betta stories volume 5

tails from the script :P (get it?)  

Heshe betta Dear Faith,       Well, before I start, I would just like to say that your website is the BEST!   Anyways... When I got my betta, Cosita (which is Spanish for Thing- but sort of like a 'girl' thing LOL)- or should I say his real name, Devel-  I felt like my heart had sunk all the way to the bottom of my chest. Cosita- or Devel-  was the ugliest betta! I took her (well, I thought it was a her at first) home and put her into her new clean bowl. She loved it! She was in her little container for so long, that she probably thought that the 10 gallon bowl was heaven! Well, I went onto your website and found out how to tell if it was a boy. SO, I got a small mirror and put it next to the bowl. It was both scary and shocking!- Cosita got mad and puffed out his gills and everything! He is so aggresive! I laughed and so did my family, who were all laughing. From now on, his real name is Devel- which is a mixture of Angel and Devil put together because of his color and everything J But somethimes, I might call him Cosita by mistake! Oops!!!!                                                                                     From, Mixed Up J

The Almost Disastrous Jump! Okay... Here is my story of Rainbow #2(and Rainbow#1 ). Well, as everyone knows, you need to clean out your bettas' tanks once in a while, so that's what I was doing before this disaster happened- cleaning the tank. Well, it just so happened that I had already cleaned Moonstone and Speckle's tanks. So my sister and I began to transfer Rainbow#2 into a container while we cleaned his tank. So we started to pour him in(this was before we got a net) and he... you guessed it, he JUMPED OUT AND INTO THE SINK! Rainbow#2 landed in a pan with water in it, but it was SO scary! Finally, Belle got him out(WHEW!)! Do you know what's odd? My other betta before(Rainbow#1) also jumped into the sink, but he almost went down the drain! He died shortly afterwards, but Rainbow #2 is still alive after what happened. He is 4 years old and still displays. I will miss my little Rainbow when he dies. He has always been my rainbow when the storms of life are here. -Meagan He, age 9

 

This is a story about how funny things can get while attempting to breed Betta's. I had gone to superwalmart to get yet another 10gal tank setup (dang mollies breed allot), and what do i see? Female Betta's WITH color even! (a rare thing for common walmart Betta's) Yep, you guessed it, i had to get not one, but 3 of them *sigh* I've had a male for a few weeks, living happily in his 1/2 gal tank in the bathroom, and i decided that i would set one of the females in a small tank net to him, just to see what he thought. It was lust at first sight! And she seemed to think he was kinda cute, so after about 2 hrs, i introduced her to his tank. He was doing is best "look at me, see how handsome i am" display, which she ignored to go see how his nest building abilities were, and he thought "oh yes baby, i'm THE man, the total package" and swam to her fully expecting her to be falling at his fins and begging. (males can be clueless at times) lol after her inspection she gave me that look "ok, you can remove me now please" and i did, he looked at her, then me, then his nest and said, "what the hell?" and promptly started to add bubbles. The next day i put her back in his tank, with the same results, but she flirted with him abit this time. (you could hear the male groan, i swear) When i removed her this time, he decided that he would just tear apart the nest and start over. The next day I noticed that the female was dripping eggs, and here the male had NO nest now, i put her with him anyway, if nothing else to have he able to get rid of her eggs, I'm not sure if they get egg bound like some other egg layers. She swam rite up to him and started to nuzzle his side, he looked at her, then where his nest WAS, then back at her saying "now? you want to do this NOW, after i have completely dismantled the nest?" So here he is, gulping air, wrapping the female, grabbing eggs, and franticly trying to make a nest and plant eggs in bubbles. (at this point i was glad the tank was in the bathroom because i was laughing so hard i thought i was going to wet myself) After about the 3rd wrap, the female starts to feel abit sorry for him and grabs some eggs and goes to put them in what should have been a nest. There she is with a mouth full of eggs, looking for a place to put them, then she gulps some air and tries to get the eggs to float. (females aren't good at that it seems, but it's the thought that counts rite) When it was all said and done he had very few eggs in bubbles, eggs all over the bottom of his tank, and a dazed look on his face. That night he had it all taken care of and we are now waiting to see if the eggs will hatch. Sincerely, Beth

