# Boshia's bettas



## Boshia (Aug 14, 2014)

Well, I'm not one for keeping a journal. Most of my thoughts are just spewed out onto a random Tumblr post. But I guess it's time to organize myself a bit!
I'll start by introducing the stars of this journal.








This is Blitz. He's my oldest betta. I got him August 15th of last year from Petco. Unfortunately though, in the past few months there's been some sort of tumor growing on his side. This picture was taken on June 24th:








It is now bigger and the hole in his fin has widened a lot. I'm not sure how much longer he has, but I intend on making him as comfortable and as content as possible.

My second betta I got almost exactly a month ago, on June 6th. She was on the baby betta rack and looked so pitiful. She was the smallest baby, and was so lethargic. This is what she looked like when I first got her:
















And this is her yesterday, I have named her Genesis:
















She now hardly stays still!

The third didn't come much after that. I was in Petsmart for something and of course I had to stop by the bettas. There was this one little dragonscale female that was so zippy and lively. I didn't get her that day, but when I went home that night I could not get her out of my head. So, the next day (June 12th) I went back and got her! This is Hera:

























Now, there's something you should know about me. I absolutely _adore_ giant bettas. They have everything good about regular sized bettas, but in bigger packaging! I've wanted one ever since I knew of their existence. The only thing that was holding me back, however, was the fact that a lot of the giants are overseas, and I didn't want to deal with transhippers. So imagine my delight when I was searching Google and found the MN Betta Shop! Giant bettas in the US? Yes please! Tony gets in new shipments every so often and announces his next shipment on the website. I was waiting around in an airport when his site updated with the new shipment video. It was around 3 am in the morning, and I was so sleep deprived. But when I saw the video of the giants and saw one particular guy, I knew I had to have him. Despite the fact that I had been traveling all day and I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, I made sure to contact Tony right when I got home to let him know the betta I wanted. This one would _not_ get away, especially after the day I've had....he was shipped out the same day I sent that email. 
And so I present Ivan:








(10 gal for reference)








































I look at him every day and I still cannot believe that I am his caretaker. To have wanted a giant for so long and to finally be blessed with one, especially one as unique as him..it's a good feeling.

My last betta, hopefully for a while, was an impulse decision. I was at Petco on the fourth of July checking out the dollar per gallon sale, I was going to pick up a 10 gallon to divide for Genesis and Hera(they are in 3 gallon critter keepers right now). The baby betta rack was empty, but of course I stopped at the shelf of the adult bettas. I was looking at all of them and moving them around a bit for some of them to have a better chance of going home to someone, when I noticed that there were two betta babies mixed up with the adults! That was an exciting discovery. Neither of them seemed to be in any dire need of care, so I picked the one with the pretty light blue colors. 
















































No name yet because I'm still unsure of the gender. lilnaugrim believes it is a boy and I would have gone with that had not two people on fishblr say it was a girl because of the egg spot! If anyone else would like to add their opinion that would be great, I'm honestly kind of lost with this one...because egg spot, but also bigger fins and no sign of ovaries. Ugh.

Okay, wow. That took a really long time for me to make my intro post. I promise that the other posts will not be as long! For both your sake and mine .


----------



## Boshia (Aug 14, 2014)

I really like these pictures I took of the little one today. 

Tomorrow I'll be getting the divided 10 all ready for the girls, the sealant should be dry by then. I'm letting it sit 48 hours just in case.


----------



## Boshia (Aug 14, 2014)

Today was a busy day.
Both Blitz and Ivan had their water changes today. Afterwards the shrimp in Blitz's tank were really active, so I got some cool pictures. Also, look at this literal jungle he lives in:

























The last picture is a testament to how much he's slowed down recently. I think it's because of the tumor, but usually he would have tried to eat the shrimp.

The sealant on the divided 10 was finally dry today, so I set that up. I want only live plants in there, but that'll have to wait for my next paycheck. 








There's still a lot to do with it. But for now it'll do.


----------



## Boshia (Aug 14, 2014)

Genesis:
















Hera:
































Jade:


----------



## vaetki (Jul 7, 2015)

Hera's coloration is gorgeous! Such a lucky find. and WOW Ivan looks massive in that picture of him in the 10g. Thanks for sharing!


----------



## Boshia (Aug 14, 2014)

Thank you! She really does have nice coloration, it's a shame that she's a pain to take pictures of. And Ivan uses up every inch of his 10 gallon, I can't imagine him in anything smaller. Thank you for your kind words!


