Getting to "Know You": Post your introduction here

[Emily]

texasprincess said:

Hi everyone!

My name is Arnette.. I'm a college student in Texas!
I was living in university-owned housing which only permits "fully aquatic" pets, and since I didn't have a roomie, I thought it would be nice to have someone to greet me when I got back from a busy day of class!

I bought my first betta in late January and named him "Alpha". I'm in the greek system, and thought "betta" was close enough to "beta" and thought I would give my new little finned-friend a greek name! Since Alpha is also the first greek letter, I thought the name suited my betta well since he was my first little betta!

A couple of weeks later on Valentine's Day, it was in the afternoon and I was getting my oil changed. I walked to the Petsmart across the street to find some new 'toys' for Alpha, and came home with a new friend (another betta!) that I named "Gamma". I skipped the second letter in the Greek alphabet, since they were already "bettas" ;D

And in March, I was at Walmart, and by this time the fish section of *any* store magnetically attracted me. It was by chance that their fish dept. was right next to the health care items. I only went to buy some toothpaste, but that day I came home with a beautiful all-white male betta (#3!) which I named "Delta"

I have had Alpha for 4.5 months, Gamma 4 months, and Delta for about 3 months.

I would definately like to have more in the future, but right now, I think 3 is a good number as my little guys are a handful!

Hi Arnette! This is Wynoah from Livejournal! Thanks for introducing me to this web site. It has already helped me tremendously with my new baby, Zeta (also from the Greek system, as our chapter is Zeta Upsilon and I thought it's cool that it rymes with Betta). Thanks again for all your help!

[Emily]

Hi everyone!
I think I posted my original introduction in the wrong area, and for that I appologize.
I bought my new baby from PetSmart last week. He is my first Betta. His name is Zeta Magellan (but usually just plain Zeta). His coloring is mostly deep red with bits of blue, terquoise and purple as well. He is presently living in a one gallon vase. I chose him for two reasons: 1) He is beautiful 2) He was very fiesty in the store, which I took as a sign of strength. He seems to be a very happy fish.
My first introduction to Bettas was this past March. The billing department in the medical office I worked in had a Betta, which they named Bill (hense the billing department).
Later on, in June, my younger sister received one from her High School senior class All Night Party. His name is Christopher Columbus (which is why Zeta's second name is Magellan). I quickly fell in love with him. She moved away to college a couple weeks ago, and Christopher Columbus came with her. Coincidently, a couple weeks ago Bill jumped out of his bowl and landed in the paper shreader (...Honest to God. It was very sad). They bought a new Betta and named him Rebill.
With the addition of Rebill and the absence of Christopher Columbus, I decided that I truly wanted one of these beautiful creatures. Enter Zeta Magellan.
I never thought it would be possible for me to love a fish, but I love him! Thank you to all of you who have already helped me out with your great and much appreciated advice! I look forward to getting to know you all in the future!

[RainbowBetta]

Well, I think my fascination with "tank critters" started from being raised an Air Force brat, moving around a lot and having some constraint about what was allowed in base housing.

I love aquariums more than any other animal keeping deal (that didn't make any sense, did it?) My mom has a picture of little 7-8 month old me in one of those baby walkers with the wheels on the bottom staring into the aquarium. And while I haven't always had fish around, I have always loved to watch them.

I got my first betta about 2-3 years ago. He saw me through some rough times. (for a while I had a "black thumb" with our pets.) After I lost a turtle and an aquarium full of sword-tails in one week I was in tears wondering when our daughters were going to croak, because "I kill everything!!!" (I was hysterical) My husband pointed out that the betta was still alive. And by just being alive Sir Percivel Feathers lifted my spirits and started an obsession. I bought him a bigger tank (as a thank you) and then started doing web research, to make sure he was getting everything he needed. (so as to prevent a possible nervous break down, should he go belly up like the swordtails, lol) That's how I started coming here.

Now I have 7 bettas and a Bearded Dragon, and 2 garden slugs (don't ask) All being well cared for, thanks to the help and support I get here.

And, you'll be happy to know, my family made it through my "I kill everything" phase alive and well. (and the 20 gal tank that I bought for the turtle is a palace for a betta. I am thinking about dividing it, then I can get even MORE...)

[Nancy]

Hi, My name is Nancy, at the moment I have 16 bettas 8 of each. LOL I am starting my first girls tank, fishless cycling seems to be taking me forever. I live in Central Indiana, with hubby, 2 kids, 3 dogs, 1 cat, and 2 guinea pigs and a snail. Like Denise I have been so busy, it's hard to make the time to get here, I will try and do so oftener.

