A midge over a day almost exactly a week ago I was perusing the local pet store getting cat litter, and as part of my usual ritualistic circuit browsing from the bird section around back past cat, through dog, and ending at small critter, I detoured by the betta wall in the middle. Had been thinking about them for a while, as my office wants to see a tank set up again, and I happened to have a spare 20 gallon long tank floating around gathering dust. Last pass through I saw a gorgeous black and white betta, and wondered if there were other gems this round.
Sure, some pretty ones, nothing that really stood out to me though (was kinda leaning to a platinum or opal betta to make a darkwater tank, bonus if they were a sturdy king plakat with no frilly fins to worry about being chewed on by tank mates).
My eyes drifted over to spot a section of 'Glow Bettas', and felt my lip curl in disgust after seeing the ones that came through the doors at my prior pet-store job in a rival store - and now noticing there were yet new colors forced upon them. Leaning down to inspect them better, I happened to notice a sad little slip of silver in a dirty cup next to them.
I didn't know what alien bettas were - and seeing the few active ones on another section I couldn't parse out what made them distinct from the rest with their muddy green shine. This one felt different for me, and when I held him up to the light I saw a blue and purple sheen over him, and he was a little disgruntled that I disturbed him from his curled up position. "Huh, that's different." I thought, and toyed with the idea of a silver betta instead of a white one in my communal tank. His condition wasn't the best, but neither was his water situation with it being fouled and yellowed by too much food - an easy fix, and his responsiveness despite it indicated he'd bounce back with some fresh water and proper feeding.
Next day I was still thinking about him, and my co-workers urged me to scoop him up if I felt confident taking him in. So I scrambled out on my lunch break and found him still in the same spot quite ignored over the showier and healthier individuals.
Lad wasn't too happy about it, but soon after I got him situated in his travel tank with some spring water he started turning the most vibrant blue and moving around considerably. He was still falling to the bottom of the tank though, and laying curled on his side when he tired out, which tipped me off to him having possible swim bladder issues (think like a tummy ache from too much food for non-fishkeepers that affects their ability to stay afloat - it either makes them sink like a stone, or float like a cork which is bad for a betta that needs air if left untreated) and a game plan to help him pull through it.
First night home, I dug out a little 2.5 gal tank I had intended to use for craft displays for whenever I got around to doing craft shows, and got him more properly situated with a sandy bottom and modified silk plants (plus a little anubia and a couple moss balls to start off with for my first live aquarium plants). Little dude was happy exploring between periods of resting, and looked a lot livelier even with the tank half-full -
I happened to fall sick right at the same time from a coworker coming in and sharing her bug with everyone, so the weekend gave me time to spend around his tank and keep him under observation. Watching him exploring and getting improving in his environment was a treat -
And then finally, after a tentative meal of thawed pea to make sure his system was thoroughly cleaned out, it was time to give him a proper meal of thawed bloodworms - just two, as he's a little fellow.
Boy, I think I opened his eyes to what a betta should be eating. Dude couldn't get enough and started doing a very energetic Begging Dance and zoomies afterwards -
After that day any time he saw me move near his tank, or even turn my head to look his direction, he'd go into an excited fit of zooming around the front of the tank, look up to the surface, and zoom some more! I even tried to see if I could carefully walk up to the tank out of what I thought was his view, but when I peeked around the railing of the shelf he was on - little dude was staring right back at me from that corner of the tank!
Today was the first day I did a water change in his tank - wasn't sure how he'd take it, but he was mostly baffled by the strange thing intruding his space, and curious about the stream of water coming into his tank. Later I found him contemplating the new water level in his home from when he started out (the blur line is where the old water level was, I just need to get in there and scrub it off) -
Sure he may always have his issue with staying afloat in the water, and may have to live out his life in this little tank because of it, but darned if I'm not gonna try to make sure he's well cared for. My eventual goal is to make his little tank fully planted like a mini world, maybe put a little cherry shrimp or two in there with him, and keep serving him food on a toothpick like the spoiled boy he is. I would have loved to try to put him in the 20 gal communal tank when it goes up, but I worry that may cause more issues for him if he can't maintain his buoyancy in any water deeper than this tank. It's clearly not dampening his style though!
I'm not entirely sure what spurred me to take him in - likely a mixture of, "I can help this animal that would have otherwise been overlooked time and time again until he fell too ill to recover", disdain from having seen how this store handles their betta stock compared to the one I worked with, and.. maybe a little bit of spite... A point of principle so to speak.. A way to show that even if they're not the flashiest or most active in their little container, a little bit of careful love and awareness can make a difference for one little fish.
Currently waiting on some lava rock to arrive that I ordered to start hardscaping the bigger tanks, so I'll try to post updates as his tank evolves!
Any advice for setting up a planted tank would be great! I've not done much in the way of exploring that aspect of fishkeeping, so if I can hit the ground running with as much knowledge as possible the better I can make a successful setup!
At the moment my plant plans are - Java Moss, duckweed, Anubia +/or hornwort + some kind of carpet plant for the bottom - not sure what though.
