# A Dragon's Many Adventures



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

Hello, hello, hello!! This is the one and only place which will feature the full extent of my adventures with my family.... of pets, of course! So so so
.... I guess I'll introduce msyelf (not that you care about little 'ol me ;-))
I am a 13 year old girl dragonnnnnn. You can call me.... (drumroll) DRAGON!!! 
... I don't really have any good nicknames. BESIDES Dragon is a FANTASTIC name. Yeah. 
Oh yeah, first RULE- no talk or actual slaying of dragons. We're innocent.
OK, I'll get serious- in the next post. I'm just going to write a bunch of smaller posts throughout today. And hopefully I can get pics up tomorrow.


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

Welp. All of my bettas are already introduced in my sig. And since most of their tank situations are temporary... well they're temporary. But I suppose I'll tell you what they're in for now. Of course, I have other pets to introduce you to, too. 
Enough- LETS GET TO IT!!!!!
Firstly- my two wonderfurlous doggies.
Lily, at my moms, is a golden retreiver (possibly mixed with Cheasepeke Bay Retreiver) who we've had since she was a puppy- 7 years and she'll be 8 in August.
Then at my dads, my puppy Aria, who just became a year old last month. She's a lab/pit mix, and probably the most insane dog around. I mean, Lily is weird too, but Aria... is at a whole different level :roll:.


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

Taking a short break from intros to tell about the happenings of the first half of my day.

So, me and my little sister were with my mom at her docters office, and as we're walking through the hallways, I'm bracing myself. Why? Cuase I just KNEW I would see a betta in a bowl. Sure enough, there he was. A pretty green crowntail, hanging at the top of this probably 1 gallon bowl. What makes it worse was that I think he was a King- he has those big bulky features of one. And of course, he was sick. He had a patch of fungus on him. When I was talking to my mom about it, desperatly trying to recall how you treat fungus, the recptionist nearby said (whoever was taking care of it) was putting "stuff" in the water for it. And I'm thinking WHAT STUFF?? But I don't ask. We head back down the hallway, and I'm still thinking about him. Then, I have an idea. What I did when we past him again was write on a little paper 'Go to bettafish.com for betta info' and wedge it under the bowl. So, since the owner wasn't around, I still got to direct them to a good place. Anyway, I wish I could've rescued the little guy, but it just wasn't possible :/
Next, we stopped by a LFS,to pick up a few things. Well, I hadn't been to this place in a while, and when we walked in, I idmedietly noticed that there fish section had gone through an upgrade. I mean, it was fine before, and it isn't perfect now, but it was an improvement. Still, most of their bettas weren't healthy looking at all. A couple were in the bigger tanks with other (peaceful) fish. One guy, the smallest, a little crowntail, was just... well, there was a giant sponge filter in there with a strong current, and this little guy looked like he couldn't move in it! He just stayed in this one spotand managed to not get blown away! It was sad to see. I wanted to rescue him, but I just got two bettas a week ago, and they don't have their permanent tanks set up yet. (more on that later)
Then, we went to a thrift store, right near my house, to look at these chairs thay had for my dad. And you know what they had in there? A FISH TANK. A 30 gallon long, with a bunch of plastic plants and ornaments and a lid and an old filter AND an old wooden stand! When I ask the lady how much just the plants are, she shows me that there is a box of more fish stuff and that she was planning on selling them all together as a set. Geuss how much she was selling this all for? A HUNDRED BUCKS!! For all that! Ugh, I really want to buy it, even if I wouldn't use everything it came with. It's just too good of a deal! Unfortionatly, I dont have close to that amount of money.  Unless someone bought it for me (early B-day present?) or I... I dunno. It probably won't happen. Which sucks.


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

Next up, is my two biggest tanks.
My 29 gallon freshwater community- which is my current (official) project. The biggest/most important thing I still need is the hood. Other than that... its not fully stocked, nor is it fully decorated. The theme is asian temple-y. Although, I only have one decoration in there right now to attest to that- my tiny Buddha statue. Here's the fish I have in it now:
8 Neon tetras- (I cant tell them apart but I still name them) Tiny, Bulbasaur,Tapper, Dorey, Azul, Dos, Watermelon, and Pepper
5 Harlequin Rasboras- (still cant tell them apart exept that two-the oldest- are way bigger than the rest) Lumen and Midnight are the bigger two, and the rest are Yin, Romeo, and Juliet.
5 Kuhli Loaches- (cant tell apart) Lightning, Wolf, Electross, Slytherin, and Snape
2 female swordtails- Morgana is orange and black and Morguase is orange and yellow
2 fancy (male, but we pretend they're girls) guppies- Fancy and Fashion (named by my sister) and I think Fashion is the one with more black on her
2 black skirt tetras- Dust and Grey, who we pretend is a girl and is technically a 'Highfin' Black skirt tetra. Basically, her fins are just longer and more flow-y than Dust's.
And thats all we have now, but I want to get some Rummy Noses, a Bristlenose pleco, some hatchet fish, some galaxy rasboras, a blue ram chiclid, and maybe even a female betta =D
Yes, I know that its going to be overstocked. I've considered that. But with an AquaClear 50 and a sponge filter (which I'm getting after everythings else) I think it will be adequately filtered for its large stocking.


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

My last (other than the bettas) tank is not a 'fish' tank but a 'hermit crab' tank.
Its a 20 long. I have 9 hermit crabs in there, ranging from tiny to small/medium sized.
4 Purple Pinchers- (the ones I've had longest to the newest ones) Hermes, Scrabble, Kingler and Strawberry
5 ecuadorians- Hideout, Crowely, Mr. Chippers, Little Jack Jr., and Spirit
I cant technically tell them apart, because literally every trait that can help you know whos who can change- color, size (they can seem to get smaller after a molt), shell, personality... but if I see a crab I give it an educated guess and think, "oh, look, Mr. Chippers is out"
Finally, we get to talk about the bettas tomorrow! Until then!


----------



## TuiAndLa (Feb 23, 2012)

I love how you name all the fish even though you can't tell them apart. xD And I love all the names of the fish too.

Funny about your dog named Lily- I've been thinking of naming one of my betta's Lily. She's one that I'd gotten the same week I first saw my new platinum girly (from my thread). That's when I had left the platinum girl behind. =/

She was WHITE in the store, stressed striped and had a flesh wound (but seemed lively enough). Now, she's doing great, wound is healing, and to my surprise, she turned straight blue! xD Her dorsal stripe was a very light tan and now it's dark grey. She does stress very easily though. She'll stripe up immediately from a water change, so I figured a sensitive name would suit her. She's like a delicate little flower (Lily). haha I'll post pics of her some time, maybe when I can get a photoshoot for the new platinum girl.

The pit/lab mix you mentioned too- her energy level must be crazy. xD


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

Ayyy you came! >o< thanks!
Oh yes, its fun naming tham all, even though I usually can't remember them XD
Me, my mom and my sister usually collaborate on naming them, which gets some good results. 
Yeah, Lily is good name, imo (obviously) And I would love to see pics of her, she sounds pretty!
OHHH YEAH Aria is a complete SPAZ!! Luckily, we love her to bits, so it doesn't bother us (but of course we make sure she has plenty of oppertunities to get energy out!)

I spent my morning reorganizing/deep cleaning the crabitat. Not a bad thing at all- I enjoy it. I think the crabs do too, they're almost always out and about after I change things around.
Alright... now I will FINALLY talk about my betta boys! 
I've had Prince Lucas for about 3 years now. He was my first betta- which quickly got me addicted to them! He's lived in his 1.5 gallon bowl his whole life- but wait, let me explain! A large part of what I know about fish/betta care i've learned in the past year. He was happy and active in his bowl- until a year (? not sure) ago. Now he has trouble swimming and generally lays on his tank furniture. I've blamed this on old age- becuase I honestly don't know what else would cause this. And trust me- I've looked into it. He's still happy, just not normal. He's always loved his bowl and now that he doesn't really swim... well, I want to at least get him in a 2.5 gallon tank so that there is more water volume, but not a ton more swimming space. But that project will have to wait.
Right now things are kinda crazy, heres why-
before I had a 10 gallon divided into 3 sections at my dads, but I just tore it down- now Cinna and Storm are in 1 and 1.5 gallon, for fin rot treatment. Storm will go in the (now undivided) 10 gallon, and I'll have to buy Cinna a new tank.
Then at my moms, I just got Julius and Ray-Ray a week ago, who are both temporarily in 1 and 1.5 gallon tanks. So, I need to buy both of _them_ new tanks. And, I still have to buy a $40 hood for the 29 gallon too- do you see why I need more money? aggg


----------



## TuiAndLa (Feb 23, 2012)

Gotta love when lack of $ puts a damper on things. xP

Wow, your first betta's 3 years old now? That's pretty cool! Sorry about him declining in health though. =/ I have to watch one of my boys going downhill too (Anduin, my blue marble). He started going blind and now has this slight growth around his eye, and it's slowly getting bigger. He's only about a year old too.

Sending good vibes that Cinna and Storm heal up well. :3


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

Ugh, I know, I'll be like "I want ___ for ___" then its just like "sigh.... put it at the end of the list.." XD moan
Yeah... hes really close to my heart... hes kinda like my weird/grumpy old man fish. If that makes any sense. XD
The thing that sucks is that I have no idea WHY. ... like I said, I've tried to see what it could be, but nothing seemed to match his 'symptoms'. My best guess is that his fins weigh him down.
I'm sorry about Anduin (btw, cool name). I've never heard of anything like that... is he happy though?
Thanks! ^-^ Cinna's fins aren't so bad, Storms does have a little more rot on him. And of course neither are happy about being in a small tank!

I didn't forget about Jay! I got him a year ago, and originally the plan was for him to be in my (then) 10 gallon community. His feisty attitude didn't agree with that plan- there was nipping, and he was moved to his own 2.5, which he's lived in to this day. Actually- I remember why I first decided to buy him...
He was in a tank with other fish for sale. There was a patch of some kind of floating plant in there, which he was hanging out underneath of. Then, when another fish (2 times his size!) tried to swim under there, he flared right up! "Get outta here! This is MY territory!" That cracked me up, and I bought him! (considering that story, I'm suprised that I didn't realize that he wouldn't be a community fish.. ;P)


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

This is Julius in his temporary 1.5 gallon bowl:
(Only posting 1 because I want to see if this works; this is my first time uploading pics on my kindle)


----------



## TuiAndLa (Feb 23, 2012)

Aww, those pesky, heavy fins. xP Still, 3 years old is pretty impressive.

Ooh, Julius is gorgeous. ^_^ Love his little bubblenest going on. And Jay's story made me laugh too. lol Glad you got him out of there!

I've read about tumors and things like that on betta fish, I assume it's just some sort of tumor growing on Anduin. He still swims around fine and is happy when it's time to eat. lol He can see a little, as he flares at me when I pass by (which he never did before he started going blind). But he has a hard time grabbing his food. He'll grab at it when he's 2 inches below the surface, then swim up, grab, swim up, grab, and then finally reach the top. lol It's like *really* poor depth perception. The pellet has to be right in front his face for him to see it. xP


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

I've never thought of it as impressive.. thanks! 
Oh my gosh, I know right? When I first saw him at the petstore I relly wanted him- "He's _orange_!" (that store doesn't usually get really vibrant bettas).
Then, when I came a month later, he was STILL there! So I had to get him. I was so happy when he built that nest on his 2nd day here! He's such a people fish- he loves it when any of us come up to his bowl. The other day, I was trying to get a pic of him with my moms phone. He was squiggling around, trying to figure out _what_ I was holding up to his bowl. He couldn't decide wether or not to flare- he would puff out his 'beard' just a little. He actually doesn't even fully flare at his neighbors; just puffs out his fins. After like a minute of him trying to see what the phone was, he just stopped.. and posed! Stayed like that for 30 seconds- thats how I got that pic thats my avatar! 
And of course, he has this funny way of eating too- he makes sure to chew his pellet V e R Y S l O w L Y. When I put in his second pellet, he's still chewing his first, so he circles around it until he's ready to eat it! XD Like some kind of gentle-fish!
Ray-Ray on the other hand, eats his pellets as quickly as he can wolf them down and then begs for more. :roll: 
Well, at least Anduin isn't suffering or anything. Maybe he'll live with you for 3 years, or more. ^-^ who knows! 
At one point when I was trying to figure out what was wrong with Prince Lucas, I thought he was partially blind, becuase it was difficult for him to get the food in his mouth. I guess that still could be true, but think its just his difficulty swimming. Feeding for him is pretty iff-y. If hes at the bottem of his bowl (like this morning) he probably wont come up. If hes on his castle near the top of the water he'll usually eat his food. If he keeps missing his food, he'll just get tired and sink to the bottem. Just depends. :/

More pics in the next post!! :-D


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

TIME FOR PICTURES!!!!

