


----------



## Tree

blueridge said:


> Your planted tanks look awesome :shock: I just kind of throw plants in mine and let them do there thing. Your comment about Sardine's tank is hilarious xD I'm not too sure about the micro swords, I've never had them. I have some type of grass from Petsmart and they were starting to melt but now with some natural light and Flourish they have started to grow roots.
> 
> I think your terrarium look awesome :O And I cannot wait to see the grass grow in! Love your anime posters too! Especially the spirited away one. If it goes missing it wasn't me...
> 
> Kitties!
> 
> Also I love Maguro's blue... :-/


Thanks! I always think my Tanks are doing horrible but then I look at it far back and they look so much better Haha
Yeah I have tried those grass type and they have melted on me too. I think you need more light and CO2 for them. 
I so hope my Terrarium gets thick with grass Hehe. I kinda want to have something in there like a lizard or a spider but not sure. I might wait a year until I figure it out and for the tank to grow nice and healthy. 
Noooo not my Spirited away poster. My cat pumice (the gray one on the bed) scratches on my posters and rips them up. He starts ripping them to try to WAKE ME UP! naughty boy!



Aqua Aurora said:


> In my experience micro sword takes its sweet time growing and when it final doesn't you don't really notice it for quite a while. I didn't noticed it'd grown at all until 4+ months later when I pulled it from its initial tank to put in a different one (from 12g long to 2-3g bubble bowl).


That is good news! cause I was worried. I do see it growing a bit. I am just glad it is not melting.


----------



## Tree

I have to tell you the best news today! Sardine Pooped!!!! not just a small microscopic poo, he did a big one! And to top it off, the tumor went down a bit! Though that could be because he has a lot of back up and pressed the tumor outward, but HE POOPED! I am so happy right now I could cry! 

Also I have moved all of the Alternanthera reineckii In the 5.5 Spec into Kelp's tank. It looked like they were not growing as well as the ones in Kelp's. I will be getting my plant today in the male any time soon and will show you the rearranging I did for the new comers tanks along with Kelp's with the new plant. =) I also see some new growth in the specV which I am proud of because that tank was not showing any signs of new growth for a while. I took the carbon out of the filter last week to see if that would change things up and it looks like it did! I heard someone say on here with carbon in the tank the ferts might not get to the plants. I think that was either you Aqua or Liln. Not sure. lol

I realized that Maguro has been pale two weeks ago and now after I have been changing her water every other day, she is darkening up, that is a good sign in my book so let's hope that eye clears up by next week. I hope she did not blind herself. =( 

I also moved my Assassin snails finely into their own 5.5 gallon tanks. I wanted to make sure they would not kill the nerite snails I had in the tank. The nerite I had in there was not doing so well because it got suck under the filter for a week until I didn't see it roaming around the tank. I was expecting the assassins to kill it, I think they tried but the nerites shell was too tough? They got bored of the snail and moved on. AND the snail is still alive! wow after all of that it went through, it's one tough critter. 

Tata for now until I get the pictures


----------



## Tree

I have my new plant that I got in the mail! It is now in the tank. 

















And they gave me an extra Dwarf lily for some reason. It has roots and leaves (small) though it might die because the bulb looks somewhat hollow. 

And I added the Ivy in the tank today. Decided to place it in the back. and Trimmed the wandering Jew down. 










For the spec all I did was move the Java fern to the right and planted some of the plants in that back that were getting used to the water while they were floating










And Look, the terrarium grass is growing taller! Man I wish the plants in the tanks could do that. lol


----------



## Aqua Aurora

Emersed plants (if given proper conditions) always grow faster than submerged.. unless you got co2 to crank up and high light.


----------



## Tree

why is that? Do you know?


----------



## Aqua Aurora

Tree said:


> why is that? Do you know?


Only a few aquatic plants are truly aquatic only (can't live out of water) like blyxa, most are in areas where they spend some time out of water, or most of the time and flooding/rainy season puts them underwater. CO2 is the most limiting factor for their growth under water in most cases and in air they have plenty of co2. There's probably also importance in the different cell structuring of the plants for emesred vs submerged forms that also factors in but I never dug that deep into researching.


----------



## Tree

ah good to know. I have been learning a lot this month. Haha


----------



## Tree

quick update,
Woot! I get to go pick up my black and white betta in an hour! 

also my terrarium grass is growing and growing and growing. I wanna see how tall it will get before I need to really cut it. lol have to make sure the plant in the background will get enough light.


----------



## InStitches

that terrarium grass looks great! What live in the terrarium?


----------



## Aqua Aurora

Grass is looking good ^^
Make sure to post photos of the new betta once settled in!


----------



## Tree

InStitches said:


> that terrarium grass looks great! What live in the terrarium?


nothing yet but I think I am planning to get a anole or a green snake. But if I get the snake I will have to get it from a breeder. Most placed take them from the wild. 



Aqua Aurora said:


> Grass is looking good ^^
> Make sure to post photos of the new betta once settled in!


thanks! and will do! just got back and is accumulating him now.


----------



## Tree

Update: 

So the new guy seems more laid back than the others I have bought off of Aquabid. Not sure if he is just a docile betta, long finned, or his caudal bent makes him slower. Either way, he is BEAUTIFUL in person. The copper look to him really makes him pop. No wonder why the pictures showed other colors in the photo! I already see his fins spread to white copper which is making me very happy! lets hope the white stays thick.

Anyway this is my drip Accumulation monstrosity I created for all of my fish. knotted up tubes with cups from bettas from petsmart.


----------



## Tree

PHOTO DUMP! 

Maguro's eye is looking SO much better! and her color it coming back! She was Pale when I noticed the cloudy eye.

















Sardine! His tumor shrunk! He is feeling SO much better and his fins are not clammed any longer. 









Kelp decided to make a funny face when I photo shot him. 









Carp is just as active as Kelp is. They both beg for food and surf on the glass when I am near. 









Mola is active and healthy, She has been a little skiddish lately but I think it was due to all the commotion last night from the drip accumulating. 









and last AND LEAST! (no more fish I swear) the new comer! He was REALLY hard to shoot. very nervous the first time with the light on. Also his black and white have the coolest copper shine!


----------



## Tree

list of names for the black and white Betta:

Black Marlin (Marlin for short)
Mackerel 
Grouper
Bonito
Tarpon
Wahoo
Halibut

any other fish species you think of list away!


----------



## Aqua Aurora

Awesome photos as always, love the new boy so different.. I'd call him Wahoo just so you can be silly and super excited saying the name WAAHOOOOO! ^^


----------



## Tree

Wahoo! Haha I was laughing my ass off when I saw a fish named that in the ocean. 

I was thinking Wahoo or Bonito.  So maybe I will end up with Wahoo.


----------



## Tree

Today, I decided to flare the new guy, now named Wahoo and he showed off quite well. 

I love how the black is making it's way down the top of his head,









This shows his dorsal fins white. It kinda looks like ice on water. 









Wahoo was picking on the snail. 









Ignore his eye. He was looking right at me. hehe, this shows off his tail fin.


----------



## dannifluff

Wahoo is beautiful, Tree


----------



## InStitches

holy cow, what a gorgeous fish. Call me jealous!


----------



## Tree

dannifluff said:


> Wahoo is beautiful, Tree





InStitches said:


> holy cow, what a gorgeous fish. Call me jealous!



thanks guys! I was SUPER happy to see his black WAS black and not a smudge of blue on him! I am so excited to see his black and white change and spread.


----------



## Aqua Aurora

Love the new boy and the fun name ^^ His first photo for some reason.. his mouth looks like that of an old man's to me.. i dunno why.. but he's quite a lovely find! And tell him escargot is NOT on the menu!


----------



## Tree

Hahaha he does look like an old man. I think also cause he has a white/tan head. 

I will tell him no eating snails then next time I see him do it. Though he just really looked at the snail and moved on.


----------



## BettaLover1313

Wahoo is gorgeous & love the name


----------



## BettaBoy11

*Subscribing!!!*

So how many fish DO you have now?


----------



## BettaBoy11

Subscribing! How many fish do you have now?


----------



## Julie7778

Wahoo looks gorgeous! 

All of your fish look great though, glad to hear they're feeling better


----------



## DangerousAngel

Wahoo! I love that name! So fun!


----------



## Tree

BettaBoy11 said:


> *Subscribing!!!*
> 
> So how many fish DO you have now?


thanks! I have six bettas now. No more for me. lol



DangerousAngel said:


> Wahoo! I love that name! So fun!


Thanks =) WAHHHOOOOOO


----------



## micheemak

I love the way the white in Wahoo's fins look almost like feathers. Very pretty boy!

Glad the tumour on Sardine is shrinking - hopefully it goes away and doesn't come back.


----------



## Tree

most likely the feathered look will change overtime. But yeah it looks so cool don't it? 

Yeah I am so happy that Sardine is feeling and acting better. One thing I did see on him is that he has some swelling on his lips so I started treating him with Epsom salt to help. He is so old that he has been getting ill easier and can't fight it off like a young fish could do. So I hope the swelling goes down a bit. 

Here is what the swelling looks like. At first I thought it was the tanks reflection but now I see is more clear when I look at the picture up close. Do you think it could be a form of cotton mouth or a type of parasite?


----------



## micheemak

Man, that's hard to say. I had a honey dwarf gourami get puffy through the mouth about 8 weeks ago - it looked like she had a fat lip. Wasn't sure what the cause was, and no one else I talked to seemed to know either, so I put her in a quarantine tank to keep an eye on her. It did end up being some type of parasite - and she developed a fungus on top of it that attached her sides and the base of her fins.

She just went back in the regular tank about a week ago, but she's scarred from her experience. She's got a puckered scar along the side of her body near her mouth, and a scar line where her fins have grown back, but she's still alive.

Copious amounts of aquarium salt in the quarantine tank, plus regular salt baths and the application of peroxide (which was gross), plus tetracycline and a daily water changes did the trick, but it was arduous.

On the brighter side, Sardine probably just has a puffy lip. *keeps fingers crossed it's nothing serious*


----------



## Tree

Thanks for the help. And yeah me too. I really hope it's nothing serious. My other boy Anchovy had his whole side of his face swollen. I tried treating him with Epsom salt and General cure but it was too late. So I really hope it's not the same thing Anchovy had.


----------



## BettaBoy11

Tree said:


> thanks! I have six bettas now. No more for me


You say that now...


----------



## Tree

BettaBoy11 said:


> You say that now...



Naw, I have no room anymore and I need to save up on money.


----------



## blueridge

Yay for Sardine's tumor going down! :greenyay: Let's hope it goes away and never comes back *fingers crossed* Also I hope his lip heals! It almost looks like someone beat him up :shock:


----------



## Tree

RIGHT?! Hahaha it's like he has a fat lip.

and thanks!


----------



## Tree

added Wahoo into the list. =) 

Sardine: bought him in September 12, 2013 at age 8 months old. 
Maguro: bought her in July 10, 2015 at the age of 3.5 months old
Kelp: bought him in July 21, 2015 at the age of 3.5 months old
Carp: bought him in Jul 29, 2015 at the age of 3.5 months old
Mola: bought her in August 13, 2015 at the age of 2 months old
Wahooo: bought him in August 31,2015 at the age of 3.5 months old

I will be adding more photos tomorrow, been playing Primal Carnage Extinction and not online. lol


----------



## blueridge

:shock: You've bought a lot of fish this past year Tree!


----------



## Tree

I have, haven't I. lol 

Let's see how many fish I have had from 2013 to present 
Blue VT SIP
Johny Bravo DT SIP








Sardine CT








Anchovy EE SIP








Tuna DT SIP








Perch VT SIP








Gar Delta SIP








Pike Plakat SIP








Mahi Mahi HM SIP








Maguro HM female








Carp HM plakat








Kelp HM plakat








Mola CT female








Wahoo HM









Wow.... yup... had lots of fish back then and present. LOL


----------



## Tree

Okay, a little update for you all. All the tanks are doing great and growing. One of them seems to start a build up of hair algae so I will have to take care of that tomorrow. 
Sardine is active and healthy again. He is liking his smaller tank and loving the silk plant I have in there to rest on. There is no filter but a lucky bamboo plant in there that sucks a lot of the water out.
Not sure how the ivy is doing with the transition from dirt to water. It does not look like it is dying but it is drooping and the leaves are soft. I have had the roots in the tank for a little over a week now. 
Wahoo is adding more black to his fins and head which I am happy about, just don't let that black spread too much boy. 
my Terrarium is GRASSY! and I think I know what critter to put in it once the pant in the background grows in....a Praying Mantis!


----------



## Innerbeauty

I love the close-ups of Wahoo... his fins almost look like feathers. 

Your tanks are just gorgeous! I really love Maguro's cube


----------



## blueridge

Wow you have had a lot of fish Tree! And your tanks are looking great! Love Wahoo's coloring. It would be nice if he stayed that way.


----------



## Tree

blueridge said:


> Wow you have had a lot of fish Tree! And your tanks are looking great! Love Wahoo's coloring. It would be nice if he stayed that way.


thanks! and I am thinking he might stay that way. I have had him for a while now and I only seen some black spread. his fins have not changed too much. 










Even if he does change he will still look pretty he has the perfect amount of black and white.


----------



## Tree

So I went to my LFS and found this awesome dragon statue that I bought. I normally don't like statues in my tanks but I have to say it looks really nice. I am watching it for any flaking paint. I cleaned it off with hot water and scrubbed it down.


----------



## Tree

More photos of my tanks. I did a trimming and cleaning. Kelps tank it looking horrible! I think hair algae is starting to form on the gravel so I might have to do a black out. 









I also added more floating plants into Wahoo's tank today. 









Trimming some plants down in Carp's tank. His tank is doing great but the lily plant is slow at growing.









Maguro's tank had green scum on the sides of the tank and on the floaters. Had to throw out the floaters and scrub off the green scum algae. 









Mola's tank needed a cleaning and I took out some plants since they started to cover the whole tank. added the plants in Wahoo's tank. 









And Sardine's Tank is the same, no live plants, only the bamboo. But his lump on his side came back. I am wondering if his tumor stopped growing but when he bloats, it looks like the tumor will burst out. I am going to fast him for three days and give him some mirror time tomorrow.


----------



## blueridge

Tree said:


> I also added more floating plants into Wahoo's tank today.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And Sardine's Tank is the same, no live plants, only the bamboo. But his lump on his side came back. I am wondering if his tumor stopped growing but when he bloats, it looks like the tumor will burst out. I am going to fast him for three days and give him some mirror time tomorrow.


OMG! Wahoo is adorable peaking out in this tank >.< 

Also sorry to hear about Sardine D: Hopefully it is just his bloat!


----------



## Tree

Hahaha yeah he was wondering what I was doing. =P and he is loving his statue I added in the tank. 

in other news my terrarium is ready for a critter, though I kinda want to wait until next summer. I'm going to get an Orchid praying mantis. =D I have added fake Orchid flowers with the grass and I must say it looks very nice and lush for any mantis I get.


----------



## Aqua Aurora

I gernally don't like fake plants but those are lovely!


----------



## Tree

I was not liking the fake flower idea too, but agreed, they look very nice mixed in with the grass. =)


----------



## InStitches

they do look great!

when I was planning out a large enclosure for a chameleon I had, I wanted to do live plants. Seeing your terrarium makes me wish I had found a way to stick with the chameleon! Food was too expensive while I was in college, so I sold him to a retired lady who spoils him now 

I can't wait to see the mantis you put in there!


----------



## Tree

InStitches said:


> they do look great!
> 
> when I was planning out a large enclosure for a chameleon I had, I wanted to do live plants. Seeing your terrarium makes me wish I had found a way to stick with the chameleon! Food was too expensive while I was in college, so I sold him to a retired lady who spoils him now
> 
> I can't wait to see the mantis you put in there!


Awww at least he has a great home regardless. 
^u^ I wish I could have placed real Orchids in the tank but the mantis needs color at all times so fake will be perfect. =)


----------



## Tree

Oh also I have an update on one of my 5.5 gallon tank. I have an infestation of hair algae!!!! how annoying... x_x I squirted hydrogen peroxide in the locations of the algae so I hope it dies off. 

















I bought new plants for the tank seeing that the AR was dying/melting. (they were in there for a long time and has trimmed them many times.) I have 

bought some more wendtii plants, three more in the tank so if the AR dies out that will replace them. and trimmed off a lot of the dead leaves.


----------



## Tree

sad news. Sardine started to get dropsy over the weekend when I was camping. I put him down today seeing that he could not eat. May you swim in peace. <3


----------



## Julie7778

S.I.P, sorry for your loss. It's tough, I also lost a fish to dropsy recently. I'm sure you gave him the best care he could ask for.


----------



## blueridge

Tree said:


> sad news. Sardine started to get dropsy over the weekend when I was camping. I put him down today seeing that he could not eat. May you swim in peace. <3


Oh no! I'm sorry for your loss Tree! May Sardine S.I.P.


----------



## Tree

Julie7778 said:


> S.I.P, sorry for your loss. It's tough, I also lost a fish to dropsy recently. I'm sure you gave him the best care he could ask for.





blueridge said:


> Oh no! I'm sorry for your loss Tree! May Sardine S.I.P.




thanks you two. Once I saw his raised scales I knew he was not going to live long. The only thing I could do is put him to rest before it became unbearable for him.


----------



## micheemak

Sorry to hear about Sardine, Tree. He was a beautiful fish.


----------



## Tree

thank you very much. <3 He was such a wonderful fish.


----------



## DangerousAngel

Ohh, I'm so sorry. Swim peacefully sweet boy. He sure had a great life. <3


----------



## LadyNightraven

I'm so sorry about Sardine. May he swim in peace.

Wahoo is gorgeous, and I love his name. It's very fun, haha. And of course your other fish and their tanks are lovely, too.


----------



## Tree

DangerousAngel said:


> Ohh, I'm so sorry. Swim peacefully sweet boy. He sure had a great life. <3





LadyNightraven said:


> I'm so sorry about Sardine. May he swim in peace.
> 
> Wahoo is gorgeous, and I love his name. It's very fun, haha. And of course your other fish and their tanks are lovely, too.


thank you both. and yes he had a grand life. When he first had gotten sick I was in denial but after he lived longer than I expected, I knew his time would come so it made his passing so a lot easier for me to deal with. <3

I will be adding pictures of my other bettas along with their tanks later today.


----------



## Tree

Update. Everyone is doing well and so are the plants in the tanks. Had to move my house plants in my room. The Minnesota weather is getting chillier. My terrarium is not working out so well with the grass. White fluffy mold started to gather on the grass. I will have to take it all down and put in fake substrate.

anyway, here are some pictures:
Kelp








Carp








Yahoo








Maguro








Mola









tanks!


----------



## Aqua Aurora

Have you consider getting the commonly used microfauana of vivariums that eat the fungus/mold? I think rolly-polies (brain farting their proper name) is one of the bugs you can put in there. (google....) Isopods! Also springtails are another option.


