Slacking off

Okay, so I've been slacking on my blogging.
There has been some drama here. I went from having six of my own fish, and two foster fish, to four of my own fish and one foster fish in ONE day. One of the foster fish died almost immediately after arriving at my house. then I turned around and realized that Digby and Pigby, my two otocinclus catfish, were both dead as well. So I FREAKED out. I'm still not sure what happened to them. Many people tell me that otos are sensitive and prone to dying, some say they are not...I have a theory that Ned, the betta they were housed with, may have gone postal over night and killed them. I tested the water and it was fine. He, I think is probably one of, if not THE, healthiest of all of my bettas, and has if anything thrived since the demise of his tankmates. Maybe they stressed him out. Maybe he is undercover during the day as my mellow, sweet little guy, but turns into someone crazy at night. Maybe he was trying to sleep and flipped out and finally lost it on the otos- who are of course, nocturnal.

I finally recovered from that shock, and focused on the foster fish who was left. I thought at first it troubles were external looked like he something going on there, but then realized that he probably had internal trouble as well...but he would not eat. I even tried the garlic and pea thing. (Which made my house smell like garlic for days, pretty sure my husband is never goign to eat garlic again) and then realized that he was also blind. He died during the day after trying the garlic and peas.

So, fearing an outbreak (since I'm relatively certain Emerson has a bit of the bug himself) I switched EVERYONE to medicated food for about five days. Actually still have Emerson on it for a bit longer. but everyone else has been freed, especially Olive since she wasn't eating it anyway. But she eats everything else fine.

When I get some pictures taken, i will have some things to show. I still felt Emerson (because is a giant) was crowded in his 1.25 gallon tank, so I bought him a 3g. I think he is happier now. :) So I moved Olive from the 1 gallon bowl into the 1.25 tank. Charlotte has also moved into the lovely cylinder I got from SNIPE. I might move her into a bigger cylinder eventually, but she's so small, this small one seems to suit her and is still bigger than the tank she was in.


Picked up two more foster fish yesterday. One didn't even make it home, and the 2nd one died during the night. :( I'm obviously running much more of hospice than i had planned. Hopefully next time I can get some that I can actually help, who aren't so far gone. I have a fish cemetary happening in my yard cause I hate flushing them.

That in a nutshell is what has been happening around here.

Lay-Zee

It's been a lazy weekend here this weekend. Not gone anywhere since I didn't want to deal with the cold yuckiness outside. So most of us have stayed inside. (Hubby is out working at the moment) It has however been a weekend full of water changes and observation.
Emerson- my new male- is unlike any of my others. He is FEISTY. He flares at me! He flares at his reflection in the camera lens. And he is HUGE. I've tried him in a couple of different bowls and he just seems to fill the whole thing. So I finally gave up and after much discussion with my husband and my friends at aquarium nation (www.aquariumnation.com) I decided to move Ned (male #1) in a bowl and put Emerson in the 3 gallon tank. I felt bad about this cause ned has been in the tank for awhile, and he's so sweet (he's also hubby's fave), but I didn't want to squish Emerson anymore either so that problem has been solved.
Charlotte is coming along beautifully.


she's looking more and more like a fish and less and less like a tadpole. I continue to have a soft spot for female #1, Olive. Just because she seems to enjoy being around people. I swear she comes to the front of the bowl when she hears my voice. I also tend to be around her the most, since she's on the headboard of the bed, and i spend a lot of time resting (I'm laptopping from bed right now) we hang out togeher a lot. :)
Anyway, that was our weekend. I won a great new bowl off of the SNIPE auction from aquarium nation, I'm debating whether it should go to Ned or Charlotte. We shall see. And now that it's thawed outside, I'll be making a run to my LFS for some silk plants since I've decided they are better than the plastic ones. Thank goodness for store credit since I spend my weekly spending money on the bowl!!!

Tired.

The weather is absolutely horrible here today and probably will be for most of the weekend. This make me sad. A) I was looking forward to going to sea dreams today (www.seadreams.us)to get a new plant for my newest betta emerson. Right now he is borrowing one from Ned and it takes up quite a bit of the tank, but i prefer that to him not having any place to "hide". Emerson got moved into the vase i had planned for him, it holds about a gallon of water give or take, so he got a water change. Charlotte, being that she is the sicky, got a complete water change and tank cleaning, who knew such a tiny fish could leave so MUCH poo!!!! she's also getting fattened up, she's pudgy like Olive. I must subconsciously over feed the females because Ned does not have this problem.
I also did a complete water change on the big tank today. None of them (Ned, Digby, or Pigby) were at all happy about that. And I'm serious those little otos can be invisible!! I have the hardest time finding them!!!! The tank was getting gross and I checked the levels and to my understanding they were higher than they should have been. (I haven't done as much with the big tank since the smaller tanks keep me busier) It was gross. But hopefully it will be better. I rinsed out all the filter parts as well.

