My Most Memorable Bettas

[BettaBabe94]

Hi everyone! My name is Erin and I live in the capital region of New York. I’d consider myself just slightly above beginner when it comes to fish keeping. I grew up with some goldfish, but my first betta was when I was 19.

Warning: Long post alert!

Like any uneducated betta keeper my first betta started out in a one gallon bowl. Without being told otherwise I just naturally started feeling bad for him and he got upgraded to a 3 Gallon. I loved him, he was such a character. His name was…..Douchebag…..yeah not a very nice name opps. He was a firecracker and I loved his grumpiness. He would flare out at me, but he loved my husband (then boyfriend) because he was kept at my husbands house so he fed him more often then I did. We finally moved out after I had him about a year, but it was in winter so I left him with my mother-in-law until I felt like we got used to living on our own and had the heat situation figured out. Since she was only down the road I would stop to her house everyday and do his second/evening feeding. Finally after about a month I cautiously decided to bring him and my other community tank to the new house. A week later the power went out in the middle of the night and I had no idea until I woke up for work and realized how cold the house was. His tank was very cold (50s). The power came back right after I got up so our heat and his heater kicked into action. Unfortunately, the cold had shocked him so bad that about 5 days later I found him dead in his tank. I was so upset, I was a sobbing mess. I couldn’t bring myself to take him out of the tank, I had to have my husband do it. 

After him I had had a handful of bettas, but I never really got attached to them. I loved having them and taking care of them, but I never named any of them or formed a bond.

Finally by 2019 I realized that my bettas weren’t living as long as they should be because of how bad my tap water is (SUPER hard and high PH). So in March of 2019 when I brought home my next betta I made sure to only use store bought water. My tank was still only 3 gallons at that time. Like I had been doing previously, I didn’t name this betta. For the purpose of this post though I’ll call him Peekaboo. He loved his rock and whenever I couldn’t find him I’d shine my light in the rock and he’d peek his little head out like “Hey! Stop with the light.” Since I didn’t use my tap water, Peekaboo lived almost 3 years. Still not ideal, but I hadn’t made my break through on the best betta care yet. He died in November 2021, not sure if it was constipation or dropsy. He was laying at the bottom of the tank and couldn’t get to the surface. I made a holder that would keep him near the surface so he could breath and I learned that cooked and shelled peas could help with constipation. I fed him the peas for a week, trying to help him. He ate it readily, but he never got better. The last day I fed him in the morning and he was gone by the evening. Trying to solve his issue got me started down the path of the best way to take care of bettas and other fish for that matter.

I spent the rest of November and all of December researching and watching the Aquarium Co-Op and Girl Talks Fish videos. I learned so much! I ended up getting a 5 gallon tank, live plants, a sponge filter, and all this other stuff in preparation to do things right.

Last week I got a Nerite Snail for the tank. And on Monday I brought home my newest betta. This time I made sure to name him, because even though getting attached sucks in the end, I feel like giving him a name makes you want to try harder to do everything you can for him. So his name is Tweek (from South Park). He is such a spunky little guy that zooms around my tank and I am already in love with him.

If you made it this far thanks for reading this book of a post lol

Pics:
Douchebag = Blue and red betta flaring (also my profile pic).
“Peekaboo” = Blackish betta. 
Tweek = Blue and white betta, along with his snail friend lol

 

Edited January 29, 2022 by SinfulBetta94

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Hi @SinfulBetta94 what a bittersweet but wonderful post. I can relate. I've "retired" from Betta fish keeping as they are very much heartbreakers. I can keep several species of fish with no problems, cure illnesses, even have some reproduce but Bettas are far and away IMO one of the hardest fish to keep. So props to you for your persistence even despite the distance you tried to create in your other fish. My last "favorite"- I didn't get him very far, just under 2 years, passed after a case of dropsy despite my seemingly curing his pineconing he likely succumbed to organ failure. So in honor of your post here was my equivalent, Kimono

They are admittedly wonderful fish, and though I have sworn them off I admire those fishkeepers that are excellent Betta keepers. May your new Betta live long!

Edited January 29, 2022 by xXInkedPhoenixX

[Levi_Aquatics]

Welcome to the forum @SinfulBetta94 I am glad to hear that dispite some bad experiences that you are still pushing forward in the hobby. All your bettas are beautiful!