[bluebunny3508]

My first Betta is Fred. I got him last December at WalMart. I had wanted a betta since I had seen several in vases. Before I got Fred I found Healthy Betta. The advice has been great and he is still sitting on my desk at work keeping me company. Because of him, we now have a Betta Group in our office. Right now, I am caring for my bosses sick betta. My new betta Sushi died after having him for little more than a week. He didnt seem sick but he never was really interested in eating which I thought was due to adjusting to new food/surroundings. After I sterlize the tank and its contents, I plan on getting another betta to share my home. I also have 2 cats 15 and 13 years old.

[amanda]

;DHello everybody! New to the forum and thought I would say hello! I have had my current 2 bettas for several months now ( I don't remember the exact date, I was pregnant and couldn't remember anything, anyway) They are really cute and I will have to figure out how to post pics, but anyway... I am considering beginning a betta rescue/adoption in our area...nothing too big, but I love to rescue animals. It only figures, since I work at a vet clinic, huh? Oh, and I wrote a letter to Wal Mart concerning the "Plight of the Bettas". If anyone is interested, I can send you a copy. NOthing ugly, just a wake-up call to the corporate office. I figured I should attempt to do SOMETHING since I see web site after site about how people "rescued" their betta from W.M. ( Actually I think I got my big red betta from them for the same reason) Although, really by buying those poor fish, we are still contributing to a corporation who evidently doesn't care for the welfare of fish, but ooooops, did I climb onto my soap box now? Sorry.

I also have 3 small dogs, a Senegal parrot, a cockatiel, 2 LARGE Oscars, and a veiled chameleon. I had a LOT more, but most were rescues, and after I became pregnant, I managed to find great homes for the other pets.

Anyway, if anybody has a question for pets-other-than-bettas, I really am pretty good at answering (truthfully) questions....especially the exotics, which i LOVE ;D.

Well, nice to meet you all!

amanda

[tlbolden]

Hello,

My name is Terri. I'm on my second betta. I think they are so beautiful.

I have a lot to learn about having a betta.

Terri

[ALegolasG]

Hi I'm Drew and I just got my 1st betta on the 15 (last week) from the petco near my house. he is a little red butterfly vt named sakana (fish in japanese). all the bettas at this petco seem to be in good health so i realy dident save him(cept that i got him out of that cup and into a 1 gallon bowl). i have fallen in love with him and am hoping to expand my collection very soon, and hopefully in a year or two start breeding. ;D

[Dulcina]

Alright...getting to know me. Heh...I first had betta's when I was a young girl...not that I'm old now, 22. Buy, my mother always had fish and she had a betta in a 10 gallon tank. I thought he was beautiful but thought nothing of him...so growing up, the fish was always there in the back of my mind. Swimming happily in my mothers care...Then, I moved from Pennsylvania to Washington state. There I met and lived with a friend who would breed Betta's as well as met another women who LOVED them and had..probably 30 or so. So, the actual reading and learning about of Betta's happened out west. I learened and helped care for the 60 betta's that my friend had...Then, I had to come back to the east coast, back to Pennsylvania.

Now I'm here with my son who is three and my hubby who knows that every time I have a day off...I will add another fish to the mix. Then just today I wandering what was wrong with my poor white betta...He's got red dots at the end of his fins (which I think is hemeriging) OH! I can't spell...so forgive me. And, his color has changed a bit...His white color has gotten a bit yellow...and he's a bit lathargic. I'm afraid I'm going to loose him...and if I do. ::Cries:: So, I came here to see if I could find out what might be wrong with him..and perhapse ask for help.

He was the first betta I got when I moved out here though. I literally had to hand feed him to get him to eat. Yes, fingers in tank and all...I know it's not healthy for them..but it was either that or he'd starve...so he got water changes A LOT and ate that way. I eventually weened him off of hand feedings..and he's did great for 2 years after...He also stoped my strain of killing them..I tried two betta's before him..and they got fungus and died. ::Whimpers:: My poor babys! But, here I am now...All my boys around me...My son has three in his room and helps me change there water...Really he carries them into the kitchen where I do there water changes...And he 'guards' them to make sure they don't jump down my garbage disposable...like my betta who has now been lovingly dubbed...disposable did. Heh.

It's wonderful to find others that love there betta's like I do! I am SO happy I found this place..and hope to speak to all of you in the future...But...that's my story... I hope to see you all soon!