I've been trying really hard to get a photo of Charlotte so the world can get an idea of how she is growing and changing, but she hides too much and is hard to get a photo of. She swims sorta funny- I think she has a "lucky fin" like Nemo. It's there just not as much as the other and doens't seem to be as strong... I'm hoping this is just part of the fin rot and as that improves it will grow back.

So, since Charlotte is so camera shy, I don't have any new photos right now. And after doing changes on everyone but Olive, I think I'm gonna take a nap!!

I have a disease.

I have been bitten by the betta bug.
Meet Emerson:


Now that i have completed the Pushing daisies cast, (at least the "main" characters) there will be hopefully, no more permanent additions, only fosters.

Over my head?

I am well aware of how my obsessive/compulsive tendencies often get me into trouble. Pair them with chronic fatigue and what almost seems like a bipolar habit of DIVING completely into a new hobby and then setting it aside and not doing much with it again (ex. cross stitching, painting...I'm sure there are more)

I know that every time I start something new my husband expects it to be like that again. Where I will spend LOTS of money on the stuff I "need" to complete said hobby but after a week or so everything is sitting around collecting dust.

It's been more than two weeks since I bought my first fish. And would certainly not say that I am tired of them. Quite the opposite I love them and am fascinated by them, much more than I expected to be.

The problem is I love them TOO much. I have become consumed by them, so of course other things have to take a backseat. I hope Jonathan (My RSN governor doesn't read this) but I actually passed up a Red Sox/Yankees game to stay online and learn about my fish. And those of you who know me, know that my love of baseball and the Red Sox is one of those manic obsessive things that has NOT gone away and has continued strong since I got into watching baseball three years ago.

I will say this for my fishy crew, they get me out of bed in the morning. The first thing I do every morning is check on each of them, feed them, and (because I'm paranoid) make sure no one is "floating". They each have their personalities.

To me, Ned seems sort of cat-like, in that, he is coy about coming around to be close to be when I am next to the tank. He normally only comes around when he can make it at least seem like it was "his" idea. Much like my cat.
Olive, is the opposite, she is more like a dog. (and there for I tend to favor her a little) She does pay attention to me, and will come to the side of the bowl when I'm around. (mostly I think she's begging for food- not unlike my dog, but I'd like to think it's because she wants to be with me) This might also explain why i've recently noticed she's a bit pudgy. :)
The twins- Digby and Pigby, I dont see them much even when I'm looking for them because they blend in to the tank so well. Digby is still the most active but Pigby has improved.
Charlotte, I don't know yet what I would say about her personality. She is spunky though, clearly, to be so tiny and sick, but she keeps swimming, I'm not sure she realizes she is so small or sick. She's still not as sure about whether she wants to be "close" to me or not. But loves eating. I have to remember that though she is so small and needs the nourishment, too much food would not help her.

Here is the problem. I love my fish. But there are days, like the days where it exhausts me just to do partial water changes on a one gallon bowl and Charlotte's little condo that is less than a gallon, when I think I've bitten off more than I can chew. I've moved to far. I am responsible for these little beautiful creatures, but feel so clueless. If it weren't for the gentle patience and loving acceptance of all the people at Aquarium Nation. (www.aquariumnation.com) I would have failed long ago, but they continue to take me by the hand and teach me. But it's not like I can call someone up when I run into a problem. And the internet, though it is a great tool, only frustrates me because everyone has their own styles and ways of taking care of their fish. And I end up reading so many contradictory articles. It just makes me want to throw my hands up! It makes me feel like I'm drowning. Especially considering that I'm purposely taking in fish who are sick or weak... and I've only been doing this for like three weeks. I know that some times fish just die. (so far mine have not) And I've heard many people say that they've never been able to keep a betta live for longer than a couple of weeks or months. I havent even been doing this for a month yet and I'm already doing betta hospice care and talking about doing foster care. What if suddenly they all die and I realize I was doing something wrong?

I know nothing about most of the water level stuff, I just go off what people tell me and pray my fish are hardy enough to live through my mistakes.

So as for now, we're all still swimming. I am going to keep trying to do the right thing for my little brood, I'm going to continue learning and seeking information. And I'm hoping to continue to get the opportunity to GIVE information as well since so many people don't realize just what kind of care Bettas needs.

Until next time, BIG shout-outs to Aquarium Nation, by far the best fish lover community anyway. And to Sea Dreams the best aquarium store I have found in Wichita, and to Lynne the owner, for helping me out in my mission to heal some of those poor sick beautiful fish.
Charlotte's condo:



Charlotte now.

In the beginning....

