I feel stupid

gatotsu77

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May 17, 2006
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Well, I had planned to get a male betta for a while now, and since the parents won't let me get another tank going, I thought that one would do well in my 50g tank. I know that my fish are all rather active, but I've never seen them exhibit any real aggression. I went ahead and found an absolutely beautiful crowntail betta... I wish I had a picture of the little guy. His face was a very dark red, perhaps 2-3 shades past maroon, the middle of his body a very vibrant blood red, and towards where his tail started he had a lot of irridescent green. His fins were blood red too, but they had sky blue tips. It was quite possibly the most beautiful betta I'd ever seen. I brought him home kinda late at night (I went to my buddy's house to talk about some stuff and just kept him in his cup on the table we were sitting at) and decided to get him in the tank before I went to bed. I actually got him in the tank at 4am, and when I woke up this morning, I couldn't find him right away. I didn't think much of it, figured he was hiding, and went about my morning routine before work. I looked back during feeding time, and didn't see him come out to eat, so I investigated a bit more. As I scanned the whole tank, an irregular-looking piece of "gravel" caught my eye, and then it hit me. My fish killed the betta. All that was left was its skull, and a section of its spine with a small piece of flesh hanging off of it. I couldn't believe it... and I've been pissed off about it all day. I just wanted to share my stupidity... :(
 
yeah, and a six inch pictus cat could beat the **** out of a betta in 10 seconds if it wanted to.
 
To be honest, my pictus is a total coward, but I don't underestimate its power. The pictus, eclipse, and brown knife are the 3 who eat the most feeder guppies when I put 'em in the tank, but both of the tinfoils have caught and eaten them, all 3 of my clown loaches, and the male opaline too... really the only one which hasn't actually caught and eaten a live fish (as far as I've witnessed anyway) is the female opaline I have. I did not know that bettas and gouramis were related... and it does make sense. The male is always chasing the female around...
 
Yeah, I figured that especially the 2 males would get their butts kicked, but perhaps even the females too, because most of the ones I selected have mostly transparent bodies, but rather colorful tails for females. (and yeah, I know they are females... a few are so pregnant that its not even funny anymore.. I figured they'd pop by now)
 
Just try again!

Don't feel stupid at all. We all make mistakes... and sometimes those mistakes lead to the death of one of our beloved fish. If you have no room for any more tanks then by all means buy a bowl of at least 1/2g and find another beautiful betta to take home. Set it in a warm room, treat the water as you would with the tanks and change the water 2x week. Maybe add some fake leaves/plants to help the betta feel more at easy.

Some people despise bowls... but that is because most people do really idiotic things. The most ignorant put goldfish in a bowl. Those with a little more experience might try a betta but then never change the water or treat the water or put the bowl in a cold location (like near AC vents or an open window with cool/cold weather). That is an assured death sentence and it is easy to see why so many people would be againts the idea.

I assure you I have tons of experience with bettas and if any of my bettas are in a bowl I make it as large and as comfortable as possible. This means, as I stated above, that the bowl is treated, I change the water 2x week, and the room is always warm. Go ahead and rescue a betta from one of the many deli cups at your LFS or Walmart... you'll be glad you tried again.
 
I have a female Betta in with my gouramis, and they do well together, I had a male in there before I found this beatuiful matching female, then I moved the male to a filtered, and heated 2 1/2 gallon, My Gouramis all hangout together, and several are males, and dont do battle, they even share algae wafers, I will up load a video of them eating together tonight.
 
PICT0038.jpg
 
Nice looking gouramis. :-)
 
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