1st one- Jay's tank (excuse the algea, trying to figure out a way to get rid of the stuff)
2nd one-Ray-Ray in his temporary bowl
3rd one- Prince Lucas's royal bowl (agg sorry its sideways! >.< )
4th one- overveiw of the "betta table" Its not going to stay like this, they'll be moved to a larger table soon.
5th one- 29 gallon (sorry about my reflection) I forgot, I have the lantern in there too. So, 2 themed decorations.


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

Some pics of the 29 gallon's inhabitants:
1st one- a kuhli (we can say he's Slytherin)
2nd one- Dust on top, Grey down below him, Morguase to the right
3rd one- Both of the guppies (but not very clear)the one in the center is Fancy and the one to the right is Fashion
4th one- Morguase


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

More from the 29
1st- fashion
2nd- Kuhli snuggles! >o< ( Electross, Wolf and Lightning, we'll say)
3rd- Fancy with Morguase butting in at the bottem and Lumen trolling the backround xD
Oh and Prince Lucas perched weirdly on his clump of Java Moss XD dude, WHAT are you doing???


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

Urghh, sorry for any and all sideways-ness. I tried to edit some of them, but it didn't really work.
I'll get pics of Storm and Cinna tomorrow.


----------



## TuiAndLa (Feb 23, 2012)

They're all so cute ^_^


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

Thanks! :-D
Not much happened today. But I did figure out/realize that my newest 3 Harlequin Rasboras, that I got a week ago, aren't Harlequins but actually Lamchop Rasboras. That was a suprise. Well, now not only do I have to get more Harlequins, but I also need to get more Lambchops (lambchops, ha ). Not terrible, just wasn't planned for.
I think I decided to get a glass lid for the 29 and save up for a good light fixture instead of getting an 'ok' hood.


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

Soo... bad news. Cinna has ick. Yup, fin rot AND ick.
I've been at my moms the past two days, and when I came to my dads.. the little parasites were all over him and his quarentine bowl. I guess it's lucky that they're both treated with aquarium salt (just increased doseage and temp)... but lucky is a funny word to use. ~sigh~ oh well. I guess I should be thankful Storm doesn't have it too.
I'll get pics of the two sick boys, even though they're not close to looking they're best. Gonna throw some in of the hermit crabs too. :-D


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

*Good News and Bad News*

Sorry for the lack of updates. :/
I've got some things to tell ya about.


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

*S.I.P. Prince Lucas*

*You don't have to agree with them, but please respect my beliefs*

Thursday the 11th of June, Prince Lucas passed away. He lived for three long, happy years, in that stupid bowl he loved.
He will be buried under pink Bleeding Hearts flowers.
Yesterday I made my peace with his passing. There was a wild and sudden thunder storm- I love thunderstorms. For some reason though, this one made me restless. At first I thought "We need to bury Prince Lucas in this!" But that wasn't it. Firstly, my mom didn't want to in the pouring rain, and secondly, we hadn't bought the Bleeding Hearts for hs grave.
I realized I needed to write his eulogy during this storm (I was planning on doing this but was avoiding it before). So I did just that. At some point I decided he had sent that storm to me.
Some things I wrote about him.... :
"Only now do I realize how much Prince Lucas has done for me. He changed my life, then, now, forever." What I mean is that he was the one who introduced me to betta-keeping, and who got me more interested in general fish keeping. Now those are key hobbies of my life.
"His favorite color is pink, he will be buried under pink Bleeding Hearts."
... "Prince Lucas was gay, stubborn, silly, lazy, pompous. And he loved me." It was always a joke between me and my mom that he was gay becuase he loved pink.
"I remembered when he first sat in my hand. The.. crystal clear, undeniable connection. Our comfert together."
... "Now he's swimming wonderfully in Fish Heavan, or wherever he resides. Perhaps in a certain pink castle at a certain FishBowlTopia" Referring to his first castle he had when I first got him.
"I love you Prince Lucas.
Thank you. And Farewell."


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

*The Rest of the News*

In the past 2 weeks or so, 2 Kuhli loaches in the 29 gallon died in the intake tube of the AquaClear filter. I'm not exactly sure if they went in there and died becuase they couldn't get back out, or if they got sucked in. I don't think it's the ladder, becuase, I've seen fish and Kuhlis swim close to the intake and be fine.
There's actually two intake tubes, attattched ro each other to make one long one. So when we find the Kuhli bodies they're stuck in the top of the first one. Ugh, sorry for gruesome details; just wanted to make sure it made sense. Anyway, im trying to get a prefilter sponge to prevent future accidens. For now I just have some ripped peices of an AquaClear sponge wedged in there. I'm going to a lps; hopefully they'll have one. On amazon, the cheapest one would take a month to arrive, so I'd rather not get a more expensive one on prime. I will, obviously, if I don't find one in a store nearby in the next week.

On other happenings... I'm an idiot. Seriously. What I thought was fin rot on Storm was actually his fins healing. Yup. I had a huge ~smack-my-face~ moment when I realized THAT. Its good though. 'Cuase the treatment 'wasn't working' and I was reaching the point when I would have to stop salt treatment. Now he's in his ten gallon, which he's VERY happy about. Cinna's fins are healing good too with MAYBE VERY small traces of rot. I don't think so though- probably just weird healing, and I think his ick is almost gone. If it is rot- well salt is treating both. Doesn't make a difference. He's in the 1.5 gallon Storm was in before for his last few days of treatment.
The best I can figure is that they both fin-bit when they were in the divided ten gallon, cuz thats what the damage to they're fins looked like.
And thats about all! I'll post picks and think (type?) out loud about some thoughts about fishies and their plans I've had lately.
Until then... STAY AWESOME!!


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

Sorry for lack of updates. :/ I promise, I'll try to do them more often.
Cinna's recovered from ich, I'm pretty sure. His heater was set to 86 for it, and its still set to it now, and I think I'm going to keep it to 86. Cuz he really seems to like it! He's been super cheerful; flaring and swimming about actively and building bubble nests.
Unfortionatly, it seems that Storm is fin-biting again. :evil: UGH OK, it's probably becuase his tank is pretty much empty. My (and my sister agreed to it) plan is that it's going to be a sorta gardeny/planty theme. Pretty much going with what it looked like before. Plus, I want to have a school of CPDs (Celestial Pearl Danios) in there evantually, if Storm doesn't mind them. And they like heavily planted tanks. It'll be a mix of of real and silk plants.
The rest of the boys are happy, nothing to talk about there (thankfully)
On Tuesday I tore down Prince Lucas's tank and we had his funeral. Usually I'm too choked up with emotion to say anything, but this time I knew it was important that I talked, so I did. I'm proud of mself for that.
More talk of plans for Cinnas tank and maybe pics too tomorrow. (no really, I promise! ..... probably ;-))


----------



## DangerousAngel (Mar 26, 2015)

I'm so sorry you lost Prince Lucas, he lived such a long and happy life with you. He sounded like such a joy to have! I love how he had a favorite color, that's so cute!! I love what you wrote about him, very sweet.
I'm glad Cinna is recovering, and loving the warmer temp. 
Sucks Storm is biting, hopefully with plants he'll stop.


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

@Dangerous
Heyyy! Thanks for stopping in, it was getting lonely over here! 
He really was; I'll never forget him. I swear I didn't make it up- he loved pink! XD
And thanks. It came from my pencil like magic, thats why I love writng- moments like that.
Yeah, it was stressing me out, plus wc's every day were a hassle. It's so nice seeing him perked up- he's the happiest I've seen him in a while. 
It might also be becuase his fins are sooo humongous and flowey. >.< Super annoying though, cuz he was so pretty with his 'ball gown'!

AHH throw pictures on here cuz I CAN
The last few of the fish are older but better quality.
And the hermies. I don't think I've posted pics of their whole crabitat?? But whatever. Oh! and I got a video of one of them hanging upside down on the lid! XD I've seen them do it before but it's always hilarious. I'll have my dad send it to me from his phone.

*Edit sorry for the horrible pics of Cinna! That stupid old plastic tank is all scratched up from back when I actually used it. I think I'll throw it away when Cinna gets his permanent tank.
Oh yeah, thats silicone on Storms tank is from the dividers that were in there. I'm going to clean it off when we put in and take out gravel/decor, cuz everything in there now are remanents of when it was divided. Aaaand I need to get another light bulb. ( that uneven lighting annoys me)


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

*The OTHER Ones*

I can't really capture Ray-Rays colors; he keeps moving around and the lighting (as always) is terrible. But I think he's gotten alot redder since we got him.
The above pics were when I was feeding them.
Close ups are cute. ^.^
*Edit Sorry for sideways-or-other-weird-angles-ness!! >.<


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

*Adopting Maybe ^.^*

Just a little update. Sooooo, I'm taking in a new betta!!NOOO don't yell at me!! ~covers ears~It's Angel, one of DangerousAngel's fish. AND he comes with a tank and some supplies, SO it won't affect me financially. We're still working out details, but it seems to be happening! I'm so excited!!!... What? Well no.. I haven't told my parents but...I'LL WORK IT OUT!! I think he'll be at my dads, becuase then I'll have 3 bettas at each house. I meant to tell dad last night, but I didn't have time.I'm not TOO worried. I think he'll let me have the fish. But still. I'm nervous he'll be upset.. well, I have to stop worrying. Actually, I'm more anxious about shipping. This'll be my first. Which is good, cuz I need practice or an(far off in the future, I assure you) aquabid fish.On other matters.. I did wc's and maintenence on all the tanks at my moms yesterday (that is, the 29 gallon, Jay, Julius, and Ray-Ray). ... I don't really have any real news. Storm is still fin-biting, but I did put in the two plants he had before, I'm hoping my dad will take us to petco/petsmart today so I can look for a prefilter (yup still need one) and so Naia can maybe buy some silk plants for Storm . I don't like the philosiphy "It's your fish you have to buy his stuff" but I don't really have a choice right now. Plus she just got a bunch of money for her birthday. Oh, and I need a lightbulb for Storm's hood. So yeah.I'll update when I get more info about Angel!Stay cool!


----------



## BettaBoy11 (Apr 21, 2015)

Subscribing!


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

*Just Running My Mouth..*

Ayyyy! WELCOME to the special club of elite.. AWESOME peoplez!! 
:lol:

Soo, plans for the (seemingly always) incomplete tanks.........

Cinna's- He's going to be staying in his 1.7 tank for a while, because my dad (who technically owns him) can't afford to buy his tank right now. Unfortunately, I think we're talking months. So, for now, we're going to furnish this tank, since it is LITERALLY empty right now. It's going to have sand substrate (does anyone know if playsand is safe??), and be completely natural- live plants, driftwood, rocks 'an stuff. That's the way his section was before, except he had blue gravel and only two plants (Java moss and fern),and a moss ball, I suppose.
Storm's- His tank is going to be completely cleaned once Naia gets his plants- Because the silicone from the divider holders is still on the tank, and if I scrub it off with water in there, it'll seep into it, and that just.. doesn't seem good. Plus, I have to switch out the gravel. Right now there's still the three different kinds of gravel from being divided. Naia said she wanted the blue and black+neon gravel, so I'm taking out the marbles (thank GOD they trapped so MUCH dirt). So, if we get to go to the pet store today, Storms tank will be almost done. Once he settles down, I'm considering giving him some tankmates. Celestial Pearl Danios, to be specific. As long as Storm gets along with them, that tank would be perfect- CPDs love heavily planted tanks. Of course, I'm not sure HOW I can test to see if they get along... oh, maybe I could get one of those box/container things that hang over the side of the tank, and when I'm acclimating them see how they react? Arrg, but what do I do if they DON'T get along? I'm planning on getting them online. Unless the lfs I originally say them at restocks them.. hm. Well I'm sorta friendly with one of there employees; I could ask him to order them...
I haven't thought too much about Ray-Ray or Julius though. One thing at a time, ay? (or, like, 3) I just thought Ray-Ray could go in a smaller tank (around 2.5 gallons) cuz he's a low energy fish. Julius could go in a 5.5. Themes wise, I'm thinking Tiki/tropical for Ray-Ray's (because of his tiki cave) and.. I'm not too sure about Julius. Not coral, I'm planning on having an ocea/coral themed dwarf puffer fish tank someday. Any ideas?


----------



## SplashyBetta (Jul 28, 2014)

I use playsand in some of my tanks, it's safe  Just make sure to wash it really well and know that it will take a day or two to settle.


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

Hiya!! :-D
OK then, perfect! Good to know.


