Getting to "Know You": Post your introduction here

[MerlinTheFish]

Hi everyone, I just joined this website recently, along with purchasing my first Betta, named Merlin. My sister and her husband had a Betta which I really liked, so one day (about three weeks ago) I went to an aqaurium and had a look at the Bettas, instantly I saw one that didnt look happy where he was and looked like he needed a good home, he was a different colouring to the others, so needless to say, I got him! His name is Merlin, though I have a few names for him and he is pink with spots on his head and has blue fins. Hopefully I can learn a lot on this website about Bettas since I am new to the fish world!

[SDRoach]

Hello Everyone!

My name is Shelia and I live in Texas. After doing about 3 weeks research at the Betta Addicts Forum I got my 1st Betta May 14, 2003 from a lps. He is an all red I named Flame. He currently lives in a 20 gal tank by himself since the 4 glo-lite tetras I bought to go with him decided his tail would make a great snack. LOL

On May 29th I got Rainbow and Sapphire from Wal-mart. Rainbow is a sweet little girl. Her body is brown and she has red fins with shiny greenish stripes in them. For now she is in a 1/2 gal bowl. Sapphire is a beautiful DT blue male with a black head. He also has some red on his pelvic fins. He is in a 1 gal bowl.

I think this site and the people here are great. I use this forum and the Betta Addicts Forum as my main source of information on Bettas.

On Monday I won 4 female Bettas from the same breeder on Aquabid. She mailed them by overnight mail and they are currently lost in Waco, TX. I am praying that they find their way here today. I hate to think of them dying in that box all alone.

[Emerson]

Hi!
I'm Sandy, I live in Indiana, and I have been posting here quite a bit over the last couple of weeks, after my husband and I purchased our first Betta -- Horatio (after Horatio Hornblower). I'm a worrier!

We don't have kids, and haven't had a lot of luck with pets. Two dogs that we adopted last year had to be returned due to health and behavioral problems, so I had been looking for some other kind of critter to add to our small family. After ruling out everything from Chinchillas to Canaries, I decided that it might be nice to have a small aquarium in our living room with a few fish to watch.

After purchasing a 5-gallon tank from one of the Marts, hubby and I went to the pet store to take a look at fish prospects. I had decided on some neon tetras and maybe a couple of cories, but as we walked past the displays of fish, my husband noticed the little jars of Bettas. "What are THOSE?" he asked, intrigued. I told him they were Bettas, but that we couldn't have one in a tank with other fish because they're too aggressive (I didn't know much about them; only what I had heard). WELL...as we were having this conversation, I noticed that this one Betta kept watching us. The others were busy flaring at each other, but this one was different. He immediately caught my eye. I said, "Let's go to lunch and then decide what to do." We had lunch and both agreed we had to get that Betta.

Entering the pet store a second time, I noticed that one of the employees was bagging several Bettas which another customer had just purchased. My heart sank for a second; surely this person bought our little guy because he was so beautiful and friendly. But to my relief he was still in his jar, and was looking right at me again! It was fate!

The rest is history.

We have since become incredibly attached to this little guy Horatio, and I'm trying to learn all that I can in order to keep him healthy and happy. I credit this board for helping me do that very thing!

;D

[RuthJaneen]

Hello Everyone. Some know me, some don't, so since my being away for such a long time, I will just start all over. First though, Rae, I read your intro, congratulations on your accepting Christ in May, that is wonderful! He has been there all along just waiting for you! Congratulations! Hugs!! All of the good stuff!!

Alrighty then. My name is Ruth, I started into bettas about a year and a half ago. I found Healthy Betta and became hooked on the site, it was the most helpful in the way of down to earth information that I could find. I became a Healthy Betta addict then later began helping a friend run The Betta Obsession, and then from there accepted Crystal's request to help with Healthy Betta. I was very dedicated in helping with the sites, helping with the illness articles and answering help questions for people for their bettas up until we moved into our first house, then I became very preoccupied with things here at the home front. So, for what it is worth to those that know me, I am sorry I deserted.