----------



## Tree

Oh yeah! my old home use to have so many of them! Haha. They are cute little buggers. I wonder if they will still be out under my garden rocks. It's been chilly in Minnesota. Most of the grass died but I will add more seed when I do find some of them bugs.


----------



## Tree

Photo dump! and update. 

all of the tanks are growing like mad! though I am having issues with my anubias turning a light yellow. anyone know why this is?









my Riparium tank is doing well. Though I had issues with my Wandering Jews not being able to stay in the pot so I took it out and keeping the three Purple waffles in the tank to see them grow. 

















my 5.5 gallon Spec is doing well. 









added more plants and another driftwood in my other 5.5 gallon tank. 









trimmed up all of my tanks but this one needed this the most. 









my future praying mantas tank. the grass all died and added moss and fake grass type moss in the tank. 









my wandering Jew now in its own pot.









My spider plant has yet to grow any babies. and I had this thing for a year!









my air plants are doing great too


----------



## artemis35

Your tanks all look beautiful (as always!).
The b&w male in the one of the first pictures is just divine 

Also, I am very envious of all the lovely air plants you have. Anything except aquarium plants just inevitably becomes fodder for my cats :roll:


----------



## Tree

thank you. ^_^ 

Yeah my plants become lunch with my cats too, Though I found a way around it by blocking them from getting to my plants and tanks. A kind of a barricade and using a half gallon tank for them to drink out of. hehe, works like a charm.


----------



## Tree

In other news, my poor baby dog Shahla has terrible hip dysplasia and arthritis to boot. It's been acting up really bad and we brought her to the vet to get some X-rays and it's bad. her right back leg is all messed up. we are giving her injections two types of pain/arthritis pills and Glucosamine tabets. 










Wish her luck to get better. She is a candidate for surgery so if all else fails we will be going through with that.


----------



## BettaLover1313

Shahla is very beautiful. I hope the medicine helps with her arthritis.


----------



## Aqua Aurora

Sorry your dog's having troubles, our old lab had a bad back end (hard time getting up from a sit/lay position and can't get up stairs/into the car without help now. He's prone to hip dysplasia but keeping him trim with a strict diet helps. Be mindful to keep claws short if you don't already-its a big help with the aches from arthritis if their toes aren't getting pushed from long claws. For achy joints try looking into fish oil-don't over do it or it loosens the bowels (can be given as a pill if the dog accepts or put on the food), or chicken liver treats as some natural supplements to help.
I've not tried it yet (or looked too deep into it) but an employee at a pet store (can't say how much was bs/sales attempt vrs. truth) said this stuff helped their old shepherds:
http://www.amazon.com/Missing-Link-Ultimate-Joint-Supplement/dp/B000SSN04M
I've been meaning to dig through reviews on it, might do that this weekend.


----------



## micheemak

Your dog is gorgeous! Have you ever tried Virgin Coconut oil for her aches and pains? One of my dogs has stiffness and arthritis, and my vet told me to toss a tablespoon of coconut oil in with her dry food (she shares with my other dog, so it's one cup, 2x per day, 1 tbsp of Coconut oil with each feeding). It's good for her coat and skin as well, and they both enjoy the taste. Bym's would eat the spoon if I let her, and I have noticed a difference. She's not as stiff, and has an easier time getting up and down the stairs when it's cold and rainy than she normally would.


----------



## artemis35

Awwww, poor Shahla  How old is she?

I have my fingers crossed for her and her new medicines.
As scary as the prospect of surgery is, thank goodness she is at least a good candidate for it.

She sure is a beauty! What breed(s) is she? I swear I see german shepard, rough collie and/or border collie somewhere in her gene pool?


----------



## Tree

Aqua Aurora said:


> Sorry your dog's having troubles, our old lab had a bad back end (hard time getting up from a sit/lay position and can't get up stairs/into the car without help now. He's prone to hip dysplasia but keeping him trim with a strict diet helps. Be mindful to keep claws short if you don't already-its a big help with the aches from arthritis if their toes aren't getting pushed from long claws. For achy joints try looking into fish oil-don't over do it or it loosens the bowels (can be given as a pill if the dog accepts or put on the food), or chicken liver treats as some natural supplements to help.
> I've not tried it yet (or looked too deep into it) but an employee at a pet store (can't say how much was bs/sales attempt vrs. truth) said this stuff helped their old shepherds:
> http://www.amazon.com/Missing-Link-Ultimate-Joint-Supplement/dp/B000SSN04M
> I've been meaning to dig through reviews on it, might do that this weekend.


Yup I do all the nail trimming and hair trimming at home/at work. She did have a lot of hair under her feet and took care of that as well. 

I will look into the fish oil and that other Missing-Link-Ultimate-Joint stuff as well. Right now things are looking better. She must be feeling the meds. from the injections and being able to walk up the stairs on her own, in her own pace. But I think it will not help her in the long run meaning surgery in the future. Shahla is still walking funny with the hip messed up. 



micheemak said:


> Your dog is gorgeous! Have you ever tried Virgin Coconut oil for her aches and pains? One of my dogs has stiffness and arthritis, and my vet told me to toss a tablespoon of coconut oil in with her dry food (she shares with my other dog, so it's one cup, 2x per day, 1 tbsp of Coconut oil with each feeding). It's good for her coat and skin as well, and they both enjoy the taste. Bym's would eat the spoon if I let her, and I have noticed a difference. She's not as stiff, and has an easier time getting up and down the stairs when it's cold and rainy than she normally would.


thank you very much. Whats the difference with coconut oil and fish oil? A friend of mine did tell me to add coconut oil in her food not sure what oil to use. 




artemis35 said:


> Awwww, poor Shahla  How old is she?
> 
> I have my fingers crossed for her and her new medicines.
> As scary as the prospect of surgery is, thank goodness she is at least a good candidate for it.
> 
> She sure is a beauty! What breed(s) is she? I swear I see german shepard, rough collie and/or border collie somewhere in her gene pool?


She is 11 years old, turned 11 in September. 

thank you very much. and agreed. some dogs are not and I was not sure what I was going to do if she wasn't. 

nope she is all Shetland sheepdog. Hahaha a lot of people think she is a different breed cause of her markings and how large she is.


----------



## micheemak

> Whats the difference with coconut oil and fish oil?


With my dogs, the vet recommended the coconut oil mostly for Bym's joints, but also as an effective way to improve their hideous doggy breath. Plus, Bym's tends to get really dry skin in the winter, so it's kept her skin moisturized and her fur shiny. Lastly, it helps prevent plaque build-up in their arteries, and they seem to be able to absorb it better than fish oil, which was causing burping, fishy-smelling gas and also (sometimes) diarrhea.

I also use it as a topical moisturizer for the them - I rub it into their paws to help keep the pads nice and supple, and to prevent cracking. Plus, they love the taste of it, so it's not a fight to get them to take it - and the fish oil they hated.


----------



## Tree

Thanks so much to the tip. I will look into coconut oil for her this weekend. And good news!!!!!! Shahla jumped up on the chair on her own. She is really feeling better from the shots she ha been getting.


----------



## LittleBettaFish

Just wanted to say, we've got two dogs with bad hips here, and one supplement we have them both on, are these green-lipped mussel capsules. I've also heard good things about turmeric, but someone also mentioned that it can cause potential health problems if you don't use the right one/strength for dogs.


----------



## BettaSplendid

I am so impressed with your tanks! What is the floating one with the long soft roots? And I agree, black & white betta is thud-worthy.

Glad to hear your doggie is feeling better! She is a fluffy-love-ball.


----------



## Tree

LittleBettaFish said:


> Just wanted to say, we've got two dogs with bad hips here, and one supplement we have them both on, are these green-lipped mussel capsules. I've also heard good things about turmeric, but someone also mentioned that it can cause potential health problems if you don't use the right one/strength for dogs.


Thanks for the tip as well! Right now she is getting Tramadol in the morning morning and night, Deramaxx in the morning, Glucosamine in the morning and Adequan twice a week. She has been feeling much better. 



BettaSplendid said:


> I am so impressed with your tanks! What is the floating one with the long soft roots? And I agree, black & white betta is thud-worthy.
> 
> Glad to hear your doggie is feeling better! She is a fluffy-love-ball.



thank you very much. =) and those floaters are called Frogbit and it grows like crazy. =)


----------



## Tree

So update on my bettas. I did a mega clean in my 2.6 gallon Anubias tank. Now it's all cloudy until it settles. 








also enjoy the Wahoo collage. =)









Also I went to a fish store yesterday and oh my there are beauts there! the owner was not pleasant to talk to. She kept thinking my friends and I were going to steal something cause we all looked young. Even I do and I am 31! HAHAHA Here are some shots of the cool fish. =) Sorry for the blurry shots took these from my Ipod. 

















https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-...AAAAAos/2af9eLV7e1k/w794-h593-no/IMG_0726.JPG


----------



## Tree

So my sister's betta passes away a week ago and she gave me her tank. At first I was going to clean it out and give it back to her but then she said I could do whatever I wanted with it... and well..... I gave another betta a good home. =) I am back to six bettas again. everything I had was free cause I had all the fixings plus the extra plants. The only thing I had to buy was a 2.99 baby girl and here she is in her new tank. 

In person her fins shine a nice purple and has that nice metallic look and changes colors from red pink and blue in the light so you will see the different color in the shots I have taken below. =D








https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-fIesaK6PxQs/Vi1n6CuXioI/AAAAA
[IMG]https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-uuKrkVZYckc/Vi1oFh-DI_I/AAAAAAAAAtU/MgPhvfnu894/w919-h593-no/IMG_2161.JPG

















and her tank: needs to grow but it will blow up I think in about three weeks. =) 










update for my other two girls, Mola is growing SO FAST! she used to be so small like the new comer I just picked up, now she is almost the size of Maguro. here are the girls pictures:

















And another update Shahla is feeling better with the injections we been giving her. But the surgery is still going to happen just not sure when.


----------



## Aqua Aurora

I'm not familiar with baby bettas, will the bump on her head and the dip between the eyes and mouth fill in as she grows to be a better topline?
Cute new girl btw, any name ideas yet?


----------



## Tree

I was worried about that too with the shovel noes, I believe that is what they call it? not sure how fast bettas grow but does look like she is having less dip from her head to her noes from being in a clean environment after 24 hours. So let's hope she grows that out of her. This is my first time owner a little one as well. I mean she is not very tiny, but small enough that she still has a hard time eating the pellets. So I am going to crunch them up for her. 

nope no names on her yet. She has that nice purple shine to her so I was going to look up metallic fish. Any ideas before I start looking?


----------



## Tree

so I got a shot of the new gal's colors, not a great picture of her though. I still see the dip on her noes. let's hope she grows out of it. 









Wahoo seems to be getting more black on him. It's hard to see the change cause the black on the fins are metallic and when I use the flash it shows up light. 









Kelp is looking nice and bright as ever. Spunky as ever too. 









His Tank still has algae so I am working on cleaning it out. 









Carp's tank









Wahoo's Tank









Mola's tank is still a working in progress. once I get more plants I will show it off more. 









Maguro's tank is now clear









one of the swords leaves are speaking out of the tank; 









my frogbit is growing like mad









and my Red root I got last week are already growing flowers!


----------



## Tree

so I have done a MAJOR change in rearranging tanks in my room. I moved my Spec V on my dresser and the two 2.6 gallons where that tank use to be. I like the new layout. =)


















with my spec V in a new location I can now take pictures from different angles. 

























so I am happy, now I have to hope my bettas are. Oh and not only did I do that, I found out behind my stand, Um well, a shrimp and my tiger nerite snail did not make it. dried up on the floor. poor guys. if only I would have known.


----------



## LadyNightraven

Wow, Tree, I love the new layout! I'd love to have a stand full of beautiful tanks, but I'm lucky I have room for my two five gallons. Sorry about your shrimp and nerite.


----------



## Tree

thanks =) It nice to wake up and see the lights on and see my bettas greet me in the morning that's for sure. 

yeah I kinda feel bad about them. I should have known that the nerite snail would have ventured out of the tank being that the top was opened. Thank god my Betta did not jump out. I moved around the plants that were sticking out of the tank so I can have a lid on it so that kind of thing wont happen again. 

as for the tank with the shrimp, I'm afraid I cannot do anything for unless I make a new top. The acrylic top has a slit opening right in the middle so I'm sure I will see some dead ones here and there. 

I did end up adding a nice hidy hole rock in Mola's tank so she can have a place to hid if she feels startled. she has yet to realize that the rock has a hole in it. Haha


----------



## BettaSplendid

Gorgeous tanks! Each one is lovely as are your bettas! What lucky little ladies. And Whahoo, LOL, that is a great name and he is adorable too.

I wish now i had more floating plants...yours look great!


----------



## Tree

thank you. all six of them are spoiled and they know it too. haha

I'm sure in the market place they have some for sale. I don't have enough quite yet but if I did I could sell some as well.


----------



## Julie7778

In Love with all your tanks! I especially like the anubias one. It inspires me to do a tank full of anubias!


----------



## Tree

thanks! yes anubias tanks are just cool to setup and watch grow. I used driftwood to make it look like a hill of plants.


----------



## Julie7778

Tree said:


> thanks! yes anubias tanks are just cool to setup and watch grow. I used driftwood to make it look like a hill of plants.


Wow I would have never thought there was driftwood under there!


----------



## Tree

Yup =) four small ones covered with the plant.


----------



## Innerbeauty

Wow. :shock: The tanks are just.... Wow. The arrangement is perfect!

Wahoo's tank is my favorite, that dragon ornament adds a really cool mysterious and dangerous effect. Brave Wahoo!


----------



## Tree

thanks! I'm in a love hate relationship with Carps tank. They plants have a minds of their own and started to sprout in areas close to the wall. =/ Not sure if I wanna redo the tank or just try to separate them from another without disturbing the soil below. 

yeah Wahoo's my fave tank. it used to be so bare but now I just blew up with life. =D


----------



## Tree

So update on all of my bettas and their tanks. 

lets first start off with Wahoo. His black has been creeping into the white "Cries" But he is still beautiful regardless.









little Mola is looking so elegant with her CT fins. She's been a piggy too. But I am doing a large change around in her tank. the wandering Jews are hard to keep up with in the Riparium so I transferred them back into a pot and will be sticking with purple waffles. right now the tank is looking bare but I have ordered more plants at a store that will becoming next Tuesday. I will be showing pictures of the tank after I have is set up. 









Carp is having issues with the diamond eyes I might have to buy some banana leaves. His tank took a beating from me. I trimmed a lot of stuff down and moved plants around without disturbing the soil too much. So lets hope it will grow nice and thick. 









Kelp is his normal spunky self. I added some Japanese shrimp in his tank only because he likes to eat the cherry shrimp. this way the two Japaneses shrimp are too large for him and he will leave them alone. 









Maguro has been chewing on her tail fin I see, but not as bad, thank god. She seems to be my chill betta. she eats like a princes and floats around her tank unlike my others that like to surf.









and my newest betta (has no name yet) Thinking about naming her Rainbow Trout. Trout for short. Has been growing like mad. She is getting used to the feeding time and when I shake the food container she gets all excited like my others fish. 









That's it for now, I will be added photos on the tanks sometime next weekend or so.


----------



## Tree

forgot to add: 
I have bad news about my dog shahla, found out that she will be needed two surgeries for both of her back legs. Her hip will need surgery and now the vet did an X-ray on her other leg and found out she had torn her achilles tendon. The issue is not money, but the fact that we don't know what to work on first. Either the hip and hope that she can walk on the torn achilles tendon or fix the tendon and hope she can put all of her weight on the leg that has the hip dysplasia. 
What we are going to do is put her in a brace or bandage up her leg that has the torn tendon and see if she can handle it, if she can we will go and do that surgery first. She will have to not walk on that leg for 6 weeks...I have bad news about my dog shahla, found out that she will be needed two surgeries for both of her back legs. Her hip will need surgery and now the vet did an X-ray on her other leg and found out she had torn her achilles tendon. The issue is not money, but the fact that we don't know what to work on first. Either the hip and hope that she can walk on the torn achilles tendon or fix the tendon and hope she can put all of her weight on the leg that has the hip dysplasia. 
What we are going to do is put her in a brace or bandage up her leg that has the torn tendon and see if she can handle it, if she can we will go and do that surgery first. She will have to not walk on that leg for 6 weeks.... soo not sure how this will pan out. soo not sure how this will pan out.


----------



## Tree

To help with the cost of my dogs surgeries, I am selling my PleoRB.
Link below for the information if anyone of you are interested in buying it. 
http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/csw/tag/5303301095.html


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## themamaj

Tree I'm so sorry to hear about your dog. We had to do 2 knee surgeries on our lab and I know they are soooo expensive. The good side though is that it really made an amazing difference for her and she got back her full active life. I hope that is the same for your dog. 

Your fish are beautiful. I so understand the love hate relationship with plants. I have that battle daily.


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## Innerbeauty

So sorry to hear about your dog.  It is tough when they need more care than you can give, and they must go to the vet... so scary for them.

Wahoo is still striking!


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## Tree

update on my fish and my Shelite Shahla. She is going to go through Surgery after thanksgiving. cross your fingers for everything to go well. 

some pictures of the tanks, tank mates and the bettas.

my riparium got the purple waffles last weekend and they look different than the last one I had. 









my 5.5 spec. I added java moss in this week. 









my 2.6 gallon Anubias tank. 









my other 2.6 gallon









the 5.5 gallon standard added java moss:









and my other 5.5 gallon standard added java moss;









some of the critters in the tanks: 

















my fish: 

















































and bought a new air plant:


----------



## themamaj

Riparium is incredible! Your tanks look great and love all the pictures of your fish.


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## Sadist

Wow, I love those tanks! I really love the purple waffles. I'm going to look into those for my tanks.


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## Tree

Sadist said:


> Wow, I love those tanks! I really love the purple waffles. I'm going to look into those for my tanks.


thanks! the purple waffles are very nice to have for a riparium though they so change color once they get adjusted to the change. turns lighter in riparium. 



themamaj said:


> Riparium is incredible! Your tanks look great and love all the pictures of your fish.



thanks =) though Maguro might have some parasites cause I did see some stringy poop and she has not been moving around too much.


----------



## Aqua Aurora

I've seen the purple waffles with purple on the top of the leaves before but never found anything saying its a sub species (var ___/ sp ____). Maguro has really changed in color a lot since you got her! Btw I think the.. dwarf lily (?) in Kelp's tank is in need of potassium! I dosed a [censor] ton of potassium on my dwarf lily-its a real hog for it. If you can find a potassium specific root tab that would work well (liquid ferts takes a lot of dosing).


----------



## Tree

I have tried the Flourish liquid form but it seems that it doesn't work all that great unless I am not does enough. I just don't want to dose too much. I add two to three drops once a week. Do you think they need more than that?