----------



## DangerousAngel (Mar 26, 2015)

THATDragonLovesBettas said:


> Just a little update. Sooooo, I'm taking in a new betta!!NOOO don't yell at me!! ~covers ears~It's Angel, one of DangerousAngel's fish. AND he comes with a tank and some supplies, SO it won't affect me financially. We're still working out details, but it seems to be happening! I'm so excited!!!... What? Well no.. I haven't told my parents but...I'LL WORK IT OUT!! I think he'll be at my dads, becuase then I'll have 3 bettas at each house. I meant to tell dad last night, but I didn't have time.I'm not TOO worried. I think he'll let me have the fish. But still. I'm nervous he'll be upset.. well, I have to stop worrying. Actually, I'm more anxious about shipping. This'll be my first. Which is good, cuz I need practice or an(far off in the future, I assure you) aquabid fish.On other matters.. I did wc's and maintenence on all the tanks at my moms yesterday (that is, the 29 gallon, Jay, Julius, and Ray-Ray). ... I don't really have any real news. Storm is still fin-biting, but I did put in the two plants he had before, I'm hoping my dad will take us to petco/petsmart today so I can look for a prefilter (yup still need one) and so Naia can maybe buy some silk plants for Storm . I don't like the philosiphy "It's your fish you have to buy his stuff" but I don't really have a choice right now. Plus she just got a bunch of money for her birthday. Oh, and I need a lightbulb for Storm's hood. So yeah.I'll update when I get more info about Angel!Stay cool!


Make sure to tell him! LMAO! Before I forget will you need an air pump? I got one too. ;-)
Also, how on EARTH do you rinse sand?? I've wanted to try some but IDK how to rinse it!


----------



## SplashyBetta (Jul 28, 2014)

You can rinse sand by putting it in a bucket with water and swishing it around then emptying out only the water, leaving the sand.


----------



## DangerousAngel (Mar 26, 2015)

Oh OK! That's what I figured but wasn't sure. Thanks!


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

.. I forgot about that too! If you don't mind, I'll take one. 
I PROMISE I'm telling him today! 
WOW, I didn't even consider that. Well then, thank you SplashyBetta, for informing us of this ULTRA TOP SECRET METHOD OF- err hehe. What were we talking about?? :lol:

SO Angel will be sent Monday and will arrive Tuesday!! I'm SOOOOO excited!!! If you want to see what (and who) exactly I'm receiving, go to DanderousAngel's Journal! It's called 'Dangerous: The one who started it all'
Scratch that- it's a great journal; go there anyway!
COUNTDOWN: ONE WEEK UNTIL ARRIVAL
(And you thought I was joking, Dangerous )


----------



## DangerousAngel (Mar 26, 2015)

Sure thing! His wc cup will come with the supplies too.
HAHA OK!


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

OK ^.^
(I imagined the countdown thing being said in a robotic/announcer-y voice) :-D
I told my dad about Angel! He wasn't opposed at all- why was I worried again? Ha!


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

Heyyy lots to tell about today! Why? Well, cuz I went to PETCO!!!! That should explain itself. :Y
I did not plan on purchasing any fish. However, pet stores seem to like to crumple up and throw my plans into fire to slowely wither away to their demands.
.. Or something.
ANYWAY, it was my sisters idea, NOT mine. Luckily, she did end up buying some silk plants for Storm. A three pack for $10, colorful and full. Good deal, imo. I got the prefilter for the 29 (for 70 cents, no less! way better deal than amazon- 7 bucks!), and the light bulbs for Storm's hood. The lights are great, more powerful than the one we had in there before. The plants are awesome- I stuck them in tonight becuase when I came home to my dads, there was more damge to his fins. :/ ... ARGH Plus I don't have time to do the deep clean- that will happen as soon as I can do it though.
ALRIGHT ALRIGHT I know your really waiting to hear aout the fish.
Naia got 2 Black skirts-
Dash, the biggest one, who is long-finned
and Kate, the smallest one
and finally a single Serpae long-finned tetra named Cheetah (named by Naia) It was the only long-finned one, and it was alone (species-wise) in the tank below where his comrads were located. She was also the most colorful and pretty of them. So Naia bought her alone, and I let her, on some fantasy that "Oh maybe she'll school with someone else in the tank" which I knew she obviously wouldn't. This where I'm really mad at myself. It was worse before we got home, becuase I thought adding other Serpaes (along with completing the current schools) would be overstocking the tank. Luckily, occording to Aqadviser, after getting a sponge filter (rated up to 40 gallons, which I was planning on getting) all of the schools completed will not overstock the tank. Unfortionatly, I can't get any other schools of fish. No Rummy noses ( I REALLY wanted), no Hatchet fish (me and my mom wanted them). Really disapointing. But oh well. Maybe someday I'll move arounnd some of the schools so that I can have more in there. Who knows.
And LAST but CUTEST I purchased Tiny, the Brislenose pleco. He is SERIOUSLY adorable. He's SO small in that big 'ol tank.  I can't get over his cuteness.
And of course the bettas I couldn't get tortured me. Whats new?
So, things are a bit... tense in the 29 gallon with the introduction of the new fish. Dust ( the biggest of the two older ones) does NOT like the fact that there is a fish bigger than him now- Dash. So much so that he won't let him into their school. Yup. Chases him away if he gets too close. Dust has always been a bit aggressive, plus I think he hasn't gotten over Diamond's death. Diamond was a Diamond tetra ( I swear I didn't know what species she was when I named her!) that I had for as long as I've had Dust. They've ALWAYS hung out together. Amazing, huh? I mean, they're different species, and sure they do look similar, but still.. cool! When I got both of them, years ago, I hadn't known they were schooling species, but they figured out a way! She died about a month ago, from unknown causes.  
Cheetah may be a problem too, becuase, when i was reading up on her species, it was mentioned that they can be nippy. :/ Sure enough, there seems to be a little bit of that going on. I'm hoping she'll be friendlier when I give her some species-mates. 
Overall, I'm not TERRIBLY worried. I think things will settle down in there.

On other random thoughts, remember how I was thinking Julius's future tank theme? Well, I was saving Pegasus's old decoraions for the betta I would eventually get for my dads. But since thats now Angel and he already has decorations, thats off now. So, what about using that stuff for Julius? Well, the hitch ( there has to be one..) is that the dragon bubbler is kinda sharp. I can't decide if I should risk my boys pretty fins or not.  I dunno. I'll look the thing over tomorrow, decide if it's too sharp or not.
Peace out, stay awesome, and... STUFF.
Oh but-
COUNTDOWN: 6 DAYS UNTIL ARRIVAL
;P


----------



## andakin (Aug 10, 2009)

Great buy on the BN pleco. Was it the albino variety or the normal?


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

Welcome!! 
Yes, I know right? I knew I'd want one, because I had one before and he was awesome! Unfortunately, he died right before I upgraded to the 29. 
He's not an albino, but they did have those there. I thought they looked cool, but my sister and mom did NOT agree. 
Actually though, I forgot to get sinking algae tablet thingys. Poor guy is probably starving. Ill get them as soon as possible.

Today's my 8th grade graduation/moving up to high school ceremony. And I'm a little nervous. It doesn't help that my STUPID school didn't even tell us WHAT WE'RE DOING. I mean, we have to arrive an hour early, so they'll probably tell us then. But still. I'm typing this right before I have to go. So wish me luck. ;-)


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

Well, the ceremony was fine. Just a glorified honor roll assembly. I got Valdictorian!(may have spelled that wrong) I thought I would becuase I got it last year, but I wasn't sure. So my heart was galloping when my principal said he was announcing it!
And I may have gotten $70 bucks for my good grade....
YES! I soon as I got that, I was mentally planning what I'd buy. Definatly the lid for the 29 ($22), unless I change my mind and go with a hood instead. I'll see what petco has when we go back there.
Which brings me to my dilema. Cheetah has pretty badly nipped Fancy and Fashion (the 2 fancy guppies). When I saw that, I was just stopping at my house real quick, so I took an old yogurt container (rinsed it thoroughly first) poked some holes in it, and had Cheetah float in there, with the lid on. This is obviously a very temporary situation. I have to make the decision today. Risk getting more species buddies and see if they don't bother the other fish? Or return Cheetah (I saved the receit)? My research about them says they'll most likely be less nippy in a school (6 or more), but it also says guppies aren't good tank mates. Maybe with a school of 10, but that would be overstocking the tank. I'm going to have plants too- would that make enough of a difference? Sigh, I know the real answer, but Cheetah is so pretty! I think I'm going to make a thread about it.


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

Ok, I've decided to try more Serpaes to calm down Cheetah. I think.
GAH

I just want to express how much I regret buying only Cheetah. I don't know why I was pretending to fool myself. There was no real reason not to get a complete school. I've learned my lesson. I won't let something like this happen again.

*Edit
I was considering the fact that I didn't want to over stock the tank, and that I still wanted a school of rummy noses. Not saying that as an excuse, I just remembered that.

I'm still undecided. Online resources seem to be split down the middle- that they're perfectly peaceful and that they're menaces.


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

Ok, I should probably catch you up. On the thread I made, MikeG14 suggested red phantom tetras, because they look similar to serpaes but are much more peaceful. So, tomorrow I'll be bringing Cheetah back to petco. It was a hard decision (obviously), and we'll miss her, but it's for the better. I might have a mixed school of black and red phantoms. I'll let Naia decide, since she's upset that we have to return Cheetah.

Sooo... did ya hear about the $1 per gallon sale...? Hmm? Why am I talking about that? Well, I dunno. Just.. thought it was interesting is all.....
..
...
GAH I want another tank!!!! I mean, when I got the 29 gallon, it seemed HUGE. Compared to my measly little ten gallon! It's kinda funny, now when I look at 10 gallons in the store, I'm like "Oh, that mst be a five gallon" XD But now... the 29 is not even close to big enough! At least for all the fish I want! I had to cut so many from the list.... Anyway, it's not possible. Upgrading is a crazy process, and my mom wouldn't let me do it so soon (reasonably). Same kinda thing with getting another tank. Neither of the houses could handle another right now. Sure, I MIGHT have the money for it but... 
BLEARGHHEHH
Problems of a fish obsessed... :crazy:


----------



## DangerousAngel (Mar 26, 2015)

LOLOLOL I know what you mean!
I'm so happy to hear your dad is down with Angel!


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

Yup, it's a serious problem. I should see a docter. ;P
I know right! I was pretty suprised when he was like "Oh cool" and I was like "... Yeaaahh." XD

As I promised, we went to petco yesterday! Mom, dad, sister and I, it was a thing. xD I brought a $50 bill. I DID try tp prepare myself- wrote exactly what I wanted to look at, what I needed, and what I might want in my notebook and brought that with me. Did that help? NOPE. I _could_ theoretically blame my COMPLTE scatter-mindedness on the fact that I wasn't feeling well- but. ~sheepish smile~ It's a good thing both my parents were there- they managed to keep my head screwed on. ;D
So, Naia returned Cheetah and got 2 more black skirts, completing that school. One really big one (biggest of the school) and one tiny one. There was kinda a debate about the bigger one's name, which is technically her decision in the end. My sister kept changing it, until finally deciding on (~shudder~) Gangsta'. 
Yeah. I can't STAND that excuse-for-a-name, so I just call him Big Bob. Are we clear? DO NOT CALL HIM 'Gangsta''!!! Plus, Cinna's nickname is already 'The Gangster' becuase of all the trouble he caused in the divided 10 gallon. MOVING ON. Oh yeah, and the other newbie is Kate. NOW moving on.
My mom bought algae wafers for Tiny, and new fish food, becuase we were running out- Tetramin PLUS Tropical Flakes I think they're called. And the wafers are by Hikari.
FINALLY the biggest purchase was..... ) A HOOD!!!! YES my friends, this tank is LIT UP!!! It was a Aqueon flourescent hood, or somethin' like that. I'll look at the box and tell ya the real name, so this RECORD can be accurate. It Cost $50 bucks. Came with the T8 lights, which I'm PRETTY sure are good for plants. OH MAN it looks SO nice now.. just. Look.
BUT first. I'm not quite done. The Black skirts are still sorting things out, but the introduction of Big Bob and Kate seems to have made things better. Unfortionatly, there seems to be one-too-many big fish- at least for all of my tiny fish in there. For a couple of hours, they just stayed on the opposite side of the tank from the big guys. BUT, they were intigrating much better by the evening, so, my hope is that with more foliage and hiding spots, along with completing the Espei's and the Harlequin's schools, everyone will be completely comfortable.
BUT WOW guys- the hood was the next big step in Operation GO 29 Gallon! (ha, this will definatly be a thing ;P) Now... I'm almost done, really. It's super exciting. :-D

Jeese. My post are *long*. Well, for those of you who actually read this- good job mates!
COUNTDOWN: 4 DAYS UNTIL ARRIVAL
AH Jeese. I forgot to have the pics of the 29 with the hood sent to my gmail from moms phone. I'll get those up later, PROMISE.