 

The Fascinating Betta I have a male red betta. His name is Fishie. I had him since January 31, 2004. He has over 50 nicknames. Some include Fishie Wishie, Pookie, Foofie, and Woofie. There is a green leaf that goes across his tank. It is an n-shape. He loves sleeping on and in it. I find it so cute. He goes into the cutest sleeping positions. He will hide his head in a leaf and sleep. He will rest his body on the steams and leaves. There are red rocks on the bottom of the tank. There are also a few big white rocks. He sleeps on the white rocks. It looks as if it is his bed. Sometimes when he is at the surface, he will all of a sudden gets sleepy and stop all movement. He will then let his body fall and plop on the rocks. He can see in the distance. He proves it! I can be 10 or 20 feet away, wave my hands, and he will swim side-to-side or wake up and swim. I find that amazing! When it is time for me to feed him, he gets very excited. He will do his dance. He will swim side to side and up and down. Even after he is done eating, he wants more. He continues to wait in the feeding zone. It is as if he wants food 24/7. One time I put a lamp near the feeding zone. The lamp wasn’t on. He was in the feeding zone for a long time. He thinks that the lamp will feed him! When I sit near him, he will look straight at me. I feel as if I am being watched. If I put my face too close to him, he will get scared and poop. He poops when he gets nervous. One time I showed him a birthday card that was the shape of a fish bowl and a fish with big eyes on it. I showed it to him and he swam like crazy and then pooped! Sometimes he will get himself stuck between the leaf and glass of the tank. He will struggle and struggle and finally escape. I am so glad I have him. I am very attached to him. I read articles and stories about bettas. I find them fascinating. -Amanda-

 

Marvin, the locker-room betta...   This is a true story about a betta named Marvin who lived in the guys locker room at my high school. Marvin arrived in one of those plant jars and when I first saw him I knew he was not going to be happy and I feared for his life. First of all, he came with no food and as I tried to explain to my gym teacher he needs food they would not listen to me, plus some of the guys put stuff in his water and one tried to flush him down the toilet! Anyway, Marvin went for about 3 months living on nothing but plant roots, his own feces, and the maggots that were swarming in his water. I became buddies with the gym teacher who took care of him and asked if I could take care of him, and maybe he could be the gym mascot! The teacher said yes and I was so happy. The first thing I did was change his water so he had no maggots and so his yellow, acidic water was clean. Then I went to the store and got betta pellets and freeze dried brine shrimp. Marvin ate so much he could not swim, but he quickly bounced back and was swimming really fast. After a few months Marvin got healthier and everytime someone walked past his jar except me he would flare up and follow their shadow. Some people said “cool fish” and others just wanted to kill him. Summer came and nobody knew what to do with him, so I suggested I watch him for the summer and return him back in the fall. They agreed and I walked home with the jar and Marvin in it. The summer went great and I made sure Marvin was in great shape before going back to school because I wont be able to take care of him as good as during the summer. Well, the same things happen and Marvin suddenly turns ill having ich and blood in his fins. Someone put him in the toilet bowl and was ready to flush but luckily I stopped them and saved him! The school year ended and the gym teacher who got him retired so I had no idea what would happen  to Marvin since he did not take him. I would have to watch him again for the summer, but the gym teacher said if he is still alive when I graduate I can keep him for good! Summer came and went and it was back to school for the 3rd year! I could not wait to graduate so I could get Marvin, and anytime he looked sick I would panic because I did not want him to die in the school. The end of the year came and Marvin had made it, and I was ready to take him home when another gym teacher said you cant have him. I was so mad and said about the other teachers promise. Well anyway, I stayed after and got a janitor to open the room and I got Marvin and took him home. Surprisingly nobody said a word and he was a free fish. Summer came and I gave Marvin to my grandfather who was waiting for him for a year. Marvin had a hex tank with bubbles, gravel, a tunnel, and fish figures on the bottom with marbles. He loved to swim in the bubbles and would zoom around the tank in circles and go under the tunnel, he was happy! His fins grew longer and everytime my grandpa would put the light on near his tank he knew it was time to eat. Later that year I gave Marvin a special treat, live brine shrimp! He chased them and ate every one! Around 6 months later Marvin mysteriously got sick and died. Mabye it was old age he was at least 4 years old, and he got a nice home anyway for a while. I miss him and maybe in the future I will get some sick bettas and nurse them to health just like Marvin.   Keith