I added root tabs about a month ago so I'm sure it's due time to add more. I will get more tabs tomorrow. How many tabs do you add? I add a half, should I add a full one by the lily?


----------



## Tree

so found out that I have to dose 0.5m everyday.. oops been going it once a week. XD not to mention like you said with the lily is a pig. so I sill start dosing the ferts. along with the root tabs I will get tomorrow.


----------



## Aqua Aurora

Scratch what I said before, found the proper name for your new purple waffle:
Hemigraphis alternata 'snow white'


----------



## Tree

oh hahaha so that is why it looked slightly different.well regardless it is a pretty plant. I just feel so bad for the one purple waffle that did not make the transplanting. I have some of the clippings but its looking so pathetic. note never move plants around. =P I have learned that the wandering Jews have a hard time staying in the pot too. luckily I was able to same them and place them in soil. 

dosing the ferts everyday wont harm the plants and the critters inside will it? I heard if you fert too much it can kill. is that true?


----------



## Aqua Aurora

I trimmed and replanted some purple waffle several weeks back (was getting to big). Trimmings had no roots, they wilted bad but will bounced back. I actually went to my local garden centers looking for some more purple waffle recently.. only specimens I found were very very dead :c Looks like I get to wait until mine is tall enough for enough trim.


----------



## Tree

It was hard enough to find the ones I found for the tank at this time of year so you might have to order them. I hope mine will grow thicker. do you think they will grow out than up?

Also the Lillies look like they are growing back fine. how long do the leaves last? Like for a month until they die or until you trim them? Seems like they die off and regrow in my tank. Do you think that was the lack of Ferts I was using?


----------



## Tree

I have been dosing ferts three times a week for my tanks to see how the plants do. I hope this will improve their growth but I do want to get my hands on Excel. Has anyone used it and what kind of plants may die from the Excel?

Update on Maguro. She may be eggy or having worms. Not sure so I have been doing Epsom salt along with General Cure. She's been pooping white string at times, clamped fins a little thin and seems to bend in a strange way with her tail vertical and her head/body horizontal. She has always been a chilled girl. Never swims around like the others. But I think if it is eggy behavior, this might be a permanent thing. She is eating and get excited when I come near and not hiding so that is a good thing. 

Shahla will be prepping for her first Surgery next week. It's a 50/50 chance this surgery will fix her torn achilles tendon. It depends on the tendon and if they can put it back together and not snap again. If that is fixed it will be 6 weeks of not moving too much for her. She will have to be gated or in a kennel for the time being.


----------



## Tree

ok I needed more pictures of the tanks to use this for reference for when and if I see improvement. All the tanks and what they look so far.


----------



## Mantibranch

Flipping around this part of the forum and came across your journal...your tanks are beautiful! Where did you find the dragon in the second picture (scrolling down)?


----------



## Sadist

I love your tanks, too!


----------



## Tree

Mantibranch said:


> Flipping around this part of the forum and came across your journal...your tanks are beautiful! Where did you find the dragon in the second picture (scrolling down)?


thanks. ^^ and I found that statue at my local fish store in Northfield MN. He has a lot of really cool dragons that I have never seen before in any store. if you would like to contact him Im sure he will mail it your way. Look up "Aquatic Fish Plus, Northfield MN" He has a FB I know that for sure but not sure about a store website. 



Sadist said:


> I love your tanks, too!


thank you =D


----------



## Tree

So I have been adding the ferts and my plants look better already. I had yellowing going on with my Anubias plants in my 2.6 gallon. Now they are looking much greener and healthier. I will take pictures of all of my tanks tomorrow. 

Shahla had her surgery Tuesday and everything went perfectly! Now she is relaxing with a cast on. Every Tuesday she will get new bandages for her leg. I will also show pictures of her tomorrow as well. =)


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## Sadist

I hope everything heals up okay!


----------



## Tree

The update pictures on the tanks. =)



















































And shahla with her Cast:










and I had the urge to draw again:


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## Sadist

It looks like you might be a snail mommy or daddy soon!


----------



## BubblesTheBlueBetta

Nice tanks!! They look so good! I love how planted tanks look but every plant I've put in my tank has died. Poor Shalah.  Being in a cast is no fun! I've recently had a knee injury and I will be in a cast for awhile.


----------



## Tree

Sadist said:


> It looks like you might be a snail mommy or daddy soon!


oh you mean the white eggs on the log? Since it is not brackish water, they will not hatch. ^^



BubblesTheBlueBetta said:


> Nice tanks!! They look so good! I love how planted tanks look but every plant I've put in my tank has died. Poor Shalah.  Being in a cast is no fun! I've recently had a knee injury and I will be in a cast for awhile.


thank you very much. It took me a while to get the planted tanks to work. trial and error. 

Shahla is doing great. as of right now, she is relaxing. no walks no running or jumping. Casts are not fun indeed.


----------



## Sadist

Oh darn. I got the pet store lady all excited about their snail eggs that look just like that. Maybe the fish will eat them.


----------



## Tree

Sadist said:


> Oh darn. I got the pet store lady all excited about their snail eggs that look just like that. Maybe the fish will eat them.


maybe they will, if the tank was brackish water. Hehe. But sadly the eggs are stubborn to scrape off. Never had my fish or my Assassin snails eat them. =(


----------



## Tree

Hey all. this is an update of my bettas. Have not been on for a long while. Everyone is doing good but Maguro. She has a bad case of EggBound. I have tried everything to help her. I had to take out all of the plants and gave her a fake one to keep the tank as clean as possible. 

Karp:








Carp:








Wahoo:








Rainbow Trout:








Mola:








Magruo: (egg bound) =( 









Thanks:


















































Also Shahla has been learning how to walk with her cast on. She Will be taking if off next Tuesday! Hooray! This was the photo from new year's:


----------



## themamaj

Absolutely stunning pictures! I might have to sneak off Wahoo  Oh I love him! Your dog is so cute. Reminds me of our lab we had. She also had casts. That is so sweet it is decorated. Our vet would change the colors out with every change and add little funny decals. Glad she gets it off soon.


----------



## Tree

thanks! A lot of people wants to steal Wahoo from me. Heheh. I am so excited for the cast to be off too and I'm sure Shahla will be too. 

So I got a lovely surprise from one of me online friends. She sent me something in the mail. Found out she painted one of my passed away fish, Sardine. She used watercolor and gel pens. I have it hung up by my fish tanks and it looks so nice!


----------



## themamaj

I love that painting!!!! What a thoughtful gesture. Your set up is incredible. I could spend hours just looking at it. You have done a great job. There are black boxes above tanks. Are they lights?


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## Sadist

Wow, what a gorgeous painting and thoughtful gesture! It looks really good by your tanks, too.


----------



## Tree

themamaj said:


> I love that painting!!!! What a thoughtful gesture. Your set up is incredible. I could spend hours just looking at it. You have done a great job. There are black boxes above tanks. Are they lights?


very beautiful indeed =) and thank you very much. and yup those are lights. you can find them in the reptile area at petstores. LOL 



Sadist said:


> Wow, what a gorgeous painting and thoughtful gesture! It looks really good by your tanks, too.


right? =D She thought it would not match but when I showed her those photos she changed her mind.


----------



## Tree

SO I made a LARGE change last week. I bought a 10 gallon for $10 ($1 per gallon sale!) and placed my two girls in it with their plants and junk. They are loving the new layout too! This will be easier for me as well since I will only be dealing with four large tanks and a 2.5 gallon for my sick baby girl. =( I gave away two of my 2.6 gallons so I don't have the urge to get more. LOL

Now I have looked up sorority tanks and realized now a days the 10 gallon is too small for females to be housed together. I read that I need four or more in one tank. But I only have two and I am afraid if I get two more, the two that are getting along with each other will pick on the new ones, and I don't want to add my sick eggy baby girl Maguro in with them due to the fact the two might pick on her. I have SO many plants in there, it's crazy. In the beginning they were following one another and flaring but no chasing or keeping one another away from the surface. They are eating together and are starting to stay close together. But, if I see a change in them. I will have to divide the 10 gallon for their safety. 

In other news. I had to get new lights. My plants were looking sickly. I have been giving them food but nothing was working. So I thought it was due time for a light change. I will add pictures tomorrow.


----------



## Sadist

Good luck!


----------



## themamaj

Hope things go well with the two girls together. Having so many plants will be a good benefit. What type of lighting did you buy? Will look forward to pictures. Hope your sick baby feels better soon.


----------



## Tree

thanks Sadist and themamaj!

I've bought three 18 inch plant lights for my three tanks, And using table stand lights for the 10 gallon. LOL

Unfortunately, Maguro had to be put down today. She was laying on her side at the bottom of the tank. She was not well. With her Being Eggy there was nothing I could do at this point. SIP my sweet little girl. <3 

more bad news, My plants had to be trimmed WAY down cause of black algae. Nothing was killing that stuff! So with now the tanks are looking so blah! I hope they make a come back T^T 

There are some pictures of the new 10 gallon tanks with my two girls. 

















and my three sad sad tanks with sad plants in them. I SO hope I don't have to buy more plants.


----------



## BettaBoy11

Oh no! I'm sorry for your loss. SIP Maguro.


----------



## themamaj

Oh so sorry Maguro! 

Tanks have great aquascaping. How do get your anubias to thrive like that. Have fought major with petite anubias and always battling others getting brown algae spots or leaves yellowing. Hopefully your other tanks will green up a bit more with new lights. Is this a new bulb got for fixture or something sits on top? What do you supplement with and do you use co2? I am fighting with one of my 10 gallon. It just looks blah so wonder about change in light. Love love wood piece in last picture. Great lines on that!


----------



## Tree

BettaBoy11 said:


> Oh no! I'm sorry for your loss. SIP Maguro.


<3 thank you very much.



themamaj said:


> Oh so sorry Maguro!
> 
> Tanks have great aquascaping. How do get your anubias to thrive like that. Have fought major with petite anubias and always battling others getting brown algae spots or leaves yellowing. Hopefully your other tanks will green up a bit more with new lights. Is this a new bulb got for fixture or something sits on top? What do you supplement with and do you use co2? I am fighting with one of my 10 gallon. It just looks blah so wonder about change in light. Love love wood piece in last picture. Great lines on that!


thank you! ^^ to be honest, I have no idea. some plants hate me and some plants love me. But I think it has to due with the hardness of the water and the PH levels. I have no CO2 but I have root tabs and liquid potassium and Flourish Comprehensive. though I am thinking I am now adding too much in the tank. so I might end up adding it once a week again. 

I hope the plants grow fast after the new lights though. I think that was part of the issue.


----------



## Sadist

I love your plants and girls! I hope they manage to live together peacefully.


----------



## Tree

Sadist said:


> I love your plants and girls! I hope they manage to live together peacefully.


me too, and thanks. ^^


----------



## Tree

When you type everything out and the website logs you off. GAH! 

Pictures of my bettas:

































Pitcures of the Tanks I changed around (replanted some plants around)


















So far so good on the two girls getting along. Though when their lights are shut off they tend to chase one another when I have my room light on, so I guess no more light on when their lights are off?

also Shahla, my dog has been doing fine after the cast got taken off. I just don't think the surgery worked. Time will tell when she gets muscle back into that leg. She is walking on it funny.


----------



## BettaBoy11

I love the look on Rainbow Trout's (is that her name?) face in that first picture.


----------



## Tree

yup Rainbow trout is her name and the other is Mola, the redish one. =) 

thanks!


----------



## Tree

added more fake plants to the 10 gallon. They will be replaced with live in the future. =)


----------



## Sadist

Awesome! I love your little piebald guy.


----------



## Tree

Changed the fake plants to live and bought two more females! please please PLEASE make this work! Right now I have one of the girls in the tank with the other two since she was old enough to be with them. Gave them a good three hours to see her through the cup until I set her free. There has been following and a small nip going on. Trout is causing some issues for the new girl but Mola is fine with it. Just flaring when she comes near her. If Trout keeps pestering her I will move her out until the new girl gets adjusted.

As for the other girl is WAY too small to go into the tank with them quite yet. So I placed her in a 2.6 gallon tank for the time being to grow. I wish there were others about the age of the other three but she was the only one that was healthy enough sadly. 

Here are the pictures of the new girls and the tank with the live plants. Only one fake plant on the right in the way back. 










VT in the 10 gallon with the two other girls. No signs of stress stripes but she is stressed by the way her tail fin is. I will keep a close eye on her. 










crown tail in the 2.6 gallon tank


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## Tree

Lats photo for tonight. I added more Purple waffles since I upgraded to a 10 gallon!










Also, Th new girl is being picked on By trout still. I took trout out for 15 minutes and put her back in. Now the new pecking order will begin. I hope things go well. =(


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## Sadist

I love the waffles! Good luck on the girls.


----------



## Tree

So update on the bettas. I had to take out the new girl for now that went into the 10 gallon yesterday. I think she is too small still for the other two girls. Both of them started chasing her. At first I thought it would settle down but they have been doing it all day yesterday and all day today. For right now the two are in the tank and everything is settled and fine now. I will wait until the new one gets a back bone and starts to defend herself. As for the small baby, she is doing great. I divided my 2.6 gallon so each of them got a little over a gallon. But I will be putting up my 1 gallon tank for the baby.


----------



## Tree

So, I went to my LFS and he had two baby bettas at his shop. Now I have known this owner for a long while now and I even made his Logo for his business cards. I told him I have been having issues with finding older females at other stores and need one more to at least make my 10 gallon sorority tank complete. At first he said, "A lot of the times I hardly gets females that are large that come in." And then he looked at his girls he raised from egg-lings and he said, "I think I can part with one of my girls if you want one." I was like "WHAA? really? Are you sure???" And he was okay with it. I picked out a pretty girl that I HOPE is female. Both he and I swear she is. If not he told me to bring "him" back and change him for a female. But I think it's a girl. I will show pictures in a minute here. So now I have the four in the same tank (after rearranging the plants) and they are getting along. There are some flair ups but NO CHASING! THANK GOD! haha So I am a happy camper. Once my baby girl grows up she will be placed in the tank with the four. =) 

It took an older female to snap them out of the chase that's for sure. And boy can she hold her own. hehe Her nose is squashed hin like a bug, not sure if that is a defect or bad breeding but I don't mind.


----------



## themamaj

Love the new fish! I am intrigued with your sorority. I have thought a lot about trying one in past. Look forward to hearing more about how your girls respond to one another. Sounds like going well. Tanks gorgeous!


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## Tree

themamaj said:


> Love the new fish! I am intrigued with your sorority. I have thought a lot about trying one in past. Look forward to hearing more about how your girls respond to one another. Sounds like going well. Tanks gorgeous!




Thank you very much =) I will be giving updates on how the girls handle one another. Right now the lights are off and they are all sleeping. No chases no nipping no nothing. So all is good. I was thinking about placing them in a breeder tank but it seems that everything is going well.


----------



## Tree

So come to find out that the betta I picked up was in fact a male. Will be changing him for a female tomorrow. I learn something knew everyday! when a belly is rounded it's female. (unless its a bloated Boy)


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## themamaj

lol look forward to pictures of the girl


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## Tree

Hahah thanks.


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## Tree

So I went back and got a girl this time. LOL 



















Also sad news. The surgery for Shahla did not work. Her Achilles tendon is still stretched and the vet and I agreed not to do surgery for the other leg that has hip dysplasia. I will be giving her high doses of pain killers until her final days on this Earth.


----------



## Tree

Yeah! I made myself a breeder cage..type... thing. Out of craft mesh, fishing wire and suction cups! 










There has been fin nipping and chasing going on a lot. I have looked unto sororities and it sounds like that behavior can go on for a week or two to establish rank.


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## themamaj

Love the new girl. Such pretty coloration. What are you naming her? Very neat craft mesh net! I need to try that.


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## Tree

themamaj said:


> Love the new girl. Such pretty coloration. What are you naming her? Very neat craft mesh net! I need to try that.


Not sure of a name for her. the other two bettas I've got I have yet to name as well. Since all of my bettas are fish species names I might look up some nice girl names. 

My bettas names I have so far. I will need three more names. Hehe 
Girls: Trout, Mola (three more need names)
Boys: Wahoo, Carp, Kelp

Here are the names I found that might fit well:
Cobia
Tench
Sterlet
PumpkinSeed (Pumpkin for short)
BlueGill (Blue for short)
Bream


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## Sadist

I'm sorry about Shahla. I hope the tanks keep you busy enough while you mourn.

I love the new girl!


----------



## Tree

Sadist said:


> I'm sorry about Shahla. I hope the tanks keep you busy enough while you mourn.
> 
> I love the new girl!


It is what it is, but I hope she has 2 more years left in her before the legs start to cripple her. 

and yeah the tanks have helped my stress on things that's for sure, though this sorority tank is giving me headaches. It looks like things are looking better for the girls though. Still fighting but not as much. 

thanks for the reply. =)


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## Tree

Updates on my baby betta! Im having issues seeing if she is truly a she. =(


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## Tree

update on all of my tanks so far! we will start with the sorority tank:

Things have calmed down a bit since I placed the second to the last female betta in the tank. Mola and Trout were chasing after the newer one still and I figured having a fourth one in the tank will even out the chases. I was correct! It did! there wee stand offs on who would be leader but Mola is still the head honcho! (the crown tail older female) The newer one that I placed in the tank holds her own and letting the others to back off when needed. My little baby is still in the breeder net for safety until she grows. Until I figure out three more names it will be a lot easier to let you all know who's who. I have a list at the top of the names I want to go with but who should be named what. LOL 

first I will show you all the full 10 gallon tank. I am happy that all four of them are in the front at times they will be chased back in the back. As I watch them while I type, they all seem to be in front still.









No name #1 Not sure what to name her. It does look like she has gotten a scale bit out of her. She has been causing a lot of issues lately and she is what you call the omega. They have been keeping her in line if she starts anything. Which is strange. I would think she would be leaving the three alone. But maybe she still wants to be in a higher rank. Time will tell when she gets older. 









Rainbow trout is second in charge. Since Mola and her are GREAT friends! They stick to each other like glue! A few nips at her from the other new girls but not as bad. 

















No name #2 She is the one that will hold her own. Trout at times backs off and then at times will tell her off as well. Mola Trout and this new girl equal out very well.

















Mola, the head leader of the group. With her fat belly she is stealing some of the food but the others are getting a lot of it if I spread it out for them. I'm sure she will share once they all calm down. She did get nipped by the new girl #2. She was trying to take the roll of the upper rank but failed. 

















I already showed you No name #3 above this post. She is chilling in her net like noting is happening outside. lol

Now onto the boys! Their tanks need some help! though I do see some growth. I now know it was the lights that needed to be changed. I don't think it was over the 6 months but I did see some ware on them. 

