bettas & things.

- Rae/ablogforbettas

my favorite scapes: Indie’s simple 2.5G, Chia’s 2.5G, small walstad bowl (w/pond snails), 2G ramshorn cube, 7G malawa shrimp cube, Kai’s 5G jungle.

my bettas of past and present: Bandit, Indie, Mowgli, Chia, Kai and Rin.

I’m not sure how soon I’ll get to start doing these things. I know I just said I wanted to branch out from bettas, but before I made these resolutions, I had already put it out into the universe that I wanted a third betta and I still very much do. I just haven’t yet gotten the resolve to start the process of setting up a new tank. I also wanted to wait until the 10G was mature enough to more or less take care of itself before I setup a fourth tank. But yes, hopefully, I’ll get around to everything on this list. I don’t think anything is too unrealistic. I know for certain, though, that the first one won’t happen while I live in my current apartment b/c I don’t have space for anything bigger than a 10G and that’s already been claimed by the aforementioned third betta. The rest I can certainly work on now. Hoping year five of my fish-keeping journey goes smoothly! ♥

i thrifted this book today during a buy one, get two free sale!

found this creature on a frogbit lilypad this morning. it’s been almost three months since the dragonfly larvae incident. i’m not sure where they’re coming from now, but i hope this is one of the last.

real time update: the 10G is very overgrown....

1.  i didn’t know i had aesthetic so that makes me feel good about myself/my blog.2. thanks for the well wishes! this has been a rough week and i could really use a change of pace. i’m hoping next week is better too. c:

it’s imperative that you research every detail when it comes to fish. research the fish you want and the water params it needs; research the tankmates/plants you want to make sure they’re compatible; research the food you’ll need to buy (pellets? frozen? live??); research the equipment you want; research the gravel and decor to make sure they’re soft enough for your fish/viable for plant life. if you want a really successful tank, you *have* to research every aspect of it. it sounds like a lot, but you would do the same thing for a cat or dog, right? also, be patient. admittedly, this is something i’m still working on. but nothing good in a fish tank happens overnight. if your fish got sick, he’s gonna need some time to get better. plants now growing? they will - give it time. algae suddenly everywhere? be diligent about removal/treating the source and give it a week or two. the good thing about a properly researched/set-up tank is that it usually bounces back when trouble strikes.sorry if this response sounds cliché, but it’s also what i’ve learned on my own in the past four years of fish-keeping through trial and error. just tryna keep you from making some of the same mistakes. hope it helps! xo

there’s nothing to feel bad about, anon. but why change it at all? names don’t have genders, y’know! ;o

Rin tries really hard to be tough but he just ends up being adorable.

today’s mission was to find driftwood for the 10G. i thought it would be cheaper to try and source some locally rather than have it shipped to my door. i got four nice-sized pieces for about 45 dollars so i guess i’m happy about that. i just really wanted the wood that i got to be something other than regular malaysian driftwood. the 10G’s scape is kind of boring honestly and needs that extra something that manzanita and spiderwood bring to an aquarium. but unfortunately, people around here aren’t that into planted tanks or aquascaping. i’m learning from my visits to my LFS that people in this area are either very saltwater or very basic freshwater. there is no in between. for those in the area (North Carolina), i went to The Fish Room in Raleigh and Aquarium Outfitters in Wake Forest. i got two pieces of driftwood from both places, but of the two, The Fish Room had better options. Aquarium Outfitters was *slightly* cheaper though. got kind of irritated at Aquarium Outfitters though because every time i go there, they treat me like i don’t know what i’m doing. i’m 98% sure that it’s because i’m a girl (+POC, but i digress), but i’ve been in there enough times that they should know that i have a clue. maybe i should just keep pictures of my tanks on my phone so that the next time they tell me “manzanita wood can’t go in your aquarium!” i can just flash them this picture and say “oh really?” ;o also, while I was at The Fish Room, i saw a dwarf puffer and holy shit, i didn’t know they were so small! i fell in love and had i an appropriately sized tank up and running, i would’ve brought one home. but, should i decide to get that second 7G cube, i’m definitely getting a dwarf puffer. they’re sooo cute, and i think i’m experienced enough to take care of one now. definitely gonna do more research before i make that decision, though. so now i’m home and about to start soaking the new driftwood. i also have to repot some plants. i have these two pothos plants that just aren’t doing well in soil, so i think i’m going to try planting them in the filters of the 5 and 10G and see what happens. hope they perk up!

and here we have a Kai swimming in his natural habitat.

i hope you don’t mind me publishing this, but i’ve been getting an influx of messages like these and each time they just warm my heart. i’m such a small, insignificant part of the internet, but the fact that i’ve inspired you + a handful of others makes me feel...i don’t know...less insignificant, if only marginally so.i don’t know. it just makes me feel really good that i, a super mundane girl who spends her free time posting about her fish tanks (of all things!) inspired someone. like...whoa. me? me??? no way!so thank you so much for this super sweet message! i hope that i continue to inspire you to the point that you too have more plants than you do space in your tank(s). please do post pictures of your lil’ guy in his upgraded home. i would love to see him! ♥

current state of the 5G. it’s less yellow in real life.