I had 10 bettas, I currently have 8 bettas, but that is getting ready to change to 7 as I have one sick and nothing I am doing is helping him as seems to be the way it is each time one of my bettas become ill. I try hard to save them, I give it my all, and it just does no good. I recently lost one of my old boys, Clyde. I know Crystal and Rae remember him. He was my very first rescue betta, lived a year and a half, so, I realize he was old, but still, it hurt to lose him. Now, I am getting ready to lose another, and you know, I just can't do this anymore. I love betta's, I think they are wonderful and beautiful little creatures, but, I look at the ones I have left here, soon to be seven, and realize that I am going to have my heart broken seven more times. Eight counting the one I am getting ready to lose. Betta's are fighters, they fight to live, I fight to save, and it just seems to turn into a long lingering suffering ordeal for both the betta and myself.

Hmm, my intro here is turning quite grim huh? I believe the frustration over my little red betta guy Jake being ill is pouring out in my introduction, and I apologize. I will move on....

Crystal, Rae, all other Moderators, the website and the message board look great!! Healthy Betta still Rocks!!

Ruth Janeen

[AuntieM]

Finally, I get to meet all the great folks on this site who have helped me to understand and care for my inherited Betta Girls.

My name is Meryle and I live in Philadelphia with my cat Cybus. I was quite content having a very independent pet and had no intentions of buying anything I really had to "take care of" until........ we put on an art exhibit at the gallery I work at. The latest show was called "Pop Art of the 60s" and one of the pieces was an acrylic square 14" x14" x 4" . The bottom was a full size checkerboard and the checkers were floating on the top. In the original piece (1963), they used gold fish to add to the experience but the fish never made it past the opening night. So this time around, our curator's father-in-law did some research and discovered that female bettas can be grouped together with minimal care. So I thought to myself after seeing them everyday, that if these little critters make it through the exhibit (2 months) I would adopt them. There were 4.

As it turned out, I took 2 and another co-worker took 2. But, before I took them home, I did some surfing on the web and like many of you, found this site. It took me only 2 visits to decide I needed to sign up and become an active contributor or at least an active reader.

Ruby & Pearl are now living in a 2 gal. bowl with mini-conch shells that provide a resting spot and colored stones & marbles. It looks pretty neat, if I do say so myself. After an initial territorial stand off, the girls are now the best of buddies. They even swim together. I am constantly amazed at how these fish are so interactive and responsive to humans. They definitely have a zen-like quality that has helped me in my meditation. Even my cat seems to find them curious, but doesn't bother with them except for a cursory glance over every now and then. Also, they are kept in a spot that is very safe & secure from prying cat paws.

One more thing .... I find it truly amazing at the wonderful names that everyone comes up with for their bettas. You guys have the greatest imaginations when it comes to names ... or maybe it's the Bettas that inspire such great names.

Thanks for this great community board. I look forward to more postings and sharing of stories.

[Megan]

Hello everyone, My name is Megan, I have been keeping and breeding bettas for almost three years now. I started with a betta/vase combo that I bought at a local fair. I had no idea at the time that bettas and vases don't mix, but after doing a little research I realized how awful the vase setup really is, and ended up moving the poor betta into a ten gallon tank. Sadly, he didn't make it past a few weeks, he was pretty sick from his time in the vase. I got a new betta a few weeks after the first ones passing, and he lived with me for almost three years, he passed away a few months ago.

I eventually bought some breeding stock online, and now have many more bettas than I can count. I have had 18 spawns in the past few years, and currently have the most recent six of these growing up now. I enjoy working with pastels and marbles the most, I'm hoping to one day create a nice line of blue/gold marbles.

[IcE]

Hello, I am IcE and I am a 12 old.

I like sports, pets, internet, and my friends.

