Okay, I couldn't resist...

[Rajah]

I went to the pet store with my parents yesterday, and saw another beautiful betta that I just couldn't resist. So, I begged DH and he gave in, so we now have a betta in a two-gallon tank upstairs. I just hope he does okay because he's not looking very good right now -- or, rather, his color is beautiful but he's barely moving in the tank, and my parent's new betta and Azurite both spent most of their first day swimming around and exploring their tanks. :/ I'm not sure if he's sick, too cold, or what, but I know the tank is too cold (trying to figure out how to heat it up slowly -- turned up the A/C and turned on some lights in his corner) so I'm hoping he's just cold and not sick. I'll have to get a small-tank heater tomorrow.

So far, other than the initial interest in the tank when I was setting it up, Skye and Sienna are more interested in the fish *food* than they are the tank let alone the fish. We've got all his stuff in this caboodle thing that Skye and Sienna keep trying to get into.

I really hope he survives and isn't too stressed by the move into the new tank. He's beautiful. If you look at him in the light in one direction, he's teal green. In the other, he's royal blue. But only the green shows up in the pictures.

 

[jamsmom]

Beautiful color. Kitty looks quite interested

 

[Dan Murphy]

Very neat, Tammi. Love the pictures. My best for your new fishy.

 

[Beauty]

Aww! I've never been a fish person but Sienna is gorgeous! How old is she now?

 

[Rajah]

Actually, that's Skye, and he's 1 year 3 months.

 

[Beauty]

Didn't you have one named Sienna or was that just a consideration?? Or am I loseing my mind...LOL!

 

[house_of_princesses]

Funny you mention fish......mine were found floating belly up tonight!! Actually, only one was found, still looking for the other?

 

[Rajah]

Nope, you're not losing your mind.

Here's Sienna, who is 1 year 1 month.

 

[Beauty]

She is GORGEOUS! They are both gorgeous!!!! Look at that belly!! Cairo lays like that all the time like shes begging "Mama please get the brush!! Please"

 

[Rajah]

Sienna was saying "I'm hot." That was taken mid-afternoon today, and it was warmer than we usually keep the house. But, thanks for reminding me -- I need to brush Skye

Back to the fish, I think I found the way to warm that corner up for now. Tomorrow I can get a tank heater and that'll take care of things, but until then I finally found a desk lamp that puts out a decent amount of heat (but not enough to be a fire hazard) and we'll try leaving that out shining in his direction but with a towel covering the tank so he doesn't get his day/night cycle messed up. I'm hoping he's just sleeping. Every time I check on him, he looks "dead", then wiggles a fin or moves his eye or tries to run from me. So I'm hoping those are good signs and he'll last until I can get the heater.

 

[Beauty]

Okay just out of curiosity,

1. How long do Beta's live?
2. Do the cats freak and want the fish?

J.C. has begged for fish before but I can never remember a fish I had as a child living long at all......I also think with 7 cats in the house that that poor fish wouldn't stand a chance in heck!

 

[Rajah]

Originally posted by Beauty
Okay just out of curiosity,

1. How long do Beta's live?
2. Do the cats freak and want the fish?

J.C. has begged for fish before but I can never remember a fish I had as a child living long at all......I also think with 7 cats in the house that that poor fish wouldn't stand a chance in heck!

If cared for properly, a betta can live as many as 9 years. More common is 1-3 years, though. They're supposedly very hardy fish, but I've only really been in the betta world since, oh, Wednesday. LOL! Just like every other pet, you need to do your research. But what I read, bettas are among the most hardy breeds, so he'd be good to start with.

Skye and Sienna were more interested in the tank when I was first setting it up (you let it run/cycle for 12-36 hours before putting a fish in the tank, depending on your tank size) than they are now. They have paid no attention at all to the fish, they're only interested in what I'm doing when I'm over there. What they *have* done is get into his stuff, though. I have his tank set up on an old keyboard drawer/monitor stand thing I used to use at school, and I thought it'd be nice and handy to keep all his stuff in the keyboard drawer (open) below the tank. Nice idea, until 6am when the kitties got into the drawer and pulled half his stuff out. LOL! It's now all in a caboodle thingamagigger *next* to his tank, and Skye and Sienna are *still* trying to get into it every now and then. But they're leaving the tank alone. I guess they can smell food in there, even if it is fish food.

But, if you're interested in getting a tank for JC, I'd recommend not doing any smaller than a 10-gallon. Even though bigger seems harder, everyone I've spoken to says it's actually much easier to start with a larger tank than it is smaller because of how the water chemistry works. With a 10 gallon tank, you could get between 5 and 10 fish. Just have to make sure you get fish that are compatible.

 

[fklhou]

Good luck with the fish. It is good to hear from you again.

 

[catsrule]

Great, now Simba and Cali want one.

 

[sammi]

LOL Another lovely Betta! And I love the picture of the fur kid with the fish kid!

 

[buzzlady]

When we first got fish, we also had a cat. The cat would sit by the tank and just watch and paw at the fish as they swam by. She never tried to get into it. Then one day we noticed that the cat's bellly was bald!! So my husband took her to the vet and the vet kept asking if there was something different or any changes in the house? He kept saying no - until he said - well we did get fish. Vet said that was it. The cat was frustrated by not being able to get the fish and she would pull out her own hair! Cat got used to the fish (I guess) and is fine - fish on the other hand are long gone (not by the doing of the cat though). Good luck with your fish and cats.

 

[Rajah]

Well, I think some of it was too good to be true... Sienna discovered this morning that there's something that *moves* in that tank and she's apparently bothered "Bob" (for lack of a better name) to near petrification. He's not dead, but he almost doesn't move at all either. I've started with the squirt-gun training so maybe she'll leave him alone now...

 

[helenabear]

Tammi, beautiful fish!!! I am sorry that he doesn't seem to be moving much. Some of those betas are in terrible shape by the time they get home so don't blame anything on Sienna. I know a few friends who had theirs die within days because they were so poorly taken care of.

Even when Gwen would bat at the fish, and bump the tank a little, ours was fine (goldfish) so don't worry too much about that.

 

[Rajah]

Strange fish.

I decided to install the heater I got this afternoon. I thought it best to remove "Bob" until the heater proved that it wasn't going to boil the water right away or short out or something. So I caught him back in his little cup he came in originally. He seemed happier in that tiny cup than he was in the full 2-gallon tank. But, when I put him back in his now-warmed tank, he started moving a little more so I think he just was having trouble with the temperature fluxuations. Color-wise, he's looking good, so I'm hoping he'll be okay. And the squirt bottle thing is working with Sienna.

 

[Serena]