Wahoos tank is looking much better. I see some growth but yet he seems to be down lately. After I trimming a lot of the leaves from the algae attack, He's been at the bottom of the tank. I think since the plants were trimmed, the currant was a little bit stronger so he was sticking towards the bottom. 










Sad to say Wahoos white is disappearing BUT he is still a BEAUTIFUL fish! and he has not nipped at his fins at all! (knock on wood) 









Next tank is Kelps. man oh man are the plants not happy. But I see some new growth yet again due to the fact I changed the lights on all three of the older tanks. 









and Kelp is his normal self. He loves to strut himself at me and at the Japanese Shrimp and the snail that lives with him. 









Last tank! for some reason the lily plant in the back is not growing which I am sad about. I feel that it's going to die. It gets enough light and everything so I don't know whats going on. I've had it in the tank ever since I got the lily and it never did well in this tank. All the others plants explode in the tank!









and Carp! he likes to stay in the back and the bottom of the tank. Hes my shy boy. but he does come out when I feed him. I think its because its the bottom on the stand and he sees my feet only until I lower down to his level. I would think my owner was scary if they looked like feet. o_o









that's it for my fish for now. I will show progress of the tanks once they grow more and how the girls are doing later down the line. enjoy!


----------



## Tree

So I have decided on the names of my three new girls! 

Sterlet:









Bream:









Cobia:


----------



## Tree

So I found out that the Dragon statue is flaking off. I am going to re paint it and add a coat and water sealant too maybe add it back in a tank. But for right now, I have it out of Wahoo's tank and found this really AWSOME spider wood at my LFS. This dude knows me too well know. I go there all the time for fish supplies and frozen food for my snake. 

any who, here's wahoo's tank and I bought some more live plants to fill in the open areas. 









here is Kelps. I added some of the leftover plants in his tank:









and the girls tank. I might add the drift wood from Wahoo's tank in their tank. Not sure yet.


----------



## Sadist

Little Bream looks like a girl to me. I think I can see some ovaries started.

I love your plants! I'm sorry to read about the dragon pealing, and I'm glad you caught it before anyone died from it!


----------



## Tree

thanks! Yeah Lil helped me out on making sure Bream was a female. I'm so happy about that. 

yeah I'm pretty mad about the dragon statue, but I hated the way it was colored anyway. I am going to make it look so cool once painted and sealed. Wahoo might have been not feeling well due to it. The last few days he was breathing heavily and not swimming around like normal. Now he seems fine.


----------



## Tree

WARNING, WARNING, super large photo dump! I repeat super large photo dump. LOL all four of the girls were showing off for me. That or they were expecting their treats. I will give them treats tomorrow. seems like Sterlet is picking on Cobia a bit but not nipping at her, only chasing. I will watch that behavior more and see if it progresses over time. Though I am kinda glad she is getting shown who's boss, cause she was doing that with Sterlet when she first came into the tank. Anyway their fins are healing and no signs of new damage anywhere on them. That makes me so happy! and Little Bream is GROWING! look how large she's gotten! 

Also it's my birthday today! Yippy... 32... x_x sooo happy... lol


----------



## Sadist

I love the little flare picture the best!


----------



## Tree

Sadist said:


> I love the little flare picture the best!


Sterlet is so naughty. XD At times she leaves Cobia alone and then at times she chases her. At least there are no biting and locking down on one another.


----------



## Innerbeauty

Such a pretty bunch of girls!  I love their colors.

That is too bad about the dragon decor. It was so pretty.


----------



## Tree

Innerbeauty said:


> Such a pretty bunch of girls!  I love their colors.
> 
> That is too bad about the dragon decor. It was so pretty.


thanks you =)

and yeah, Bummed about that. But I am going to repaint it cause I hate the colors it has on right now and seal it with sealant and place it back in one of my tanks. not sure what tank it will be in yet. I might think about Kelps.


----------



## themamaj

Everything looks great! Love the new spiderwood. Is that a background on Wahoo's tank? He is the most beautiful betta! Love your koi boy too. Such pretty yellow and black markings!! Very cute new names for girls. Your betta baby is precious. I would suspect girl but you never know with these babies lol! Always enjoy seeing your tanks and fish. I hope to aspire to great planted tanks like you one day.


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## BettaSplendid

I liked Wahoo's dragon but the Spiderwood looks terrific! Can't see Wahoo in the picture though. He is such a cutie pie- in a manly terrifying betta way I mean...

How often do the girls bite each other? Is it not often? 



Happy Birthday!


----------



## Tree

themamaj said:


> Everything looks great! Love the new spiderwood. Is that a background on Wahoo's tank? He is the most beautiful betta! Love your koi boy too. Such pretty yellow and black markings!! Very cute new names for girls. Your betta baby is precious. I would suspect girl but you never know with these babies lol! Always enjoy seeing your tanks and fish. I hope to aspire to great planted tanks like you one day.


yup that's a background. And thanks! 



BettaSplendid said:


> I liked Wahoo's dragon but the Spiderwood looks terrific! Can't see Wahoo in the picture though. He is such a cutie pie- in a manly terrifying betta way I mean...
> 
> How often do the girls bite each other? Is it not often?
> 
> Yeah the dragon rocked. but that spiderwood man. too cool. And Hahahaha! Wahoo is a stinker.
> Happy Birthday!


not often now. the first week biting and dong damage to their fins but now they have settled down and now they are just giving chase. 

and thanks!


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## Sadist

That crown tail girl looks like she's stealing everyone else's food. "Get in ma bellay!"


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## themamaj

Love love all the pictures! Girls are so cute! I love each of the differences between them. You have a great variety of colors. Really tickled to hear how well your sorority is going! Maybe I can work up the courage to try one sometime in future.


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## Tree

Sadist said:


> That crown tail girl looks like she's stealing everyone else's food. "Get in ma bellay!"


RIGHT? Man I have to push her away with my finger. Luckily she is not attacking them to get the food. Just faster! GAH but I might have to fast her along with the other girls for two days. =/



themamaj said:


> Love love all the pictures! Girls are so cute! I love each of the differences between them. You have a great variety of colors. Really tickled to hear how well your sorority is going! Maybe I can work up the courage to try one sometime in future.


Thanks! I was not looking for colors for the sorority only because they will bite at their fins. I went for their attitude more. So it's funny how pretty they really turned out. Maybe something to think about when starting yours. Look for calm girls. Though it might be hard to find since they are in cups and we all know how they all act in them. Lethargic and dull.


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## themamaj

Hope you had a Happy Birthday! Aww 32. My grandson's is next week. He will be 5. I told him I would also turn 5 later this summer. He said wow we are the same age! Lol he is 05 and I will be 50 but both 5


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## Tree

themamaj said:


> Hope you had a Happy Birthday! Aww 32. My grandson's is next week. He will be 5. I told him I would also turn 5 later this summer. He said wow we are the same age! Lol he is 05 and I will be 50 but both 5


thanks! and my mom's birthday this weekend so I will be celebrating tomorrow for both of our birthdays. =)

and Awwwww! so cute! My nephew turned 11 Feb 1st. So might as well celebrate his as well tomorrow.


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## themamaj

Tree said:


> thanks! and my mom's birthday this weekend so I will be celebrating tomorrow for both of our birthdays. =)
> 
> and Awwwww! so cute! My nephew turned 11 Feb 1st. So might as well celebrate his as well tomorrow.


Have some cake for me and have fun celebrating!


----------



## Tree

themamaj said:


> Have some cake for me and have fun celebrating!


will do! I get ice cream cake. AND every Year my sister and I write something funny on the cakes too. Hehe


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## themamaj

Oh yummy! Do you get those Baskin Robbins cakes or make it? Love those!


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## Tree

I wish! XD naw, get it at DQ


----------



## Tree

Hahahaha! when you see my beautiful boy on another site. Not in a bad way, she was saying how a betta looked like him. ^^
http://achievementhunter.com/user/Caszie?page=6


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## Tree

I finally got a better shot of my four girls together. And look! heir fins are healed and no nipping! And the share the food...well at times. LOL 










and the little girl in the DIY breeder net. I hope she will grow soon, I want her out of the net. LOL


----------



## Tree

Oh, you might not be able to see it WAAAAY in the back, but I bought a nice looking silk plant for the background. I fear that with the riparium plants above, the live plants would not get much light. One Fake plant, the rest real. =)


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## torileeann11

your sorority is inspiring! <3 Can't wait to see more!


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## Tree

Thanks! 

So my sister and her son and husband came over to celebrate all three birthdays mine, my moms and Caydens. He got a water proof GoPro cam for Christmas and brought it over. Soooo I had to use it! Video link below. =D

https://plus.google.com/u/0/104680098748332919067/posts/6vbH6Q2zfHu?pid=6250934393604675986&oid=104680098748332919067


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## blueridge

Awesome video Tree! Love the crowntail girl peaking at the camera xD


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## Tree

Right? She was so interested on what that camera was. LOL

and thanks!


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## Sadist

Wow, awesome!


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## Aqua Aurora

Your sorority is looking great (as well as other tanks), hope the girls continue getting along ^^


----------



## Tree

Sadist said:


> Wow, awesome!


thanks =)



Aqua Aurora said:


> Your sorority is looking great (as well as other tanks), hope the girls continue getting along ^^


thanks =) and I sure hope so. I mean anything can happen in a sorority. >->


----------



## Tree

UPDATE!
So it seems that when Bream is in the small breeder tank, she was not growing at a fast pace. So I made the choice to place her in with the big girls......And..... everyone is in harmony! I am so happy! Though I am having trouble with the plants melting. I got some good advice from Lil so lets hope the plants will become lush. I also bought Excel to give the plants a boost. Everything seems to be going well in the sorority tank, but one of my boys, Wahoo seems to be not himself. I added that spider wood in his tank after seeing the dragon started to peal thinking it was that, that made him clamped but now I still see him chilling at the bottom of the tank more than normal. He swims around like normal but seems that when he is chilling at the bottom he clamps his fins. Not sure if I am just a worried mama, or there is something wrong. The spider wood started getting white spider like substance on it twice now and I washed it with hot water. It keeps coming back. I have read that is a normal thing for new spider woods to get that ugly white crap but the fish don't like it. So every time I see it form, I take the wood out and clean it. sadly I don't have a picture of the wood when it was like that but if it happens again I will take a shot and show it. 

anyway here's the photos of my five girls: (sorry for the water stains LOL)


----------



## BettaSplendid

How you describe Wahoo acting is exactly what I am seeing in Twinkie. Lots of resting at the bottom. I adore Wahoo; he is such a gorgeous boy.

Your sorority looks amazing with all those little colorful ladies. They're like little gems.


----------



## Tree

Do you think it's because of his large fins? I know the filter flow he hates but he has so many areas to hide from it. His tank is a spec V

And thank so much! They are all beautiful together.


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## themamaj

So in awe of your sorority!


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## BettaBoy11

Sorry Wahoo isn't feeling 100%.

The sorority is AMAZING. The girl bettas are gorgeous and... Just wow. It's just awesome.


----------



## Tree

So I had to do a DEEP DEEP clean in Wahoo's tank. took everything apart and redone the whole tank. And changed it around a lot so that way the plants will have more room too grow. Right now its cloudy due to the algae bloom but I hope this change will do good for the tank and Wahoo. 










Also I am still having issues with the spider wood having that white crap on it. here is a shot of it before I cleaned it up. It keeps coming back. =(


----------



## themamaj

Tank looks fabulous! Spiderwood will cont to do that until uses up sugar in wood. I take mine out and rinse about once a week until clears. It is harmless but slimy and gross when in process. Usually after rinse a couple of times it settles down.


----------



## Tree

themamaj said:


> Tank looks fabulous! Spiderwood will cont to do that until uses up sugar in wood. I take mine out and rinse about once a week until clears. It is harmless but slimy and gross when in process. Usually after rinse a couple of times it settles down.


thanks for the input! that makes me feel better. lol I'm glad I just set the spider wood in the tank instead of putting some of it in the dirt and not being able to take it out. 

I will keep an eye on it and keep cleaning it. =)


----------



## Tree

photo DUMP!

first the fish. =)

Kelp: He is getting more black in him. =D which I am quite happy about. He needed more black on his head. 

















Wahoo:

















Carp:









Bream:









Sterlet:









Rainbow trout:









Mola:









Cobia:









now their tanks. I have been adding more ferts to the tanks and so see SOME improvements. we will have to wait and see. 

Wahoo's Tank: (not clouded anymore) 
















Snail:









my 10 gallon tank home for 5 girls. 









Kelps tank:









Carps Tank:


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## Sadist

Love the tanks and pets in them!


----------



## Tree

thanks! =D


----------



## themamaj

I am so in love with Kelp! He gets cuter ever picture I see. Each of your fish are lovely. I am most envious of your tanks and plants. I know it is a lot of work to keep everything looking so nice. Great job


----------



## Tree

Thank you. Kelp is one pretty fish, I have to say. Glad I found him too. Most Koi bettas would marble so much. 

I am hoping with the ferts my plants will get thicker and greener. Having a bit of trouble with them.


----------



## torileeann11

Tree said:


> Thank you. Kelp is one pretty fish, I have to say. Glad I found him too. Most Koi bettas would marble so much.
> 
> I am hoping with the ferts my plants will get thicker and greener. Having a bit of trouble with them.


Are you using any CO2 or carbon supplementation? It's really helpful in promoting growth, even in low tech systems.

I just does Flourish Excel, but there are other options out there.


----------



## Tree

torileeann11 said:


> Are you using any CO2 or carbon supplementation? It's really helpful in promoting growth, even in low tech systems.
> 
> I just does Flourish Excel, but there are other options out there.


I don't use CO2 only because its so expensive. I just bought some Excel and I do see some improvements in the plants. I also have been using potassium, and Flourish comp. I have not been dosing them correctly and now that I know the right dosage I think they will look healthier.


----------



## Tree

So I had to place Wahoo into the hospital tank. I think he might have wasting disease. =( he looks thinner than normal and he only ate one pellet of food and left the others alone. I added AQ salt, General Cure and IALs. into the 2.5 gallon tank. here are some pictures of the poor guy.


----------



## Tree

looked up more about the wasting disease and I'm kinda getting worried. It can spread to humans. Maybe it's not Wasting but a different kind of parasite?


----------



## Aqua Aurora

Hope he bounces back and that its not wasting disease. Have you gotten to see any poop?


----------



## Tree

sadly no I have not seen any poop yet. I'm guessing its some type of bacteria? what do you think it might be? I think the dragon ornament caused it so maybe poisoning? and he has not gotten better from removing and cleaning out his tank. Though I do think with changing his tank around might have cause him to be stressed out as well. 

This makes me so stressed out because I have no idea what is making him lethargic. Most of the illnesses from my other fish I knew of. Some I could fix and some that could not be fixed and I just had to give them a good life.

I hope what ever it is gets healed from the meds and he gets better. I will give him a good week in the QT tank with the meds.


----------



## BettaBoy11

Sorry about Wahoo.I hope he recovers!


----------



## Tree

Thanks, But good news! He is getting to be more energetic and he ate three pellets today! 

Also I have done a deep deep clean on yet another one of my NTP Dirt tank. the shrimp are loving the fact I don't have Carp in there yet. Speaking of Carp, little devil got out of his cup when I was caring for his tank. Don't worry it was floating in Wahoos tank which he is not in. So Carp is having a time of his life looking around his buddies tank. Though I do have some sad news about Carp. He is developing a tumor on the side of his body. =( not to mention his diamond eyes. But he is still happy and healthy which is good. I HATE TUMORS! 

Anyway here are some pictures of the the mess I made in my room and the finished tank, plus Carp being spoiled in the other tank. 


































oh by the way, the sorority tank is doing well. but one plant did not make it so I had to add two more fake plants in the back until I get more to fill it in. Bream seems to be not growing fast though, I'm just glad she is not getting picked on by the bigger ladies.


----------



## themamaj

Glad Wahoo feeling better. Tanks look great. Lol love the mess...feel like home on water change day with my cats also in middle of it


----------



## Tree

themamaj said:


> Glad Wahoo feeling better. Tanks look great. Lol love the mess...feel like home on water change day with my cats also in middle of it



Me too ^^

Hahahaha! yeah three of my four cats like to mess with the water and drink out of it. Ew. dirty water. =P The paper towels on the ground were there from cleaning up a spill. lol!


----------



## Tree

Tanks clearing up! and I have added Carp back into his own tank. He is scoping the new place out now. Once this tank grows out, this might be my favorite tank. =D I love the drift wood and it has cracks in it so Shrimp can hide.


----------



## BettaSplendid

"It's not _dirty_ water, Mama, it is _fishy_ water." mmmm....

Oh Wahoo.  Hoping he continues to improve.


----------



## Tree

Hahahahaha!!! so true. All of my cats are just too funny. 

and thanks! ^^ He seems to be a lot more active in the 2.6 gallon so far. I SO hope whatever is bugging him will go away so I can place him in his nice new clean tank. =) I think it might be parasites or a bacteria infection. if so shame on me cause I know he sis not come with it. I had him for over 7 months now.


----------



## Tree

so I had energy to redo my last tank. was not going to do it for a long while but there were some bulbs with deep roots that would rot in there if I did not take them out. It also had an Assassin snail outbreak. LOL here's the new tank layout.










I think I am going to have Wahoo in this one. only because the filter is a sponge filter and will be less flow for him. As for the Spec V, Kelp gets that tank. =)


----------



## BettaSplendid

That tank looks like a dream. A. Dream.

Wow.

I loke the balance of color, how you used red leafed plants with the green and the driftwood. Everything looks natural and balanced. My, my, my...


----------



## Tree

thanks so much! =) I hope the tank grows out.


----------



## Sadist

I love all of the tanks! And fish!


----------



## Tree

Sadist said:


> I love all of the tanks! And fish!


thank you. =) 

I do have updates on all the tanks and bettas. first I will go into Kelp's tank. He is just loving his new tank and made himself a large bubble nest. I woke up one morning to catch him in the act of making his nest. Luckily I had my camera next to my bed and took a video of him working away. lol

https://plus.google.com/u/0/104680098748332919067/posts/M4ybCRbSfa5?pid=6261601083714308274&oid=104680098748332919067

Next we have the girls tank. I had to take out one of the purple waffles, it was not doing well. and I added a new plant. after I added the plant, my girls started to fight for the plant. fight for the territory. Trout got a large chunk out of her tail fin after Mola won the battle of keeping the plant her territory. I done a water change cause Mola did take a large chunk out of trout, close to her body. She's doing just fine but for 20 minutes she was clamped and hiding from the shame of losing. 

here is the photo of their tank so far. 

















you can see Trout on the far left with her tail fin bitten. 
Wahoo had been eating and its been 7 days with the meds and AQ salt. I took him out of the Qt tank and into his new home. He is still hiding at times but getting a bit better. I wanna keep feeding him so he can get fat but I know that wont be a good idea. =( I just want him to not be so thin, want him to be nice and plump. 

the other three tanks are doing well. Some tannins leaching out of the woods and from the dirt but even Carp has been making his own bubble nest, liking his new layout. too lazy to take more pictures of the other three tanks. They look the same so no reason to take a picture. LOL 

that's all for now, Enjoy!