I brung a friend of mine, Known as Shady Boy, here. Soon, I will be opening a website called 'Betta Place'.

[grog]

I'm Kelly, I'm 24, and live in Baltimore with a cat, a dog, a horse, various rainbowfish and a whole bunch of bettas

Some of you might know me from elsewhere... guess I'm just branching out, being miffed that my normal haunts are considered rude *cry*. I've been breeding for a couple years but had to give it up for the time being due to time constraints. We're having a house built soon, when it's done I plan on getting back into the hobby at that level and hopefully putting my "learning experiences" towards good use.

Currently my favorite betta is a red VT I got about three years ago. He lived here at work for a couple years but I brought him home for "retirement" recently. I thought he was a goner but a ten gallon tank with a heater, whole bunches of live plants, and live food seem to have completely rejuvenated him His name is "retired red" (yes I am original. hee)

[Incipit]

Hey, my name's Brock. I'm from Napanee Ontario. I got into the fish hobby a little over a year ago. At one point I had 4 tanks running (3 larger ones 20G+, and one betta tank) but I had to lighten the load this spring. It was just taking too much out of the ole' wallet. Being 16, money was kind of hard to come by at that time. But now, I have a few jobs, paid off my new bass guitar and am eager to get back into the hobby.

My first betta was named Ares. He was a blue viel tail who, being my first fish, put up with my fish keeping ignorance. I then found Healthy Betta which helped me a lot.

Now I'm ready to start it up again. I'm sure many of you know what I'm talking about when I say that once I get started, it will be hard to stop. I'm thinking of going into my local LFS (horrible conditions for bettas) and taking about 4 off their hands.

I am also going to send away for a half moon betta from British Columbia.

So, if this charming little community will put up with me, you can expect me around often.

[AuntieM]

Welcome. I've found this site to be wonderful, helpful and all the other good things that a community board should be. It's also a lot of fun ;D

[bettabrat]

I have a cat named Marley, and two fancy goldfish (a calico fantail, Captain, and a black moor, Morgan), they each reside in their own 10 gal aquariums. Every time we go to the lfs, my daughter loves to look at the bettas. She wanted one so badly, and I finally caved in about a week ago. Now we want another one! She named our boy Togepi, which is after a Pokemon character. I'm really enjoying this site more than other fish forums I belong to. The reason is that the members here are more concerned about the health and welfare of the fish, rather than the pedigree details. This site is smaller than the others that have all the webpage bells and whistles, but that doesn't matter one bit. It's the content that's important, not the flash. I affectionately refer to some of the other forums as 'fish snobs' because they generally lack concern for those of us with lfs 'mutts'. None of my fish are 'high society' fish, but I don't see why they or I should be treated as second class citizens. So thanks to you all for being genuinely caring contributors!

[Ironlung]

Hey whats up? I like bettas. I have a question about female bettas though. Can female bettas live in the small bowls like the males can? I've never seen the females in the small bowls so I dont know if they have a labryinth lung or not.

please reply

[Jenny]

Yes females can live in a bowl just like males. The reason that they are not often found there in stores is that unlike males they can be kept several together in a tank, which means less work for the employees.

[Ironlung]

Thank you jenny! I guess they would have to have the lung in order to breed in the wild.

[BettaChick]

Ahhh...I finally found it! I didn't know where to post my intro..so I put it somewhere else. But now...I found the real place to post it.

Anyway. Well if you look at my signature..there u will find all of my bettas. There are five more that have not been named so I didn't put them there.
I started keeping bettas last year. I started the betta thing to breed them to make money. Well, that hasn't worked out so well. My first spawn with lfs crowntails took nine months to grow. I didn't know where to get cultures. But when I finally got them out of my room, I had to give them away. But now I have another betta batch growing very well! Those I will sell.

I have learned a lot so far..and still have some things to learn. I have had lots of fun with the bettas.
I would have more tanks for spawning..but with school and all, it makes it hard.

Adrienne