----------



## andakin (Aug 10, 2009)

Your posts are fun to read. You have lots to say for someone so young.

I understand what you mean about 10 gallons looking real small. I'm glad you bought a 29 gallon. Is it a regular or tall? I'm running a 29 tall and it's great.

I'm not a big fan of hoods and T8. I find them bit bulky and dated. Sorry if I'm sounding critical. I don't mean to offend. You might be able to find a nice led online for 50$.

Anyways, can't wait to see photos of the set up.


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

Thanks. ^.^ That means alot to me, especially considering that I'm a writer and hope to someday have published books. I feel my posts are erractic. I'm trying to work on that. Becuase, this is really a form of writing, and any practice is a good thing.
My pets/aquariums are my passion, ya know? I love talking about them, planning them, buying stuff for them, and just sitting back and enjoying them. Thats why this Journal is cool. My parents can only stand so much fish blabbing. XP

One of the neon tetras got ammonia poisoning. My mom called this afternoon, saying that he was really pale (the red stripe completely faded) and laying on the bottom. My first thought was that yesterday, a neon was pretty bloated becuase he (and the kuhlis and the swordtails) were pigging out on Tiny's wafer. (actually it was pretty funny I have some pics of that) But no. I had been worried before that the adding and taking out of fish in the past 3 days was probably negatively the water chemistry. But I didn't do a water change. So, I began to suspect ammonia poisoning,worrsened by the stress of new fish and decor rearranging. My fears were confirmed upon looking up the symptoms. Luckily, I had water on hand, and I did a water change when we (happened to be) at my moms. Even more luckily, we had ammonia remover from years ago, so I dosed that after refilling the tank. To my relief, the neon showed improvement almost immediately. He regained some color and slowely started to swim again. I hope he'll make a full recovery- I told my mom to keep me updated. 
Regarding the bettas, it seems Strorm is STILL finbiting, despite the addition of his plants. :evil: My dad suggested (~SNIFF~ he REALLY is learning ~SNIFF) that maybe he didn't like his bigger tank. And the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. He started biting again almost as SOON as he was put in the 10 gallon. At the time I had just assumed it was becuase of all of the open space in there, but that actually doesn't make sense. When he was in the in 1.5, it was COMPLETELY bare, but he didn't mind. So now I'm thinking that I'm going to switch Cinna and Storm. I DOUBT Cinna will mind having more space to be the boss of. ;-) 
The hood I got is called the Aqueon Deluxe Full Hood 30" Fluorescent Aquarium Light.
Oh, and I just realized that I said the new smaller black skirt was Kate. Her name is actually Jackline.
Pics next!


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

The 29 lit up+cute kuhli close ups+plus Tiny+the new fish+the oldfish+the fish pigging out on the algae wafer= uh. A ton of pictures I guess?

I took lots of pics of the neons becuase I just LOVE how they look with the light, and their contrast to the graval. The espeis too- they glow under the light.
*Edit For some reason I can't get the pic of Tiny eating the wafer up. :/


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

*Ammonia Poisoned Neon*

The second one is after he swam a little. You can see he has just a little bit of red; thats more than before.


----------



## andakin (Aug 10, 2009)

A 30" tank is a 29 tall, the same one I have. I really like that profile, except finding lighting sucks. Most come in 24" or 36".

I'm liking the khuli and bn pleco. 

My khulis have been sucked up into my canister and was able to survive in there for a month. Interesting fish. They look like colorful banded worms.

I hope your pleco turns out to be a male. They have neat looking beards when they get older. It's great that you have driftwood in there. That's the only thing my plecos would ever eat for the first few months. It took them a long time to get accustomed to algae wafers.


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

Ok then. Tall it is. 
Oh yeah, they're probably my favorites ~_shh, don't tell the others!_~ Although the swordtails are pretty lively. 
Buuut, not at the moment. At least, one of them- Morgana. She has a strange (pimple looking I can't help but think hehe) _bump_ on her lower side. I think it's just some weird constipation/blockage from pigging out on Tiny's wafer. She's just hanging out in the upper right corner, has been for the last few days. I'm fasting her (and thus the rest of the tank) for 2 days. The others definatly aren't gonna like that! :lol: 
The neon seems to have made a complete recovery, thankfully.
These Giants are teasing me. Just LOOK at them! http://www.mnbettashop.com/giant-bettasAGHHH-
And geuss what? The pond in our back yard is almost done! .... Oh yeah. You don't know about that. WELP. A couple years ago we (that is, me, my mom and my sister) came up with what we named The Green Thumb Yard Plan. This consists of many 'upgrades' for our backyard, including a pond with fish in the back corner. We currently have the pond, but empty of life and dirty. My mom just ordered a pond kit, and it's supposed to come tomorrow! Which means as soon as we get that stuff up and going, we can get fish and plants in there!!! YAY!!!! We just found a really cool pond store thats we can get all that from too.

My brother mentioned that he was rehoming his bunny... AND I WANT IT!!! And I got all excited- until my mom shot down the idea. :evil: And I KNOW my dad wont let me have it.  ..meanies...

ANDDD ANGEL IS COMING TOMORROW!! I'm SOO excited!! But I've decided to have him at my moms instead of at my dads, becuase of the fact that dad doesn't like me having lots of tanks there. (which I only have 2 at my dads :roll
This is pretty random, but you know what? My mom said she wants her own betta. And she was really liking the look of the babys we saw at Petco.. :twisted: Do you see what I see? POSSIBLE NEW BETTA SOON!! A baby at that! 
This sure has been a good day, and tomorrow should be even better!! :-D


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

*The Heavenly Arrival!*

OMG I'm sooo sorry I didn't update yesterday. You're probably wondering "Well, what happened with Angel???" Well- the answer is nothing. Angel did not arrive on time. BUT do not worry my friends! The faulty USPS overnight shipping did NOT ruin everything. Today Angel arrived safe and sound at 11:00. I acclimated him for an hour (although it was hard becuase he clearly wanted to get out!) and then he went right in! He was pretty lively as soon as he was out of the box, and his colors were only a little faded! Now he seems verrry happy in his temporary 1.5 gallon bowl! :-D He was actively swimming around and checking out his tank furniture! Right now he has the small green silk plant from Storm's tank and Prince Lucas's castle. He LOVES the castle! I might have to have it in his tank. :lol: When he was in the bag still, he was flaring at Jay, who was innocently checking him out. Now? Jay doesn't DARE go in the corner of his tank by Angel! :rofl: 
I gotta say, I'm head over heals for this fish! My mom too! She said he reminds her of Prince Lucas, with that huge personality of his- which is a honorable camparison! And I think he likes me too.   He gets so excited whenever I come over to his bowl, and he'll follow my finger if I put it up to the glass or above his head.
SO..... I have something to say. THANK YOU DangerousAngel, for letting this special fish be a part of our family! And for being so generous- sending all of his stuff and paying for everything!
:yourock: :thankyou:


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

*More Pictures Pictures Of Angel*

Because I can't get enough of this guy! :lol:

+his bowl


----------



## BettaBoy11 (Apr 21, 2015)

Yay!!! I'm glad Angel is there safe and sound... I was spying on the visitor messages that DangerousAngel and you had, to see if he arrived.
Could you post 1 picture of each of your boys so I can admire them all?


----------



## DangerousAngel (Mar 26, 2015)

You are so welcome! I'm so happy to read he like you! He looks adorable! I bet he would LOVE to have that castle in his tank with him. I'm glad he's doing so well! He's a hardy little guy!

LOL you were BettaBoy?! Then I'm sure you were feeling as ancy as us!

Those extra pics are too cute! He looks so happy! IA I want to see pics of all you boys now! Especially Prince Lucas. I don't recall seeing his picture.


----------



## Elleth (Feb 23, 2015)

Yay, I'm so glad Angel arrived safely. That's good to hear.


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

@BettaBoy .. Hey.. STALKER! :shock: lol jk ;-)
@Dangerous Yup, he seems to be lovin' life here. :-D And it's kinda crazy, but your right- I only have, like, 2 (not even that good) pics of Prince Lucas up here! .... WELP that'll have to change. ;P
Yeah, I sure am glad he arrived safely... Dangerous and I were definatly worried! 
ANNND welcome Elleth... we're GLAD to have ya'! :-D

On Tuesday, I switched Storm and Cinna and cleaned the 10 gallon. It sure looks alot nicer now! Cinna seems to love having the whole 10 to himself, the little trouble maker! He _was_ the one who proceded to slip through all of the barriors when it was still divided... :roll: (hence our nickname for him- gangster)
Storm I can't say, becuase his water was kinda cold when I left him. But my dad put in my automatic heater, so hopefully he'll perk up. (UGH the problems of only having 2 heaters and not enough money :evil 

If you recall, I mentioned that we were supposed to get the pond kit in the mail on Tuesday- which we did, there was no mishap in that regard. BUT... it's not what we need. We thought it came with a filter.... which it DOESN'T. So, we're returning that and looking into a kit that comes with EVERYTHING that isn't too expensive. Hopefully we find one soon, becuase I'm really excited to get fish in there! The plan is to have 3 goldfish, a tadpole, and a WHOLE TON of plants. 

You asked for pics of the fish and I deliver... tomorrow. :lol: But I do have other not-PORTRAITS-pictures of the fish- so take that! ~flings them at you~

Oh and.. no one noticed this, but the 4th pic down of Angel in my original post has a heart in it. See? His right fin makes a perfect heart. I personally think it's a sign. ^.^

1st pic- the beginning of Angel's bubble nest :-D
2nd one- Uhh.. watcha lookin' at there, Jay? XD
5th one- :3
last one- This is what they do whenever I come up to their tank. :roll: No but really, they love me.


----------



## DangerousAngel (Mar 26, 2015)

ANGEL MADE A NEST?!?!?!!! Ohhh That's so cool! All your boys are gorgeous!!


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

Yes, I know right! And it's bigger today! I think he, Ray-Ray, and Julius had a little bubble nest competition!
Heh, I goofed. I talked about Storm and Jay and forgot to post my pictures of them. Well, I'll get those up now. 
I was at my dads yesterday, and Storm definatly seems happy in the 1.7, now that it's heated. No new bite marks, although it is hard to tell. 
Cinna somehow scraped some scales off, when he was still in the 1.7. I think it was his rock, so I took it out. He doesn't seem to care, so I'm not worried about it. You know, I'll just keep an eye on it.
Lately I've been obbsessed with taking pictures of the fish. I think my parents are a little annoyed, becuase I'm always asking for their iphones to take them. ;P
SOOO I'm going to upload a BUNCH of pictures now. Have fun with them. XD
And portraits are coming up! I promise!


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

Can you tell the kuhlis like the Java Moss? XD LOL
And the last one... he was just hanging there like that, and he moved right when I took the picture
..... the Kuhlis are WEIRD LMAO :rofl:


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

Cinna says hai :3
6th- This is a trend now. XD
7th- SRSLY this ADORABLE
last three- "Yooo wassup? "


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

Storm also says hai. ;3


----------



## DangerousAngel (Mar 26, 2015)

I love that Bee plant in Storm's tank! That 5th picture is adorable!


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

Thanks! My little sister picked that out! 
I'M SORRY. I meant to update yesterday, but RIGHT before I was about to post the page (and thus, everything I'd typed) the page just.. I dunno, crashed. So, one rage quit later-HERE is the update.
Course, there really isn't much to update ABOUT.... :roll:
The bettas at my moms FINALLY got moved from the little circular 'betta table' to a nice new table in a much less cramped corner of the living room. They look SO NICE there.  But we didn't get to mess around with how they're arranged on the table too much, because we realized that the bottom of Jay's tank scratched the table when we slid it around. When we get those little tab things, (don't know what they're called but you know what I'm talking about) we'll be able to arrange the tanks a little better.

Angel still isn't biting and is SUPER happy in his bowl. YAYYYYY!!! :-D I decided it was definitely in his best interest to stay in that bowl, so now Dangerous will just be sending a couple of his decorations, a heater, and his cup.
Storm, unfortunately, is STILL biting, despite his move back into the 1.7. :evil: My plan for him at this point is to get a similarly sized tank- 2.5? something smaller?- and one more plant or 2, since he seems to like them. Hopefully he'll stop biting then.
We got the stuff for the pond in the mail. So yesterday we put in this 'pond clear' stuff we had lying around, and tried to take some of the rocks that had fallen into the pond out with shovels. We gave up after little while. XD There's one big rock that we'll have to ask for help getting out. No biggie, we'll just ask my brother to stop by. 

