Braggin On My Boy

Just being a bored desk jockey at the moment and adoringly staring at my royal blue and crimson veil tail lil dude... He is such a pig! lol... He keeps going to the bottom to pick up any and all food that he didn't devour before it sank. I'm so glad I rescued him, he was in a preschool classroom *my boyfriend is a teacher* and the kids were getting bored with him because he didn't really do much. Probably because they were constantly dropping toys in his tank, and he had no plants or anything. He even got his tail stuck in the filter once (that was right before I rescued him actually) He has less space now, he's in a one-gallon vase with some philodendron cuttings and I'm in the process of trying to construct a small sponge filter for him, but he's so much more active. I hope he lasts a while, I'm already totally attached. I'd really like to post some pictures but I don't have a digital camera.

found a pic it's not very good, his fins look much longer to me now and his color is much brighter but it's the best I could do now

Gorgeous

Does he have a name? Is there any chance you could ask your BF nicely if you could have his old tank to live in, if it's bigger? He'd be even happier then

A bigger tank is always better, get him one ASAP . These fish come from an area where they live in thousands of gallons, not one, and certainly a vase is not a suitable permanent home .

A bigger tank is FAR easier to filter, heat and care for. You can make a bigger sponge filter for him or just buy a cheap one ( Ebay ) , and a 25 watt heater won't set you back too much in cost. The water aparameters on a bigger tank are also much easier to keep stable, and a 50% water change once a week is plenty to keep te water stable and your fish healthy. It's less work for you and healthy for him.

A 5 gallon tank , a large clear plastic storage tub ( these go up to around 17 gallons ) or a large Critter Keeper ( the biggest you can buy ) are all readily available, cheap to buy and in the case of a 5 gallon, can fit on a desk or worktop. Check Ebay or craigslist for good secondhand cheap tanks.

It's good you rescued him . I've always said that fish are not even remotely a suitable pet for children.