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Broadway the Betta

Day Four, continued again:

Not much else to say after the bubble nest... Broadway had a great day, and he seemed very happy after I changed his water. He's really turning into a sweet little guy now that he's getting used to being here!

Day Five:

Now comes the hard part... leaving him for the weekend. I am going to be so worried until I get back here Sunday evening, but there's no way I could take him home each weekend without causing him a ton of stress. (My home is about an hour away on some very bad curvy roads... not good for a little fish, I don't think.) Holidays and long weekends, I will take him, but I have to get through this first weekend of leaving him here. I really hope he's going to be okay! I know he won't starve, but I hope nothing bad happens to him... <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> He's doing great right now though! So hopefully all will go well over the weekend!

For future reference (aka Thanksgiving), I'm going to need to find out how is the best way to transport him home.

I agree with the advice to keep your betta in 2.5 gallons or above so you can use a heater. A warm, stable temperature is so important to bettas. They are tropical fish. I don't know when people started taking them out of the aquarium and putting them in cold, unheated, unfiltered bowls. I've had bettas since I was 10 and always kept them in my tropical aquarium (78 degees +) with other peaceful fish. Only ONE betta per aquarium, of course. Seems like a lot of the problems I am reading about here could be due to a surpressed immune system. Could this be from the stress of living in cold water? One of the best articles I have ever read on betta care is from veterinarians Drs. Foster and Smith at web page Just type in "Betta Care" in the "Search Box" for some top notch information from the vets and aquatic staff at PetEducation.com I have seven bettas of my own that live in community tanks and/or divided 10 gallon heated, filtered aquariums. Using a light instead of a heater seems risky to me as they can overheat and cook your fish. Also, since fish don't have eyelids, they are not getting any sleep with the light on. Mine sleep in the plants in the aquarium. I can see them when I go in the fish room with a flashlight (don't want to wake them up when I'm up late. Hope the article on Betta Care helps. Bettas are wonderful fish and deserve the best care we can give them.

Broadway the Betta

Night Six:

I got back from my weekend at home to check on Broadway only to find that my stupid dorm had turned the heat off!! Broadway was huddled in the bottom of his water, which had dropped to about 70 F. I completely panicked and pulled my desk lamp close to him, turned it on, and wrapped a towel around his tank. (And gave him one food pellet and, a bit later, a bloodworm.) He seems to be perking up a little bi tnow, but I wish they'd turn the heat back on... for him and me both. *shiver*

Broadway the Betta

Day Seven-Eight:

I don't honestly have much to say for these days! Since Broadway's settling into his new home well after a week of living with me, I'll probably taper off on the journal entries unless something out of the ordinary happens.

One thing I'd like to mention, though, is that the desk lamp really heated up Broadway's water nicely yesterday! So a possible crisis was averted... but I'm still cold. <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

I -really- want to get a second betta now (although I'm not going to... yet). I've fallen in love with these great fish! Someday I want to get a female. But, like I said, not now, because I'm still learning. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Crimsons first night here has been a flurry so far. I scoured the internet for everything i could find about Bettas. Realized his tank was too cold so had to rig a desk lamp to keep temperature up. The heat gets turned up at night so im not too worried about keeping the lamp on during the night, just during the day. put a few pellets in there but seemed totally uninterested. I think i will go to petsmart and see if i can find any bloodworms that people keep talking about. other than when he is staring at me he seems to be pretty active. sometimes sits for a few min at the surface nearest the light for a light bath i guess. will not turn sideways for photos though lol. its like he knows i am trying to photograph him, already a brat lol.

RIP Jalepeno <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Unfortunately, my roomate turned the heat off over Thanksgiving break, because I hadn't seen her to remind her about it, and I came back two days later to find my poor betta dead. I don't get along too well with her in the first place, so I was quite angry to say the least. She hasn't even noticed that the tank has been taken down, or that the fish is dead. So that's another thing to put in the bettas in a dorm article: talk to your roomate, then talk to her again, and remind her of everything! Do it just once and they'll forget...

Oh elise!!! I am SO sorry!
I would be LIVID with her!!! You are in my prayers!!

Fishy hugs,

Amber

Elisa, I am SOOOOO sorry! How horrible!!!! Poor Jalepeno!

You are right, I will have to remember to add that to the article when I do some more updates. I made a note of it.

I'm sorry to hear about Jalepeno Elise. What a rotten room mate!

Does anyone know about burning candles in the same room as your betta?
My sister was concerned about a 'film' on the top of her bettas' bowl. I told her she was probably just worrying because she's new to these little guys. When I was there last nite I had a look and sure enough there was some 'gunk' on the top of the water. Her only idea was that she had been burning candles in the same room the day before and that the wax had evaporated onto the water. (I dunno about this, she's the chemist.) When I put a clean finger in the bowl there was definately whitish goop on it. She is very clean with him and had just done a water change, so I really can't think of anything that would do this. He seems to be perfectly fine otherwise (awesome bubblenest and all). Any ideas about this?? Also...
I bought the little guy (Pisces) for her as a Christmas gift. I got him on the 22 and noticed at the store that he had a tiny hole in one of his fins. With a little salt in the water I thought it would be gone by Christmas, but it's still there. It hasn't gotten worse or anything. Has anyone else had the same thing with one of their bettas?