Quin
Fishaholic
HI! I'm not sure how all of this is supposed to go, but I guess I'll introduce myself. Sorry in advance for the long post! My name is Quin, I'm 17 from the midwest and I have always always loved fish, even when I was super young. I have faint memories of begging my mom for salamanders from the bait(?) shop to keep as pets, and separately I also remember crying when we came home and found out my cat had gotten in the fish tank.
I don't remember how old I was, but I had (and please, I know this was a horrible thing to do and I cringe when I think about it because those conditions were not meant for a thriving betta) two males living in a divided 3-5 gallon named Marquette and Rega. Thinking back on it now they were surprisingly healthy and motivated during their formative years, but getting closer to the end Rega started losing his color and liveliness. We kept them and then 10 goldfish and 2 black mollies (Axl and Grille) until my mom got sick of the smell and made my brother put them in the pond. Ugh. I still miss them, after school I would get my paper and pencils and try to write scientific discoveries about how they worked, one of which is pinned to the wall I'm facing. They were good fish and I wish I had been older and more informed to tell my mom that they deserved better.
I will not be making the same mistake with my new fish. I have been missing having fish for years now, and especially this last year I have been daydreaming about watching a cute little fishy swim around its tank, doing fish things. Yesterday I caved, told myself my budget was $50 and no more, and accidentally spent an accumulative $100 between then and today because I want a happy, happy fish. Unfortunately my fish from yesterday did not make it very long (I can go over it in another post, it was referred to in my first thread but I would love to talk to someone more knowledgeable and make sure I'm not missing anything of what I did wrong) but I got a different one today after a lot of changes.
I have a lot of hope for him, but he will not be named until tomorrow and only if he looks just as healthy. He is the most gorgeous black orchid betta, the most gorgeous betta period, that I have ever seen in my life and I am absolutely anxious that I'm doing everything wrong. I have no idea how the other two bettas lived so long in such average to sub par conditions without a heater, filter, hides, live plants, or even the recommended amount of living space, because I feel like his life is so fragile and anything that isn't perfect is going to kill him. I really hope that as his life goes on, over the next few days I can relax a little because he'll be doing fine, but I've been glued to the side of his tank since I brought him home. I am so, so, so nervous. I really liked the first fish, more than him even though he caught my eye initially, because she was so little and spunky and even if she laid on her side a lot in the water she would swim really energetically every so often. I was very upset when she died and I do not want to do that again. I realize they're "just fish" but they really aren't, this little dude is my new roommate hopefully for a long time to come, and I want him to be just as happy with me as I am for him.
I don't remember how old I was, but I had (and please, I know this was a horrible thing to do and I cringe when I think about it because those conditions were not meant for a thriving betta) two males living in a divided 3-5 gallon named Marquette and Rega. Thinking back on it now they were surprisingly healthy and motivated during their formative years, but getting closer to the end Rega started losing his color and liveliness. We kept them and then 10 goldfish and 2 black mollies (Axl and Grille) until my mom got sick of the smell and made my brother put them in the pond. Ugh. I still miss them, after school I would get my paper and pencils and try to write scientific discoveries about how they worked, one of which is pinned to the wall I'm facing. They were good fish and I wish I had been older and more informed to tell my mom that they deserved better.
I will not be making the same mistake with my new fish. I have been missing having fish for years now, and especially this last year I have been daydreaming about watching a cute little fishy swim around its tank, doing fish things. Yesterday I caved, told myself my budget was $50 and no more, and accidentally spent an accumulative $100 between then and today because I want a happy, happy fish. Unfortunately my fish from yesterday did not make it very long (I can go over it in another post, it was referred to in my first thread but I would love to talk to someone more knowledgeable and make sure I'm not missing anything of what I did wrong) but I got a different one today after a lot of changes.
I have a lot of hope for him, but he will not be named until tomorrow and only if he looks just as healthy. He is the most gorgeous black orchid betta, the most gorgeous betta period, that I have ever seen in my life and I am absolutely anxious that I'm doing everything wrong. I have no idea how the other two bettas lived so long in such average to sub par conditions without a heater, filter, hides, live plants, or even the recommended amount of living space, because I feel like his life is so fragile and anything that isn't perfect is going to kill him. I really hope that as his life goes on, over the next few days I can relax a little because he'll be doing fine, but I've been glued to the side of his tank since I brought him home. I am so, so, so nervous. I really liked the first fish, more than him even though he caught my eye initially, because she was so little and spunky and even if she laid on her side a lot in the water she would swim really energetically every so often. I was very upset when she died and I do not want to do that again. I realize they're "just fish" but they really aren't, this little dude is my new roommate hopefully for a long time to come, and I want him to be just as happy with me as I am for him.