----------



## themamaj

What is the large leaf plant you have back right in girls tank? The plants you have coming out the top of the tank are they planted in the substrate? Really lovely.

Handsome Kelp. What a busy boy. Love to see them working so hard on their nests


----------



## Tree

themamaj said:


> What is the large leaf plant you have back right in girls tank? The plants you have coming out the top of the tank are they planted in the substrate? Really lovely.
> 
> Handsome Kelp. What a busy boy. Love to see them working so hard on their nests


It's a type of sword, you mean the one with the stems and bright green? Or the one in the way way back that is speckled? The plants in the deep back are fake plants since there's no light back there. 

the plants that are poking out of that have their own little pots hanging off of the tank. =) Roots are floating.


----------



## BettaSplendid

What medication did you give Wahoo? Did you decide whether it was parasite or bacteria?

You got me wondering if I should try some meds on Twinkie. He is still lethargic but he eats well.


----------



## Tree

I used general cure and aquarium salt for about 7 days. If you feel that he is not feeling like himself maybe do some Aquarium salt first. Wahoo would not eat at all. so at least that s a plus on your boy eating. ^^


----------



## BettaSplendid

Great suggestion. I should have thought to do that. I thought it was age but maybe it is something I can help. I'll go dissolve some now. It won't hurt Nerites...they better not breed though. Oh nos.


----------



## Tree

BettaSplendid said:


> Great suggestion. I should have thought to do that. I thought it was age but maybe it is something I can help. I'll go dissolve some now. It won't hurt Nerites...they better not breed though. Oh nos.



Mmm for the nerites not sure, I think it should be okay for the salt. but maybe asked around first. and no problem. I hope your boy gets better like my boy. ^^ I mean Wahoo is still lethargic but he is eating again and scoping around more now.


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## BettaSplendid

Twinkie got lethargic after I accidentally unplugged his heater overnight. It got down to 60F. Maybe then his immune system weakened and he got sick. I did a DEEP vaccuum afterwards and there was a lot of gunk in his gravel. He has salt in his tank now, 1tsp and I'll add a bit more later. Thanks! I hope this will help him.


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## Sadist

I love the girls's new plant! I commented on your boy's bubble nest, too. He's such a great worker!


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## Tree

Thanks! and thanks for the comment. =D

I have frustrating news, Wahoo had to be put back into the smaller tank to be watched. I think I will end up keeping him in there. I also think he hates the filter as well. I will monitor him real close and let you all know what I find. It looks like he is twitching and rubbing which could indicate that it is in fact parasites. He is also breathing very hard. 


In other news, I did end up buying another betta. I had to much extra driftwood, silk plants and bamboo that I set up a 2.5 gallon tank just for Wahoo. Wahoo did not stay in the 5.5 gallon tank very long so I am using that for my new betta. I will be doing another tank clean on that tank. I will send more shots of him in his tank later.


----------



## Tree

Random picture of Carp. =)










and the colors of the new guy! not a very good shot. He is very nervous, yet he is showing interest in me.


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## Sadist

What a cutie!


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## Aqua Aurora

Sorry Wahoo is having troubles, the new guy is interesting, looks like he ha a bit of copper in him from the last photo.
Husband walked by and saw the latest car shot and commented that it a really good photo.


----------



## Tree

strange enough, Wahoo is acting better in the 2.5 gallon tank than the 5.5 gallon. I am thinking he likes the smaller tanks. Even in the spec he was in he was always shy and to himself. Now, he has so many hiding places that he feels safer. I'm going to give him a few weeks in the smaller tank and see if he fattens up. If I see something different, I will put him on meds again. 

Anyway, yeah the new guy has metallic green scales. He is a very strange betta too. He already made a bubble nest and he always is wary around my camera. Like he looks at it and sits still facing the camera. LOL these were the only two good shots I got. Not to mention his tank is full of tannin. LOL 

and tell your husband I said thanks =D do you think he is a deformed Double tail? or a half moon? Petco said he was a "Roes Tail" LOL


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## Tree

So I have a list of names that will suit him well. 
Haddock
Oscar (for his temperament) 
Pollock
Tench
Green Terror
Mackerel


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## Sadist

He does look like he has double tail genes.

Usually, the store near me calls feather tails rose tails, where the ends of the caudal look like feathers. Sometimes, they just put the label on a fish with lots of ruffles.


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## Aqua Aurora

He looks like a double tail to me. I never trust petco labeling! I went to a store 2 days ago that had a giant male plakat labeled as a veiltial female.... not even close petco >.<


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## Sadist

What about the fish labeled as a marimo? Some times, I think they just don't look.


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## BettaSplendid

Sadist said:


> What about the fish labeled as a marimo? Some times, I think they just don't look.


Solomon was labelled like that! My little "betta buddy" LOL


----------



## Sadist

I saw one in our store labeled as betta buddy anubias nana plant. Hehe. I think they just ran out of cups and used a cup from a dead plant or something.


----------



## Tree

Sadist said:


> He does look like he has double tail genes.
> 
> Usually, the store near me calls feather tails rose tails, where the ends of the caudal look like feathers. Sometimes, they just put the label on a fish with lots of ruffles.


Yeah I think you're right. Over at the Betta pictures Lil commented on him saying he was a DT. =P

Hahahahah! yeah that happened to me once too. phht petco/smart.



Aqua Aurora said:


> He looks like a double tail to me. I never trust petco labeling! I went to a store 2 days ago that had a giant male plakat labeled as a veiltial female.... not even close petco >.<


nope, I only look for the ones that attach to me anyway. I never read the labels. some of the time I know what tail type they are anyway. This one was hard for me DT or HM. But I am starting to think he is a giant. 

omg Hahahaha that has got to be the worst labeling ever. XD 



BettaSplendid said:


> Solomon was labelled like that! My little "betta buddy" LOL


Hahahaha!! perfect. hehe



Sadist said:


> I saw one in our store labeled as betta buddy anubias nana plant. Hehe. I think they just ran out of cups and used a cup from a dead plant or something.


I think you're right. they use reused cups I'm sure. I wonder if they get the cups from other stores every time a betta comes in, or they reuse some of them when a betta dies.... Shivers of the thought.


----------



## Sadist

I think the bettas come in bags and get transfered to cups. I've seen the box of fish on fish arrival day at the pet store -- a big 2 x 2 x 2 feet box packed with fish bagged up and ready to be acclimated to the pet store tanks.


----------



## themamaj

New guy has gorgeous colors!!


----------



## Tree

Sadist said:


> I think the bettas come in bags and get transfered to cups. I've seen the box of fish on fish arrival day at the pet store -- a big 2 x 2 x 2 feet box packed with fish bagged up and ready to be acclimated to the pet store tanks.


oh yeah Haha Duh! So they must get the cups from a different place at least because the customers take home the cups.


themamaj said:


> New guy has gorgeous colors!!


thanks =)

Update pictures on the tanks.

10 gallon: (Had to add another fake plant. almost all of the live plants have died off. =( Only live ones left are the anubias nanas, A sword plant and small Java ferns. I moved all of the anubias in the front and placed all of the fake plants in the back. The plants above are taking all the light. ^^ I will be adding more anubias down the line. 









5.5 gallon with new boy: (I added what was left over in the 10 gallon to try to save them by adding them in this tank. Since it has more light and soil I'm hoping they will survive. 









5.5 gallon tank Carps tank. (this one tank has always been great at growing plants. Not sure why. Same water same soil. 










Spec V 5.5 gallon with Kelp. (this one has been doing okay. though I wish I would have added the soil I added in the other tanks, in this one. The soil is not soaking up the water as much. The new soil I bought helps absorbed the water and was organic to boot. Well I will just have to keep poking the soil once a week. 









2.5 gallon tank with Wahoo. (my poor boy has gone through so much. This morning I saw him so pale, I thought he was about to be on his way out. When I felt the water I was like WTF??? The heaters were not RUNNING! the power cord has shut off. I placed him in a cup and set him in the 10 gallon to warm up while I warm up his smaller tank. Now he is doing fine and his colors are back. I have had a plant in the tank but he likes the hiding places a lot more all of the driftwoods and the fake rock makes him feel right at home. He's a strange fish. Never had one that would stay away from plants and likes to hide before.


----------



## Tree

I finally got a good shot of this pip squeak! I decided to call him Oscar. =P


----------



## torileeann11

for the record, the bettas come in their cups. They come in a box that is different from the others (at least at my store). They come in an insulated box with the plants. Their cups are half full of blue water. We have to punch out the little holes in the top and change their water when they arrive.


----------



## Tree

ah that makes since. 

well sorry for not being on for a LONG while. busy life. 

I have sad news. Wahoo did not make it and now Mola has a large tumor on her face that is getting larger every week. =( 

here are some photos of the tanks and her along with some other photos. I cannot stay on to add more info on things. been sick and not wanting to be online a lot.


----------



## themamaj

Brought home a yellow and black koi boy today that reminded me so much of your Kelp. Now only if i can create a tank as pretty. Hope all your guys and gals doing well. Love seeing your tank pictures!


----------



## Tree

Eeeep! I love those colors! sorry for the late reply I have been busy with life. =( send a picture of him on here, I would love to see him. =)

update coming soon


----------



## Tree

Large Update: I have sad news, Mola had died from the growth on her face. It opened up and she was turning pale so I had to put her down with clove oil. soon after that, I didn't get another female betta for a long while, keeping only four in the tank. The girls started to fight over who would be next in line to be boss since Mola was no longer in the tank. Soon enough I wanted another girl and went to petco to find my next female Named Smelt! (pictures below). 

More bad news, not only did my betta die, but three people in my life have died as well. The first was my friends mother that was sick for over 8 years. Next was my grandpa that passed away the same day that one of my friends passed away named Joel Bien. Joel was only 28 years old. So I have had three funerals in the last two months. 

My grandma was cleaning out Grampas things and one of his things was a 5 gallon fish tank and of course Grandma gave it to me. =) And I filled that tank with plants and cycled it and bought myself one pea puffer. In memorial of Joel Bien I named the Puffer after him "Bien" (pictures of her below) 

the three Betta boys are doing great. I did have to redo a tank (the specV) because the plants were not doing well in it. And I changed the light back to the LED light to see what could grow with it. we will see what happens. I will send pictures of all of the tanks later. Just the Puffer tank I will show. =) 

that is it for now. In the meantime enjoy the photos below. 
Smelt:








Colbia:








Bream:








Rainbow trout:








sterlet:









the boys:
Kelp:








Carp:








Trigger:









and the Pea Puffer Bien:

















her tank:


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## Aqua Aurora

Tree said:


> her tank:


Sorry for your losses.
What is the stem plant in the puffers tank? I had some hitch in on other plants and never figured it out.


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## themamaj

Tree I am so deeply sorry to hear of all of your losses especially in such a short peroid of time. What a sweet and honoring gesture to name puffer after friend. So cute!!! I love those but never had nerve to try. Yes what is the plant in tank? Really neat and provides perfect hides for fish. So sweet your grandma gave you the tank from grandpa. I bet he would smile knowing you have it  Your new sorority girl is so pretty. I hope she will have an easy transition for you. All your fish are gorgeous. Have always loved Kelp so when saw my koi boy I was delighted. His name is Marlin. Here's a picture. Wonder if he will get more black over time like Kelp has.


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## Tree

Aqua Aurora said:


> Sorry for your losses.
> What is the stem plant in the puffers tank? I had some hitch in on other plants and never figured it out.


It's guppy grass. I LOVE IT. and I got it for free at a LFS. 
and thanks ^^



themamaj said:


> Tree I am so deeply sorry to hear of all of your losses especially in such a short peroid of time. What a sweet and honoring gesture to name puffer after friend. So cute!!! I love those but never had nerve to try. Yes what is the plant in tank? Really neat and provides perfect hides for fish. So sweet your grandma gave you the tank from grandpa. I bet he would smile knowing you have it  Your new sorority girl is so pretty. I hope she will have an easy transition for you. All your fish are gorgeous. Have always loved Kelp so when saw my koi boy I was delighted. His name is Marlin. Here's a picture. Wonder if he will get more black over time like Kelp has.


thanks so much. One of my friends that was really close to Joel Bien gave me the idea to name the puffer after him. <3 and having the tank be my grandpa makes it even better. 

the plant is guppy grass and it grows FAST! I would recommend it 100%!

it took kelp close to a year to get his black to spread. he had more yellow. I'm fine with the black spreading but the blue I didn't. so far the blue shine has not spread. =)

OMG he's ADORABLE! I'm sure that black with spread. after he settles in at home I'm sure. Kelp has made nothing but bubble nests lately more than my other two boys. LOL He is working his fin tail off.


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## Tree

update on the tanks. I had to redo one my SpecV. I hope it will grow and I might add more plants in it in the future. all the other tanks are doing well though Trigger's tank is not my favorite. =/

here are the pictures.

My 10 gallon with my five girls:
















Triggers 5.5 gallon tank:








Carps Tank:








Kelps Tank: specV








and my 2.5 gallon tank holding snails for my assassin snails and puffer to eat. 









and just for fun Kelp was photogenic and took some snapshot of him;


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## Aqua Aurora

I don't remember kelp having to much black on his face, but then I think I usually only see photos from the one side (less black by eyes).


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## torileeann11

Looking good. Such a cute little marble ! <3


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## Tree

Aqua Aurora said:


> I don't remember kelp having to much black on his face, but then I think I usually only see photos from the one side (less black by eyes).


Yeah Kelps Black bled more. I like it like that. =)



torileeann11 said:


> Looking good. Such a cute little marble ! <3


thanks ^^

I have bad news... Had to put down my sweet sweet girl Shahla, My Sheltie yesterday. Her only good back hip gave out and there was nothing we could do. 

Rest in Peace Shahla <3









Trying to think about other things than her sweet face at home. so I have a video of Bien the puffer fish. ^^

https://plus.google.com/u/0/104680098748332919067/posts/TEAphCxzdKL?pid=6300331880172043026&oid=104680098748332919067


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## Sadist

I'm sorry for your loss. She was a gorgeous pup.

The video of Bien is really cute!


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## themamaj

So deeply sorry about your dog! It looks like she was such a special girl! 

Bien is the cutest!!!! Those eyes! Is he eating blood worms?


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## BettaBoy11

Oh my goodness. I'm so sorry.


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## Autumncrossing

So sorry to hear about your pup . Looks like she was very loved and a best friend. She'll be waiting for you at the rainbow bridge no doubt. Sending some prayers your way! 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Tree

Autumncrossing said:


> So sorry to hear about your pup . Looks like she was very loved and a best friend. She'll be waiting for you at the rainbow bridge no doubt. Sending some prayers your way!
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


thanks <3 I will be sending a shadow box made by me soon here. Its the perfect memorial for us.


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## Tree

The "do it yourself" shadow box for shahla's memorial is finished! While I was cooped up at home from my injured leg, I had the time do this. ♡ it would have cost me 250.00 dollars for a custom shadow box. I only spent 9.99 bucks on the box and some extra things I needed to finish the items making it less than 30 bucks. The paints, clay, paintbrushes and pictures I had.  this helped me cope this week without shahla.











































in other news. I added two new plants to Kelps tank:


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## Autumncrossing

Did you make the statue too? It's lovely. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## themamaj

Beautiful shadow box! Wish I had something like that of dog Halle. She passed a little over year and half. My heart hurts for you as I know that pain. I hope your special tribute to her will bring you comfort and smiles as you remember fond times of a best friend.

Kelp's plants look lovely. Lucky boy!


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## Tree

Autumncrossing said:


> Did you make the statue too? It's lovely.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


yup ^_^ thank you very much



themamaj said:


> Beautiful shadow box! Wish I had something like that of dog Halle. She passed a little over year and half. My heart hurts for you as I know that pain. I hope your special tribute to her will bring you comfort and smiles as you remember fond times of a best friend.
> 
> Kelp's plants look lovely. Lucky boy!


thanks you. I wish I could have done this with my other three dogs in the past. Shahla was my first own dog I bought on my own with my sister so she meant a lot to us. <3


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## Tree

I LIVE! And my boys and girls are doing wonderful. I updated the girls tanks light and I have to say I am loving it! I won't talk too much so here are some photos of the tanks. I will post pics of the fish another time.


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## themamaj

So in awe of your tanks! Absolutely stunning!


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## Tree

WOW sorry for no update on my fish and myself. things have been crazy busy! anyway I have some sad news. a lot of the fish have passed away and I am down with my 3 girls and 1 boy. I'm slowing down on owning so many bettas at the moment but I have gotten a new addition, a Pea puffer and some Rasporas and loaches. =) here are the tanks so far and the photos of my puffer. the one strange thing I have been seeing on Bein (the puffers name) is the lump in the middle of her head. I see other photos of puffers and I don't see any lump on their heads. 









The tanks:


























































I have separated my girls due to one that attacked all of them. Kelp has passed on. the yellow and black Koi. T^T Rest in peace my pretty bettas. <3


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## LittleBettaFish

Tanks are looking great as always. 

This is what I consider the downside to owning personable species of fish, such as bettas. I think you feel their losses so much harder because they are such individuals. 

The lump on the head of your pea puffer is odd. Did it have the lump when you purchased it, as I wonder if it was simply born that way?


----------



## Tree

Yeah its so hard when you fall in love with one. Kelp lived for a year and a half and the one girl that was aggressive that I bought killed two of the girls and one is not doing so great from the bites.

yeah the lump was here when I got her. It might be yet again another tumor, but who knows. I hate tumors so much. but it does not seem to bother her. but it is getting a lot larger. I have an older photo of her I can try to find.


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## Tree

you can see it a little, this was when I first got her.


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## DangerousAngel

Tree! I'm so glad to see you back! But I'm really sorry to hear about the boys/girls that you've lost. I do hope that the tumor on your Pea Puffer (who is absolutely adorable BTW) isn't anything to worry about.


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## Tree

thank you! I'm glad to be back and hope to stay for awhile. My 10 gallon has a very different feel to it after the girls moved into their own tanks. I added Rasporas (rainbow and Dwarf) and Banda Loaches. It's a hole new change for me and I love it so far. I didn't go to my local fish store for the fish and I felt bad cause when I went to Aquatic pets today to get food and new plants I told him I bought some fish at another place. (was not planning on buying any but that changed) lol The panda loaches were SO PRICEY! they were $49.99 a piece! but I think my LFS might get some cheaper for me in the future. I got my pea puffer at my LFS and I will have her a year in May! I hope she lives a lot longer too. I love her so much!

anyway a little about me. I have two jobs now. Grooming dogs at my own shop, and working at a vet clinic boarding dogs. feeding cleaning taking out and playing with them. I also have a third job every Saturday babysitting two dogs at home. so yeah busy busy life right now. I will try to get on more at least maybe once a week to check up on the site. ^_^ 

I love this website and love the people on here. I missed ya all so much. <3


----------



## Tree

Oh I forgot to show the betta team!
here are my three girls:

























and my boy:


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## Sadist

Welcome back! You sure are busy. I love the boy's coloring. Girls are looking cute, and puffer is adorable.


