Obituary and new betta

[Jakaris]

My betta of 8 years, Snake (I wanted a snake, but couldnt get one, so I... "compromised") died yesterday. This past year his health took a turn for the worse, and his swim bladder decided to quit him. He will be missed greatly. I never had a good camera when he was active, so this is the best I can manage:
http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/7444/snakele7.th.jpg (http://img409.imageshack.us/my.php?image=snakele7.jpg)
http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/2469/snake2xc1.th.jpg (http://img405.imageshack.us/my.php?image=snake2xc1.jpg)
http://img238.imageshack.us/img238/419/snake3ug3.th.jpg (http://img238.imageshack.us/my.php?image=snake3ug3.jpg)


Now for the new one. After I got the tank cleaned up and everything, I added a dwarf frog and 3 ghost shrimp to the tank. However, this female betta caught my eye, and since I've heard they get along with Dwarf Frogs (most things, really), I decided to give it a try. If it doesnt work out, I have more tanks I could set up for her, and if the ghost shrimp dissapear, no biggie, 6 cents each. These were taken with a MUCH better camera:
http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/401/bettaym4.th.jpg (http://img108.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bettaym4.jpg)
http://img129.imageshack.us/my.php?image=betta2hg1.jpg
And I have to add one pic of the frog, during one of his "acrobatic" sessions:
http://img293.imageshack.us/my.php?image=frognd5.jpg

I had to cut out the thumbnails for 2 because of the limit.
It's one of those somewhat crappy triangle/hex deals, but I do 25% changes every day, pretty simple actually, I just use pump tubing to drain the water into a bowl, and then use an old Dasani bottle to get the water, adding 1 drop of dechlorinator to the bottle and shaking beforehand. I have larger aquariums, but for now I'm... "low" on funds, and knowing me I would just HAVE to add something that costs 25$ >.<

[Nautilus291]

Sorry to hear about snake, he lived a long life. I hope your new setup works for you, I hate it when you think you have something going and then the fish dont get along. It took me a few trys but I finally got my 55g where I want it to be.

[Drumachine09]

Sorry about your fish.

[cocoa_pleco]

8 years??

You must have took super good care of your lil buddy. The average age for a betta is 3 years old!

sorry for your loss

[Jakaris]

Yeah, 8 years with me, and since their generally 1/2-1 year old when sold so the fins are nice, he was 8.5-9 years old. I got him when I was a little kid, and took shitty care of him, I'm sorry to say. But 3 years in common sense finally slapped me, and I started doing regular water changes, feeding reguarly, ect. It's so odd how such a small animal can become as dear to you as a cat or dog, but he managed to do it. My only regret, toehr than not starting to good care sooner, was that I dont have any GOOD pics of him.

[cocoa_pleco]

i know. It sucks when something unexpectingly dies and you have no pics to remember them by

[Betta_noob]

Sorry to hear about the passing of snake, but the fact that he did live 8 years means you took excellent care of him, so take solace in that.

Your new "girl" is cute.
I say that because your new betta is a boy *laff*

[Severus]

Sorry about your loss. He lived a VERY long life so you have nothing to be ashamed of. Good luck with your new guy!

[cocoa_pleco]

8 years is amazing

[Jakaris]

Ehh, it probably is a male, which kind of makes me angry, since females cost more than males here and i payed for a female. No big deal if it is male though.

[Drumachine09]

Ehh, it probably is a male, which kind of makes me angry, since females cost more than males here and i payed for a female. No big deal if it is male though.

However, males also are more beautiful and have longer fins/ Brighter colors.

[Jakaris]

And their more aggressive generally. However, I havnt seen any signs of aggression out of him as yet, even with ghost shrimp like falling on him and a crazy dwarf frog who doesnt know how to stay still. I'm hoping to get his fins to perk up though, we have very poor bettas here, but he looked the... "worst", i guess, but his coloring caught me. Any advice is welcome... despite the 8-year old betta, I don't consider myself very good at keeping them.

[Drumachine09]

What type of finnage is he? The other day, at petsmart, i saw a wonderfull comb tail whos body was red, and his fins faded from orange at the base, to yellow at the tips, it looked like he had flames growing on him. if i had a tank to put him in, i would have snatched him up in an instant!

[Jakaris]

I'm not quite sure, but heres the best pic I can get, he's photo-shy. I never seem to find really nice lookign bettas, but it doesnt matter that much to me.

http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/6848/betta3so5.th.jpg (http://img402.imageshack.us/my.php?image=betta3so5.jpg)

[Betta_noob]

He's a regular Veil Tail male.
And where exactly are you from if you don't mind my asking?
I'm amazed at a plaace where females cost more than males, around here no one even cares about them.

[Jakaris]

I'm near Atlanta, Georgia, USA. I think the only reason their more expensive is the vast quantity (not exactly good quality) of MALE bettas there, theres usually maybe 5 females to 20-20 males in one petsmart there.

[*Sarah*]

I'm VERY sorry for your loss. 8 years is a LONG time. Your new guy is very pretty :)

[cocoa_pleco]

WOW, that betta is like show quality. Absolutely dang beautiful.


WOW, WOW, WOW!

[Severus]

Very impressive Betta!

[Incredulous_Ed]

sorry to hear about your loss
Your new betta looks great!

[Jakaris]

Thanks, I still don't have a name for him, but I've had bettas before that never got a name. Might name him Pacu >.> My big tanks too small for one once it grows up, and that'll continue the tradition of Snake :P