 

A second chance at a good life My friend Alexis was never any good at taking care of fish. She decided she was going to get a betta because it look easier to take care of. 2 weeks into having it I went over to visit and check on her betta. The bowl (with no plants and ugly dirty brown rocks) was disgustingly dirty and she had not fed him AT ALL since she had bought him, he was kept in a dark room and never got attention. I ended up throwing a fit and taking that betta from her. He was only half alive and I didn't think he was going to make it. I bought a brand new tank, beautiful green marbles for the bottom and I put some beautiful plants in. I fed him everyday and within a week he was GREAT. He swam around, built a HUGE bubble nest and just seemed happy. Now, whenever I put my face near the tank to look at him he  floats up to where my eyes are and stares right at me and it seems like he is waving to me with his fins (by the side of his head) I think its his way of saying thank you for saving him. Now were the best of friends, he follows my fingers around and always seems to be watching me. And he has a WONDERFUL new home. Thank you for listening to my story.   **Tawna**

 

About a month ago I acquired a couple of betta fish from a 99-cents variety store. Francisco and Pio were kept in two small plastic bags. As I was leaving the store I saw these 2 fish by the counter (a sign below them read "siamese betta fish" and immediately fell sorry for them; fish cannot last long in sealed plastic bags! So I bought them to save them from the inhumane conditions they were kept. Little did I know what I was getting into. The store owner told me only that I should keep them separate otherwise they would fight. I thought it was mainly his personal experience with my particular fish, although they were the same size. I didn't know that fighting fish existed except for the "big fish eats small fish" rule! Anyway, websites like yours educated me in the proper care of bettas, except that one evening, after feeding them, I forgot to close the lid of their 1-gallon tank. When I woke up next morning I saw a small animal curled up next to their tank which looked like a snail. I took it with two fingers to examine it and to my surprise I saw the head of a fish and a couple of eyes staring back at me! I immediately looked over towards the aquarium and realized Pio was missing! He had jumped out of his tank sometime during the night! My first reaction was to throw him back into the water as I was praying for a miracle. I was numb for a few minutes. 'It had only been his third night with me and he had already committed suicide. And here I was thinking that I was saving these poor fish from the plastic bags in which they were previously kept. I had even named them after my favorite Franciscan saints so they could someday cohabitate in peace...' As these thoughts flooded my mind, I saw how Pio slowly began to uncurl in the water. Then suddenly it gulped some water! Is he alive? Could it be? And yes, my poor Pio was fighting for his life! At first he just seemed to be free-floating, and I started caressing its small head with my index finger, being carefull not to harm him. Then little by little I saw some gill movement; then it started swimming very gently, more like floating, in the surface of the tank. I kept watch on him for that day and he is now fully recovered. Since that incident I got them a 5.5-G tank which I divide with old glass jars to keep Francisco and Pio separate so they don't fight each other but can still get a workout by flaring at each other. I had also bought two tank plants which I keep in the jar dividers. I guess they're also a bit spoiled because they won't eat flakes nor betta food pellets, so I had to get them black worms from the Pet store which they devour. Well, this is a happy ending after all. Thanks for keeping your bettatalk website informative :) Ely