Still trying to understand the settings on my new camera. Night Vision is being verrry patient with me…
Still in the process of setting up my four ‘bachelor pads’ for purdy bettas… I’m finding it very difficult to take pictures (mostly just need more practice with this camera, methinks), but here’s what I have so far:
The Dragon’s Keep:
I’m setting this tank to show off a pair of Dragonscales at a time; so far I just have Night Vision, but eventually he’ll have a neighbor. I’m aiming for that Legendary Dragon/dilapidated structure/jungle look (lol). I will be adding Anubias around the sides/corners (or tied to decorations) and Water Sprite around the divider (good fences and all that…that’s the first thing I ordered.) This one might get a little kitschy. I also want to swap out the light bulbs… still debating whether to choose bulbs to show off the dragons or bulbs to encourage plant growth. De-betta-ing right now 😉
Starting with the basics. And yes, I put that plant in there sideways. He hides under the leaves. He looks so small in just the empty tank…
Blurry crap photos but COLOR. He’s so pretty ❤
The SketchPad:
The idea behind this tank is that it is a frame, and the fish are the art within the frame. It’s meant to showcase a pair of very beautiful, vibrant bettas– in this case, Diamine and Calligraphy. All decorations will either be plain white or clear, and the substrate is black sand. I’m going for a nice assortment of large-leaved plants– Swords, Anubias, etc.– since the bettas that star here are not the best swimmers, and ‘resting spots’ are a plus. This will also hopefully be the tank my ‘lucky bamboo’ grows out of.
I have had this set up for, like, less than two days and already have algae >_< I don’t even have a light yet! What gives?!
So apparently Di has some issues. He’s being quarantined in the pretty-much empty 10g and has been in there… maybe 36 hours?…and has gone completely loco. He ate his tail 0_0 Hopefully when I add the sand, and plants, and enrichment, his neurotic tendencies will go down, but I’m worried 😦 Also not sure his tail will grow back as pretty.
Cal, on the other hand, is totes chill quarantined in a quart jar (with daily water changes). He’s going into his proper ‘bachelor pad’ tonight, though.
So as of 11 a.m., that’s what I’ve got. I’m hoping to pick up sand this afternoon, as well as the dividers. We shall see.
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Okay I’m back.
Once I got to the pet shop and saw all the substrates in person, I changed my mind. I picked up one bag of dark flourite and one bag of Spectrastone. The Dragon’s Keep is 100% flourite, while the SketchPad is 50/50.
Dragon’s Keep. Water Sprite is on the way (and a divider, too…maybe. He’s so happy in the 10g…hmmmm). The flower pot is just a hidey-hole until I find the right ‘thing’ for him.
The funny thing is they haven’t noticed each other yet, and it’s been almost an hour lol. Again, all is temporary as I track down the ‘right stuff’ and plants.
Calligraphy ❤
This was by far the most difficult thing I’ve done all summer >_< I know once I’m used to it, it’ll get faster (and less messy)… but a.) doing a 6g water change on each tanks and b.) washing all 20# of gravel was very unpleasant…especially when I tripped and the bag of stones dumped down my tub drain (not all of it went down, obviously– maybe a handful– but it was a very stressful hour or so, before grandma managed to fix it somehow… by that point I was finishing the flourite washing outside; that stuff is so muddy!). The fish themselves were relatively well-behaved for the whole thing; I put them in quart jars while I was cleaning their tank. I’ll probably do that every time.
As a completely unimportant side-note, that pet shop I stopped at is a new one that just opened near me recently. If– IF– I choose to get a fourth betta, I think I’ll stop in there 🙂 They had elephant ears… no dragonscales in stock, but they might sell them (I didn’t think to ask). Honestly, I like MOST betta types, with the one huge exception being the ubiquitous Veil tail (the ones I’ve come in contact with have been aggressive jumpers, and their fins remind me of torn fabric :P) Theirs looked pretty healthy, and they had roomy, clean barracks (in contrast to tiny plastic cups). A promising shop, methinks 🙂
Just a quick shout out to Sister One– thank you so much for leading me through all this via phone messages and calls! I still need to pick up a tank light and more plants, but I have your texts to go by, so I’m not worried 🙂
That’s all for today. Thanks for reading!
Glitched Stitchery 