----------



## Boshia (Aug 14, 2014)

Let's see. Some things have happened since I last updated. On the 12th I came home with another betta, I've named him Knox. He's very angry.

















I've also took an updated picture of Blitz's tumor yesterday. He's slowed down a lot and I had to bring his pellets down to him with tweezers so he would eat the other day. This was June 24th:








And yesterday:
















With the rate at which it's growing I don't know if he has long left, but I don't want to think about that. For now I'm just going to enjoy his company and his wiggles. 

And a few days ago I rescaped Jade's tank so she only has natural plants. It still needs to grow and it needs tweaking, but I'm happy with how it is at the moment.

















Some pictures of Jade I took on the 13th, I was trying to see if there were any ovaries.


----------



## andakin (Aug 10, 2009)

Are those giant java fern leaves?!


----------



## Elleth (Feb 23, 2015)

Comment as to Jade's gender:

Males can have eggspots too, especially when they're young. My male baby betta has an eggspot, but definitely no ovaries. I even have an adult male (Strange) with an eggspot. (And he's most definitely a male, lol!) 

In that picture of Jade with the purple/red leaf, it looks like I can see the stomach, and an empty space where the ovaries would be. Hard to tell for 100% sure from that one picture, but those innards look male to me.  Lol and my baby boy is a Cambodian, so I stare at his innards all the time. 

Your fish are all lovely! How is Genesis doing?


----------



## Elsewhere (Dec 30, 2012)

Wow, what gorgeous fish! Can't wait to hear more about them and see more pictures of your gorgeous tanks!


----------



## Boshia (Aug 14, 2014)

Andakin, it's not java fern. I think it's some sort of Bolbitis, which I've heard is in the java fern family. They look really similar! 
Elleth, thank you for your comments on Jade's gender, I really do appreciate your input. I think I'm going to keep her name and pronouns as it is until she grows a bit more to be sure, and then if she turns out to be male I'll probably rename her to Jasper. Genesis is doing really well! She really likes to explore the crinum that's in her side of the tank and pecks at it sometimes. I've noticed lately that she's starting to fill out a bit more. I'll try get some pics of her later today.
Elsewhere, thank you for your compliments! I will take some pictures for you today!


----------



## Elsewhere (Dec 30, 2012)

Ah, I'm so excited for more pictures! I can't get enough, you photograph them so well!


----------



## Boshia (Aug 14, 2014)

Thank you!
Today everyone but Blitz ate some flightless fruit flies. They really seemed to enjoy the live food. I had to bring some pellets down to where Blitz was laying for him to eat. I also got a new light in for Jade, it's the Finnex Planted+. I'm hoping I don't have as much an algae problem with this light as I do with the Ray2 on Blitz's tank.

Jade was really interested in her anubias today:

























I also got a rare, non-blurry picture of Knox today. He's been having some serious glass surfing issues. I added some IAL to his tank to hopefully make him more comfortable.









Genesis wasn't too keen on getting her picture taken today, but I managed to get a few. Please excuse the spotty glass:

















Their tank as of today:


----------



## Boshia (Aug 14, 2014)

The unfiltered tanks got their water changes today. 
Jade's tank:








The girls' tank:








Knox's tank:








Ivan also wanted his picture taken, but he wouldn't let me get any good profile shots- every time he saw the camera he would turn right towards it!
















He's been a little clamped up lately, not sure why though. His tank parameters are fine and he's eating as much as he always has been.

Knox, as always, has no chill.









I tried to get some pictures of Blitz, but he disappeared somewhere in his tank. Oh well. A cherry shrimp found his way past my camera, though.








And Genesis:


----------



## Elsewhere (Dec 30, 2012)

They all look great! Love the plants you have in their tanks


----------



## Boshia (Aug 14, 2014)

Thank you! The crinum really isn't doing well, I had to cut off some rotting roots the other day- and those roots weren't even buried. I'm not really sure what's going on with that.


----------



## Boshia (Aug 14, 2014)

I remembered today how much Blitz hates my dinosaurs, so he got some exercise via flaring. It's no wonder why he lays around all day, he's all finnage! I honestly had no idea how much fins he had before this, usually when I see him he's lounging around.
























