Nikki Addison

Prior to getting into fish keeping (which is a relative new hobby for me as of this past September), theatre was my primary hobby. I used to actively participate in it (acting, directing, writing) in high school, but now just consume it through seeing shows and reviewing them for a local theatre website in my area. Covid has, understandably, put a bit of a damper on this hobby, so discovering fish keeping has been really lovely in lieu of that. Other than theatre, I enjoy reading (particularly the dystopian genre if I’m being honest) and doing a form of high intensity fitness yoga called DDP Yoga. My two children (3 and 1 month) keep far too busy to have any other hobbies beyond that. 😂

I have a betta sorority tank too! Mine only has 5 females in it currently. I keep gold neon tetras, black neon tetras, neon tetras, ember tetras, ghost shrimp, and one bristlenose pleco. I’ve heard really great things about keeping mystery snails with a sorority.

I keep a female betta sorority tank with various types of tetras, ghost shrimp, and a bristlenose pleco. I’ve named the bettas (Elektra, Rose Dawson, Amphytrite, Hestia, and Ms. Betta), one ember tetra (Edward), and the spirit of a hedonistic ghost shrimp that likes to swim about the tank and flaunt himself in front of the bettas routinely (Sir Skrimpington the 3rd).

Thanks so much everyone! This makes me feel much better about Hestia. I’ll be sure to continue to monitor her behavior and such for any irregularities. And holy cow! That color change is intense on Mister Mojo. Bettas are such fascinating fish. 🙂

Hey, so this is my first time posting on this forum. I’ve been perusing for a while, and it seems like the community here is pretty knowledgeable about all types of fish. Here’s hoping someone can help me. 🙂 I currently have a female betta that began just having a black body and flame red fins. Her name is Hestia and I’ve had her for about a month now in my community aquarium. Maybe about a week ago I started noticing some silverish iridescent type coloring showing up in her fins and body. It doesn’t look to me like scales are raised or peeling off. My husband insists that it’s just her color changing (apparently that’s a thing in bettas throughout their lives?). She’s not acting funny, still eating, and still swimming around. For a bit of back story: we keep a betta sorority (currently 4 girls) and a few days ago one of the bettas developed a severe case of columnaris on her lips with a wicked fast onset. She ended up dying before the erythromycin could do its job to help her (RIP Regina George). We also have various breeds of betta friendly tetras, shrimp, and one bristlenose pleco in our 36 gallon bow front. No other fish are showing any weird symptoms (other than two of our bettas that are always bloated because they’re obsessed with eating). The tank is currently being dosed with the aforementioned erythromycin. If this is something illness related, I also have the trio of meds from the website coming in the mail soon. Here are some reference pictures of Hestia. I apologize for the quality. She likes to move a lot and forage on the bottom of the tank. Anyways, thanks for reading all of this! If anyone can help a new fish hobbyist out, I would really appreciate it. 💚