[abm]

I sort of introduced myself on another board as I tried to explain why I was so betta-stupid and needed so much info as I tried to save Quigon...but I'll post it here, too, since I know you are ALL fascinated... ;D

I have always been a pet person (cats mostly, dogs the past 12 years, guinea pigs, the occasional visiting cockatiel) but I didn't really think about fish, or bettas, until I "rescued" Harold from my boss (a wonderful person, a minister in fact, but the first to tell you she is NOT a fish person!) She had purchased Harold to use as an object lesson for a preschool class. She was feeding him and other than him being in a very small vase (about a liter) he was actually doing fine. But me being a pet person freaked out that he had no filtration, no light, just him in a vase, and she was very happy to let me have him. I felt very proud until I started reading up on bettas and realized she hadn't been doing such a lousy job with Harold...but anyway.

Harold lived happily on my desktop at home for 7 months. Then he suddenly began darting, crashing, etc. and died within a week . At the time I knew nothing of OTC fish meds so other than cleaning his tank I did nothing to help him - for that I will always be sad. But I sure did love Harold.

My next betta is Pentecost, "rescued" from another office at the church where I work. He was a victim of the lilyvase arrangement - I managed to "steal" him when that worker went out on medical leave for 6 weeks...she's back now but I sort of haven't offered to return Pentecost He changed from non-moving to completely interactive within hours after I removed the offending plant. And it's amazing what regular food times and clean tanks will do, too.

After Pentecost became such an important part of our family, I had to do what so many here have related and "rescued" 5 more bettas from w**mart. 4 of those are doing fabulously - one is named Turquoise (guess why ;D), one is Blue Boy (the sad part is, it took 3 weeks to come up with that one), Tomahawk (my son's betta - we're Braves fans and he's blue and red), and one more gorgeous blue one that is still unnamed... Any suggestions??

Quigon died two days ago and we still miss him but it's because of his illness that I discovered HB and the positive, supportive community of fish parents that you are - and for that I will always be thankful.

(Yes, I can talk this much when I'm not typing, too! )

- anotherbettamom

[JulietV]

Hello, I'm a fishaholic....you know you're a fishaholic when you stand in front of the 200-gallon tank at the store and figure that if you just rearranged the furniture well enough, there'd be room...

I currently have six bettas, all males, named Bert, Grover, Cookie, Gus (short for J. Rodin Augustus Untermeyer III--that's what happens when you ask Dad for a name for the fish), Haku and Mercury. I currently have one other tank, featuring a redcap oranda, an oddly-colored fantail (sort of a brassy brown), one pleco and two albino corys. Besides the fish, there is our beagle, Molly, my budgie, GWB (short for "George Washington Bird"), three cats (Tom, Kitty, and Fuzzy) and one horse, Benny. I'm plotting a larger tank for the goldfish, and once their current tank is free, a tank of tetras.

My first pets ever were fish--I got a tropical tank for my fifth birthday. I can't remember how many fish we went through--platys, sword-tails, angelfish, a calico goldfish, tetras, algae eaters, sharks-except one. In the very first tank on my birthday, there were two kissing gouramis, George and Georgina, purchased because I liked the color pink. George died, but Georgina lived on. And on. And on. By the time I was thirteen, we were tired of the fishtank--but no WAY were we going to flush Georgina before her time! Georgina finally succumbed to natural causes at the ripe old age of eight.

I was fish-free for several years, until college, when, sophomore year, we decided to try keeping a filtered bowl in our suite in housing. We got a silver molly, a black molly, and an indian algae eater to "keep the tank clean." Little did we know that the algae eater was a monster in disguise! He harrassed the other two to death, but got his own just desserts at Christmas break, when the trip to my roommate's home was simply too much for him.

After that, I was fishless again, until my third year of grad school began. I was shopping at Petco for my budgie, and I had a five-dollar gift certificate. They had a display of bettas. I figured, hey, they don't need a big tank, they don't take up lots of room, why not get one? So I picked one out who seemed nice, a large dark-blue male with reddish fins who was dubbed "Bert" after I couldn't think up a name. Well, Bert needed an Ernie, right? And while going to get some stuff for Bert and Ernie I spotted this cute little Cambodian, who was dubbed Navarre after the movie "Ladyhawke" that I'd watched that day. And then of course I found HB, and their adoptions, and fell in love with a red veil-tail named Paprika, and there was a PetSmart even closer than the Petco and they had tonnes of bettas...needless to say I was hooked.