...That's it, really. I'm waiting to spend my money on anything until I buy the fish for the pond. After that, I'm not sure what the next thing I need is. I'll probably get some more fake/real plants for the 29.
AH BUT I have some storys for you kiddies tonight... LOL XD NO REALLY!
They're about Angel. I SWEAR, this guy is the feistiest, CRAZIEST betta I've ever had!! 
Story #1- I was sticking my finger in the water (to feel the temperature, because the heater was acting wonky and I hadn't put in the thermometer yet) and Angel was swimming around it checking it out when he.. BIT ME!! XD LOLOL "GIT OUTTA my BOWL!!!"
Story #2- This time I was just messing with him. I was waving my finger around right above his head, and he- JUMPED UP AND BIT ME!!!! OK, this time I was asking for it, but it's still hilarious. I mean, imagine it like some kinda Jaws movie shark attack scene (for the record, I've never seen that movie) and LAUGH. XD
Story #3 (I promise this is the last one!) The castle in Angel's tank is pretty much hollow, with 2 holes to go in it, one on each side. So, he swam into the one opposite of Jay's tank.. and then stopped. Then he creeped SLOWLY forward................ AND THEN swam out of the other hole real fast and flared at Jay! ............ Do ya get it? OK, probably not. IT WAS A SNEAK ATTACK!!!! LMAO!!! XD


----------



## DangerousAngel (Mar 26, 2015)

I never know he'd do something like that! That's too funny! It's so good to read about how happy he is. <3


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

Yes it's fantasic! =D I'm so glad he likes it here...


----------



## DangerousAngel (Mar 26, 2015)

Me too!! <3


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

*S.I.P. Cinna*

I have tons of news, most of it exciting but.... for now I only have one thing to announce. Cinna, although he fought bravely and to the end, was defeated by sudden organ failure (dropsy). I just euthanized him.

I'll post a real update and more details about this later.


----------



## Elleth (Feb 23, 2015)

I'm so sorry for your loss. SIP Cinna.


----------



## BettaBoy11 (Apr 21, 2015)

OH NO! I'm sorry for your loss. SIP Cinna.


----------



## DangerousAngel (Mar 26, 2015)

Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! :-( 
Would you like to post a picture of him, I'd like to draw him for you. S.I.P Cinna.


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

Thanks guys. I just buried him in the back yard. Dangerous, that would be awesome! The first one of him is the good one, and the second one shows his blue scales well, or better, at least. He was SO hard to photograph! ;-)
He came down with it yesterday morning, so I moved him into a one gallon bowl. His condition pretty much went down from there. I bought him a silk plant (my mom thought it was a good idea..) which he seemed to like having in there for his final night. Now it's in Storm's tank. 

SO. I'm going to second with the awesome news. Last month I entered a Funniest Pet Video contest held by National Geographic Kids (I get their magazines). My video was of Jay chasing a laser pointer. And yesterday.... I found out that I got 2nd place!!! (in the fish/birds/reptiles category) YASSS!! Do you know _why_ I bothered to enter? (other than just the fun of making the video) Because you can win a FISH TANK! So getting second place means that I get: My video shown on their site, (I'll post a link to there when it goes up) a National Geographic Betta tank, and two books. Now... it seems like there are two different size modals of the tank- a 1 gallon and a 2.5 gallon. But it isn't specified which one I get. If I get the 2.5 gallon, I'll either get a new betta (;3) or put Julius in it. Now, the logical decision would be to put Julius in there but.... I feel like he'd like a 5 gallon better. Maybe I'll see how he takes to it and if it seems like he wants more room I'll get a 5 gallon. And since Storm is still fin-biting *badly* (like one of his doubles tails is practically GONE :shock if he doesn't stop/get better with the addition of the new plant (plus a put some java moss in there) I'll put him in the 1 gallon if that's what I get.
Next...
I went to the lfs for some live plants for the 29. ....... Now, me my mom and my sister.. all fish addicted.. in a pet store... so ya, we picked up some fish. 2 guppies- Flip and Flop, Flop is the orange one. 2 more Harlequin Rasboras- Arthur and Guinevere (that might be spelled wrong). And Bubble, who's either a female swordtail (like Morgana and Morguase) or a platy. He is a TINY guy, like the size of a neon tetra. HE. IS. ADORABLE. I'll try to get pictures of him, but it's hard- he's fidgety. He has black fins and a blue iridescent body. The guppies are pretty tiny too, much smaller than our older ones. Before, the espei rasboras _sorta_ schooled with our 2 old Harlequins, but not really. Now, with the addition of Arthur and Guinevere, they ALL school together excellently. So I'm not really planning on getting more of either of them. For the sake of being able to get some more fish- which at this point will most likely be a Bolivian Ram and some Hatchets (my moms choice fish). I'm going to wait on the rummy noses. If the water parameters seem to be able to stretch for another school, I'll get them then. And the new plants- Hornwort and the plant I don't remember the name of- look AWESOME!! I'm so excited to get more. It's funny, my original plan of having one side of the tank open and the other with lots of plants is foiled- the fish hang out more on the side with plants! Which I should have guessed would happen.. So yeah, plants on both sides then. :lol:
Lastly- (YES still MORE- and to think on Saturday I was saying "Man, I have NOTHING to update about :roll
On Sunday we stopped by the pond store to get some plants. I got: Water Hycianth (spelling will be botched), hornwort, parrot feather, a fourth plant i can't remember the name of, and some free duckweed. Originally, the duckweed was intended for the 29, but I ended up taking it out. My mom didn't like the aesthetics of it (and neither did I, really) and it was just being thrown all around by the filter outflow. I STILL haven't gotten the last bits of it out...


----------



## andakin (Aug 10, 2009)

Congrats on winning your contest! I look forward to seeing the video.


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

Thanks! It wasn't anything fancy, just less than a minute of him chasing the pointer with some captions. Especially given how little work and time I put into it, it's awesome winning! ^.^


----------



## DangerousAngel (Mar 26, 2015)

I'll get right on it! Was he a tail nipper? He is just so cute!
Congrats on the contest! I too look forward to seeing the video! Those prizes sound awesome!! 
UGH tell me about DT nipping, I HAVE to get an updated picture of Eclipse. Honestly I'd take your boys tail nipping over Eclipse's, he's chewed his top fin off (top part of his double tail) and he's chewed right up the middle of his lower one. His dorsal has been trimmed down a lot too. He's getting that 1.5, hopefully the downgrade (by like .2 gallons :lol will help.
Yay for new fishes!!!


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

I'm super excited to see it!
No, he wasn't a nipper. Lets just say... badly built divided 10 gallon+ super aggressive Cinna= some tail damage/nipping. .... I like to forget that period of betta keeping... the best thing I did was tearing down those dividers and turning it into a single-betta tank..
Thanks! I'm excited to see it on the site.. so cool! :-D
I'm starting to see the how nipping is driving you crazy... :demented: And you've had so many of them too! When my mom saw how much he's nipped she was like "OMG his tail is GONE!!! You have to do something about it!!!" It's not that easy, mom... Well, at least Storm seems to like his new plant.. :roll: We'll see if he lets his fins heal though..

I forgot to mention what my plans were for the empty ten gallon.. I'm thinking a female betta with some peaceful schoolers, and/or some otos or corys. I really want CPD's, but I'd have to get more plants before they go in. Well... I could do that. The most difficult thing would be finding them. I first saw them at a lfs, but they've since gone out of stock. Perhaps I'll request them . Bottem feeder-wise, maybe I'd go with corys rather than otos, because I've heard they're really fragile, and I would hate to have a bunch of those cuties dying on me... I'm not sure how soon this'll happen. (who am I kidding- the next pet store visit :lol Actually, I would be cool for my first female to be from Aquabid/ebay, but who has the money for that? Not ME! :sarcastic:


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

*Welcome...*

Whatdyaknow? It _was_ the next pet store visit! ;-)
We were going on a quick grocery trip, so I asked my dad if we could go to the lfs that was right nearby, to see if they had any female bettas. Normally, they don't. One time we went though, they had a couple in the fish tanks. But this time... they had a tank full of them! Not to mention their other bettas- they were gorgous. One, a crowntail, was soooo cool looking! He was a strange cellophane/clear color! I wanted him.... But, I had only one tank open, and it was destined to home..... Thirren the Female Betta! And her 2 buddies the cories- Persephone (my sister's) and Hephaestus! And thus, any cories going in there will have names based off of greek mythology! I named Hephaestus because of the black marks on his body- like soot, Hephaestus is the god of the forge and fire- and because of his.. not-so pretty looks. ;-) Don't worry little guy, I think your handsome in your own special way. 
I instantly chose Thirren, because I could see her spunk. She was clearly in charge of the tank. She was super active, patrolling the parameters, and plain pretty! Although I will say, some of the others were pretty cute too. But Thirren stole my heart!
They're all acclimating right now. (but not very happy about it)


----------



## DangerousAngel (Mar 26, 2015)

THATDragonLovesBettas said:


> I'm super excited to see it!
> No, he wasn't a nipper. Lets just say... badly built divided 10 gallon+ super aggressive Cinna= some tail damage/nipping. .... I like to forget that period of betta keeping... the best thing I did was tearing down those dividers and turning it into a single-betta tank..
> Thanks! I'm excited to see it on the site.. so cool! :-D
> I'm starting to see the how nipping is driving you crazy... :demented: And you've had so many of them too! When my mom saw how much he's nipped she was like "OMG his tail is GONE!!! You have to do something about it!!!" It's not that easy, mom... Well, at least Storm seems to like his new plant.. :roll: We'll see if he lets his fins heal though..
> ...


Ohhh, I see. ;-)
I'll get your picture done soon. I've been a tad busy getting ready for Mordin, who comes in on Saturday!!!
UGH it is! Here is Eclipse's damage







LMAO Yes, it pretty much was. How's it looking now?


----------



## DangerousAngel (Mar 26, 2015)

Not my best coloring wise, but I hope you like it. <3


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

Oh my gosh! Its wonderful!!!! THANK YOU!! :yourock: :-D
I'm so excited for you!
WOAH!! Eclipse has even more bitten off than Storm! :!: Yeesh! And speaking of biting.... Guess who started up again? ANGEL!!! UGGGGHHH!! :redmad: Just a couple bites, but STILL! So, I was looking through this thread: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=578314 which started out as a fin-biting help thread, but turned into more of a fin-biting discussion thread, and it gave me the idea to rearrange his decorations. It would make the most sense that he was bored with his bowl, since I haven't changed it since I got him, and he only bit now. But with only 2 decorations in there (and no extras lying about) I couldn't really do much. So I just switched his castle and plant arond. When I get his old things, I'll put those in there. ~sigh and he was healing so nicely too.. :-?
Oh but, he and Julius did build nice bubblenests for me. :lol:

Thirren and the cories seem to be settling in nicely... maybe. >.< My dad says he spotted her chasing one of them. I'm HOPING it was a one time thing. "Spying" on the cories, they seem quite happy. Spying because, they get shy when I walk in and hide. Thirren, on the other hand, has started coming up to me. :-D She's so cute. There might be a small problem, though. It seems the pellets I give her are a bit big for her mouth. Perhaps I'll try crushing them. Are females naturally smaller then males, or does she just have lots of growing to do?
I haven't made any changes to the ten galllon, I pretty much just want some more plants (Thirren loves them) ad maybe put in a little hide for Persephone and Hepheastus. I want to get updated pictures of everyone up in a couple of days. Julius has changed alot! And I don't have any good ones of the newest fish (lets see if I can GET any).
Oh, and one of the new plants in the 29 has new growth! Yay! Not to mention, the kuhlis LOVE the Hornwort. Really. You should see them get a slithered up in it. I swear, if you had an empty, BORING tank, and you stuck a bunch of kuhli loaches in there... It WOULDN'T be boring any longer! XD

Lily sends greeting and salutations! CUTE FACE ALERT!!!


----------



## DangerousAngel (Mar 26, 2015)

You're welcome!
OH NO! I bet he's bored, I'm sending out your box today, hopefully you'll get it next week. Id b love to see pictures if you have them of his regrowth.
I do think females are generally smaller, but she may grow a bit. She sounds so fiesty!


----------



## Julie7778 (Mar 20, 2015)

Hello Dragon! Hope you remember me! I just read all your journal  everyone's gorgeous! I have a few questions if you don't mind. 

How big are your bowls? And how often do you change the water and how much!? 
What's your experience with kuhli loaches? Difficult?

Thanks  I'll be continuing to follow your journal! I'm back at mine too aith another betta coming home soon hopefully.


