JuniperBetta

However, I found some aquatic plants at the store yesterday (staurogyne repens and hygrophila pinnatifida) when getting frozen mice for the snakes and decided to get them despite not having a planted tank set up. They’re tissue cultured, so they’re just sitting in their bags under a plant light while I decide what to do with them.

I have a Fluval spec sitting unused under my desk that I think I’ll put them in.

I have no idea what I’d put in a 5g though. Chili rasboras, maybe? Shrimp, I guess? Aside from shrimp, I have very little experience with nano tank fish. I’ve cared for GS puffers before, so one pea puffer would be cute (I know they’re not the exact same requirements as GSP), but I’d like a little more than that.

I also have no idea where to put this tank lol. The snakes have taken up my aquarium shelves now that the male betta from my spawn are gone. I’d like a tank in my studio but I don’t have any open desk space despite having three desks crammed in here.

Heck no.

In that small of a cup AND only two females is VERY much a no-no. That’s a no-no for any fish, betta or not. That’s like putting two humans in a closet and expecting them to be okay forever.

Any sorority should be attempted with no less than 7 females in a 30+ gallon tank with a TON of plants (fake or live) and a lot of hiding spots/caves.Females are still very violent betta and sororites are still pretty frowned upon for this reason. You always have to be prepared to separate one, a few, or all from the group if they don’t get along.

I think crested and gargoyle geckos are cute, but I’m not 100% sure if they’re right for us. I am not very good with jumpy, flighty animals and am always worried I’m going to lose them if I take them out of their cage or crush them trying to keep them from escaping.

So... maybe an animal I wouldn’t be tempted to play with would be better? I very, very briefly toyed with green tree pythons because they’re more display than play, but I’m not sure I am actually afraid of snake bites enough to properly worry about it... if that makes any sense. Like, I might be a little too confident in my snake handling abilities and I’d try to chill with it anyway. I can’t help it, my snakes are just perfect, passive, little angel noodles.

I dunnooooo. Chris thought it was so cool and a great deal but I have no idea what to do with it.

If I’m extremely careful, I can get all the pieces I need to transform the aquariums into vivariums with one 32x44in piece of acrylic. Heck yes.

Then I just need 12 hinges and magnetic latches or locking latches. I’ve got everything else!

Since I’ve been missing my puffer boys lately, I decided to dig around for some pictures of them.

These guys were actually my first fish... and by first fish, I mean the first fish I chose on my own and bought all the stuff for with my own money from my first ever real job. This doesn’t count the fish my parents had around the house in various tanks (or, vases with peace lilies... *shudders*).

Now, because I was an inexperienced teenager and I had no real idea how to find a lot of good information on the internet, I didn’t take care of them the best. For starters, they never should have been housed together. In the years I had them, Pip only bit Merry once, and really only by accident during a feeding frenzy. It was by pure luck that they weren’t aggressive towards each other.

Second, I didn’t understand how to give them a brackish environment until I had already had them for about two years. I don’t even think I knew they were brackish until long after I got them... 99% of pet stores tell you they’re freshwater. They’re not! Third, they were never really in a proper sized tank. I’m pretty sure they were in a 10 gallon tank for those first two years until I commandeered my dad’s 45g. A 45g might have been sufficient for one single juvenile puffer... but not two growing boys.

Don’t even get me started on water parameters. I don’t think I owned any sort of water testing kit or strips until years after I had my puffers. I DID do weekly water changes with dechlorinator though! I knew that much!!

I’m not even 100% sure if they had a heater.

And yet somehow, between about eight moves including two across the country, they stayed with me (and Chris!). It was only when they were four-ish years old and about three inches long that I lost my two boys. We were moving once again, and the stress was too much for them this time. I was heartbroken.

Thinking back, I’m surprised at how well they did. They never got grey tummies and I never had to clip their teeth (hooray for free pond snails at the pet stores!). I never had to deal with attack wounds or nipped fins, which is good because I had no idea how to take care of that. They were my puppy fish, always following me around the room and trying to rub up against my arm when I was fiddling with the tank. I loved their dumb little faces.