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## Tree

thank you! and yeah last year has been crazy. I started my own grooming business back in 2015 and getting more customers plus working at a clinic to help feed water and let out dogs that are boarding for the week and weekend. lol


----------



## Tree

my two new boys!


















update of my fish and tanks:

sadly Kelp my black and Yello Koi and my black and red long finned boy passed on. =( my 10 gallon is still thriving and I have a 5 gallon with just shrimp and snails! my other two 5 gallon tanks have the last two girls that I have. so right now I have two boys, two girl bettas, a puffer, panda loaches, and rasporas. =)

my small nano planted tanks =)


----------



## Tree

Other shots of the tanks and the critters in them. =)


----------



## Tree

My ball python was on a hunger strike for 4 months until she started eating pinkies. took a video of her taking the food so nicely. I know it's not the smartest thing to feed them in the tank but this was the only way to feed the little brat.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/photo/104680098748332919067/6443971308433648306?icm=false

Also I adopted a new dog a month ago. his name is Finn and his is a Chimera along with my old girl Shobi trying to catch fish and frogs lol

















one of my panda loaches. I have two in my nano tank. I'll try to get my dwarf rasporas later to take a picture of. they are so tiny and hard to take a picture of.


----------



## Tree

so my friend gave me a 30 gallon breeder tank and using it! going to get a figure 8 puffer! WOO


----------



## themamaj

Oh a figure 8 puffer!!! 🤗 I love those. Our local store carries them and I love to stand and watch them. That will be so much fun! 

Your tanks are so beautiful. You have an amazing tallent for aquascaping.


----------



## Tree

thank you very much! I have read so much about figure 8 puffers and always wanted one but never has a large enough tank or the room until now to get one. I love how they have personalities of a dog and they don't need a friend in the tank to be happy. 

I have changed my fish keeping quite a bit over the last year. I am down to 1 betta in his own tank, 7 chilli rasporas in a 10 gallon, over 50 shrimp/snails in their own tank and my 1 little Bien the pea puffer in her own tank 

Seems that I have issues with community fish tanks. Tested it out with my ten gallon with small fish but the only things that are doing okay are the chili rasporas. I feel bad for the others that were in there but I might just stick with the chili rasporas seeing they are hardy and go up to the tank more that other fish I had in the tank with them. 

I'm wondering if a small sucker fish can go in with them in the 10 just a cleaning buddy for the food that does not get eaten. being a fully planted tank they seem to be doing alright. =)


----------



## Tree

<--- five gallon with Tiga the koi betta








<--- five gallon with Bien the pea puffer 








< 10 gallon with 7 chili rasporas and the 5 gallon below with 50 plus shrimp and some snails.


----------



## Tree

update!

my 20 gallon long is now looking clear! Now to wait until the cycle from the older filter it had becomes perfect for the figure 8. I have been looking up on the easiest way to make this tank a brackish water. It seems easy enough. any opinions on this matter? I copied and pasted some info that was important on my computer to help me out with it. It's scary but exciting at the same time.


----------



## Tree

my new figure 8 puffer fish named Copter!


----------



## themamaj

Oh my goodness he is the cutest thing ever!!! Love the name too. 

Tree I could never tire of looking at your tanks. They are just breathtaking.


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## Tree

Thank you! I was kinda upset at the fish store I went to that had them. All of the F8s were tail nipped by the green spotted puffers in the same tank! This one looked the healthiest and I could not pass him/her up with the way they were treated. =/ I hope copter grows big and strong. =D

also my chili Rasporas in their 10 gallon tank =)


----------



## Tree

good news! copter is eating everything I throw into the tank! so far I gave him snails, bloodworms, and cherry shrimp! I'm so happy and his colors are showing more and more too! I have no idea if he is a she or he so I will just call him male. I will never know due to the fact no one can sex these little pipsqueaks. lol his personalty is showing more every day and gets excited when I wake up in the morning to feed him. Just like betta fish which I love! I'll have some pictures of him and the other fish I have tomorrow.


----------



## Tree

more good news, copter's finn is healing very nicely and showing more color every day! some photos of the little monster


----------



## Tree

hello again! this is an update on all of my fish and tanks so far!

one of my bettas got nitrate poisoning and is not doing so hot. he's in his own 2.5 gallon tank with AQ salt and Indian Almond leaves. =( any idea on how to help him? He is laying on the side on the gravel. He seems to be eating a bit though.









my other boy Bubbles (my friend named him it and I gave up on naming bettas seafood lol) is doing very well. I transferred him over to the 5 gallon Taiga was in. (made sure the Nitrate was low) His color changed a lot after I got him too. =)








his tank: 









the red cherry feeder shrimp are going great! making babies like crazy too. 









I transferred over the larger snails into a 5 gallon bucket for more room and to use for Copter my F8 puffer. =) no heater but a filter. fist time saying this but I hope they make plenty of eggs. lol









my 10 gallon with 6 Chili rasporas, 2 galaxy rasporas, (had two more but one if killing them off so I am trying to catch that one to return it to the store) many baby assassin snails (trying to kill off) and two nerite snails. 










and my 20 gallon with my F8 puffer. right now its still fresh water but I'll be adding salt slowly in this up coming week along with crushed coral. =) there are fake plants in this tank so don't be fooled. lol


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## themamaj

The IAL and aquarium salt are good to help. I would also do small daily water changes. Hope your guy feels better. 

Bubbles is beautiful! Love colors


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## Tree

thanks for the reply! I hope he pulls through I feel really bad. I thought that the plants he had in the tank would have helped keep the nitrates at bay. I checked when he fell ill a week ago and it was over 100 T^T I slowly brought it down and then moved him into a smaller tank for him to get to the surface better. Cross your fingers for him to pull through this! 

thanks, I love mustard gas bettas so much when I say him at the store I just had to get him. (luckily I had a spare tank.) haha!


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## Tree

Oops forgot to add Biens 5 gallon tank. She is doing quite well though she still has that strange lump in the middle of her head. I'm guessing it's a wart LOL if fish get those. 0_0


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## ThatFishThough

She is the cutest! Pea puffer? What do you feed her?

My LFS always gets them in and they're adorable.


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## Tree

Bien is a pea puffer Copter is a figure 8 puffer. =)

well...you are supposed to feed the pea puffers, snails, blood worms, and shrimp Buuut, Bien is stubborn and my LFS dude said she only eats blood worms. I thought I could force her to eat snails but her tank became over run with the devils she will not even eat brine shrimp either. LOL Puffers need to eat hard things to grind down their beaks which is frustrating for me with Bien not eating any of the snails I gave her. 

but my figure 8 puffer eats them like crazy and loves any food I give him. haha


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## ThatFishThough

I saw a video once of a pea puffer sucking a bladder snail out of his shell instead of crunching on the shell, lol. I'm breeding my bladder Snails in hopes to get a colony going before I get le puffer. I could technically get one now, because Kai is technically half blind and in QT with meds, but his 5.5 is under planted and I kinda want to keep it open in case he recovers.


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## Tree

That is what I did for my f8 puffer fish even though I had a snail outbreak before I even thought about getting a f8. I'm wondering if I get the smallest snail for my pea puffer, she might start eating them more. Will be testing this out this week. 
Right now I have a 5 gallon bucket full of snails that are laying eggs like mad. I transferred the snails from my other 5 gallon that have red cherry shrimp. I have Ram horn snails it looks like. thought I had bladder snails. lol I'm going to test and see if Copter will eat the assassin snails as well. I have so many of them in my shrimp tank. They are slow growers but small enough for Copter to chomp on. 

So update on all my tanks. I moved Bien downstairs where there was less activity. she was stressing out when people walked passed her tank due to the vibration of our steps. She seems to be calmer downstairs in the basement now. just a little stressed from the short move. I moved My betta, Kite upstairs, he seems more chill for the heavy traffic up there. I added more salinity to Copters tank and also added crushed coral to help stable the PH in the water. I did read that puffers like sand but having very hard water as it is, sand was not an option for me. He seems to be doing just fine with the gravel and coral in there. 
I also added a bubblier in the back for him to swim around in. It's not in the middle to that way he can stay away from the bubbles if he wants to relax. 

I took out my Nerite snail and my assassin snail from the 10 gallon tank and it is ready for 4 more Chili rasboras (have 6 right now) and 10 Habrosus Cory. My 10 gallon tank is fully planted. I did see a stowaway in my 20 gallon long from the fish that were living in there before. I placed it in the 10 gallon for now. It's a baby fry! I still cannot tell what it is but when it gets larger I will take a picture of him/her. Sadly I cannot keep it due to being in such a small tank and they like to be in groups of their own species. I will be giving it to the LFS downtown where the others are happily living.

My shrimp are living it up in a planted 5 gallon tank homed with more snails that keep breeding. I have been trying to get rid of them in the shrimp tank but they just keep multiplying! the assassin snails are not doing their jobs! instead they are making babies left and right. LOL

On a sad note. I am down to one betta. And will stick to one betta from now on. My koi betta fell ill from Nitrate poisoning due to my negligence. I thought with the live plants it would keep the Nitrates at bay. I'm not 100% sure it was the nitrates, but I did test the water and it was very very high. I feel really bad. I tried everything for him; from water changes every day, too IALs and AQ salt. He was not showing any signs of improvement and passed on yesterday in his tank. SIP little buddy and I am sorry. T^T

good news is that Copter is showing signs of improvement!
Before:








After:









He's loving the fact that the 20 gallon is all his and how he does not need to share any of his food to other fish. HA


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## lilnaugrim

I was told that Pea puffer's don't need to crunch on things as often as larger puffers do because their beaks don't grow very much over their lifetime. I was told that by a couple people actually and tend to believe it since during my time of having a puffer, she didn't eat snail shells either but did suck out the snail like TFT mentioned. But of course, I always believe in offering what you can to attempt to insure a healthy lifestyle at least!


Copter is adorable!


You always have the best tanks Tree!


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## themamaj

I agree. Best tanks! What type of snails are you growing?


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## Tree

Thanks lilnaugrim. 
I'm glad to here that about Pea puffers. I have had told that three times now and starting to think it is very true. =) 



themamaj, I'm breeding ramshorn snails. I had one of them stowaway on a plant and ever since they have gotten out of control so it worked out perfectly. haha

here are some photos of the critters and the tanks: 

My fish, Kite's tank:









Kite:

















little Bien eating a Bloodworm:









her tank: 









Copter...had a little too much to eat, oops:









the little Fry that I found in my 20 gallon long that is now in my 10 gallon temporary:









a ramshorn snail:









one of the many red cherry shrimp in the 5 gallon:


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## themamaj

Kite is a beauty! I really like that driftwood piece in his tank. 

Happy critters and full tummies 😃


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## Tree

thanks! I have had that driftwood for a long time and still love it.
indeed!


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## Tree

Something other thank fish, this post is more about my other pets and my art work that I have finished this year so far. <3 

Our new dog Finn has been a very good boy so far. we've had issues with him nipping people trying to herd them around and did end up nipping a kid. He had to be stuck in the house for 10 days and now he has a bad reputation being a potentially dangerous dog. =/ but or me working at a clinic that has daycare and boarding, Finn gets playtime Sunday- Thursday in the afternoon teaching him how to behave with other people and dogs at work. Being that he is a strong herder, we work a lot on him more than Shobi, our other dog. My sister runs him 3 miles (when he can go that far) and I bring him to work every day I work. 









Shobi on the other hand is getting older and not as energetic as Finn is but my sister does bring her for walks every afternoon before work and we spoil her with treats and soft food. She's getting up in age, 12 years old. Don't let her age fool you, she still has a lot of spunk.









My kittens have been doing well. We did have to lock the two boy cats (loki and Pumice) downstairs while the girl cat, Gizzy chills upstairs with her own food and kitty boxes. The boys tend to pee on things and to reduce that, we lock them downstairs. They have many cat trees and sleeping spots and sleep with us being that our beds are down stairs. Poor Gizzy wants to be down stairs and to sleep with me at times so I ended up letting her spend time down stairs with me. The boys don't mind her. 
Loki and Pumice have been gaining weight though. T^T With Finn being a herding type of dog, he's been stalking them. He does it to Gizzy but she allows his nose pushes and him chasing her at times until she smacks him when she wants him to stop. The boys down stairs on the other hand run when they see him. Pumice has been getting better with Finn but Loki is the one I'm worried about. He keeps himself in the utility room where the cat food and kitty boxes are located at. I felt bad for him so I placed boxes and beds in the room and both boys have been using them happily. I'm hoping the boys will come out of their shell and defend themselves from the wild man Finn. Finn wont hurt them, just wants to play. 

Loki:









Pumice:









Gizzy:










Freyja my snake has been on a hunger strike lately. She used to eat Rats, then wanted mice, then went to gerbils, and now the gerbils are no long available so we had to go back to mice cause she will not touch the rats. we went to fuzzy mice first because she didn't want the adult mice for a while. Found out we had a crack in her tank on the bottom and had to replace it quickly. While that happened, I bought new stuff for her tank. 


















As for myself, I have been going well. Working two jobs takes a lot of energy outta ya. All I want to do is come home and rest. I have so much to do at home like the pets and the chores at home to do but I just have no time. Luckily I have a mother that lives with me and my sister to at least clean the upstairs part of the house. down stairs and outside is my territory. At least my sister helps me with the bathroom and the cat rooms down stairs.
As for my artwork. I have not drawn much this year. I've been more fixed on trying to get my dog grooming business going and it has been keeping me from drawing and enjoying the things I like to do half the time. I have been getting back into photography so that is at least a plus. So far I have enough dogs to groom at my shop that I now own! The dog boarding job is full time for now but I hope to change that around to where Grooming is full time and the clinic is part time. 

Anyway, here are some of the photography I have taken this year:

























and some of my artwork I have done this year:

























well that's all I got for a large update on my other pets and my life so far. ENJOY! =)


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## Tree

So I went to the store to get some Corys and all they had were the pygmateus corys. They are smaller than the habrosus corys from what the lady at the store explained so I bought 5 of them for now. I will buy 5 more once I get more money saved up. The store was out of Chili rasboras so I will end up going down town to see if my LFS has any tomorrow. So far I placed them in the tank where they are resting from the long drive home after drip acclimating. I hope to get some pictures of them tomorrow. =) 

I also bought three other fish that according to the fish lady, they are okay in a 10 gallon...? They are Otocinclus Catfish but not sure If they are okay in a 10 gallon natural planted tank. I looked up the species and they require 20 gallons. T^T That's what I get for not going for my gut instinct and not buying them. The lady said they would fit in a 10 gallon but so many people can be wrong.

What do you think? should I return them or keep them? I checked aqua adviser and it's not over stocked: and this is without a filter added on aqua adviser (I have a sponge filter)


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## ThatFishThough

Otis are common in the fish world. I think they'd be okay in a 10G but they are shoaling fish and need to be in groups of 6 or more... can't recall if they only eat algae or will take man made food.


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## Tree

ThatFishThough said:


> Otis are common in the fish world. I think they'd be okay in a 10G but they are shoaling fish and need to be in groups of 6 or more... can't recall if they only eat algae or will take man made food.


that's what I thought. with the shoaling fish. I might end up sending them back but I hope I don't stress them out. Unless I can get 3 more without making it overload the tank? I'll check the aqua adviser.

EDIT: nope over stocked if I add more. unless they will be okay with just three. do you think they will group with the corys?


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## lilnaugrim

Otos eat both prepared foods and soft algaes. They're very beneficial!


I would just keep the three, they should be okay. I've done 3 before and not had too much of an issue. Ideally, yes, they should have a bit more room and friends but it's not terrible with what you have. Better to have 3 than 1! lol


On the pygmies, they're middle-swimmers not bottom swimmers, wasn't sure if you knew that. Habrosus are the bottom-swimmers. But the pygmies and otos won't really shoal together. The pygmies are very active once acclimated to your tank and Otos will swim around occasionally but they usually like to stick to something and stay there for a while as they munch on algae or bio-film ^_^


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## Tree

lilnaugrim said:


> Otos eat both prepared foods and soft algaes. They're very beneficial!
> 
> 
> I would just keep the three, they should be okay. I've done 3 before and not had too much of an issue. Ideally, yes, they should have a bit more room and friends but it's not terrible with what you have. Better to have 3 than 1! lol
> 
> 
> On the pygmies, they're middle-swimmers not bottom swimmers, wasn't sure if you knew that. Habrosus are the bottom-swimmers. But the pygmies and otos won't really shoal together. The pygmies are very active once acclimated to your tank and Otos will swim around occasionally but they usually like to stick to something and stay there for a while as they munch on algae or bio-film ^_^


Thanks for the info! Yeah the pygmis are already swimming around and enjoying the tank. Im okay with them being middle dwellers. That way I can enjoy them more. All otos are accounted for but the pygmies, I only found four out of the five I bought. I hope it pulls through. All I'm waiting to buy are the chilis which seems that NO ONE has at the moment! I want 5 more to equal too 10 in the tank.


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## Tree

Does anyone else having issues on the attaching files? I can add some files but not others.

Anyway update on my fish! 
The pygmy corys and Otos are doing fantastic! Still waiting on 5 more Chili rasboras for me to buy but I figured to slowly add more fish so I don't stress them all out. I was able to snap some shots of them. 

















my little Bien: 

























Copter's tank =)









I added a MLP toy in Copters tank for 5 minutes and he was showing off too it.


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## Tree

some shots of my boy Kite, the mustard gas betta I bought at my Local fish store!

































and little Bien photos: she's such a punk and I can never get close up shots of her. She is nervous of my camera lens. lol


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## angeliza

As someone who does art as well...I really love the art you've posted here! (Digital art remains a very challenging opponent for me...so I always admire when others can do the thing, lol)


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## Tree

thank you very much! not very often do a draw.


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## Tree

update on Copter!

he's enjoying his life with me so far. I don't see any complaints by him. LOL I would really love to add anubias plants in with his tank but being that his tank is already at 1.0004 I'm sure they would get super stressed. 

I did end up buying three bundles of anubias for my other three tanks and they are on their way now! buy two get one free! even though I have enough of the plants in the 10 gallon, they are slow growers and would like to have the three tanks full of them. 

here's a shot of Copters top pattern:


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## Tree

Still no Chili Rasboras anywhere in the fish stores I go to. The store that I got them from says there are a shortage of them but in the next few weeks they should have them in. God I hope so cause my five in the tank need more buddies! 