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

@Dangerous Yup, I think I got some good ones.
I figured that was the case. Yes she is! :lol: Luckily, it doesn't seem like she's taking it out on the cories.
@Julie Heyyyyy you're back! Of course I didn't forget you! Thank you! I'm working on getting good pictures of everyone; i want to get them up this weekend. Photographing fish is SO hard! XP But I'm trying to play around with lighting and stuff, so hopefully they will be at least a little better then usual.

Angel and Julius's bowls are 1.5 gallons, and Ray-Ray's is 1 gallon. Julius and Ray-Rays bowls are temporary for until I get proper tanks for them. And Angel stays in his bowl becuase he loves it and it helps with his fin-biting. Honestly, I don't really do changes enough- once a week for everyone. But they're larger ones, like 50% or 75%. I don't have a test kit, but the fish are happy and healthy, so it works. 

Kuhli loaches aren't difficult at all! They're only requirments are.. well, a 20 gallon is they're minimum tank size, and they like have species buddies. (and even if they didn't I would suggest geting more then one) They seem to scavenge in the the gravel, but they also ike the algae wafers I put in for my pleco, Tiny. Oh! And they love Java moss. And hornwort. So if you happen to have those, that's a bonus. XD
Awesome! I'm glad you're back! :-D


----------



## DangerousAngel (Mar 26, 2015)

Lol they are! Here's a tip for taking pictures with you phone: hold it aideways, that way the pics won't post sideways, they'll post right side up!

You have the same water change schedule as me, everyone gets 50% weekly, with 100% thrown in every 2 weeks for the 2.5 and once a month for the larger tanks. They're happy and healthy. Just curious, what do you use to do your partial water changes?


----------



## Julie7778 (Mar 20, 2015)

Thanks :-D

That sounds great! I wasn't sure how often to do water changes on smaller tanks. I've been slacking off on my current tanks. But I think in September or earlier I'll be setting up a new tank for a new betta hopefully.

I may add some kuli loaches to my 65 gallon! 

Thanks for all the info! Can't wait to read up on your fish


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

@Dangerous Thanks for the tip! It's simple, but works! 
Ah, that's good to know. Just a combo of plastic cup and turky baster. XD Nothing fancy.
@Julie Yayyy, Kuhlis! You won't regret that puchase! No problem!

Lately I've noticed that Ray-Rays fins have gotten pretty ragged. At first I thought I had another fin-biter- "NOOOOOOoooo!!!"- but now I think it's simpler then that. (~phew) The orange/green plant he has is plastic, and he's always wriggling around right above it. So it's just a little too rough for him. Next time we go to the pet store (specifically Petco) I'll buy a silk plant for him.

Yesterday we got a small tank for Storm. He seems to like it, although he is hard to read. It's probably only a gallon. It's not actually a tank, but a jar. It's a cheaper option, and it works. Now it just needs a little bit of graval and a light. I'm thinking one of those little clip-on LEDs.
We also switched the ten gallon and Storm's tank, so know Storm is in Naia's room (because he's her's) and Thirren is in the living room. They both seem to like their new locations. Espescially Thirren. I knew she would. :lol: Obviously, we had to drain the 10 gallon to move it, so it doubled as a deep clean. I got so into the 'zone' that I didn't even notice the first moment when the water change bucket started over-flowing. :shock: ~_Oops_ Don't worry. We cleaned it up quickly enough. ANYWAY so I rearranged things in there too. How does it look? I'm thinking one more (this one live) plant in the back left corner, and a little cave in the front left corner. The dragon that's in there was last in Pegasus's tank section. It's a nice way pf remembering him. He used to like to hang out in the dragons mouth (it's hollow) so I was delighted to see Thirren do the same. 
I told my dad that I would let him pick out some more fish for the ten gallon. He said he likes the idea of a "sucker mouth" fish, like Tiny. I'm hoping to stear him to otos though. ;D If I can brave trying to keep them. He also said he wants some neon tetras. Again, I'm hoping he'll pick a fish I don't already have when we actaully go to pick them out. Not that I mind neons. I just like some variety.

On Saturday, I visited an aquarium store I've seen but never been into. Although I was impressed by the 2 employee's knowledge, their freshwater stock wasn't very impressive. Just the average- neons, livebearers, ect. However, their _saltwater_ selection was pretty amazing. I should have gotten some pictures, but I didn't think of it at the time. When I dive into the sw side of aquariums, I'll definatly go there. Of course, this won't be for years, but I know I want to do it someday. At least a nano-reef clownfish tank.

picture #3- begging for more bloodworms XD
picture #4- can you see Hephaestus in the tail? LOL


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

*Who's been lazy about updating..*

I have! But as an excuse, for the past few days I was preparing for my family vacation/trip. Now I'm here (got here yesterday actually) and have got some time to fill you in. Becuase alot has been happening. Unfortionatly, I don't have any good pictures. Maybe I can get my parents to take some (they are back at home).

Well, we've been playing around with the 10 gallon. The week before last (I think Friday?) we got a bunch of fish for it. And when I say a bunch.. I got 11 fish.  ..... Yeah. I'm pretty ashamed of that. We got: 5 bloodfin tetras, 4 ottos (one has since died), 1 panda cory (Hestia), and a mystery loach (Panthera). And by 'mystery' I mean she was mislabled and I don't know what she is. It turns out though, that there are two variations of bloodfin tetras. The normal kind and the 'glass' kind, which are see through. (glass-like) We, thinking they were all the same, got 3 glass ones and 2 normal ones. But they didnt really school together, so we returned the 2 normal ones for glass ones, and they school nicely. I wanted to get one more otto too, but the pet store was out of them. Now.. our tank is probably overstocked. The plan is to test the water when I get back and see if we need extra filtration or not. I also have plans to get more plants (live this time) and I took the stones out that were in there and have them in some tank water outside, so they'll grow algae for the ottos to eat. I read that they don't always like the algae wafers, and that this was a good trick to make sure they eat.

Then there is Panthera.. For one thing, she got SUPER aggressive whenever I fed the tetras, but when I returned the 2 bloodfins this Friday, I got some sinking cory and loach pellets. Now, they all eat peacfully. What a releif! Now there is just the itty bitty poblem of NOT KNOWING WHAT SHE IS. ... I really love her, but if I find out that I can't give her proper care, I will return her. I'm going to make a thread on here (once I get pics) and see if anyone can identify her.

AND..... NEW BETTA!!! Remember that one betta I was eyeing that I mentioned? I think it was when I got Thirren. Well, he has been on mind since then, and I FINALLY bought him when I got the glass bloodfins. Along with a 2.5 gallon and another silk plant- the only one that store had, the same one that is in Storm's tank (the green one). I also took one of the stalks that broke off of that, a "Warning, Fishing" sign and a Zoomed betta log that I already had. His name is Ghost, and the one night I was home with him, he seemed to be settling in well. My mom said he was hiding in his plants last night. :-D I have an extra sponge filter that I'm going to hook up for him. I'll put it in the 29 gallon first so I can get a sort of automatic cycle for it. He is SO pretty. If he's in the right light, you can see pink iridescence on the back half of his body. Thus... my mom is preceding to call him.. er.. Sir Pink But. My mom.. is strange. I get that from her. But seriously, I AM very curious to see how he'll change, if at all.

... Think that is everything. Of course, as soon as I post this, I'll probably think of something else.. :roll:


----------



## DangerousAngel (Mar 26, 2015)

How many Bettas is that now? Congrats on Ghost! I look forward to seeing all the new fish!


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

7! But I might have to start having Naia (she's 9) take care of the fish that are technically hers- Storm and Ray-Ray. If I want to get any more, that is. I have them and the 29 AND the crabs. It's a bit much. Of course, I'll watch her like a hawk until I'm ABSOLUTELY certain that she is doing everything right. It's going to be hard though, becuase I've always considered them all mine, and that's just not the case. I'm especially close to Storm.
You changed your avatar again! I like it. I need to change mine, at least to a more recent one of Julius. He's changed alot.

I got some pics of Ghost, and I'll get one of his whole tank tomorrow. I was so happy to see that he already had a bubble nest! 

And FINALLY the pics of Angel's fins! They seemed to be healing well last I saw him, but looking at these pictures, I think I see a new tear! :shock: My mom can't tell though, and I guess (hope) it's just a bad camara angle.

Pics of the 10 gallon will have to wait. (blame my dad..)

SEE THE GLARE?? THE GLARRRE!! :evil: 
The second and third are what Angel likes to do when he's being fed: shove himself in some awkward place amoung the leaves of his plant and stubbornly stay there. Course, I'm stubborn too, so he eventually wriggles back out to eat. :roll:


----------



## DangerousAngel (Mar 26, 2015)

That sounds hard. :-( But she has a great owner to learn from!
Lol yeah I did! I have so many cute pics of Dangerous it's hard to choose!

Ghost is ADORABLE! I love CTs!

Ohhhh, Angel looks so good! His tail looks amazing! It so good to see him doing so well! LOL yep, the second and third is just like him! Feeding him was hard because he'd do just that! :lol:


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

*How long has it been..*

3 weeks? 3 and a half? Sheesh. :roll: Well, plenty has happened, good and bad. Aaand.. school is in exactly a week. .. DARN it Dangerous, you are SO lucky to be home schooled! 

I'll go in chronological order.. or not. Too hard. There are only 2 ottos left in the 10, the rest died of starvation. :-( I tried to gave them algae wafers while I was waiting for algae to grow on the stones. True to what I've heard, they didn't like them. And of course, I totally forgot that they eat certain greens until there was only 2 left. I gave them Romaine lettuce, and sure enough, I return to my dads a few days later to no lettuce and some fat ottos! A word of advice- well fed ottos are happy ottos!
I ended up returning the bloodfins and Panthera. I think having all of those semi-assertive fish in there was stressing Thirren out, leading to some excessive glass surfing. Usually, thats caused by boredom, so I figured she got bored with not being able to boss all of the fish around. Now she hardly ever glass surfs. What a relief.. it was stressing me out, seeing her do that. And you know whats embarrassing? One of my dads friends came over, and said "That female betta could just be in a tank like this (motions a 'tank' a foot long and like 1 or 2 inches tall) 'cuz thats where it's always swimming!"  
About a week and a half ago, I noticed that one of Hestia's barbels was missing. I couldn't figure out what was going on.. until my dad saw Thirren chasing her. :/ I can't get mad at Thirren, she's just bored. My plan was to get another panda friend for her. Then, on the 31st, I found her dead.  I'm sorry Hestia.
So now the plan for the 10 is to get 4 more ottos when they come in at Bensons (my go to pet store) and.. I'm not sure. My dad wants fish swimming around in there, but I think Thirren is too aggressive for that. But.. how am I supposed to entertain Thirren? She clearly needs something to busy her, preferably a fish that could handle her slight bullying but still be submissive. Any ideas? Ha, probably not, thats awfully specific.. 

Then there is the 29. On the 25th, Morguase and Flip started acting strangely. We got the water tested to see what was up. Turns out the nitrites had spiked. Thats when I realized what was up: when I got back from vacation, I found a very decayed (what I guessed to be) Kuhli loach body. You know what I didn't do? A water change. So thats what caused the spike. Apparently I havn't learned my lesson from a similar incident that happened maybe a year ago(?), that killed off some of my fish. Although we did 2 smaller wc's a couple days apart.. I could not save the fish. Over the course of 3 days, Flip, Morgause, and Tiny died. 
Morguase was the crazy fish with the big personality.
Flip was the timid one, who slowly became brave. 
And Tiny.. well, he grew to be not-so-tiny. His trademark bristles were just coming in. I'll miss them all a whole bunch. All were special in there own way, a way hard to explain to those that didn't know them. Love you guys..
Morgana isn't handling her (I'm guessing to be) sisters death very well. Stress stripes, and at first, twitchy behaviour. So we decided to go to the Bensons to get another female swordatil for her- after testing the water, of course- and we ended up getting: Stella (swordtail), Viper and Voldemort (2 more Kuhlis, since we know had only 3), and... our centerpeice fish... Atlantis the pearl gourmai! I LOVE this fish! Those whiskers of his (technically they're fins..) are just so cute! For th first few days, he shyly stuck to the back of the tank, but now he's always up front, especially when he spots me! I swear, he trys to hug me with his whiskers! It's SOO adorable! :-D He's just beautiful too! When he's fully grown, he'll be almost 6 inches long! I was planning on getting a pearl gourmai, and Benson's just happened to have one! But for some reason, Naia decided mom should name him sooo, thats why his name is subpar.. (sucks...) ;P Being a big fish, he naturally upset the hierarchy of the tank.. the big bad black skirts were thrown of the top of the tier, much to their complaint! In fact, they sort of bullied him, as a result. At first, he took it, but yesterday he decided he was done listening to their whining! So now he bullies right back, saying that YEAH I AM in charge, so get over it! I have a feeling his change of heart has to do with the fact that they seem to be nipping one of his whiskers! It's a little shorter on one side now! So I'm happy that he's not standing for that.
Stella.. well.. she is a freak. Seriously. When we first got her, she would glass surf like mad or just sit there.. until you startled her. Then she would go crazy again. Thankfully, she's settled down. Strangely though, she decided as soon as she went in the tank that Atlantis was her best friend. .. And he proceeded to ignore her. Still does. But ask her, she thinks their friendship is completely mutual. :roll: Unfortunately, Morgana doesn't seem to care for her, and is still showing stress stripes. We're going to try to get her to bond with another swordatil. Will we get another crazy one? Seems like the trend with these girls... :roll: :lol:
Other then that, the 29 is almost completely stocked. Before my mom wanted hatchets, but Atlantis dwells at the top, so that's settled. The plan is to get another guppy (my mom and sister insist), another BN pleco, and a few more neon tetras. In the future, rummy noses will join the fray, once I have more plants/a sponge filter. 
Actually, right now Ghost's sponge filter is in there, has been for a couple weeks. I think it's about ready to go into his tank.

