Post by nj2tou on Jun 4, 2006 10:46:58 GMT -5
After weeks of agonizing over it, researching as much as I could, getting my tank set up and ready, I saw the love of my life and took him home. ;D
I didn't INTEND to - I had run out to get some bio-spira, which I heard is the only bacteria stuff that actually WORKS. I also wanted to see if the blue beauty I had seen last week was still there, but alas, he wasn't.
He was a gorgeous veil tail with a red streak on his lower fin. Just what I wanted, sigh...
As I wandered around the fish tanks my eye was caught by this big red beauty... I didn't really want a red one, I love the striking blue ones, but this guy just "had it"!
He perked right up and flared at me when I put my finger up against his tank. It was then I noticed he wasn't your usual petstore veil tail - he was what I think you call a diamond tail (?) his tail fin comes to a point. He also had a bit of pinkish irridescense on parts of him. He was just beautiful and that was it, I had to have him before someone else grabbed him!
I headed home with my bio-spira and him in tow. Since I was waaaaaaaay late for baby sitting duty at my brother's house, I put the bio-spira in the tank, pouring it directly on the bio wheel, and left him in his bag, floating in the tank, so the water temps would match. I figured he'd be just fine for a couple of hours, as they ship them from half way around the world and they're fine.
I couldn't wait to get back home and set him free.
I asked the girl in the shop what the ph was of their tanks and she said they're all 7.2 - great! I managed to get mine to just about that early that morning, so he should be ok when I transferred him.
Well... in my excitement, even tho I gradually put more and more water into his bag, I forgot to check the ph again, just to make sure, before I did this. Much to my horror, it had risen to 7.8 or so!!! AAACCCKKK!!!
He didn't seem to be too happy at that point. He was hiding in the corner and well, just seemed uncomfortable. Oh noooooo! So I ran out to the supermarket, which was about to close and bought several gallon jugs of distilled and spring water. I had tested them that morning, when I saw my tap water was a sky high 8.2 and down to 7.8 or 9 after sitting out for 2 days. The distilled was 6.0 and the spring 6.4. I made like a mad scientist and got it to an almost perfect 7.1. Why it went back up, I don't know.
Well, I got it back down to just about perfect, using one gallon of the distilled and he began swimming around and exploring. I fed him a few Hikari bio gold pellets and he just gobbled them up! He was all over the tank after that.
I tested the water again this morning and it's fine. So is he. He is swimming merrily along, all over the tank. He gobbled his breakfast too.
I'm gonna go out and try and find some live plants to go in the tank. I haven't been able to find java moss anywhere, which is what I'd really like. The bio wheel really DOES make the surface turbulent, although there is a divider of sorts (it's really to support the filter things) and the left half isn't quite as turbulent, but I figure some floating java moss will give him some calm spots.
What I really wish I had seen before I bought this Eclipse 6 system is an Aquatic Gardens set up. It's a 6.6 gallon tank and instead of being tall, it's very long horizontally. Since bettas like shallow water better, this would have been perfect, as it would give him lots of room to swim back and forth. Oh well!
Anyway, hopefully this is just the first of many, many more happy days to come.
p.s. Amanichen - I hope you still check out my water report, as I have NO idea if anything in there is bad. Thanks!!
I didn't INTEND to - I had run out to get some bio-spira, which I heard is the only bacteria stuff that actually WORKS. I also wanted to see if the blue beauty I had seen last week was still there, but alas, he wasn't.
He was a gorgeous veil tail with a red streak on his lower fin. Just what I wanted, sigh...As I wandered around the fish tanks my eye was caught by this big red beauty... I didn't really want a red one, I love the striking blue ones, but this guy just "had it"!
He perked right up and flared at me when I put my finger up against his tank. It was then I noticed he wasn't your usual petstore veil tail - he was what I think you call a diamond tail (?) his tail fin comes to a point. He also had a bit of pinkish irridescense on parts of him. He was just beautiful and that was it, I had to have him before someone else grabbed him!
I headed home with my bio-spira and him in tow. Since I was waaaaaaaay late for baby sitting duty at my brother's house, I put the bio-spira in the tank, pouring it directly on the bio wheel, and left him in his bag, floating in the tank, so the water temps would match. I figured he'd be just fine for a couple of hours, as they ship them from half way around the world and they're fine.
I couldn't wait to get back home and set him free.
I asked the girl in the shop what the ph was of their tanks and she said they're all 7.2 - great! I managed to get mine to just about that early that morning, so he should be ok when I transferred him.Well... in my excitement, even tho I gradually put more and more water into his bag, I forgot to check the ph again, just to make sure, before I did this. Much to my horror, it had risen to 7.8 or so!!! AAACCCKKK!!!
He didn't seem to be too happy at that point. He was hiding in the corner and well, just seemed uncomfortable. Oh noooooo! So I ran out to the supermarket, which was about to close and bought several gallon jugs of distilled and spring water. I had tested them that morning, when I saw my tap water was a sky high 8.2 and down to 7.8 or 9 after sitting out for 2 days. The distilled was 6.0 and the spring 6.4. I made like a mad scientist and got it to an almost perfect 7.1. Why it went back up, I don't know.
Well, I got it back down to just about perfect, using one gallon of the distilled and he began swimming around and exploring. I fed him a few Hikari bio gold pellets and he just gobbled them up! He was all over the tank after that.
I tested the water again this morning and it's fine. So is he. He is swimming merrily along, all over the tank. He gobbled his breakfast too.
I'm gonna go out and try and find some live plants to go in the tank. I haven't been able to find java moss anywhere, which is what I'd really like. The bio wheel really DOES make the surface turbulent, although there is a divider of sorts (it's really to support the filter things) and the left half isn't quite as turbulent, but I figure some floating java moss will give him some calm spots.
What I really wish I had seen before I bought this Eclipse 6 system is an Aquatic Gardens set up. It's a 6.6 gallon tank and instead of being tall, it's very long horizontally. Since bettas like shallow water better, this would have been perfect, as it would give him lots of room to swim back and forth. Oh well!
Anyway, hopefully this is just the first of many, many more happy days to come.
p.s. Amanichen - I hope you still check out my water report, as I have NO idea if anything in there is bad. Thanks!!