My shrimp and snails are breeding like mad. I'm trying to get rid of the snails in the shrimp tank which is not going so well. any ideas to remove all of them? I have assassin snails in the tank but they only eat so much. I have been squishing the small snails and the shrimp have been eating them up. 

Copter is showing off his patterns more and more. He's a bit shy of the camera but I'm able to get some nice shots of him swimming around. Next week I need to up his salinity. He hates water changes. lol


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## Tree

I got a new light for Copters tank today! Though not sure if he likes it quite yet. When I turned it on, he was no where to be found. thought he jumped out or died! if he really doesn't like it by two days I will have to return it. LOL


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## Tree

https://plus.google.com/104680098748332919067/posts/4p7pG2knGgf

https://plus.google.com/104680098748332919067/posts/HaFeGmZLibq

Videos of copter, my figure 8 puffer fish!


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## Tree

So I have been seeing these strange worm type creatures in my 5 gallon tank. seems that they might be assassin snails? they sure look like them but with no shells. when they just hatch do they have shells or no? 


anyway here are some photos of Copter, Kite, and the community fish in my 10 gallon:


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## themamaj

Tree said:


> https://plus.google.com/104680098748332919067/posts/4p7pG2knGgf
> 
> https://plus.google.com/104680098748332919067/posts/HaFeGmZLibq
> 
> Videos of copter, my figure 8 puffer fish!


Oh he is the cutest! He looks like a little helicopter with those fins fluttering. Really stunning pattern on him as well. What is your tank size? Making me want a puffer  I have some similar looking substrate in one of my community tanks. I never thought of adding the slate pieces with the driftwood. That really is a nice look. Thanks for sharing the videos!!

I hope you are able to find the chili rasboras. I have never found them locally here but that is a species I have always wanted to put in a community tank. I really think they are lovely fish. Maybe one day I will bite the bullet and pay for shipping and get some.


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## Tree

themamaj said:


> Oh he is the cutest! He looks like a little helicopter with those fins fluttering. Really stunning pattern on him as well. What is your tank size? Making me want a puffer  I have some similar looking substrate in one of my community tanks. I never thought of adding the slate pieces with the driftwood. That really is a nice look. Thanks for sharing the videos!!
> 
> I hope you are able to find the chili rasboras. I have never found them locally here but that is a species I have always wanted to put in a community tank. I really think they are lovely fish. Maybe one day I will bite the bullet and pay for shipping and get some.


he's a little cutie indeed, reasons why I called him copter  my tank is a 20 gallon long and thank you! the slates really help to pick up the shells of the snails at times. But most of the times I leave the shells in there for him to nibble on. 

I'm sure there will be more chilis in the future right now I added 8 more corys and they are thriving in the tank. once I get 5 more chilis I will be a happy mom. lol the chilis are lovely small fish. they are so hardy too. hope to see yours in the future someday along with a puffer! Eee!


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## themamaj

Great idea to use the slate for the shells. That was one thing I wondered about was how messy snail feeding would be. How many snails do you feed at a time?


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## Tree

themamaj said:


> Great idea to use the slate for the shells. That was one thing I wondered about was how messy snail feeding would be. How many snails do you feed at a time?


Depending on the size. One large one a day or 8 small ones a day. I need to crush the large ones for him though. I give him a variety of foods like krill, cherry shrimp, blood worms and I want to buy earthworms for him as well.


----------



## Tree

So I ended up buying 8 more corys and they are all doing well in the 10 gallon full planted tank. The poor Chili rasboras need new room mates cause now there are more corys than chilis. lol 
My LFS is still looking for the chilis, and so is another place in the cities that's about 45 minutes away looking for them for me. I want 5 to 6 more of the stinkers. They are so cool looking! I am desperate but not desperate enough to order them online. I am super glad to have these pygmy corys though. They are so active and stick together like glue. 

As for my shrimp tank, things seem to have calmed down with those little worm pest. But I am glad they are not too much of a problem. I even managed to get rid of all/most of the snails that blew up in there. I have been slowly adding assassin snails that were in my 10 gallon tank into the 5 gallon to help kill them off. I have a 5 to 8 gallon tupperware type thing I use for the snails and don't want them to mix in with the shrimp at all. So it's coming along quite well. 

The snails are thriving in their own tank and they are loving it!. laying eggs, breeding like crazy. Though I might want some substrate to give them more of a home. I am thinking sand and that way I can add some plants in there or rocks for them to be at home. I mean they are feeder snails but I'm sure they will be happier in a tank that feels like home instead of a bare bottom. And I bet they would breed a lot more if their environment was more natural too. =) 

Bien, I am proud to say... ATE SNAILS! I am so happy about this you have no idea! I was hating on giving her only bloodworms all the time cause I would hate having the same foods myself. So snails are on the menu for her now. They need to be the size of her mouth and or body. Since she is a little pea puffer, that is kinda hard to do. With the snails breeding seems like she will have enough for the future! 

Copter is happy as always. I was thinking about adding bumblebee gobies into his tank but now thinking... Naahh. He's happy to be by himself and is loving it! Soon enough I need to buy some small earthworms for him. I'm sure he will enjoy it! 

Last but not least, Kite, my Betta boy! He's doing very well in his 5 gallon tank with his buddy nerite snail with him. He lives up stairs for people to watch and enjoy. His tank is coming along very nicely with the plants that are growing in there. That tank was a mess after Bien moved out of it so I just splashed in some new gravel, old wood from my other tank that I broke down and gave to my coworker and added the plants that I figured would die in the tank. NOPE! The plants are thriving and Kite is one happy camper!

that's all I got for now. 
thanks for viewing. Tree 

I'll add some photos in a bit here


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## Tree

All of my tanks!


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## Tree

so my phone did NOT take great photos of my tanks. pfft here are better shots with my camera. hehe I have many shrimp! they are came hurdling over one another to eat the algae wafer I put in there. same with the Snails. man oh man a lot of snails. all huddled in the corner eating their wafer. I also took one of my big mama's out so show how large some are and how nice the shells are due to my hard water. I added sand (washed sand) and some nice looking rocks I got for cheap at Petsmart. buy on get one free for the sand and rocks! WOOT! I'm sure the snails will love it. Now I wanted brown sand cause it wont show the poop buuut, they had none. I'm okay with this though. the snails will be happy nonetheless. 

I moved my top plants around to make it look even. two tall plants on the sides, one short plant in the middle. The Chilis and the corys seem to enjoy it.


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## themamaj

You have a great crop of snails growing there! Love all the tanks. They look wonderful. Shrimp look to be doing really well too. What are you feeding them? I had a nice group of shrimp in one of my 10 gallons until Alek went on a hunting spree and took most of them out. When moved remainder to a different tank they never did well. I would like to try again though. They are fascinating to watch.


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## Tree

thank you! I am thankful for hard water that's for sure or else I would have the snails be so fragile. I feed algae wafers to my snails and shrimp. Pretty easy. Just make sure when you are going to start a shrimp tank to have it 100% cycled, but I'm sure you know that. lol and they are fun to watch I agree. I have more photos of the shrimp and have a mama with her eggs it looks like:


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## themamaj

Incredible pictures!!


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## Tree

thank you! <3


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## lilnaugrim

Damn Tree, you just have the best tanks! lol.
They're so beautiful and clean, I have tank envy at the moment!! haha.
Love the shrimps! Wish I could keep them as well as you do, but with my soft water it's hard sometimes to keep up with the GH/KH to give them what they need. My effort goes more towards my salttank than anything.


Great pictures too!


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## Tree

Thank you Lil! my 10 gallon is my pride and joy of all the tanks that's for sure. I do love the others, even Copters which is all fake plants but the 10 gallon I spent so much time on and spent so much money on. HAHA! 

I thought I would suck at keeping shrimp and snails at first. After reading more about them I ended up buying like 5 shimp and 1 snail and now.... well... the photos shows the outcome. Haha!

in other news other than my fish. I decided it was long over due to bathe my new addition to the family. I adopted Finn for about 3 months now and he is showing so much improvement! the down side is... he likes to herd kids and nip at them. trying to get him out of that bad habit. 
anyway there are pictures of him beign angry at me when I was grooming him. Finn was more scared of jumping on the table than anything else, reasons why he sulked in the opened kennel. He's a happy clam now.


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## Tree

I've been in a video craze as of late! so here are three videos I made. Sorry for the camera shake and the noises it makes. 

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/photo/104680098748332919067/6484641267354912754?icm=false&iso=true
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/photo/104680098748332919067/6484639160941007170?icm=false&iso=true
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/photo/104680098748332919067/6484630736916230098?icm=false&iso=true


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## Tree

long overdue update on my fish and my life. 

starting off with my F8 puffer. He's doing wonderful. loves to eat and getting larger every week! though His tank is getting black algae in it. I HATE THAT STUFF!


My 10 gallon Pygmy corys and Chili rasboras are going well. Still no one has any Chilis for sale and it's getting me annoyed. luckily the four I have are fine without more. 

My 5 gallon Shrimp tank has exploded with new shimp babies! and the assassin snails are overrunning that tank too!

I am beating myself up for my 5 gallon snail tank. the light fell into the tank and shocked them all. I thought they would all survive but after two days of them not moving I had to dump them all out and start over. I had to get more snails from two different fish stores and online. and they are STILL not doing well.. today I changed everything and redone the whole tank so I hope that helps with the snails that I got from the stores and online. I was upset when the snails online came and the dumb mail man didn't even knock on my door. they were in the cold (lives in MN) all day until I got home from work at 8pm. Not sure if they are shocked from the cold or they are sick. the shells looks so brittle that I feel that it was not just the cold that are making them have a hard time adjusting to the new home. 

I'm sad to say that my Pea puffer has passed on. She might have had wasting disease or the lump on her head was cancerous. I was too nervous to treat her with meds due to how small she was and sensitive she was to any change. she lived for over 2 years. SIP little Bien, you caught me a lot about puffers. <3

My betta Kite is Loving his home and the tank has blown up with plants over the past month! I thought with the lighting the 5 gallon tank had, the plants would not thrive. It was just a test but sure enough, the plants are thriving. 

over a week I was deciding on what to get for the 5 gallon Bien was in. I was thinking of another pea puffer or something else. I came across Killifish at the store and read that they do fine in a 5 gallon tank. So I bought the pare at the store though the female looks like she has fungus growing on her back. I started treating it soon after she and the male came home with me. I'm hoping the fungus cure works an wont hurt the plants in there. It if does, oh well. I don't have too many plant in there. the only plants that I like in there are Anubias plants which are hardy plants. 

I'll add some shots of all the tanks later tomorrow. 

thanks for reading! Tree


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## Tree

pictures for you all! 

The first picture is my Betta, Kite. He's been so active and happy/ but his fins do slow him down some.

Next I'll talk about the Kilifish I got yesterday. the little girl has Fungus on her back and tail and I'm treating her with Fungus cure. I'm just hoping the plants will be okay after the next treatment I give the two. I decided to treat the male as well only for good measure being that they were in the same tank at the store. So the green in the tank is from the meds. there is a before and after shot of her yesterday and today and the fungus is going away. She does look like she was being nipped at. Not sure if she was getting nipped by the male or the other fish that were in the tank with her. Cross your fingers for her to get well soon. I was thinking about returning her and the male after I saw the fungus but I would feel so bad leaving them like that at the store. Luckily I took them. I was thinking about getting a different fish all together. The male is very well. Very active and very crazy than the female. But I think that might be the female not feeling quite well.

the Attachments are not working all that great so I'm going to add the rest on another post...


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## Tree

My F8 Puffer fish Copter! He's a fatso. lol

















My tanks:
































the one that is green is undergoing Fungus cure. lol


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## LittleBettaFish

Your killifish look like Fundulopanchax Gardneri. They are a pretty boisterious species, so it would not surprise me if some bullying had been going on. If your female survives, you may need to purchase a second, as the males can be pretty rough on the females, chasing them around trying to get them to spawn. 

Fingers crossed the 'fungus' on the female isn't anything serious and your treatment is enough. 

Killifish are such characters. I don't know why they aren't more popular with hobbyists. I'm not sure if you've already read this somewhere else, but make sure you have a very well-fitting lid or cover for their tank, as they are expert jumpers. 

Also, if your tank is well-planted, it's not unusual to find fry appearing.


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## Tree

LittleBettaFish said:


> Your killifish look like Fundulopanchax Gardneri. They are a pretty boisterious species, so it would not surprise me if some bullying had been going on. If your female survives, you may need to purchase a second, as the males can be pretty rough on the females, chasing them around trying to get them to spawn.
> 
> Fingers crossed the 'fungus' on the female isn't anything serious and your treatment is enough.
> 
> Killifish are such characters. I don't know why they aren't more popular with hobbyists. I'm not sure if you've already read this somewhere else, but make sure you have a very well-fitting lid or cover for their tank, as they are expert jumpers.
> 
> Also, if your tank is well-planted, it's not unusual to find fry appearing.


thanks for the info! and I didn't know they were jumpers, no. I'll make sure to cover the lid (its a Fuvel Spec 5 gallon and has a lid that has an opening in the middle.) 
Will another female be okay in a 5 gallon with the two? or is that pushing it? I was reading 3 would be fine in a 5 gallon but thought two would be okay together. 

thanks so much for the help. and me too, I hope she makes it. it looks like the fungus is falling off already though. She just has nips. I guess at the Fish store they were trying to breed already on java moss which I also bought to make the feel at home.


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## LittleBettaFish

A lot of killifish keepers/breeders seem to keep their fish in fairly small aquariums. I think a 5 gallon tank _should_ be okay for a trio (I would advise a larger tank if you wanted to keep multiple males), provided it is well-planted so the females have places to hide. 

They will certainly try and spawn in the java moss. The males look beautiful when they are showing off to the females. My males (I keep Ch. bitaeniatum Lagos Red) will even 'flare' at a mirror. Definitely cover up any holes or gaps in the tank lid. Like wild bettas, it's not a matter of if, but when they will jump.


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## blueridge

Glad to see you posting again! Your puffer is adorable, and I like the new killifish too.


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## Tree

I'll make sure to get another girl then. I added a new dose of meds tonight and the female looks like she is showing a lot more color. Very happy about that. I was very interested in these Kilifish and always thought about having them too. thanks so much for the advice on them! I'm going to go get more anubias plants for the spider wood in their tank and maybe a sword plant. The plants I got at the LFS made a mistake and instead of giving me a third anubias they game me a different type of plant that I have no idea what it is. I'll send a picture of it if you are interested in seeing it. But how it's looking, it might not live too long especially with the meds I added in. I do have some dwarf lilies in the tank but I was thinking of transplanting them in the snail tank. I want to have it all green in the killifish tank.

I'll ask my down town fish store if he can order me one more Fundulopanchax Gardneri.. When I have seen them at the store I was in love with them at first sight. <3 

@ blueridge thank you so much! I have been away for quite some time due to work and the holidays. x_x but next year I will be back on to keep everyone updated on my pets and my life. =)


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## LittleBettaFish

They are a great 'beginner' species. Sadly, we are super limited here in Australia as to what killifish species are allowed to be imported, especially as eggs cannot be brought into the country. 

There are so many beautiful species, and if they are non-annuals they do live for at least 2-3 years. I think many people have this misconception that all killifish are annuals. 

Best of luck with your pair.


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## Tree

cool cool! I'm sure I will enjoy them very much. They already have their own personalities. 

Now my snails on the other hand, still are not doing well. Not sure if they are just stressed or they are sick. I didn't acclimate them only cause the last batch I got I never did and they did just fine. Though their shells are in pretty bad shape. The LFS had soft water and I have very hard water. so I just hope they are trying to adjust. they have been staying in a clump for two days now.









in other news My Boy Finn has seen snow for the first time living with us. =D He loves eating it and playing in it!


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## Tree

good news! My female Killifish's Fungus is going away! now to just get another female next week or so after she heals up real well. Right now they are enjoy their tank together. I see no nipping and the female LOVES the hidey rock. I think she might lay her eggs in there to be honest. but I do have java moss for them if they do want to try a different location. Now I'm not interested in them spawning but I heard they they eat the eggs. If so I don't mind. If they don't I'm going to have to find another place for the fry. o-O This will be my first time ever having anything spawn in my tanks.


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## ThatFishThough

First Fry is always exciting! I ended up with Longfin Blue Danio Fry, lol. was hoping that my 'firsts' would be Cory fry, but unfortunately not.

Beautiful Killies. I've always admired the ones at my LFS but have never had the tank space. Are they easy keepers?


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## Tree

It is. Even though I'm not looking to breed them. They came as a pair at the store and just had to adopt them together. 
As what I was reading killifish are very easy to care for. They remind me of bettas with thier personality. I am enjoying them a lot.


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## Tree

#1 acclimating the snails take four! The snails in the tank right now are now adjusting and slowing moving around. I got 19 free snails from my LFS along with some plants for my killifish tank.
#2 My five gallon planted tank with the two killifish!


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## Tree

Oh man, its been a long while! sorry for not getting on all that much over the last few months. it's been a roller coaster ride!

Well let's start off what I have been super busy at work, two jobs, caring for fish, 2 dogs and 2 cats and a snake is a handful. BUT I get the job done. just cannot be online a lot now a days. 

It's been a struggle with my tanks last month. Everything is fine now but I had a break out of ich in my 10 gallon that killed off all but 4 corys and Chilly Rasbora fish. I had to add salt that made a lot of my plants melt but its back in order. What happened was I was looking for MONTHS for Chilly Rasboras and no one had them but this one place that had a stock full of them in a 10 gallon. I should have passed them up but I was eager to buy them. They looks active but just stressed from being over crowded. That was my downfall. I got ich from it. long story short after the ich was cleared I went to go get 10 more pygmy Corys and more plants. So far so good. 

I kinda want to change my thought on Chili Rasboras and move onto something easier to get like Guppies or Neon Tetras. But not sure if I should wait 2 weeks until the corys are settled in or what. 

My snails are coming back but slowly. They seem to be dying off but making babies like crazy. my last batch seems to last longer than this new batch. maybe some type of snails live shorter lives than others? I have 1 trumpet snail, many Ramshorn snails and bladder snails. seems like the bladder snails are kicking the bucket but leaving more babies to keep the population going. 

My Red cherry shrimp are crazy breeders! my god I have so many in a 5 gallon tank that I just don't know what to do with! I have been giving some to my Puffer but at times he cannot catch them and I'm hoping they are not dying int he tank while hidden. do Cherry Shrimp do okay in brackish waters? 

Sadly my two Kilifish had passed on. I added another girl in there and two days later the older female died and then the next day both the male and female died.... so on that note I am keeping to one fish in a 5 gallon. Its hard enough with my 10 gallon with the community tank! So I got a betta in the 5 and he is just loving it! I haven't gotten around in taking photos of the new comer yet but he is a beaut and very energetic! My other boy upstairs is slowing down due to his fins but he is still a happy fish. 