I finally put some gravel in Storm's tank, and it looks alot better with it.

Thats all I have time for currently! Everyone else is happy and healthy! Pictures will be up tomorrow! It's also highly possible that I will rant about.. something I won't get into right now.

Oh yeah! My birthday was on the 26th! I'm 14! Yayyy!!


----------



## Julie7778 (Mar 20, 2015)

Happy birthday! 

I'm sorry about all the loses. Just a tip, panda corries like to be in groups. So next time if you buy any make sure to have at least a few!


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

Thanks! 
Yeah, I know. I thought that she would hang out with my other two corries. But thats a lame excuse. She, like most of the fish I've put in the 10 lately, was an impulse buy.


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

Does anyone want 2 bronze corydoras? I thought "They're happy, I'll leave them.." But randomly browsing betta fish I saw someone saying "to be truly happy, corries need to be in shoals of at least 5.." which I already knew but was a... reminder that I have to be responsible and give my fish the best chance at happiness. I'm not doing that if I keep them... After I tell my dad, I'll probably make a post in the Marketplace. Looking for someone local. I'll have to see their set-up.
... 

Every single purchase of fish for the 10 since I've put in Thirren was an impulse buy. I tend to be bad when it comes to impulse buys. But this... is where I _can't_ do that. As you can clearly see with what's happened with the fish in there... *it doesn't work*. So... I'm using this as my lesson NOT to impulse buy, especially with pets. When I give away the corries, I will finally have corrected all of the mistakes made with this tank.

But I miss the fish I've lost. :-(


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

*Rant Time but no Pictures*

.. Remember how I keep insisting that Ray-Ray and Julius's bowls are TEMPORARY?? And also how I said (and mom is enforcing..) that Naia take care of her own bettas? And, as a general self decided guideline, I consider the minimum tank size a betta can go in is _1.5 gallons_ (excluding Storm.. but if I had a choice I would try to put him in a bigger tank when I got the money...). SOOOOO NAIA IS REFUSING TO PUT RAY-RAY IN A BIGGER TANK!!!! GRRR!!!!!! :redmad: And mom is saying that it's her decision, and that "this is how you learned to be a pet owner.." Refencing the fact that I DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO CARE FOR MY FISH AND THAT MANY DIED!!!! So you know what? I'm not doing A THING for that fish ANYMORE!! Mom say's "He's perfectly happy... says the person who know SIGNIFICANTLY less about bettas, and who HASN'T done HOURS UPON HOURS UPON HOURS of research and reading on betta fish! I know for a FACT that that fish is NOT as happy as he would be in a larger and appropriately decorated tank!! 
And I'm taking such drastic measures because my mom yelled at me (which she never does) to stop "nagging" about it and that she's not going to worry about a 'perfectly happy' fish..... RRRRGGGGGGGG Well, It's been about a week and a half since I did a water change for Ray-Ray. I did wc's for MY fish yesterday. SO WHEN RAY-RAY GETS SICK OR DIES THEY WILL LEARN THEIR LESSON!!!!!



Breath... in... out....

I.... don't want Ray-Ray to suffer... but... I've tired to explain to them both time and time again.... and they're not listening..... I think my parents think that I have some .... glorified opinion about bettas and what care/tanks they need.... but... I've tried to explain to them that that's not true... that I simply care and love for my pets and animals in general........ And.... I also feel that maybe all of this devotion to my pets health and happiness has to do with the fact that I had many fish for for years that weren't properly cared for... Only in the past year and a half / 2 years have I done so. They should meet the people who say 10 gallons is the minimum (which I totally _respectfully_ disagree with)... I am not extreme in that sense....

All right. I'm done. Really had to get that out. 



Pictures tomorrow.


----------



## Julie7778 (Mar 20, 2015)

Sorry about Ray Ray. As you know my friend has a beautiful little female in a bowl. No heater or filter and it gets cold here in Canada. He hasn't changed the water for about 2 weeks now and I told him everything he needs to know. Yet he still hasn't bought water conditioner. At this point, there's nothing I can really do. I told him, if it's ever sick I can help. i guess for you as well, you have to just let the owner figure it out. It's frustrating and a bettas life may be lost because of it. But Theress nothing we can really do anymore. 

I hope things start looking a bit better for you. Impulse buys happen, and has happened to me. But as you know the 1 Cory I bought died the next day. Since then I haven't and I do research on every fish I plan to buy. 

Can't wait to see pic update :-D


----------



## DangerousAngel (Mar 26, 2015)

Argh that's got to be irritating. Maybe if he starts to look bad, you can do water changes when she's not with him, or you can offer to help out with doing water changes when she can't. Sigh.
I can't wait for the pictures! How's Angel doing?


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

*Pictures!*

@Julie Ah, yes. I almost forgot that you were in a very similar situation. It's just... this kind of thing is what I (we) try to prevent. Yet we just seem helpless. :|
Yep, me too. 
@Dangerous Yeah... I wish I could just let her remember on her own that he needs a water change, but she's only 9, and she's never really cared about fish, in my opinion. She just likes getting them because I have them. You know, like a sibling thing. She sees my with all of these pets and wants her own. She's always begging to get another betta, and when asked why she wants a 3rd she says "Because she has 4!" ... :-?
Great! I included a picture of his bubble nest. He has one like this all the time!


Sooo, those black skirts struck again! This time on his other 'whisker'! It's the same length as the one on the right! My mom thinks that it's because I turned off the tank light last night and he couldn't see them coming. We've (pretty much) decided that we should give away one of the bigger black skirts, to maybe lower their over-confidence. I saw the biggest one chasing Dust today! NO ONE chases Dust! He's the undisputed leader of the black skirts! So we're giving that one away. Hopefully after that they'll leave Atlantis alone..
The first picture of him was when we first got him, the other ones are from today.
The one of Dust is _almost_ a perfect shot. Almost. :roll:
And... the kuhli... err.. chose an awkward spot... ;-) 
I FINALLY got a good shot of Jay!! YESSSSS :-D
On my birthday, two mourning dove chicks hatched in the tree in our front yard! And today they are out of the nest! We think the one on the right is a girl and the one on the left a boy. The girl loved exploring and flitting about in the tree! Brother, on the other hand, was like: "UMM this is scary! I'm going back to the nest!" So he walked on the branches and plopped back in it! Lol!! We havn't seen the dad for a while though. We visited him everyday when he was sitting on the eggs. He must be busy feeding these fast growing babies!
Lily begging for canned food on the 27th, her 8th birthday. 
Threw in the picture from when the ottos were fat on lettuce. 
(none of this is in order btw)


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

I _almost_ got another betta and upgraded the 10 to a 20 gallon. Buuut more on that later.

Stella died.  I have no idea why, just found her dead. S.I.P, crazy.
There was an outbreak of what I beleived to be black beard algae in the 29, causing some of the leaves of my Segitteria (that plant I previously forgot the name of) to die and a spike in nitrates. Sooo presumably because of that, I lost a Kuhli, and one of the Espeis is swimmingly strangely. Like.. sorta sideways. What scares me is that a similar thing happened to Diamond and.. well that didn't turn out well. And I say it's becuase of the nitrates, but I really don't think thats it. Like, why would he still be swimming strangely after we confirmed that the parameters were back to normal? And... that can't be what happened to Diamond... waaait. Maybe it could be. Becuase.. essentially, (mind you, she started this behaviour a little before the switch from 10 to 29 gallon) the 10 was overstocked and didn't get enough water changes, so there were probably fairely high nitrates... and even being moved to a very empty and kept up 29 she continued the behaviour. So, maybe the spike weakens them permanently? Ugh, I wish I could concretely determine what's causing this.

Alright, on to temptations. First let me say this though- I'm adopting out the crabs. It's just, I'm at my dads about 2 or 3 times a week (excluding weekends) and with how much their water needs to be changed, I have to do it every time I'n there, which gets.. tiresome. Plus they keep me up at night, being nocturnal, especially now with two wackos ALWAYS trying to escape. No kidding. They'll crawl and clank about along the top rim of the tank OVER and OVER. So that. And then: I have nine crabs, but I've only seen the same 3 for... I don't even know. Since the beginning of the summer. Now, that's not as strange as it sounds- it's fairely commen for only a small percentage of ones hermit crabs to be up from molting at a time but.. this is ridiculous. Only the really large crabs stay down for molting up to months at a time, and all of mine are small-to the smaller side of medium. So, what does all this have to do with the 10 and a new betta? WELL.
I was just running into petsmart to see if they had a small air-pump for cheap (they didn't.. making this all pointless. And besides, I thought I didn't shop from that place? Guess I needed a reminder for why..) when I saw... _HIM_ But I have an excuse! *I* walked right past the betta display! It's my dad and sister who were looking at them! So, not finding what I came in for, I joined them, un-aware of the repercussions......
_He_ is white, small, a delta tail, and.... one eyed. Oh my god, did my heart go out to him. After a couple of days aginizing over him, I decided that getting him just wasn't a good decision. I don't really have time to get another betta, and like I've said, 7 is my limit. Part of what almost made me do it, though, was the thought that I could upgrade the 10 to the 20 long the crabs are currently in and have a divided section for him. But.. Thirren is currently really content in there, with the addition of 4 more ottos (all doing 'swimmingly' ;-)) and another fake plant. Plus I don't know if they would get along, meaning there would be a possibility of having to tear down the divider and putting him in another tank- something that I was trying to avoid in the first place. So no... I just hope he got an awesome home. 
Then I was just going to upgrade the 10 anyway, but that's on hold, at least for now. What with school and my homework load doubled from last year, I don't want to start that kind of project anytime soon. If at all, considering that everyone is content. 
Actually, except the corries. Ugh... I kind of want to keep them now, on the chance that I'll be upgrading to a tank big enough for a shoal of them.

Plans from this point-
29: Nothing exciting, I've already pretty much said this. Some more neons, a BN, more espei's and Harlequins, and of course the constant build up of plants. Oh, by the way! I put a nice sized Sword in there. Seems to have already grown an inch or so in the days I've had it.
Bettas: Getting heaters for everyone. Still waiting for that tank I won in the Funny Pets Contest to come in the mail for Julius. I need more plants for- well, everyone. At this point, I don't even want to buy anymore fake plants. I prefer live. Course, fake do seem to be cheaper,soo. XP I also need to get an air pump for Ghost's filter.
10: Just need another sponge filter (or a proper HOB..) to support all of the fishies. Evantually, I hope to replace the fake plants in there with live ones, but that will be a while.
That's it. I'm putting the majority of my money away to restrain my horrible spending habits, and to have it for... well, I'll let you wonder. Hint: its a pet. ;-)


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

*Just an update on Angel*

He nipped his fins just a little about a week ago but nothing since then. I realized that I never kept my promise for him to have lots of plants; working on that, trying to find the place that sells silk plants cheap. Also working on getting a plant-friendly light over his tank so I can put some bits of live ones from the 29 in there.
I did get him a heater but it's not working- back to Benson's to get a replacement..

I'll do a proper update when I'm not feeling lazy. :lol:
Pictures kinda suck but can you see how purple he is? And how his pectoral are turning purple? And his tail? If not I'll try to get better ones up soon.
The last four are from just now. Jay built a real bubble nest for the first time in.. I don't even know how long. :-D I think it's because his new heater finally reached 79 degrees.


----------



## DangerousAngel (Mar 26, 2015)

AWWWWW OMG!!! He looks SO good! So purple! I think he'll really love those live plants too! Good luck with the heater, those things can be a hit and miss, some of mine have either gone out, or weren't working in the first place! O.O 
Jay seems to be a proud boy with that little nest!! So sweet! <3
Thank you so much for the update on Angel, I've been wondering about him!


