Sorry

So our internet hasn't been working to well which is why there have been no updates. Tuesday we will be getting wifi so hopefully I can go back to updating at that time.

Sad News

Today I come baring sad news. My little Koi died yesterday morning. I went down to feed them and found him. I believe the filter got him. I feel terrible. The filter wasn't even nessasary as he has a planted tank, but he seemed a bit depressed when it got left off so I turned it on and he perked right up! But sadly it was the end of him.

I bought him in January of this year at petco. He had a very long trip home during on of the coldest weeks this past winter. I bought him knowing we would not be home for hours. I brought him to my grandmas and set up a tank with a heater and floated him till it was time to go to the airport. Remember its cold! I wrapped his warmed cup in a towel to trap the heat on the way, then when we went into the airport i left him on the warm seat. He was out their half an hour. And made it home fine! He was a trooper and that was one thing I loved about him.
This is when I first got him. The day after I brought him into my life. I knew he would turn into a beauty.

I am so happy I got to know the little boy during his short time with me. As I started to know him I fell in love. I have never loved a fish as much as I did him. I will miss him dearly.

So excited!

I LOVE summer time just for the garage sales, and no school. The main things I look for are tanks to hold all my beautiful fishies. I usually find decent deals to. Especially since I am willing to haggle. I have gotten everything from rocks, decor and tanks. I got a nice 10 gallon with the hood for $5 two years ago. I got a 2.5 gallon with decor, rocks, hood, light and filter for $5 that same year. This year I got a 1.5 for $6 with decor, and filter. And yesterday while at a huge neighbor hood sale I found this lovely setup.

This is a nice 5 gallon kritter keeper. They are very hard to find! I have looked at many stores and have not found one this size.

So while garage sales are a great place to get tanks you do have to be careful. I would not advise buying the tank and then just plopping your fish in there. So how would you go about cleaning a tank or kritter keeper safely?

1. Take out anything that may have come with it. Decor, rocks, etc.

2. Start rinsing with warm water and scrub it with a towel.

3. Fill with hot water and put in a little bit of viniger. Or bleach. 1 part vinger. I usually use a little more than a capful. Personally I would only use bleach on glass tanks since I would be afraid it would get into the plastic of kritter keepers.

4.Rinse very well in HOT water. Go until you can't smell the vinager or bleach anymore and then keep going.

5. Dry it off and set it up! Make sure you are positive there is no leftover bleach or viniger.

What not to do.

1. NEVER EVER use soap. The residue can stay in there and kill your fishy!

2. Put in tons of bleach or vinger. You can get to much!

Cleaning  rocks

1. Rinse off everything!

2. Prepare a water and bleach solution again 1 part bleach the rest water. A capful or less is all that is needed.

3. Soak the rocks. 5 minutes should suffice. Then rinse in cold water for a few minutes. I have found cold water to get rid of the bleach better. Than use hot water and rinse the gravel very well! Till you can no longer smell the bleach.

4. Add it to your tank!

Cleaning Decor

1. Rinse well in extremely hot water. I would even soak it in the hot water.

2. Use a light viniger solution.

3. Scrub with something. If there are lots of bumps and small spaces get a toothbrush to scrub. If its smooth a paper towl or sponge should suffice. Just scrub very well.

3. Rinse everything off.

5. Put it in your tank!

What not to do when cleaning rocks and decor

1. DO NOT use soap

2. Do not use tons of viniger or bleach

3. Don't put anything in your tank if it still smells like viniger or bleach. It can harm your fish!

Well I hope some of this helps! This is just the process I use for my stuff. It is always safer to buy new, but sometimes that isn't an option. But if you do this you should not have a problem!

Wow!

So a wonderful person on bettafish.com decided to hold a raffle for a fish of your choice from aquabid, ebay, or a breeder. There were obviously some rules, but I won't get into that. Well I came online yesterday only to find that I had won! I cannot say how excited I am I have always wanted an aquabid betta. If you haven't been on there I say stay away! The betta's are just stunning and you will want every one! But I warn they are NOT cheap. So anyways this is the beatiful I guy I chose. His name shall be Bloody Valantine.

