And Now for the Little Guys: Bettas Then and Now

Alright, in my last post I detailed (in excruciating depth) my goldfish history up until now. Now lets do a little then and now on my betta keeping. And of course more pictures!

In September of 2011, a few months after I got Edie and Puff, I bought  my first betta. I had been fawning over all the bettas I saw on Koko's Goldfish Forum, and it seemed as though every goldfish keeper I knew also kept bettas. So I got myself a 5 gallon basic tank and a male dragonscale plakat betta from Petsmart.

I had already been keeping some basic plants like anubias in my goldfish tank (which was bare bottom at the time), so this was really my first planted tank with substrate. I had seen some other people on the forum with heavily planted tropical tanks and really wanted to try to recreate this in my betta tank.

So, this was my first attempt at 'aquascaping'. It makes me giggle a little now looking back at this. At the time I thought it looked great, and I am sure there are many more times I will look back at my planted tanks and think the same thing: 'what was I thinking!?' But we all have to start somewhere, and practice is how we learn and get better!

I even attempted a moss wall, which failed miserably. Still something I would like to successfully do at some point though!

I added a rock for hardscape lol

Even tried some dwarf baby tears, and a fluval co2 system....they didn't last long (oh, and you'll see another moss wall attempt here lol)

Despite my failed attempts at aquascaping, my betta was happy in his home, and built me bubble nests regularly.

Unfortunately, dragonscale bettas are particularly prone to tumors and my little guy developed one on his side. He lived several months, but it developed pretty quickly and it got so large that he was no longer able to eat, so I ended up having to euthanize him.

After my dragonscale passed, I bought a beautiful blue dumbo ear betta. He is still my favorite betta I have ever kept.

I also bought a 7 gallon bookshelf style bowfront tank, upgraded my lighting, and started using an 88 gram fluval co2 kit (which worked, but I don't recommend due to cost of refills). Aquascape is getting better here.

Unfortunately this betta went missing out of nowhere. I had a lid on the tank, the only open spaces were for filters in the back. I tore apart the whole tank looking for him and looked everywhere on the floor etc. and never found a trace of him :(

At this time, petco and petsmart were starting to cary 'baby bettas'. So, I figured it might be fun to raise a little guy. I researched how to feed and care for such a little thing. She (she ended up being female) stayed in a breeder basket in the tank until she was big enough to not get sucked in by the filter etc.

Aquascape continues to develop:

She ended up being an interesting color. Almost marbeled, with closer to wild type colors than most bettas you see sold in stores full grown.

I ended up upgrading the 7 gallon to a 15 gallon rimless bowfront tank, and doing a more involved aquascape.

I also then decided I wanted to try a sorority.....I did my research, but I was also being impulsive. If I could do it over, I would have gotten all girls who were related and used a larger tank. Instead I bought 3 more girls from chain stores and attempted to acclimate them and develop a hierarchy. This lasted about 2 hrs before I decided that a sorority really wasn't for me, and 3 of the girls ended up in a divided 20 long. 

And one stayed in the 15 gallon

I now have a 40 breeder running with one of the girls alone in it. This tank is newly planted and mostly acting as a grow out tank for me at this point. Once the plants grow out a bit, I'll begin thinking about arrangement etc.

I just recently took apart the 20 long divided because one of my girls managed to jump the divider, get into another girl's side (my previous baby betta) and kill her :( At this point I decided I am done with divided betta tanks. So, there is currently one girl in the 20 long by herself, and one girl who is living in a sterilite tub (with heater and filter of course) until I get something set up for her. I went out to buy a 5 gallon tank last weekend, but none of my local shops had any.

So yeah, there's the betta history. Sorry for being long winded.... hope you enjoyed the pics though!

As always, please visit me on Koko's Goldfish Forum (I am often there), on youtube at Tithra, and on instagram and facebook at Green Mountain Goldfish :)

Ice Breaker: How I Got Started

So, since this is my first blog post here, I figured I'd break the ice with some pictures and a trip down memory lane. I mean, who doesn't love pictures? So, without further ado, let's do a quick goldfish 'then' and 'now'.

In the summer of 2011, after I finished my master's program, I decided that I would get a fish as a graduation present to myself of sorts. I'll be honest with you and tell you the real reason I did this is that my boyfriend flippantly made a comment suggesting that I wouldn't be able to keep a fish alive for 6 months. I, of course, took this as a challenge of sorts and went out and bought myself a 10 gallon tank, some gravel, a fake plant and two goldfish. I named them orange peel and black.

Now I had kept fish as a kid, mostly guppies, a couple goldfish as a teenager. My dad was very much into fish keeping. He had a large (maybe 200 gallon?) discus tank and many smaller breeding tanks when I was growing up. I honestly don't remember learning how to properly care for my tanks though. I did water changes once in awhile, fed them, and scooped the dead fish out. So, getting these two little teles, I didn't really know the first thing about fish care or cycling a tank.

In a couple days they started looking really unwell. They were bottom sitting and had developed some white spots on their fins. I went to petsmart with a water sample, they told me my water was 'fine' (I doubt it actually was) and said it must just be the heat bothering the fish. Within the first week they both died.

Having now essentially lost the bet with my boyfriend, and feeling awful about these little guys passing, I began researching goldfish care. At this point I found Koko's Goldfish Forum, learned about the nitrogen cycle, figured out that my fish had ich, and realized that my tank was too small. I became determined to do this over and do it right this time. I bought a 29 gallon tank, a good filter, and started a fishless cycle, which took about 3 months to complete. During this time when I could not buy any goldfish, I researched and learned all I could about proper care..... it became a bit of an obsession honestly.

Edie was one of the first fish I bought when I started seriously keeping goldfish. I believe I got her in the summer of 2011, along with another fish named Puff, who unfortunately passed about a year or so later due to swim bladder issues. Both fish came from Steve at Rain Garden Goldfish.

Here is Miss Edie and Puff in my first tank. This is a 29 gallon tank just for reference.

When I first got them, I couldn't believe how big they were. Granted, looking back at them now, they look teeny, but they were larger than any pet store goldfish I had ever seen when they first arrived. At the time the rule of thumb was 20 gallons for the first fish and 10 gallons for each fish after that. As soon as they arrived I went to Koko's Goldfish forum and wrote a panicked post basically saying 'how can this possibly be the rule!? they are too big for this tank!'

When I was able to, I upgraded to a 40 gallon. This tank was much roomier for them.......for a little while.

After Puff died, I got Hashi in October(?) 2012 from Rain Garden. He was sold as a 'tricolor' oranda, but was obviously just going through a color change. Within the next 6-8 mos, he lost all of his black coloration.

Hashi and Edie became fast friends :)

They also started to grow out of my 40 gallon!

So, even though it barely fit in my tiny one bedroom apartment, I upgraded to a 75 gallon tank in October 2013.

These guys continue to grow, and the 75 gallon looks smaller and smaller every day. I recently moved to a larger place, where I have room for a bigger tank, so I am currently in the process of saving up for a 150-180 gallon acrylic (and of course scouring craigslist for deals daily).

It's pretty amazing to look back and think about how much things have changed and how much I have learned. My favorite thing about this hobby is that there is always more to learn. Many of my views have changed since I first started seriously keeping fish, and I am sure they will continue to evolve. My interests have also branched out to different topics beyond just basic goldfish care, including learning about aquatic plants, aquascaping, lighting, co2 etc. etc. I am still a very active member at Koko's Goldfish Forum, and have to thank all the wonderful members there, including the owner Koko, who have supported me through this journey so far :)

And a couple fishy pics from today to end this post: