Hey everyone...
So I posted a few weeks ago how I got a new betta from my lfs...well rescued is more like it..in case you didn't read it (I was going to keep a journal but now I can't...) I'll tell you a bit about him.
Well I walked into my lfs to get a betta, all in their tiny little cups, and there were some extremely gorgeous ones that I could expect to be on aquabid or something...I really wanted one (especially a sky blue and white halfmoon with huge finnage and he looked like a marble) but he was kind of ignoring me..well I spotted one king betta, not pretty at all, but everywhere I walked or moved or looked, he always was looking straight at me. I felt so bad I even tried to turn his cup around, but he just swam around and looked at me again (which must have been hard because he was a king betta in the same size cup as everyone else and barely any water...he could barlely move)...He was the only one not flaring, almost like he knew he wasn't pretty, but was wanting me to take him home anyway...like he actually cared, unlike the other bettas...well I prayed about it and I felt that he was the one, and if I didn't get him, I would have regretted it...so I took him home. After being acclimatized, i opened up his cup and put it sideways in the water so he could swim into his new home...but before he swam out, he tilted his head up at me (because my head was right over the top of the tank over him), he tilted his head up, I nodded, and he swam out. (Kind of funny, huh?)...well he settled into his tank pretty well, and he explored the first few minutes. I didn't get a picture of how terrible he looked the first day, but I did get one after he had been with me for a few days which is the first picture right here...so in this picture he is still not very pretty at all, but his body is a little colored up here, but picture how he looked the first day. His body color was a pale ugly yellow and his fins were short and like a pale gray red. I didn't have high hopes for him being pretty at all, but I didn't care...
Well anyway, somehow one day he started just doing cute and funny things. First off, after the first time I fed him bloodworms, he built a bubble nest for me the next day...and he did this any time I fed him brine shrimp or bloodworms after every time I changed his water (Like once a week). Also, if I put my head over the tank, he would jump up (and hit his head on the lid)...He also had this one spot in between the jungle of plants on the wood, like this one hole in the plants, where he would sit in the middle of and stare straight out the tank. And whenever I walked by, he would come right out to the front and stare head on at me just like he did in the store. And whenever I looked over at my sister's betta tank, right to the right of his, he would swim over as far as he could to the right (keep in mind that he was a very calm betta) and he would spaz out trying to get my attention...and as soon as I looked back at his tank again, he was fine again and would just stare at me head on again... The only time he ever flared (I heard king bettas don't usually flare as much as other bettas) was the one time I put a mirror up to him. And look at his colors here...His body was like an irridescent pink with a few blue and white scales (I don't think you can see them here), his fins grew and colors had overall improved, he had a pure white face from his eyes forward (I called it his beard), and he actually became much prettier...in my opinion..still a bit homely looking, but I loved him!
sorry about the quality, the video was taken with my phone...
Well, I woke up one morning (a few days ago) and walked in front of his tank...he didn't come forward...I looked and couldn't find him...I knew automatically something was wrong because he didn't swim up right away...Then I found him. On the floor. He is the first fish in years I have cried about...the last time being when I was like 11,4 years ago....not even my 4 year old betta that I had had for 3 years that recently died did I cry about...but Kroll, who I had only had for less than a month...yes I cried..and I rarely cry about ANYTHING...There was a hole in the lid (where the HOB filter is supposed to go, but I replaced it with an internal, so it wasn't covered)...but I put the internal right at the top of the water right underneath the hole, made sure there were a ton of plants right at the surface by the hole, but I guess he found it and somehow made it out anyway...I am just kicking myself right now, still, because I should have known...none of my other bettas had been jumpers before, so I didn't think about it. But I should have known when he kept hitting his head on the lid when I put my head over the tank...My mom's guess is maybe a bug flew over the tank and he tried to get it? I don't know...but I miss him so much. I went to the pet store to rescue another one...I want another king because I've heard they don't flare as much (?) and maybe that's why he had so much character because he wasn't spending all his time being a spaz who flares at everything...he payed so much attention to me and was so aware of everything outside the tank...but I went to the store and I didn't get that feeling I got with Kroll... that "This is the one" feeling...and I won't get another until I have that again...I miss him so much and I wish I hadn't been that stupid to not completely cover that hole...I know every fish keeper makes mistakes, this one just had such a big cost. I know everything happens for a reason, I don't know why, I don't need to know why..but I know that God has a reason..I just have to trust him...I just wish I still had Kroll..
Well thanks everyone who reads this novel...just thought I'd share
Meg
So I posted a few weeks ago how I got a new betta from my lfs...well rescued is more like it..in case you didn't read it (I was going to keep a journal but now I can't...) I'll tell you a bit about him.