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

Nothing much has happened, just some talk. Figured it's about time to update. :-D
@Dangerous I KNOW it's awesome! Wow, really? I thought I just had bad luck.. :roll:
He trys to be 'manly' and hide it, but he's got a big heart. 
No problem.  I figured you would be, that's why did a little post on him.

I've got 2 very nice peices of driftwood for the 29 that are sitting in a bucket of water waiting to go in! Pretty happy about that. The one peice in there looks so awesome covered in java moss- I'm just waiting to be able to replicate that with the new ones. The hornwort is reaching the top of the tank, it looks awesome! And it's super easy to break off a peice and plant it in the graval. I have 4 individual ones in there right now. In fact, I took one of them off becuase it had roots shooting out. NEVER buying another one of those. :lol:
Regarding stocking, I've been thinking about different options and doing lots of research. At this point, I'm (this is by no means concrete) thinking of only adding a pleco , taking out the espeis to be replaced by 3 more Harlequins- thats for sure, and hopefully adding more neons, and more kuhlis. I wish I could have blue and rummy nose tetras instead, but the recent low pH test results might not be permanent, and what will happen to them then?

Guess what?? I'M KEEPING THE CORYS!!!!! YAYYY!! Because I was told that I could, and get more corys (pepper) along with a orange dwarf crayfish as long as I get an additional filter! Along with the fact that I will eventualy be upgrading the 20 after the crabs find a new home. WOOHOO! So I'll probably order the filter tomorrow. When it arrives, I'll swing by Bensons to see if they have any habrosus corys, and look into whether or not JDAquatics has crays in stock. So that's something to look forward to!
Next time we stop by walmart I'll be picking up lights for the fish. They are all going to be moved soon, due to the fact that we're getting rid of our TV and putting out new one on the table where the bettas currently reside. That's good for Ghost, becuase then he'll be able to have his heater plugged in - the cord is to short to plug in where it is now- and be next to a betta. Both of which should cheer him up considerably; he's been pretty down lately. 
My National Geographic tank STILL hasn't come, and it's getting annoying. Storm seems to agree that his jar is too cramped, at this point. I want to get him OUT.

Dangerous, (or anyone) do you have a recommendation for where one can get silk plants for a low price? I've said I'd rather not get any more fake plants, but getting only live plants is EXPENSIVE. Besides, they're not that bad. And, they're flexile when it comes to placement.
I've got a.. suprise announcement of sorts. I was hoping I would be able to make it this weekend, but no such luck. So you'll have to wait! MWAHAHAH (that is the digital version of an evil laugh)


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

*GoodBye Crabbies!!*

My 3 hermit crabs Scrabble, Mrs Chippers, and Crowely went to their new home in NYC last Wednesday, the 28th. They very kind lady who adopted them has sent me tons of pictures of her crabs and her two large tanks, a video of her talking about her crabs featured in an article about people who pampared their pets, and has kept me updted on their status! It all happened very quickly- she emailed me about being an interested adopter on the 27th, and my dad happened to be going to the city on a business trip, so I had to call her and make plans about where she would take the crabs, clean out the rest of the things in the crabitat, and get them in their cage they were riding in for the next day.
Everything went well, and know they have been living with her happily for a little over a week. 
While I've definatly missed them, I know they got a fantastic home, and that I'll hear and see pictures of them fairely often, and that if I ever go to New York City, I can go to her apartment and visit them! Goodbye, guys, and thanks for being a part of my life for 3 years.... :wave:


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

*Happy Halloween!*

(Shhh, it's not late) I hope everyone had an awesome Halloween and (most importantly :brow got tons of CANDY!! I know I did! I dressed up as the Phoenix, a mythological fire bird. My mom made the cape/wings/tail, and I made the mask. We were SO happy with it. The only thing was, I couldn't see... practically AT ALL with the mask on, but I made it through the night without crashing into a telephone pole or tripping on stairs. :rofl:


----------



## DangerousAngel (Mar 26, 2015)

I get my live plants at PetCo.

Ooooh I love your costume! I need to post mine!


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

Oh. My petco's plants are always unhealthy looking.. bummer.
Thanks! I'd love to see your costume! What did you dress up as?


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

The Blackskirts are gone. Well, all except for Dust, the old guy who wouldn't hurt anyone. He's been fine on his own, except for the fact that Atlantis seems to be bullying him into submission. Apparently he doesn't realize Dust won't challenge him. It hasn't been as bad now, but a week ago when we first donated the others to Bensons it was constant. We donated them because of the final straw- Fashion's (guppy) death. Almost all of her tail was torn off. We assumed it was them but.. now I think it might be Atlantis, becuase Flop died only days later. We have no way of knowing, but if we find out he's been killing the guppies.. we'll have to get rid of him too. I really hope it doesn't come to that. He's so sweet..
Since we only had one guppy left, Fancy, who was grieving his brother's death, we went to Bensons to get four more- Flare, Flash, Flora and Fauna. We also got a baby BN pleco named Sam. She/he (I'm just calling it she for now) is very cute, and absolutely pigging out on all the algae in the tank. Unfortunately, we lost Fuana the next day, who was struggling from the begining. He had a fair amount of his tail gone pre-death, from the store. But I don't recall him looking like that when he was in the store's tank, so I'm thinking he was injured while being netted. We got a guppy to replace him- Flame, who's been doing fine.
The same day Fashion died, one of the Kuhlis died for unknown reasons, and we lost another today. I don't know why. It looked like he got trapped somewhere, becuase he was internally bleeding. But we found him between the wall and the intake sponge, so how could that be? He wasn't squeezed against the wall; I could see space between it and his body. So... another mystery/weird death. Leaving only one kuhli. Poor thing. Todays death was my oldest one too- Lightning. I can tell becuase they all had different markings.
So yeah.. The 29 has been a wreck lately, and it's really getting me down. It just seems like a bunch of unrelated things happening all at once, but it still feels like my fault. I wish I could do better. It seems like all I'm doing on here in the past few months is saying who died. Sigh.....
There was also a very weird/unexplained- oh yeah! You don't even know I have those- 5 Habrosus cories, in the 10 gallon. They've been doing really well, except for one who I just found the body of a few days ago. It was in a REALLY weird spot: in the little circle/area the cord for my (new, I havn't mentioned it as of yet) IF-204 filter comes out of. Like, it was just lodged in there. It's not like it got sucked in the filter; there's no hole there going in/out of it that wasn't filled in by the cord itself. Again.. morbidly, gross, and random. But ah... they're really cute! (The living ones, sheesh) They're only roughly half an inch long! SUPER tiny, especially compared to the other older cories. Funny though, they're not timid at all. They'll just move aside if one of the big guys pushes in to much a pellet. I mean, the big ones are skittish and the little ones aren't- seems backwards to me. Lol. :roll: I put a plant I got in there and it's growing SUPER quickly, and another plant which is split in two that I got is doing well too.
The bettas have been cool, upon replacing our old TV (Ghost was on, and the others were on the table the new TV is on now), the bettas got new but temporary spots. Ghost- who got his sponge filter FINALLY (he loves it!)- and Jay are next to each other in the dining room, which they seem to like. Mom doesn't though; says it smells like fish, lol. I said I was too used to the smell/immune to it to notice. ;-) That's probably not a good thing. :lol:
That's all. (THAT'S _ALL_ you're probably mentally screaming THAT'S A WALL OF TEXT!! Yeah, sorry. My post always end up ridicuously long; it doesn't help that I'm updating less often. Kudos to those who actually read this :thumbsup: lolol) I havn't been very active on the site or here. Things have been so busy for me. I think I've said it before, but my workload from school has more then doubled. It feels like I have hardly any free time, between that and all of the fish. Blah. So anyway, adios and stay cool~


----------



## DangerousAngel (Mar 26, 2015)

That is a bummer :/ ours come from the plant tubes.
I was Michael Jackson this year. I'll go post it!
Sorry about all the guppies and your Khuli's.
Glad to hear the Bettas are doing so good! Tell Angel I said hi! ;-)


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

*Mini Update About Angel*

Angel.. this could just me be guilt tripping myself, but I feel like all of my bettas have been down lately, ya know? I've been sooo busy with things, mostly my birdy baby Cockatiel Joy (she's a cutie pie :-D), who I got for Christmas. Not to mention the ever present work load of school. Anyway, I haven't been hanging out with the boys -and I hate to say it but- keeping up with water changes quite as much. Which I feel _awful_ about. Angel did bite his fins on and off a few weeks ago, but now I believe he's letting them heal. He could have changed his mind though, as I'm on vacation right now. I'll ask my mom about it. He _really_ needs a change in his environment. For a while now I've wanted to upgrade him to a snug 2.5 that I won months back and still haven't received. But at this point I might have to buy something for him. And rest assured, it'll be heavily planted.

So, that's that. I told myself that vacation would be a fresh start, and that as soon as I get home I have to get my butt in gear for all of my babies. 

Let me know of any of you are interested in hearing about everyone else, or my feathered baby.


----------



## DangerousAngel (Mar 26, 2015)

I'm sure they understand, what about that 2.5 that I sent you with Angel, or did someone else get it? I forgot lol! Enjoy your vaction!


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

Nope, you never sent it, remember? At the time I didn't need it. Do you know if you still have it?
:-D I'm in Arizona, near Pheonix. Ever been? Great place to go to, at least before it gets boiling hot in the summer.


----------



## DangerousAngel (Mar 26, 2015)

Oh that's right duh LOL! I think Snowy has it right now.
Oh that sounds fun! I've never been, what kind of things are there to do?


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

All kinds of things! The Pheonix Zoo is fantastic, the Pheonix Children's Museum- hard to describe, just go with an open mind- is cool, there's nature trails that show off the Sonoran desert's unique beauty, there's places you can go rock climbing, or you can make the two hour ride to see Sedona's beautiful red rocks and mountains.
Jeese, I sound like one of those vacation resort ads. :lol: But yeah, I had an awesome time there.


----------



## DangerousAngel (Mar 26, 2015)

That sounds amazing!! I'll have to mention it as a place we should try and go to!


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

I can't wait to show you Angel's new digs!!! :-D You'll have to wait to see until Wednesday though.. By then, I'll have seen wether or not he decided to be bold and chew his fins.. :roll:


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

Angel is now in a 2.5 gallon! Heavily packed with plants- I know it doesn't _look_ great but making it so filled with plants lessons how well I can arrange things nicely. BUT Angel loves it and that's all that matters! He did bite his fins a little the first night he was in there, but I think he was just shocked by the change. He hasn't bitten since. Ghost is also much happier now that he has a neighbor- losing Jay was really tough for him.


----------



## DangerousAngel (Mar 26, 2015)

Oh my goodness! Look at him! He's so beautiful! I ADORE the tank he's in! And his face in the last picture is adorable! He looks so happy!
I'm so glad that Ghost is feeling better now that he has a neighbor <3


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

Yes I know!! His mood has improved so much!! It's so cute- I'll come over to say hi and he'll just slowly emerge from his 'forest' and be like "Yo wassup" and I'll just laugh. XD And Ghost too- I was really worried about him and now he's better then ever. I was afraid Angel would be too 'high energy' for him (he's a very chillax fish) but they both get along and cheer each other up perfectly. 
There's nothing better than seeing your pets so happy. :-D Julius is next: as soon as I get a filter and some gravel he will be moving into a nice 5.5 I found for him- I think he's going to love it. =D


----------



## DangerousAngel (Mar 26, 2015)

Aww that's great!!

Ooh, I can't wait to see his new setup!


----------



## DangerousAngel (Mar 26, 2015)

Just thought I'd bring to your attention Angel's 1 year gotcha date! I got him 1 year ago today! Give him an extra bloodworm treat for me! <3
You've become such a beautiful boy Angel! Happy gotcha day!









P.S Would you mind if I used one(maybe 2) of his pictures in a photo album my grandma and I are putting together? I'd love to have an updated picture(s) of him!


----------



## ThisDragonisNerdy (Mar 28, 2015)

Thank you so much for telling me! I certainly will (better late than never XP)
He was getting a little bit stressed- tearing up his tail pretty bad- but after taking out one of his plants during a water change he was much happier, just in time for his gotcha day. :-D He even stayed still for ONE MOMENT so I could take some pictures! 
Love you Angel!! 
And of course!


----------



## DangerousAngel (Mar 26, 2015)

You're very welcome! Look at this picture I found today! So cute!









I cannot believe how much he's changed! He looks SO happy/healthy!

Oh, and thanks! I'll send them to my grandma to add to the album!


----------

