haedra

Alright.

Remember that betta I posted about in the thread about Aragorn? The one I took home early, figuring I'd keep him in a temporary home until my tank was ready?

Yea. That one.

I had to make a judgement call. I did not have any extra ornaments on hand, and figuring where he was was only temporary, I thought he would be ok a for a short spell; especially considering what he was probably used to at the store was much, much worse.

I've been following Marsha's advice, and keeping my ammonia levels in the fishless tank very high to kill off any nasties. I was on day two of this, and was planning on keeping the levels high for at least one day. But as I've been keeping an eye on the new guy (as of yet, still unnamed), he started to decline. It wasn't the water, that was sure clean. It wasn't the temperature either, as the room temperature still lies at 79-80; thus was the same as all the other tanks. I tried putting a few things outside the container, to keep him from getting bored. That was fun for him for all of five minutes. I thought he would be ok though for a little longer.

Today though, it looked like he started to develop stress lines (he is a dark color, so hard to tell); and he was moving much slower than before. And his chin started to get that whiteness I see on Devo when he goes into his cup for water changes (he hates me for that). Due to how quickly things seemed to change, I just got this feeling in my gut, and knew I needed to get him into a tank. It almost felt like a catch 22, because I really wanted to continue my previous plans; but I had a real bad feeling about how he was acting, so I just made a snap decision.

So Mr. Sassy Pants is in the tank, after I changed out all the water. And now, he is acting way more "normal." Well, that is, if "normal" means being the most agressive thang I've ever seen. He flares at the plant, he flares at the thermometer, he flares at NOTHING and he flares at ME. He bites any bubbles he finds with a savagery rivaling a wild cat. He's like a frothing, snorting bull! No wonder he was so unhappy... I think this one might just be way more susceptible to boredom. And really, I shouldn't be surprised. I remember him from my trip over there Saturday. He was the "king" so to speak of the betta display; winning all the flaring contests. In fact, he had won the flaring contest with Aragorn when they were BOTH in the store; though I have to admit, Aragorn has blossomed since then.

So, here we go:

noname.jpg noname2.jpg

Pics both with a flash, and without a flash.. because I liked the finnage on the one with the flash, but without the flash is a better representation of colors.

Now my dilemma is, I have no idea whatsoever on a name. Usually I am pretty good at this. But I've had to think of so many names lately (*sniff*) that I am OUT OF IDEAS. So please... if you have any ideas, please tell me.

**For the record, say a little prayer for me with this one. Things did not go as I had planned. I'm praying that the ammonia I had initially dumped in there killed off anything and everything that reproduces.

prairielilly

yea I'd probably have done the same thing.

I would think the ammonia situation will be fine, it got really high for a bit there and I don't see any parasites/bacteria whichever surviving that. I always wondered if the extra days recommended to me were just to be 'sure'? either way you're not going to know, but what you DO know is little fishie man here was getting unhappy in his present house and stress leads to illness; he's now not stressed and IMO all good. He's in a good position to treat should anything go amiss - which it really doesn't sound like it will to me anyway seeing as he's already being such a snarkypants.

Names? I suck at that. But it should be something powerful or agressive from the sounds of it!

He's gorgeous haedra - good luck!

haedra

Thanks!

I've never encountered such a betta before, OMG...

Now he's riding the filter output.. and "hunting" any bubbles he finds, and snapping them up in his little jaws. I had thought Devo was aggressive, but compared to this guy Devo is about as aggressive as the Pilsbury Dough Boy.

Looks like he might be the only betta I have that might enjoy chasing frozen brine shrimp in the current.

prairielilly

Wow, he is going to be fun to watch...

Zeus, Aries, Titan...Napoleon, Raphael...Goliath...Zeppelin? ...told you I suck at this...

My Ivan almost was named Icarus, but I just kept calling him Ivan for whatever reason. My cats are Izzy, Muffy and Zoey. I always figure pets sort of name themselves, you just start calling them something and for whatever reason it 'fits' ...

agabr123

wow, he sounds wonderful!

i had a panda corycat named icarus, he was definitely one of my favorites. napoleon would be a great name! or alexander!

MissMTS

He is a beauty I would have put him into the tank too. I'll say a prayer for him and I hope that he stays healthy. You should try to get a video of him.....he sounds hillarious!!!

haedra

Ok, I think I'm considering Diablo names just because he's so devlish.. what were all the bosses in diablo II? All I remember is Mephisto...

Red1313

lol
He sounds like a Cutie... I'd throw my vote in with Titan but I'm afraid that I can't help you with the Diabolo(sp) theme.

COBettaCouple

I love the real fiesty ones and he sounds and looks wonderful!

Fishies-for-me

He looks like a Sully to me...lol. The blue hairy monster in monsters inc that was big and mean and scary....( but really just a softie).

disturbedme

Awww, he's such a pretty boy!

mare2009

he is really gorgeous! LOL how about 'snarky' like the way you described him? good luck with the names

haedra

No offense to anyone's suggestions, but I think I am going with Mephisto! He was a pretty nasty character in Diablo.

agabr123

great name!

haedra

Just thought I'd update.

Looks like Sudden Fish Death Syndrome is disappearing from my household. Mephisto looks healthy and settled. Only thing I did notice with him is that it seems like he might be prone to constipation; as his belly seemed to get a little larger than looked comfortable. I know I didn't over feed him, and while it's not GROSSLY enlarged, it does look too big. The little bugger is still always hungry though, so I took advantage of that and gave him a small piece of pea; which he actually didn't spit out at all to my delight. In fact, he looked like he rather liked it.

Here's hoping I see green poop soon.

COBettaCouple

Glad he's doing well and hopefully will be less prone to constipation in the future. Usually, when a Betta is prone to that it makes it hard to feed anything dry.

haedra

Indeed... I am thinking that he might never be able to handle dry food. O well. I'll just have to spoil him more than my others.

Basically every time I've fed him, and these were all smaller meal sizes than my other fish eat; his belly bloats up. As a result, I don't feed him the next day; then when his belly has started to look more normal after being fasted for a day, I feed him again... only to have his belly bloat again too. Little thing doesn't realize that he shouldn't be hungry though...he is constantly begging for food.

I've tried to look at him real close (which is hard while he is constantly begging) to see if maybe I'm just over reacting; but I really don't think I am. While Devo is definitly FAT and spoiled, his belly still rounded, but not a bulge. Mephisto's belly turns into a definite bulge every time he eats. The only reason he probably doesn't end up with problems swimming, is his every other day feeding schedule (so far).

It's a shame, because he rather seems to like the betta flakes the most; but his system can't seem to handle them. Would it be better to cut the pellets into halves after being soaked and swelled, or to just skip them entirely and feed him a diet of frozen brine shrimp?

I feel terrible for the little guy, because he doesn't seem to know he's sick and he's giving me the "feed me" puppy dog eyes all day long!

COBettaCouple

I'd feed him a few thawed frozen hikari bloodworms each meal. The moisture content is really high and those worms are thinner than other brands so easier for them to eat. He may or may not go for brine shrimp, but not all our bettas showed interest in those.