Copter, My Figure eight is doing great He is a bit skittish at times with you go to fast, but what fish isn't. When he sees the food bowl and the tongs he knows its food time and he is all up on the surface ready to chow down. He's come a long way and I hope to have him for many years to come. 

Thats all I have for now. I'll try to remember to add some photos tomorrow. =)


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## themamaj

Good to hear an update. Sorry for ich outbreak. That is super frustrating when have a whole tank affected by that. Glad thing are on the mend. 

In past my cherry shrimp always had some IAL in tank with them and did fine. I wish I could get mine to breed like that of course my betta at that time decided they were a nice delicacy rrrr. I would love to try them again in another tank. They are so pretty and fun to watch.

Little Copter! Aww so glad to hear he is doing well. Love those puffers!! Cuteness overload at its best.


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## Tree

thanks! and yeah it was hard to deal with but I learned a lot from it. 

I want the yellow shrimp in my ten gallon! they look so pretty and I'm sure they will love the hiding places as well. I wanna say that my hard water has been helping them a lot. plus live plants and a gravel and soil based cap. and I heard that snails can help the shrimp as well? not sure if that is true or not but I did have a lot of snails in there at one time until I moved them all to another tank. now I have assassin snails in the tank to eat the leftovers the shrimp don't eat.

what I wanna try to do is make my brackish tank into a live planted tank with anubias and moss and java ferns. but I don't know how to slowly acclimate them. I heard that I need a cycled tank to do so but wondering if I could get away with having the cycle start over in a bucket with anubias strapped onto drift wood and slowly add salt in there. I'll test it out and see what happens. maybe find some cheap plants to test. 

oh man I was gonna show photos! give me a moment and I will send some now.


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## themamaj

If shrimp enjoy hard water, boy do I have the tank for them! Interesting thought on the snails. I have usually had MTS in my shrimp tanks but never thought much about it. 

Look forward to pictures. Brackish tank sounds like it would be fun to do. Very best of luck with that.


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## Tree

here are the photos I took last week. My two bettas in their own 5 gallons, my F8 puffer in his 20 gallon breeder, Pygmy corys in their 10 gallon, and shrimp and snails in their 5 gallon.=)


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## themamaj

What great pictures!! Copter is so big. Wow he looks great. Pygmy cories are such fun fish too. Are those the assassin snails? I have looked for them several times at our store but they rarely get them in. Very pretty with stripe on shell.


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## Tree

thanks! he's come a very long way indeed! yup they are assassin snails. I have so many of them that I give them to Copter. LOL I would send some to you but I don't know how to ship live critters and its so cold out still here in MN. 

I love assassin snails cause they will eat anything dead! when my whole 10 gallon tank died from Ich the assassins went crazy and ate every last one of the dead fish. they are a good clean up crew. =)


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## blueridge

Gorgeous looking bettas Tree! Especially that copper boy~


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## Tree

Thank you! They have all come a long way and all very happy for them. I just worry about my Pygmy corys cause of that ich outbreak but everything is going great now in the ten gallon that I added four Neon Tetras. (I will be adding more but slowly this time) I have about 10 corys and will have about 8 Neons in with them. When I got the tetras I found out that one was missing an eye! I freaked out thinking it was one of the fish in the tank that did it but it looked old. I kept the little guy in a QT and he seemed alright, eating, swimming, and interested in its surroundings. I ended up putting him back into the 10 gallon and things are good. so I have a cute one eyed Tetra! most people would send them back but I'm like, "it gives him personality" LOL So I shall call him one eyed willy. hehe

In other news, I also ended up buying four more fish. I wanted to test Copters aggression and bought four bumblebee gobys. As of right now everything is going swimmingly! The only thing I worry about is Copter being a bit stressed and glass surfing in the back more than normal. I'll be watching his belly for any signs of stress. for now, he still comes up to the tank to eat and investigate on what I'm doing and to have a look at the gobys at time and test out to see if they are lunch but he cannot catch them so gave up trying. =) 

I'm having a hard time breeding my snails for some reason after the massive death when my light fell into the tank shocking them all. I can breed the bladder snails well but the ramshorns are having trouble. do you think the bladder snails are eating the ramshorn snails eggs by chance? or are they slower in breeding than the bladder snails? the tank is cycled and good to go, how I know this is the test kit I have and I have two stow away shrimp in there doing just fine. the only thing I see is that the cherry shrimp are more white than red unlike the shrimp in my other 5 gallon tank. 

Both Betta boys are doing great! Though Kite has shown some slowing down and leaning on his side at times on plants. I think it's due to his large fins. He eats and does all the normal stuff that fish do. I'll be watching him closely. My other Copper betta boy is doing fantastic! He's so feisty! But seems to be not feisty enough to pick on my nerite snail in his tank which is good.

I'll be adding some pictures of the new comers soon here.  thanks for reading.


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## blueridge

Glad to hear things are looking good for you! I like the name of the tetra. It's from the Goonies, right?
Either the bladder snails are eating the ramshorn eggs or maybe your water isn't right for them to hatch? I have ramshorn in with my nerite snails and they breed like crazy for me.


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## Tree

yup from the Goonies =D

Hmm I've had snails in the past that were breeding like crazy but I only had ramshorn snails in it, not Bladder snails. It could very well be them eating the eggs. I used to have over 50 snails in the tank once before I shocked them. x_x I was so upset with myself that day. I might have to place a ramshorn in another tank to breed them separate and see what happens. 

thanks for the help.


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## blueridge

I wasn't much help, but no problem :laugh:


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## Tree

lol its alright, I am going to test it out and I moved the Ramshons into another tank for now. and see if its the water or the other snails eating the eggs.


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## themamaj

One eyed willy. 🤣 Love it. I would have kept him too.


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## Tree

hehe. One Eyed Willy is doing quite well too. And so are the Bumblebee gobys. Yet I think Copter is a bit scared of them. He's been staying in the back of his tank while the four are in the front. He will come up to the front to eat though. Maybe he respects their space? I hope he gets more relaxed soon. I understand having four new room mates can stress a person and fish out. LOL 

off topic about fish, but on about their tanks. I have been annoyed with one of my tanks, the Fluval Spec light for my Spec V. Not sure if one of my cats are pushing the light down into the water (there is a opening in the middle of the lid) or water is getting into the light somehow. I tried to take it apart but the darn thing makes it to where you have to buy a whole new light that costs about 60 bucks! inside the the light where the LEDs are rust is forming and dimming the lights on one end. I'm not sure if I want to get yet another light of the same kind or get a different light all together. I did it once before but I didn't like the look of it at all. that or figure out a way to have the lid fully covered. Luckily if a fish jumps out it will not fall to the floor but bounce back into the water from the lifts on the side of the top. I'll show some photos of it soon here to show you what I mean.


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## Tree

first photo is One eyed Willy 
Second and third photos are two of the Bumblebee Gobys
the last one is the darn light that is rusted


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## themamaj

Aww he is so cute. Love those bumblebee gobies! That is quite puzzling on your light. I finally took mine off my Fluvul 2.5 because it seemed to dim over time. I have another led from a top fin tank laying right on top of lid now but never had water get in light. Cats...they would be a suspicious culprit. Do you have LEDs on your other tanks?


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## Tree

thanks so much! I'm pretty sure it was my naughty cat that did it to the light. But when I went to the fist store I told the owner of the shop about my issue and he said I might be able to call the company up and see if they can order me a newer model. the light I have is the old one and more flimsy. the new one I was told is more stable. 


I have A LOT of updates to report! I upgraded Copters tank from a 20 gallon to a 37! everything in the 20 gallon fits onto the 37 nicely. I looked up the detentions and found the perfect tank. I wanted to keep the light and top and the items in the tank. right now my drift wood is soaking and waiting for them to sink. I bought more Neon Tetras for the ten gallon and everything seems to be going smoothly. though I feel that "one eyed willy" had passed on. I'm sure it was the other fish picking oh him or infection kicked in. =( 

anyway here are some photos of all my tanks so far:

Tank 1: 5 gallon, one betta, one assassin snail, one Nerite snail. Live planted tank with sponge filter. 









Tank 2: 5 gallon Fluval Spec V. Anubias plants, one betta, one Nerite snail and small assassin snail babies wandering around. lol one of the plants has a flower bud!

















Tank 3: 10 Gallon, with about 7 Pygmy corys, 7 Neon Tetras, and many assassin snails hiding about. All anubias with a riparium look on top.

















Tank 4: 5 gallon, Shrimp and snail tank. (I had to move my ramshorn snails here. I think the Bladder snails were eating their eggs...) Natural planted tank with soil. I have SO MANY shrimp and soon to be snails for my puffer to snack on. I'll be keeping the older ones to breed. I feel bad that I have to use them for food but we all gotta eat right? and they are happy fat snails and Shrimp too!









Tank 5: Assassin snails. Bladder snails, and trumpet snails. I might add some small crabs in here in the future for food for my puffer when he is old enough. it's hard to see cause it's not a tank at all. It's just a large 5 to 7 gallon bucket I bought for cheap at target!









Tank 6: 37 Gallon Brackish tank. 7 bumblebee gobys and one Figure 8 puffer Copter! Fake plants due to it being brackish and I am worried I'll be painting a background for this tank to make it look beautiful. =)










that's all I have for now! thanks for viewing!


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## Tree

AHHH! I'm so happy! One eyed Willy is still alive! this makes me happy! =P

also I have made a background for my 37 gallon tank! its hard to see but it makes a nice soft look to the tank now.


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## Tree

oOKAY! Changed the tank AGAIN! GAH! last time I promise Copter. x_x Someone told me (not on this fish site) that driftwood rots in brackish waters. I looked everywhere for questions about having wood in brackish water and no one said anything about being harmful until I was told last night. SO! I went to petsmart to look for some other ornaments. Now, I am not fond of fake things, being that it looks, well...fake. but I think I found the right decor for the job. I just hope the paint wont peal off. (Had issues of that in the past) 

This is what it looks like now. And I am not changing a thing! LOL the same person told me that the substrate was all wrong for a F8 puffer but I cant use sand or anything that will make my water hard. The PH, KH and GH are already high enough. =/ I didn't find anything about gravel being bad for Gobys or Puffers and even asked the person if the gravel would hurt my fish, but they never replied so I am guessing it wont harm them in anyway.


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## Tree

my Figure 8 puffer swimming around in his new 37 gallon tank. His tank mates are 5 Bumblebee gobys and a Nerite snail.


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## Tree

I went camping this weekend and had a blast! My pets art happy I'm home including my fish! 



here are some photos I've taken of the nature!


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## blueridge

Love the jumping spider photos :shock:


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## Tree

thank you! =D they were photogenic!


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## Schokomingo

Tree, your new tank setup looks amazing!

Is there a large pleco an the right OUTside of your tank? 

Gesendet von meinem SM-G935F mit Tapatalk


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## Tree

thank you! and it sure is! hahaha it's a stuffed animal on a suction cup. hehe



Also I redone my 10 gallon tank! I feel happy on how it turned out as well. I had to take out so many Anubias plants out do to the babies growing! I also found some baby Guppies.... which I am not happy about but they are cute. I was hoping the female guppy was not pregnant but she was. I only see three in there so that's good. I'll have to give her away along with her babies cause I don't have room for them.


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## Tree

so I wanted a cute figure for the rocks on top and found these cute frogs! I'll post pics of them once they arrive and I place them on my tank. =3


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## Tree

SO! 

I ended up adopting two pea puffers last night. lol the reason why was cause I heard that they do very well in a community tank. They are both females and I have named one Pea and one Puff. LOL They live in my 10 
gallon all natural planted tank and doing great with the Neon Tetras. sadly I have lost all but two pygmy corys. =( reasons why I ended up buying the puffers. so I have 7 neons, two puffers, and two corys in my tank. I am debating on re-homing the corys if it feels too crowded in the tank but so far no issues except for one larger Tetra picking on the smaller ones. Everyone else is doing fine.

My four bumblebee gobys and Figure 8 Copter, is doing great! I went and bought some Marine Pure for the tank cause the tank has become cloudy and the Nitrates have been high. found out it works for also fresh water so I added the rest of the blocks I had left over for my other tanks. I'm worried cause my Nitrates have been super high like over 60! I think that's why my corys are dying and I feel super bad about that. I have been over feeding and they have been dying off and making it spike. though the plants are working super hard to keep the ammonia down which I am glad about. I decided to add a block of Marine pure into the 10 to see what will happen. I hope it will bring it down slowly and keep it balance! 

my two bettas are great! and I love the fact I only have two to be honest. I kinda like to have a variety of fish and that's what I ended up doing. Haha

I ended up moving all 12 baby Guppies and the mom into another tank so that way I wont be over run with them in the 10 gallon with the tetras and the rest. once they get older I will be re-homing them to give to people or at the LFS near by. I never liked Guppies for this reason. they are like rabbits! the reason why I ended up with a female guppy was she was a stowaway in a plant I bought. the owner of the shop said I could take her for free, so I did. and now.... I have so many more! she was pregnant when I got her. 

that's all for today. 
I may try to take photos of the peapuffers later down the line but they are a bit stressed from the move. At least they are eating though! I had a whole bunch of assassin snails babies in the 10 gallon and they have been taking care of them for me. =)


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## Tree

here are some photos of the fish in my 10 gallon tank. 
plus a baby fry guppy in the 8 gallon. 

was having a bit of fun with the fish eye setting on my camera. lol









my new puffers. I couldn't get a shot of the other one yet. they like to chill in the leaves. 

















one eyed willy is still alive and well. LOL



















one of the fry. hard to see cause they are small and the tank is more like a bucket. lol


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## Tree

my frogs figures have arrived! perfect for my open top 10 gallon tank =)


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## Tree

update on my 10 gallon. Added baby tears and another plant that is a cousin of baby tears. (cannot remember the name lol)


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## Tree

Some videos of my tanks. I left out two of my betta tanks for now. I'll post them later down the line on youtube. enjoy!


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## Tree

So I broke down and got two more bettas at petco. I was kinda hunting for a Koi female and found her but also found a male Koi that needed help! 

I thought about it thinking if I could take on the task to help him and I went for it. So right now I am monitoring the new boy in a hospital tank to see if he pulls through. He's eating ans swimming around so that's a plus! I'm kinda angry that I only got $2.00 off of him. he was 20 flipping bucks! If he does not pull through I will end up bringing him back and getting my money back. May not get another one though. Not sure.

so here are some photos of the boy named Lemon:

















and here is the girl named Cola:


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## Tree

healing process Day 2: Lemons head is still raised but no fungus that I can tell. I'm wondering if it is hole in the head or he hit his head on something and scraped his scales. the red from Fin rot is looking so much better after adding Melafix, IAL and clean water into the spare 5 gallon tank I had laying around. though I heard that Melefix can damage Bettas so I ended up stopping that med and just getting a different kind altogether. 

















In other new with my fish. Some new things were changed around in the tanks. I had to move one of my Pea puffers into his own tank. found out he is in fact a boy and was picking on the female in the fully planted ten gallon tank. Pea is living on his own in a 5 gallon tank with a few shrimp. Puff is in her 10 gallon with 4 neon tetras. (I know they need more than four but I feel that they were picking on one another in the 10 gallon when I had 7.) My shrimp are like RABBITS! making babies left and right and so are the ramhorns snails in the 5 gallon tank. I want to move Lemon into the 5 gallon that is already cycled but I need to remove so many shrimp first and maybe add them into the tank Lemon is in now. I need them for my F8 puffer copter. 

I ended up splitting a 10 gallon tank to fit my two other bettas together. The new girl is doing fantastic! She is a naughty little thing though. I didn't have the divider correct and she meandered over to the boy, Bubbles and was freaking him out. lol it's fixed now and they are happy again. 

The 37 gallon tank with my F8 and 5 bumblebee gobies are doing well. I had a bit of a scare though cause I was down to three gobies and was not sure where the other two went. I bought a canister filter not to long ago and found out that they got sucked up in the intake! I checked the canister and there they were along with shrimp that was dinner for the puffer and the Gobies. They are doing fine and I added a DIY mesh around the intake for now until I can get a better one. 

The canister is a pain in the butt though. I made such a mess on the floor with water the other day trying to get it back on and running. Luckily I have hard floor and I was able to soak up the water quickly. warning, Canister filter are a pain at times!

Here are some photos of the tanks so far. I had to change the layout of the 37 gallon due to the fake drift wood pealing off the paint. I got my money back and got a new one so I hope this one is a go! I also had trouble with the baby tears on top of the 10 gallon tank. They were doing just fine for two weeks and the just started melting. So right now I am sticking with the two plants up top and maybe some fake moss for a filler. 

QT tank:









5 gallon shrimp and snail tank:









10 gallon split:









37 gallon brackish tank:









5 gallon Puffer tank:









10 gallon Puffer and Tetra tank:


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## Tree

Healing process day 3:


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## Tree

just some of the photos of my fish today.

Pea:









Puff:









Copter (bad photo, he was shy today)









Bubbles:









My bumblebees: 









Cola:










My 5 gallon snail and Shrimp tank (with betta): Working on getting most of the snails out and shrimp:









Day 4 of healing for Lemon: Dealing with Dropsy now,


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## Tree

Day 5 of healing: Not looking good for poor Lemon. =( His dropsy is looking worse and he is not eating. Still swimming around though, just not interested in food.


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## Tree

sad news, Lemon went to Fish heaven. He was just too weak to fight the infection and with the dropsy it just was too much for the little guy. SIP boy. In honor of Lemon I did end up saving another life. 

I think I will be calling him Coke (the female I have is named Cola)


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## Tree

I'm still bummed about my poor lemon. He didn't even have time to enjoy life. 

But I am glad I ended up with these two beauts. though I think My girl Cola is Eggy. I hope she wont be egg bound. =/ 

Coca:









Cola:










And my dorky Puffer, Copter. haha though I am worried that I have to trim his beak some time. I have been giving him hard shelled food but it KEEPS GROWING! lol


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## Tree

Some videos I made on my free time. =)


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## Tree

So I ended up switching out my four Neon Tetras due to the fact that they were doing major damage to one another. I ended up getting 5 Harlequin Rasboras. They seem to be doing SO much better in the tank and schooling around like I wanted the Tetras to do. So I am happy about that turn out. The four Tetras are at a LFS and getting cared for so I am happy about that as well. 

I have a photo of Coca Changing his colors. He might turn mostly black it seems which I am okay with. I'm hoping most of the red and white will linger on his body but I doubt it.


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## Tree

So here's the progress of the bettas color changes so far. 




















And I broke down and bought yet another betta. though this is my last fish for a long while. no more spare tanks to use. lol









I have videos I will be adding to youtube in the future but for now, enjoy the photos!


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## Tree

throwing this in here as well. my four planted tanks!


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