My family consisted of my and my husband, a few months after getting married, we added our dog Brownie.
About nine months after that we added Lucy;


Our family consisted quite happily that way for many years. Both of our pets came from rescue organizations. But after about six years, a friend of mine in california bought a baby tortoise. I fell in and decided I absolutely wanted one too. (A smaller breed though) But they are not cheap or easy to come by- or at least easy to come by of good healthy quality. So I had to wait. Then one day I spotted some baby leopard geckos at the petstore, I thought... maybe I could get gecko instead, they are smaller still than the breed of tortoise I wanted, and much cheaper when purchased as babies. But at that time we weren't in a position to buy a gecko and all the accessories needed to go with it.

There were two pets I swore I would never own. A) Frogs/toads- especially frogs, they gross me out... long story. and B) Fish. It seemed like a lot of work, maintenance and upkeep for such fragile animals that you really couldn't interact with.

So a short while after the failed gecko attempt I found myself meandering through the pet section at our local Wal-Mart. I was in the section looking for something for the dog. When I wondered into the area where they sell fish. I browsed over all the different types briefly, going mostly by appearance and size than anything. And decided, it wouldn't cost much to have a fish. Maybe I should give it a go. Each fish was only a few dollars, and the supplies I had selected as being what I would need came to only a little more than ten dollars. The fish I originally had decided on was a shubunkin goldfish, I think they are awesome looking. They had them in "small", "medium" and "large" so in my mind it meant they had three different sizes, not that that tiny little one was going to grow to the size of the large one. (Yeah, I'm not always so bright)

But after waiting for a matter of minutes there was NO SIGN of any employees in the department to help me get a fish. So, as I wandered around I went to look at the bettas. I had initially over looked them as they always look so sad and unhealthy in the little cups all stacked up together. And I got so put off with people who thought (maybe they still do) that you could put a fish in a vase, add a plant to the top and they could survive off each other (that whole war and peace thing) because even as a none fish keeper I knew this was NOT TRUE. So I decided since the Bettas could be selected without help, I would get one of those instead of the goldfish.

Clearly, this was fate stepping in. I selected a male (like most people do because of their impressive long flowy fins): (And by the way, it is MUCH harder to photograph fish than dogs or cats)
Shortly after purchasing my betta, his name is Ned, I did some reading and thought he would need a larger tank. So with much thanks to my mother-in-law I ended up with a five gallon hexagonal tank for Ned to live in.But after putting him in the tank it seemed so large, I decided he needed some company. So I did some research on algae eaters and found that a particular type called otocinclus catfish are well suited for living with bettas. I purchased two- Digby and Pigby. But you if you want to see what they look like you can do that on your own cause they are impossible to get pictures of. (though in the wide world of google you can find some)

So, after all of that, I decided that a betta in a 1 gallon bowl wouldn't be such a bad idea. Less to worry about as far as air stones, air pumps, filters, etc. So the next addition was a female betta, named Olive.




Although a decent picture. (Thanks hubby) This photo does her little justice. She is STUNNING. She is actually a blue-ish purple with horizontal silver stripes. That fin on top is silvery with blue polka dots and her tail is blue with orange highlights. (you can see the orange highlights well here)
By the way, this all happened in the course of about about two weeks.
I decided that though I LOVE Ned, he is beautiful and special because of his cambodian gene which gives him the lighter coloring. I prefer the females. They too are beautiful but often over looked in petstores because they don't have the crazy fins.
AND the bonus is, some females can live together. So I hatched a plan I would buy a 2nd female, and put her and Olive in the 5 gallon tank and put Ned back in the bowl.

But the more and more I read about bettas and the more I saw them in stores the more I was reminded of some of the horrid conditions they are kept in. Many arrive sick to the stores that sell them or become sick because of the poor conditions they are kept in. Tiny cups with dirty water, under or over feeding, and sometimes nothing done about the obviousness of their illnesses.

So I decided then rather than "buy" another betta I was going to "rescue" one. Although I consider the first two rescues because I took them from the horrid conditions at walmart both came to me beautiful and in good health and have stayed that way.

My favorite aquatic store in town, has a small section of their bettas they keep behind the counter, they call it their betta hospital, where they treat the fish with obvious illnesses. I made a deal with the owner, and traded her a 20 gallon ran down tank, for one of their hospital fish. Bought some supplies and have a little hospital tank set up for her. Her name is Charlotte. I don't really have any photos of her yet. But just picture a tadpole and you've got Charlotte. She's at least half the size of Olive, if not smaller, she has some tail rot, and some fungus issues. She is clearly very very young.

But when she has colors she looks a great deal like her big sister Olive. She LOVES freeze dried blood worms and has the appetite of my other two fish put together.

As I learn more about rescueing and recooperating bettas, that fish store and I might work out a deal where I can foster their fish sick for them, and return them to the store to be sold. That way I get to love on lots of fish, without having a house full of them.

and for now, that is the beginning of my fishie tales....