Update On Clarence - And Pitaya!

[RandomWiktor]

Well, I'm happy to report back saying that Clarence is doing absolutely wonderful. Clean water, betta fix, and a very good varied diet have him bouncing back at record speed. He has some wonderful fin re-growth (still clear-ish, but def. there), the deep wound on his side is closing nicely, and some of the more shallow wounds allready have new scales growing to cover them. He is also putting on weight (he was rather thin). The only thing that isn't healing perfectly is the badly damaged gill plate; he's got a finny little "horn" of skin and scale hooking out from one side, but it isn't hindering his breathing/flaring and is not growing, so I guess it is just the result of granulation tissue gone wild. I still don't get how he even swims with his fins shredded so badly, but he's been very active and is quite the character. He might be a little "bettaphobic" after what happened though. My female's tank is close enough to his that they occasionally catch a glimpse of one another, and ever time he sees her, he darts off and hides in his cage Poor little dude.
If he keeps doing this well, I'll be able to reduce the frequency of cleaning and give him gravel. Maybe he can even have a 5 gal once his fins grow back. Yay!

In other news, my room is all set up to eagerly await the arrival of Synirr's little girl. She's getting the best room in the house: mine, which is kept at 78+ degrees and humid for my birds and TON of tropical plants. Her tank is off and away from the noise and mess of the birds, in a very quiet, low-traffic area of the room. There are never any sprays used in the room, the temp is super-consistent, and she won't have the stress of people and animals racing around like the rest of my poor bettas do. Hopefully she makes it here alive and well; I allready have a name picked out and a little name-tag for her tank. (She is going to be called Pitaya, after a very pretty Texas wildflower)

If Pitaya makes the trip and does as well as Clarence, I'll really be in betta heaven! Keep your fingers crossed, guys, and thanks for all of the support offered with Clarence.

Update! Picture of Clarence. His wounds are recovering AWESOMELY, and he even has some fin regrowth =)

 

[jollysue]

You've earned some rewards. We're glad you get to enjoy them.

 

[Synirr]

Go Clarence go! Sounds like he's healing up well for you
Pitaya should be arriving tomorrow, if the postal service does their job correctly.

 

[RandomWiktor]

Whee! Pitaya is here! I didn't want to take any close-ups lest the flash irritate her poor little eyes, but I thought you'd like to see her tank, the size of which I overdid a bit. I think I over-estimated her size a little! I've never had fry, or seen fry, before, so needless to say, she shocked me. And to think I was origionally going to give her a fiver! She'd have been lost in it.
She's allready picked out her little territory; she chose a favorite plant, and now that she has claimed it as "hers," she makes it a point to come shooting out to glare at me whenever I walk by. I think one of her gill plates is a little goofed up though; one kindof sticks out all the time. We'll have to see what it does as she ages. Such a cutie ^^
If anyone wonders about the name, its a type of pretty little red wildflower in texas. Those bright red little fins gave me the idea. =)

BTW, Synirr, I don't know if my PM to you sent in light of my internet being loopy lately, but I was wondering - how much/often should I feed her? I got a micropellet whose nutritional qualities slightly surpass that of an adult betta (not by more than 2% in any area, as I was worried that it could cause skeletal deformities as it would in dogs or reptiles). She seems to like it, but is so constantly hungry that I don't know when its "ok" to feed, or not. Do they need to be fed frequently like kittens/birds, or do you feed them like you would an adult?

 

[Synirr]

Wow, Clarence looks great, and little Pitaya looks so... well... little in that tank!
I've been feeding the juvies one meal of either frozen bloodworm, brine shrimp, or live grindal worms a day, plus a snack of pellets at night. I feed until I can see their little tummies bulge a bit so I'm sure they're getting enough

 

[RandomWiktor]

Oh, good, they can have the bloodworms then? I have a ton; I'll chop 'em up real fine for her so she doesn't have trouble eating them. I'll try the 2x's a day thing; I fed her a few small feedings today instead of two biggish ones, as I wasn't sure what would be best. She seems pretty happy though; such a 'tude for a little gal ^^

 

[redbetta]

LOVE the tank Wiktor. How many g's is it? Oh and those plants look awful familiar... Maybe walmart?? LOL.

