My bettas and their new digs!

I am so happy! :-D I got my Eclipse 1 all set up and my females in it, as well as a rectangular ten gallon divided with my three veiltail males in it. YAY! I ended up getting the crimson female I wanted completely by accident. LOL! I was at Petsmart and told them what I was looking for and they had a female that had kind a bronze/copper body with crimson fins. The lady in the fish department said she had bought one that was similarly colored and she ended up turning crimson as she matured, so I decided to chance it. Well, I was rewarded! Not long after I added the girls to their new tank, the little bronze/red one turned deep crimson! She's kind of gone back to being bronzish, but she's more red than bronze now. So, here's the pics!

This first one is of the Eclipse 1 with the females in it. There are five females (who get along surprisingly well with minimal fin-nipping). I was going to plant it, but ended up running out of money. So, I'm gonna save up so I can plant it and turn it into a "Twilight"-themed tank (which is apropos since all but one of my bettas bear "Twilight"-inspired names).

This one is the boys' ten gallon. It doesn't have a filter yet (I got the tank/hood/light for $12 at a secondhand store), but we're working on it!

This is Edward, my latest addition

And here's Jasper...you can't really see his head, but this pic shows his color gloriously

And Carlisle

Here's Bella...she was picked on the worst at first but now *she's* the terror

This is Esme (the blue) and Victoria (the crimson)

Here's Alice

Esme again

That's Esme in the front (she's such an attention whore!) and Rosalie in the back (the other blue...she looks more purple in real life though)

This one shows Victoria's color even better

And we can't forget Al, the crowntail with an attitude!

 

I made sure they were non-toxic before putting them in and washed them thoroughly.

 

I'm gonna keep an eye on them and make sure they stay clean, rust-free...if they even look like they're turning icky, I'll take 'em out.

 

Thanks! I thought up the idea and asked around to see if it would work. I got mostly "Don't see why nots," so I decided to try it. The boys only flare at each other, they don't attack the dividers, and they're starting to get past that stage already. It's so much easier than having three seperate 2 or 3 gallon tanks! :-D

 

I just "rescued" another male betta from Walmart today. He was in a ten gallon tank with no hiding places with TWO redtailed botia that were completely destroying his fins and attacking him. I googled redtailed botia and they are apparently fairly aggressive members of the loach family. His fins are in tatters (and only about 1/2 inch long...they were almost 1.5 inches when I saw him yesterday, but they wouldn't let me buy him yesterday 'cuz they'd just gotten a fish shipment in and let them rest to "reduce stress"...I call BS on that one...I've bought bettas straight out of the delivery box from Petsmart and they're fine) and he has a red wound on his right side where one of the botia nipped him. I've got him in a hexagonal 3 gallon with a flourescent light and bubble stone (got the setup at the Goodwill for $6, didn't come with a filter) and he's a lot happier. He's another cellophane like Carlisle and his name is Charlie. No pics yet. I use my parents' camera and my dad took it with him on a camping trip.

 

Usually they aren't that bad with their fish. The fish guy at Walmart apparently didn't realize the botia would attack him, but didn't move him out of the tank with them until much later that afternoon/evening (I found this out yesterday when I went back in to buy him). He's settled into his tank nicely and is getting Melafix every day to help with the wound on his side.

 

Update on the rescue betta from Walmart...Charlie passed away last night.

 

Yeah, I wasn't too attached to him, so it wasn't like losing Al or one of the others, but it is still sad. Especially since it could have been prevented. *Sigh* Oh well! Guess that just means I'll have to go to Petsmart tomorrow and pick out a pretty for my now-empty 3 gallon hex (and yes, I'm going to clean it thoroughly first! ).

 

I had Charlie since Friday (so only had him about 2.5 days), but I knew there was a chance he wouldn't make it, so I didn't let myself get too attached. I'm still sad that he died, don't get me wrong. It just isn't as devastating to me as if Al, or Jasper or Carlisle, or Edward, or one of the girls was to die. Charlie didn't have much of a personality (because he didn't feel good, I expect), whereas the rest make me laugh daily with their antics.

 

Oh, believe me, I did! I offered to buy him Thursday, but they said they couldn't sell him to me because they allow their fish to "rest" for 24 hours after shipment to "reduce stress" and they'd just gotten a shipment in, so fish sales were suspended. He had been there for more than a week (I'm in there a lot and he was the only cellophane left and no more came in their next shipment)! I went straight to a manager and complained, pointing out that if the fish died, it would lose their store money. I was told that they would do something about it immediately. Found out Friday when I went to buy Charlie that he hadn't been moved out of the tank containing the botia until 10pm the previous night (and I had complained at around noon). I was livid! Not only were his fins worse than they had been on Thursday, but he had a wound on his side from being nipped. They offered to discount him 10% because he was in such bad shape, but I refused (after rather acidly telling them that I should get him for free after what they put him through).

 

I had a friend that worked for Walmart that wanted to work in the pet department. When she asked to be transferred when an opening came available because she had experience with pets, she was told that she couldn't work in the pet department because she knew too much about animals.
Oh, and the guy that put Charlie in with the botia? Yeah, supposedly he breeds bettas and angelfish!