Well I walked into my lfs to get a betta, all in their tiny little cups, and there were some extremely gorgeous ones that I could expect to be on aquabid or something...I really wanted one (especially a sky blue and white halfmoon with huge finnage and he looked like a marble) but he was kind of ignoring me..well I spotted one king betta, not pretty at all, but everywhere I walked or moved or looked, he always was looking straight at me. I felt so bad I even tried to turn his cup around, but he just swam around and looked at me again (which must have been hard because he was a king betta in the same size cup as everyone else and barely any water...he could barlely move)...He was the only one not flaring, almost like he knew he wasn't pretty, but was wanting me to take him home anyway...like he actually cared, unlike the other bettas...well I prayed about it and I felt that he was the one, and if I didn't get him, I would have regretted it...so I took him home. After being acclimatized, i opened up his cup and put it sideways in the water so he could swim into his new home...but before he swam out, he tilted his head up at me (because my head was right over the top of the tank over him), he tilted his head up, I nodded, and he swam out. (Kind of funny, huh?)...well he settled into his tank pretty well, and he explored the first few minutes. I didn't get a picture of how terrible he looked the first day, but I did get one after he had been with me for a few days which is the first picture right here...so in this picture he is still not very pretty at all, but his body is a little colored up here, but picture how he looked the first day. His body color was a pale ugly yellow and his fins were short and like a pale gray red. I didn't have high hopes for him being pretty at all, but I didn't care...
Well anyway, somehow one day he started just doing cute and funny things. First off, after the first time I fed him bloodworms, he built a bubble nest for me the next day...and he did this any time I fed him brine shrimp or bloodworms after every time I changed his water (Like once a week). Also, if I put my head over the tank, he would jump up (and hit his head on the lid)...He also had this one spot in between the jungle of plants on the wood, like this one hole in the plants, where he would sit in the middle of and stare straight out the tank. And whenever I walked by, he would come right out to the front and stare head on at me just like he did in the store. And whenever I looked over at my sister's betta tank, right to the right of his, he would swim over as far as he could to the right (keep in mind that he was a very calm betta) and he would spaz out trying to get my attention...and as soon as I looked back at his tank again, he was fine again and would just stare at me head on again... The only time he ever flared (I heard king bettas don't usually flare as much as other bettas) was the one time I put a mirror up to him. And look at his colors here...His body was like an irridescent pink with a few blue and white scales (I don't think you can see them here), his fins grew and colors had overall improved, he had a pure white face from his eyes forward (I called it his beard), and he actually became much prettier...in my opinion..still a bit homely looking, but I loved him!
sorry about the quality, the video was taken with my phone...
Well, I woke up one morning (a few days ago) and walked in front of his tank...he didn't come forward...I looked and couldn't find him...I knew automatically something was wrong because he didn't swim up right away...Then I found him. On the floor. He is the first fish in years I have cried about...the last time being when I was like 11,4 years ago....not even my 4 year old betta that I had had for 3 years that recently died did I cry about...but Kroll, who I had only had for less than a month...yes I cried..and I rarely cry about ANYTHING...There was a hole in the lid (where the HOB filter is supposed to go, but I replaced it with an internal, so it wasn't covered)...but I put the internal right at the top of the water right underneath the hole, made sure there were a ton of plants right at the surface by the hole, but I guess he found it and somehow made it out anyway...I am just kicking myself right now, still, because I should have known...none of my other bettas had been jumpers before, so I didn't think about it. But I should have known when he kept hitting his head on the lid when I put my head over the tank...My mom's guess is maybe a bug flew over the tank and he tried to get it? I don't know...but I miss him so much. I went to the pet store to rescue another one...I want another king because I've heard they don't flare as much (?) and maybe that's why he had so much character because he wasn't spending all his time being a spaz who flares at everything...he payed so much attention to me and was so aware of everything outside the tank...but I went to the store and I didn't get that feeling I got with Kroll... that "This is the one" feeling...and I won't get another until I have that again...I miss him so much and I wish I hadn't been that stupid to not completely cover that hole...I know every fish keeper makes mistakes, this one just had such a big cost. I know everything happens for a reason, I don't know why, I don't need to know why..but I know that God has a reason..I just have to trust him...I just wish I still had Kroll..
Well thanks everyone who reads this novel...just thought I'd share
Meg
He was absolutely gorgeous. Just think, if you hadn't have brought him home, he would have either died there at the pet shop, or probably gone to a crowded little container that some people think is okay to keep a betta in 
. You should be proud that you made him so happy 