 

[jollysue]

Yeah, well, you know those Texas gals, RW. They don't take nothin from nooobody.

I think Texas may make some changes in the Betta that no one expected.

 

[RandomWiktor]

LOVE the tank Wiktor. How many g's is it? Oh and those plants look awful familiar... Maybe walmart?? LOL.

Thanks, glad you like. Its a bit smaller than my usual tanks, but its obviously fitting for her. Its a 3 gallon tank, filled to exactly 2.5 gallons so I wouldn't OD her on Blackwater or Dechlorinator. When she grows up, she'll be given a nice 5 gal, and some more plants. The plants are from Pet Supplies Plus, the cave is from Walmart. I try to support Walmart as little as possible because in addition to the poor fish care, I really don't like their practices as a corporation in general (hiring illegal immigrants, crushing unions, buying from sources known to use child labor to name a few). However, they seem to be the only place I can find that carries those particular caves, which are perfect for bettas as they're smooth with no sharp edges or things to catch thier fins up in. And they LOVE it; many of my boys sleep in thiers, even. =)

 

[redbetta]

I agree with the walmart thing, but I find they do have some useful stuff that others don't have. I wish they had those caves at walmart here. Whatever you bought at pet supplies is probably the same package just sold at walmart too. I wish I could find those kritter keepers around here. We pay 20 canadian dollars for a 2 gallon kritter keeper, that's just insane. Then they have the 1 g's at walmart but they just aren't big enough for a decent size betta.

 

[RandomWiktor]

Yeah, pet stores have been a huge rip-off lately, though thankfully I'm able to find everything but the caves elsewhere, and for not much more.
I've noticed they're all jacking up their prices, especially Petco (another place I don't shop at much; I'm so anti-everything. ). PSP is very cheap for plants, but they charge a TON for aquarium heaters. I had to buy 5 junior heaters, and they wanted me to pay $17.99 EACH! I know for a fact that they only cost $6.99, so I just bought them in a different store last time I was in PA. I brought it to the attention of the manager, because they're making a good 200% profit, and she got quite huffy about it. I'm sure those Critter Keepers shouldn't cost what they do either. After all, a 10 gallon glass aquarium is only $8.99, so why should an acrylic that holds only a fraction of that cost more than double it? ::sighs:: Fishkeeping can be so bloody expensive sometimes....

 

[RandomWiktor]

Well, I'm going to start with the good news. I've changed Pitaya into a different tank, and am very pleased with the results. As cute as her previous tank was, the temp was fluctuating way too much, due to the very well ventillated lid. I switched her over into a 5g hex (filled to 2.5g) with a hood and light, and tada! The temp doesn't fluctuate by more than 2 degrees when the light is out (it is too warm in my room to add a heater). It also, as you can see from the picture, has created a wonderfully humid interior of the tank, and I can see the difference! The girl is very active and eating well, and seems to be enjoying the shape and increased privacy of this tank. She's allready growing, bless her, and I can tell she's going to have one giant 'tude by how she acts allready.

Then, on a less positive note, I've run into some complications with Clarence. He is getting awesome fin regrowth, but for some reason, started pacing severely yesterday, to the point where he exhausted himself and had to rest in his cave panting. No matter what I tried for distractions, he wouldn't stop darting back and fourth. So, I've decided to change his environment and hope for the best. I don't what him to pass on at this point because of stress, after all.
My personal theory is that the vibrations of the computer were making him unsettled. He is now in the same tank with extra plants and "blinders" on 3 sides of the tank (just in case it is stress from the envinronment), but in a new location: the kitchen. Since our table is always too covered with bills for us to actually eat at it ( ), the long shelf all of my tanks are on next to it get almost no activity, save for the cat occasionally peeking up over the edge at them. It is a very good environment for shy fish.
So far, he is interested enough in the new plants and unfamiliar settings that he isn't pacing. Lets hope it holds up!