# My Betta Journey



## marspluto94 (Aug 28, 2015)

Introduction ::

I've always been fascinated by Bettas. The first fish we ever had was when I was super little. I don't remember much about him except that he was blue and we kept him in a vase. Cringe, I know. I've always loved animals and so it came as no surprise that I would be so easily sacked into this hobby. I found this forum after I got my first two bettas. I learned so much from this website and it has completely changed the way I view bettas. Unfortunately, due to one of my fish being extremely high maintenance, I was forced to rehome one. A few months later, Pluto passed away. I took a break afterwards, not quite sure what I had done wrong. However, the bug hit me once again and I found myself unable to resist. I bought a whole new setup, since I wasn't sure if what Pluto died from was contagious or not. Now I am more determined than ever to do right by my newest addition, Cosmo.


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## marspluto94 (Aug 28, 2015)

Week 1 ::

Cosmo perked up so fast after bringing him home and getting him settled. When I chose him I knew that he was being advertised as something unique, but I don't always pay much attention to petstore labels. After a couple of days, and some help from a few members on this forum, I was happy to call him a red pastel rosetail male. Generally I find myself more attracted to the dramatic tail types (halfmoons, doubletails, deltas, etc). My first two boys had been an opaque halfmoon and a blue EE plakat. 

After a couple of days his colors became more vibrant, along with his attitude. By far he is the most active and aggressive fish I've owned! He is always ready to flare at me (I think in hopes of earning an extra pellet) and happily darts around his tank. He's certainly not shy. I was delighted and relieved that he appeared healthy, I always worry about petstore fish. 

A few days into his new life here I changed his diet to NLS after I discovered that the food I purchased alongside him wasn't the best quality. He didn't miss a beat (or feeding). Though, he does seem to get confused during feedings and needs to be fed slowly or else he seems to have difficulties finding the pellets. He's weird like that. 

As for tank maintenance, since he is currently being housed in a 2 gallon, I have been performing 50% water changes every other day to ensure proper water quality. He handles the stress fairly well. The tank is heated to a very comfortable 77-79 degrees. All in all, I'd say he's one happy fish!


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## marspluto94 (Aug 28, 2015)

Week 2 ::

I am still so smitten with my little boy. When I first saw him I noticed immediately how much smaller he was than the other, flashier males. I suspect that he's quite young. However, this did not stop him from building a modest bubblenest. 

We also survived our first fasting. He was not a fan. All day he acted more pissed than usual. It was quite entertaining. 

I've been keeping up with his water changes and am looking forward to the day when we have officially moved into phase two of the cycling process. It's almost therapeutic to me to check water prams and perform water changes. It's extremely satisfying knowing that I'm doing the best I can to keep him healthy. With my last fish I never bothered to read up on the nitrogen cycle. It always seemed too complex for me so I didn't even bother with it, I didn't even test my water. That's probably a huge reason why Pluto ended up dying, I'm sad to say. I do not want history to repeat itself.

Anyway, this morning I was startled to discover that Cosmo scraped himself up sometime during the night. I noticed that he was missing scales when I went to feed him his breakfast. The heater fell sometime last night two so I think it's safe to assume that he was startled and unintentionally hurt himself. He does seem a bit aggravated by it though so I plan on adding some Aq. Salt to sterilize the open wounds. I'm confident he'll be healed up in no time. Fortunately, his fins seem unscathed.


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## marspluto94 (Aug 28, 2015)

Week 3 :: 

So far Cosmo is thriving! He has responded to the Aq. Salt treatment and his side is looking much better. This week my husband and I went away for the weekend to celebrate our 2 year anniversary. I left Cosmo in his tank, lights off with no food for two days. I was quite nervous at first but was relieved to return home to find him no worse for wear. He was, understandably, a little irritated at his lack of food, I think, and was extraordinarily grateful to be fed. I changed his water that same evening and felt much better knowing that he didn't seem to have suffered at all. 

Yesterday I was finally able to track down some Seachem Stability to add to my routine. I'm hoping the tank will cycle a tad faster, I'm not known to be an overly patient person. I'm hoping that once I've popped out baby number 2 next month and this tank is cycled I'd like to upgrade him to a 5 gallon using his preexisting filter media. Then I'd like to get a little female for the 2 gallon. 

I'm going to try and get a picture uploaded later today once I have a second to sit and wait for a good shot. He is very active and that makes pictures almost impossible.

Sent from my SM-T377V using Tapatalk


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## ThatFishThough (Jan 15, 2016)

Subbing! Lovely boy!


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## marspluto94 (Aug 28, 2015)

ThatFishThough said:


> Subbing! Lovely boy!


Thank you so much! He's definitely come along way from the lethargic fish I first saw.

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