So this got me thinking okay this guy is coming from Thailand! Thier water is completely different! Quality wise anyways. So I went and did a little reasearch and found what do you do when you get a betta from offline!

So normally when I pick up a new guy or girl I fill up the tank let it heat (most of my buys are spur of the moment.) and then float the guys for maybe half an hour. The water quality usually isn't to different. And then I just dump them.

Well I don't want to do that with Thailand betta's. Everything is the same it's just you want to float them longer. They are getting used to a totally different type of water and source. It would be like someone coming to Minnesota in the dead of winter from a place like Egypt or something. Totally different climate.

So I this next week I will be working on setting up his tank. I will post pictures throughout the process!

Betta Raja

I have been thinking it would be cool to get some wild betta types so I thought I would post my research along with pictures of the different types!

Unlike the siamese fighting fish we buy in the stores most wild types can be kept together in small groups or pairs. The Betta Raja is the same way. According to Seriouslyfish.com the originate from Sumatra Indonesia.

They are found in the lowland forest swamps and like lots of shade. They like the water temperature to be in the low 70's F.  Our pet bettas like temeratures between 76 and 85.

According to IBCbettas.org sexing the betta raja is done by looking at their head and caudal fin. Males generally have flatter and broader heads then females. And the males have a caudal spike.

I think they are a very cool looking betta. And I love that the wild types can be kept in pairs. More fish to 1 tank!

My Bettas

Today I shall introduce my babies and show pics. At the moment I have 8 fishies 5 boys and 3 girls. They will be listed by age.

First is Haruna she was my first girl. I got her in March of 2010 when I was 16. She has lived in everything from a 1 gallon to a 3 gallon and is now happily living in my divided 10 gallon.

Next is blinky he is very hard to photograph he is a male plakat I found at walmart labled as female. He is also 2 years old. He lives in a 2.5 gallon. Once we move he will be upgraded to a 5 gallon.

Next is Koi I got him in January and he is my sweet marble. I love him dearly. He started in a 1 gallon then got upgraded to my divided 10 gallon. He did not do so well and began to tail bite. He now lives in a Natural planted 5 gallon all by himself. though I will be getting some ghost shrimp to.

Sakura is my best walmart find. She is a halfmoon plakat. Her color salamander. She is a sweetheart and won my heart when I found her. I am thinking of putting her in a future sorority. She is in my divided ten gallon and steals all the little boy fishies hearts.

Arashi is my Veiltail male. He is very prettty. During a power outage he chewed his tail off. But it is growing back beautifully.

Blurp a very cute Veiltail female. She is going into a sorority once the tank cycles.

Aki my veiltail male. I found him at walmart and had been watching him for a few weeks. I had no plans to add another betta but he caught my heart and I just knew he was waiting for me. So 4 weeks later I brought him home. He is smitten with Sakura.

And lastly Kinzoku my marble King male. He is a sweetie I saw him and just had to have him. He is my most expensive boy, but he is worth it. He is always watching me and has quickly stolen my heart.

And thats all of them!

Hello, I am Hanna a betta fish enthousiast. Many people (including my family) wonder why on earch I like betta's. They just don't understand what is so great about them. Well in fact their are many things that are great. And all of them will be covered in later posts. The point of this blog is to post fun facts, pretty pictures, share stories, tank pictures and anything else that I find or that my readers post that relate to betta fish.

So as a first post I feel it would only be fitting to give an introduction of me and my babies.

My name is Hanna I am from Minnesota. I started with betta's two years ago and was in love. My first betta was a crowntail named Keiichi. A few weeks later I got my first female betta a blue crowntail. Keiichi I am sad to say is no longer with me, but Haruna is doing wonderful. I also own cats, a dog and many chickens.

My current bettas are Haruna, Blinky, Koi, Sakura, Arashi, Blurp, and Kinzoku. I have eight in all.

I would love to see pics of everyone who reads this betta's!