Of the original three, I have only Bert still left, the crochety oldster of my collection. And I've managed to stop myself at six for now.

[spazrats]

Hello all

Crystal kindly answered a few Betta questions that I had as a new Betta owner (beginning of this year), and invited me to join this forum. I don't have anything to contribute, but I would like to learn more from those who know, so I'll probably be asking a lot of questions

I have 1 Betta now, Joey, named after a seafood restaurant, Joey's Only. I know, poor pun at the expence of the fishy

I became a Betta-slave after doing much research but I know there is always more to learn.

My first Betta, Glub-Glub, was "murdered " by my youngest cat, when after 3 months of being on my bedside table, Devin took a sudden interest in the fish in his bowl at 3:00am. The next morning Devin did the deed.

I then got my second Betta from Wal-Mart. This time I set up the bowl in my "Pet Room" where the cats and the dog are forbidden.

Gumby was sick from the beginning and while I was in an aquarium store getting medicine for him I spotted a Betta who was so full of himself that he was flaring at a bug-eyed goldfish in the same tank.

My husband said to go back and get him, so Joey now resides with us. I had bought another set of home supplies for Joey and the two Bettas lived side by side with their view blocked from each other by a piece of cardboard. Sadly, Gumby died while we on holiday in April

So now I have Joey. He's a gorgous red and turquoise boy, with incredibly long fins. Which brings me to my first question. I read that you can tell the age of your Betta by the length of his ventral fins. Any truth to that?

Sandra B.

[MommaRolla]

Ok, here's my story....
My fishie's name is BunnyRolla. He was named by my 3-year old daughter. We had talked about getting a bunny for many months and she was pretty excited about it, but we eventually decided that a fish would be a better first pet for her. I knew nothing about fish, except that they were boring and swam around all day *yawn* but I figured it was "just a fish" and it wouldn't be so traumatizing if it died....LITTLE DID I KNOW, I would discover bettas at the pet store when I went in to check out the fish prospects and would fall in love with bettas (not to mention that I would become a complete FISH NERD ;D and spend many sleepless nights worrying and checking on him and feeling like a new mom all over again ) . I was very encouraged by the idea that they were "low maintenance" and didn't need any "special equipment or supplies"....HA!!! (now I have a BOX full of fish stuff, after only 5 months). So, we ended up with a betta instead of a bunny, but just to remind me, I guess....she named him BunnyRolla. She loves him very much, even if he isn't a bunny. I think he's pretty cool too.

[spiff]

I never posted an intro, so here I go.

I had bettas when I was youinger, but never paid much attention to them (bad spiff!) However, when I got into college I decided I wanted a fish, especially after seeing one that my friend was fish sitting. So in late October, I bought my first betta, Marlin. One betta and small tank have now turned into 5 (and hopefully 2 more next week!) and a variety of other fish, and 5 tanks.

I started looking up info on betta's after I bought Marlin. I told my dad that the fish would be coming home with me for Thanksgiving, to which he replied "If it's still alive by then." I looked up info on how long a bettas life span is, and eventually found various betta boards and more info than I ever imagined.

I first came here when I noticed something wrong with Clay's fins. One day his whole fin was there, and the next day half it was gone. I posted a question about it, which may have been a stupid one by some members standards but I couldn't tell if it was finrot because half the fin fell off instead of little chunks like fin rot normall does. But anyway, that was over a month ago, and here I am now (Clay's tail is doing better now, BTW).

[Doofusmom]

Well, my name is Jen and I am from Everett, WA. I currently have 11 bettas...but over the years have had a total of 13...my first being Doofus who died at the ripe old age of 3 years and 7 months (after I got him so he is probably closer to 4 years old-he's the one in my avatar pic...). And my 2nd being Meenoi the red and white butterfly who passed away after a long fight with a tumor...
My bettas I have now are:
1. Ludwig the Red and Green Butterfly male
2. Mali the red HM female
3. Raichu the yellow Super Delta male
4. Angel the DT Turquoise female
5. Vegeta the Blue HM male
6. Sarai the delta female
7. Sakura the cambodian DT female
8. Raindrop the blue cambodian female
9. Crush the orange super delta male
and his sister
10. Shasta the orange female
11. Cerelean the blue round tail female

I also have 3 cats...Oogie, Onyx, and Fleury.
2 community tanks with harlequin raspboras, zebra danios, 3 kuhli loaches and guppies. And,
A 29 gallon with 2 black moors named Sinbad and Salazar.