(please excuse bad photo quality and the state of the plants, his tank needs some major work)


----------



## Boshia (Aug 14, 2014)

Blah. Just when I thought everything was going well, something bad has to happen. Yesterday the stand for the divided 10 gal came in(I had previously been keeping it on a very unstable bookshelf, that was scary). I moved the 10 gallon over to it and this is how it looks now:








I also thought it would be a good idea to move Jade over to where Hera was, so both of the baby bettas would be in the same tank. It just made sense, because they both need higher temperatures and to be fed more often. So, I moved them and I was really happy about it until I looked at some of the pictures I took of Jade in the divided 10:
























Velvet.
Of course I didn't notice this until she was moved into the divided 10, so now Genesis has been exposed to it and possibly Hera. I put 2 tsp of aquarium salt in the tank today and added a dose of Copper Power Green. The temperature's been bumped up to around 86*F and there's a towel over the tank now. I really hope I caught this in time and that the treatment will not be too harsh for the babies. I don't want to lose them.


----------



## Elleth (Feb 23, 2015)

Aw, I'm so sorry. I'm rooting for them and you, I really hope they pull through.


----------



## Elsewhere (Dec 30, 2012)

Oh man, that sucks. Sending good vibes for your little guys!


----------



## Boshia (Aug 14, 2014)

Thank you. I've been turning on the light for the divided 10 an hour each day, so hopefully I will still have some of my plants left after all this is over. The crinum already rotted away, it wasn't doing well anyways. Genesis and Jade seem to be hanging in there, every time I lift up the towel to check on them they swim up to say hi. The tank is an absolute mess. I can't wait to clean it thoroughly once the two weeks are up.

On Sunday I brought home a yellow betta from Walmart, right now I'm just calling him my banana peel. This was what he looked like what I first brought him home:
















And a few hours later:









He's doing well and is a master bubble nester, here are some pics from today:

















Hera's tank:








Knox's tank:








And some surprisingly good pictures of Knox!


----------



## Boshia (Aug 14, 2014)

Well. Soooo much has happened, a lot of which I don't want to get into. Let's see. I finished the velvet treatment for the divided 10, but I think the combination of velvet and copper treatment took its toll on Jade. She passed away a week or two after. Blitz's tumor only got worse and he was bloating like crazy. A few days ago when I went to feed him I had noticed that he progressed to having dropsy. I put him to sleep that same day...a tip, to anyone who may ever have to put a betta to sleep- if you are sensitive to smells, don't do it in your room. The clove oil smell will linger days after everything is said and done. I'm sure that usually I would have enjoyed the scent, but now it just makes me feel sick.

It's become really depressing to look over at Blitz's old tank and not see him in there. I want to rescape it and welcome another wiggle of rage into my life. I was thinking this one:









What do you guys think? Should I do it? What I really like about this guy is the fact that he's a spade tail, and I really like those three dots on his left side that line up almost perfectly. I like his long ventrals, and the tiger stripes he has going on. 

So: should I?


----------



## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

I'm very sorry to hear about Jade & Blitz's passing. It's very hard to lose beloved pets, especially ones that we grow so very close to.

As for adding a new betta, if you really like him, I'd say yes, go for it. It's hard to look at an empty tank when you miss it's occupant, and you always will miss them, but making room for another betta isn't a bad thing either.


----------



## Boshia (Aug 14, 2014)

BettaLover, thank you. I think I will try to get that betta, Blitz's old tank is right across from my bed so every time I wake up I have to see it. It would be nice to wake up to something happier, you know?

Yesterday I tried to get pictures of everyone, I was successful with everyone but Genesis. She wanted to hang out right where I couldn't get any good pictures :roll:.
Lux:








Hera:








Ivan(look at that blue marbling on his face!):
















Those white spots on his side were what I thought was fungus at first, but many treatments of Triple Sulfa and AQ salt baths didn't do anything and they haven't spread at all, so I'm thinking maybe they're marbling? Or he knocked some scales loose? I really have no idea. 
Knox flaring:


----------



## Elsewhere (Dec 30, 2012)

All the fish look amazing, so sorry to hear about the ones that passed  Good luck on deciding if you're going to go for that other boy!


----------



## Boshia (Aug 14, 2014)

Thank you! I won the auction, the seller should be sending him out today and Mr. Koo should receive him tomorrow. 
If everything goes well he will be here Wednesday!


----------



## Elsewhere (Dec 30, 2012)

Awesome! Can't wait to see the pictures of your new friend!


----------



## Boshia (Aug 14, 2014)

Lux


----------

