Sunnyfish
New Member
hello everyone!
straight into the information, i guess.
i've technically had several years of "experience" with fish, but only recently have i read up on proper care for the fish i currently have (Q the betta). by recently i mean it was several months ago, but i suppose it's pretty recent when compared to the 6 years i've actually kept fish. as you can imagine i regret those several years of fishkeeping and i've sworn to do proper research before bringing any pet into my home - fish aren't the only pets i've kept for many years that i didn't know how to properly care for. other examples include dwarf hamsters, a gerbil (yes, A gerbil, not multiple - that's a sign i didn't know what i was doing right there), and even cats, but they were luckily cared for, for the most part, pretty well. i currently own 4 cats, a crested gecko, a rabbit, and my betta, all of which i do my best to keep happy and healthy.
i'll summarize my last bettas in a few sentences:
i owned about 6 or 7 in total over these last few years. they were kept in what i believe was a half gallon that was unheated and rarely cleaned. fish flakes were their only food option and i often forgot to even take care of feeding.
i didn't own just bettas, though - there was one incident where me and my family were at a local fair and won a huge bag of those little feeder goldfish. we didn't have a tank at home, so what did we do? we bought an itty bitty kritter keeper sold at the same stand to put them in. keep in mind there were, like, 15-20 goldfish in this bag.
YIKES.
needless to say almost all of the fish died on the same night we brought them home. looking back on this - did i even feed them? at all? i know i never even bothered to clean the tank, but.. i know i didn't buy them their own food. did i give them the betta flakes i gave the betta i had at the time? did they ever eat? jeez, i don't know.
point is, i had no idea how fish worked. i could use the excuse that i was just a kid and my parents didn't understand what we were getting ourselves into, but it's still REALLY bad. luckily little Q (as in question mark because we couldn't come up with a name) was very quickly moved into a spare 5 gallon (i think it's a 5 gallon, anyways) with a mesh lid that has a heater and plenty of spaces to hide. the tank is now cycled and gets siphoned every week.Q also has 3 different food options as of now.
straight into the information, i guess.
i've technically had several years of "experience" with fish, but only recently have i read up on proper care for the fish i currently have (Q the betta). by recently i mean it was several months ago, but i suppose it's pretty recent when compared to the 6 years i've actually kept fish. as you can imagine i regret those several years of fishkeeping and i've sworn to do proper research before bringing any pet into my home - fish aren't the only pets i've kept for many years that i didn't know how to properly care for. other examples include dwarf hamsters, a gerbil (yes, A gerbil, not multiple - that's a sign i didn't know what i was doing right there), and even cats, but they were luckily cared for, for the most part, pretty well. i currently own 4 cats, a crested gecko, a rabbit, and my betta, all of which i do my best to keep happy and healthy.
i'll summarize my last bettas in a few sentences:
i owned about 6 or 7 in total over these last few years. they were kept in what i believe was a half gallon that was unheated and rarely cleaned. fish flakes were their only food option and i often forgot to even take care of feeding.
i didn't own just bettas, though - there was one incident where me and my family were at a local fair and won a huge bag of those little feeder goldfish. we didn't have a tank at home, so what did we do? we bought an itty bitty kritter keeper sold at the same stand to put them in. keep in mind there were, like, 15-20 goldfish in this bag.
YIKES.
needless to say almost all of the fish died on the same night we brought them home. looking back on this - did i even feed them? at all? i know i never even bothered to clean the tank, but.. i know i didn't buy them their own food. did i give them the betta flakes i gave the betta i had at the time? did they ever eat? jeez, i don't know.
point is, i had no idea how fish worked. i could use the excuse that i was just a kid and my parents didn't understand what we were getting ourselves into, but it's still REALLY bad. luckily little Q (as in question mark because we couldn't come up with a name) was very quickly moved into a spare 5 gallon (i think it's a 5 gallon, anyways) with a mesh lid that has a heater and plenty of spaces to hide. the tank is now cycled and gets siphoned every week.Q also has 3 different food options as of now.
