Betta Cottage

[AlitaConejita]

Pretty neat the tank/girls look great !

 

[attibones]

I lost one today. My smallest (and favorite), Athena, died today. I believe the other girls picked on her until she died. Her fins were missing and her eyeballs were gone. Athena was the little bitty white one with small amounts of blue marbling. I believe she was lower down on the chain than some of the big red ones. I have also noticed today that one of those red ones has a patch of missing scales on her head. I'm assuming she was in a scuffle as well, so I'll be cleaning up Phoenix's old space for her tomorrow and place her in there to heal up a bit.

I'm also thinking about rearranging the tank decor, as well as working out an issue with one of the pieces of wood. I'll be able to see then if I have lost one more (current count is fourteen). Otherwise they are looking nice. This is the first sign of serious injury I've seen since I got the girls.

 

[AlitaConejita]

sorry

 

[attibones]

About 14,000 buckets of water, four spills, and three hours later, I have finished rescaping this tank. I haven't seen it with the lights on, but we will see how everything goes. I'm finishing the water change now. I felt I needed to do this because of Athena's death and Themis's injury. Perhaps this will break up some territories now.

 

[rikkitiger]

How goes it? Post some pics for the viewers?

 

[Blondielovesfish]

Oh no! I'm so sorry to hear that!
 
Anymore updates?

 

[attibones]

It appears that I've only got thirteen girls now. Hera's not an injury, so she's got the ten to herself where I can monitor her more closely. Athena's gone. And I'm "missing" two others, which means to me that I've lost two of them and the snails had snacks. I think I lost one early on, but never found her. The other happened recently and I still haven't found a body or a living fish. I'll try to post some new images today. I've got homework and water changes, but if I can get some good images, I'll throw them up of course. I'll admit I haven't been paying as much attention to the tank in the last two weeks as I normally do. We've suffered a harsh tragedy in the cottage.

 

[Blondielovesfish]

Awwwww I'm sorry to hear that!
 
Hope Hera gets better soon! Do you have an idea what she might have?

 

[attibones]

So sorry about the hiatus, guys.

It just seems to be one mishap after another with this tank. I left for my parents' houses for three weeks in December. I left my tank in the care of my friend. I return to find two girls missing (I'm guessing the people who were in charge of caring for my tank did something like neglect water changes) and my tank in a terrible state. So that left me with nine girls.

Then on Friday it was so cold in my cottage I had to bunk with my buddy. When I returned on Monday, the tank water had dropped to 68 degrees Fahrenheit. It was thirty degrees Fahrenheit in my cottage. I could not locate three of the girls. I bumped up the heater and then left again for home so I can get my pit bull spayed.

I'm worried that when I return home on Sunday that my whole stock will be wiped out due to the cold. I'm extraordinarily frustrated with the circumstances. This tank was working really well except for a few hiccups. I'm just so grumpy right now.

I have learned a few lessons though:
1. No one can care for my tank except for me.
2. Do not trust the two friends to even feed the fish (there was food all over the tank floor)
3. I need to move because there is not enough heat for the tank heater to work.

 

[Ninjouzata]

I am so sorry all this trouble you're having to go through!
Would it help you think to add a second heater or it still wouldn't be able to keep up you think?

 

[Blondielovesfish]

Oh no! I'm so sorry!!!
 
I really hope things start to improve!

 

[rikkitiger]

wow, just one thing after another it seems for you. so sorry that all of this is happening, and my condolenses on the girls that you lost. What a brutal way to go.
 
on the other hand it's a new year, try to look up and forward.
 
good luck.

 

[Asteria]

Awe such a beautiful tank.
And those fish too.
I'm sorry for all the mishaps you've been having, it sucks

 

[tunagirll]

I'm sorry to hear about your fishies RIP fishies!
 
The heater situation - keep in mind that they will only raise the ambient temperature so much per watt. If you have very cold weather, then it's a good idea to add a second heater. I had this problem when I set up in winter and had to swap out for a larger heater to stabilise the temperature.

 

[attibones]

I think we are finally done with the cold issue. I've got the air conditioner on right now (we are also on watch for tornadoes so that's a good sign, means it'll be warm in march for the most part). I added my spare heater to the girls' tank and it worked very well. I've got six total still.

Bit of an algae issue, but the tank itself is looking closer to normal. I'm trying to do water changes as frequently as I get hot water which should be more frequently now. Sometimes I don't have hot water all day. I may have to fill up buckets of water in advance and let the ambient room temperature warm them up since I don't leave the A/C running when I am not here. If we get another cold snap, I can also point a space heater at the buckets. Might be a good idea.

I'm also planning to pull out my driftwood this weekend and clean off as much algae as I can. I might rescape a few things while I'm at it.

In other news, I'm setting up a Dwarf Puffer tank. My pair should be here next Thursday. I'll be starting a journal as soon as I can get some decent pictures of the tank.

When the sorority tank settles down, I wonder if I shall replenish the population a bit or if I should go a different direction with the tank. The girls will tell me.

Oh, found some catappa leaves at PetsMart the other day. Found them in the hermit crab section of all places. Now I kinda want a hermit crab. I've got three leaves in the tank. Should I break them apart, bury them, anything like that?