Someone in another forum could sure use help ASAP

[AesSedai]

http://forums.bellaonline.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=22896725&an=0&page=0#Post22896725   

That's the thread.  It's the 2nd post down.  Her name is anitakl.  I've been trying to help but don't know near what you guys here do.  I've pointed her here to you but thought I'd come and post now too in case she's already asleep and to expedite (I fell asleep with my head on my desk in the middle of helping her...ugh).

Her Betta has gone TWO WEEKS with constipation and he's in 75 degree water.  If you can, maybe offer to help her via email to circumvent the delay that posting back and forth has.

I feel so badly for her struggling to help her Betta and for the lil guy that's not eaten in 2 weeks but a bite or so.

(((Everyone)))

I posted the url to this thread to her at bellaonline as well and told her to come here and to continue checking there in case any of you go there.

 

[poefox]

It sounds like she's trying out some good advice already after taking a look...the pea thing oddly enough does work for constipation. Rose is more of an authority than I on that.

Rusty has never been constipated, and he DOES overeat because he steals food from the other fish in 'his' tank. Once he ate nearly all of a shrimp pellet after nibbling it down to a size decent for him to swallow. But having a good sized tank seems to give him enough exercise that he can handle that. Not that I let it happen deliberately.

 

[AesSedai]

I was nervous helping her.  The guilt if something went wrong based on a suggestion I made...oh boy! 

Rose is soo good at helping, you too, and others here and someone from the other forum ((PaPeRo)). 

You guys keep it simple and start with the basics. 

It wasn't until well into the thread that I suspected fishy puppy needed a water change when she said he didn't like his environment changed. 

When PaPeRo responded, first thing PaPeRo said..."I think it would be nice if you provided some water parameters"  Heh, see what I mean..

I assumed she knew about the basics.  Assumptions...well you know what they say about assumptions...

Live and learn.

Oh, thanks for sharing about Rusty's eating habit. Was wondering how to keep Zen from stealing all the food when he has tankmates and I'm feeding them. I stress too much!

 

[chickadee]

LOLOLOL

Sorry, I shouldn't laugh but it does strike me funny in a way. We all help each other and it is so nice that you never know where you are going to find just the bit of information you need to fit a problem that will creep up on you.

What I am chuckling about is, I have been having a bit of a problem with anxiety about what to do if I advise someone about something and their fish gets sick and here you are with your comment. I think we have to get to the point of saying that we do what we can and it is the best we can do and if it is not going to work it is a sad thing but if we have done our best that is all we can do. There are so many fish out there who are in very bad circumstances, it is too bad that stores are in such a hurry to sell them and make a bit of money and people think of Bettas especially as some kind of pretty little toy that moves. They do not get the information or equipment they need until their fish is sick and then it is too late a lot of the time. You cannot let yourself be responsible for them or their fish or you will never be able to help anyone.

I suspect that when a person says that the fish does not like his environment changed, it may mean, "I do not like to change the water" or "I do not change the water." I have never seen a fish that did not LOVE having fresh water in their bowl and a clean environment.

Well, we are a group that does try very hard to promote the education of people about how to care for their fish and promote the knowledge of how NOT to treat the bettas ....what not to buy and what not to listen to at the fish store. My Christmas wish from Santa this year would be that some of them would come here BEFORE they bought the fish...some may be starting to.


Rose

 

[AesSedai]

(((Dear Rose)))

I saw that you posted at bellaonline. anitakl I don't think has been there today. She posted at ultimatebettas as well so hopefully she's getting the help she needed for the lil guy there. If not, your post will be waiting for her when/if she returns there.

I was going to post back to you there and ask if you charge for apprentices and how LONG the sign up list is? LOL

You sure put alot of yourself into helping Bettas. I've learned so much already from you and others. I know I'm hijacking this thread but am wondering, how long have you been at this to know so much? btw that reminds me!....and before you answer that....

I keep meaning to look...is there a thread here where peeps can talk about **anything** betta and/or non-betta, a place to vent or rage or cry or celebratre (politely of course) a place to get to know each other, share experiences, Betta or otherwise, a place that'll help prevent thread hijacking even, maybe, heh. I notice alot of forums offer that and I think it's to keep down the "so where are you" and "you wouldn't believe how that salesman behaved" and "so how long have you been into Bettas" and "what other kinds of animals do you have" and our recent quandry, "I'm stressing over giving advice and having a Betta hurt" kinds of stuff.

If there's a thread like that, it must be buried. Do you think that's something that would benefit the visitors here? Would something like that warrant being up top/stickied so it's hard to miss? It doesn't really warrant being in the "Important Topics" though so I don't know, maybe it can't work here. I haven't set up a forum like this so I don't know to what degree the areas can be seperated out...and...it could cause more housekeeping too having to move posts from there that are totally Betta related.

I wonder though what benefits to others might be lost if someone doesn't wish to change the subject of a thread too much but would share otherwise. So...I'm going to delete some of what I just posted in this post (more about the stress we brought up re: helping others/bettas) now because it's too off topic for this thread and would lead to more conversation off topic. I'll look for such a thread here but to be of benefit, it'd have to be continually bumped to be noticed, ya know? If this is a bad idea, pretend you never read it

Namaste!
Karyn

 

[chickadee]

When you sign on the the Fishlore.com Forum page and all the topic boards are listed in categories, they go down the page a LONG ways like this:

General - suggestions, welcomes, ideas about the forum (fish related)
Freshwater Fish Topics - includes all the species specific boards like the Betta board or catfish or the Fish Disease or Photos
Saltwater Fish Topics - same only for Saltwater topics
Ponds/Goldfish
Reviews - we write reviews of products and websites dealing with fish care that we like or dislike
Personal Tank Blogs - you can sign up for your own fish tank diary ~ have to apply through Mike
Classifieds - sometimes there are things for sale or trade here or things people are looking for
Fish Memorial Section - to memorialize those we loved
Non-Fish Category - includes Cats, Dogs, Reptiles, and other animals
Under this category the last entry says OTHER and you are welcome to talk about anything under the sun there.

Below the listings above are the statistics of the forum that tell you how many members we have and how many posts have been made, who is having birthdays, what the latest posts are on the forum, who is online right now, and the two boxes there are for you to VOTE for Fishlore.com to help us reach our goal of being #1 on the list of pet forums on each of the sites represented. You vote every day.

Now that I have given you a type of crude tour of the forum opening page, I will try to address the rest of your post.

I am the relative newcomer to the fishkeeping hobby among the moderators. I got my first fish ever on July 18, 2005. He was a lovely betta and I made every mistake in the book in being his mommy. If it had not been for Butterfly and Gunnie and the other people here I would have quit for good when he died. Instead I got 2 more bettas. By that time I understood how you cycled tanks and took care of the little angels.

I have never been asked about apprenticing before LOL. I assure you, what I know has mostly been learned from sheer panic at some of the things that I have had happening with my own fish. I am at home with my bettas 24/7 and have a lot of time to sing to them and talk to them and read about them and watch them and search the internet and pick peoples brains about them. When one of them is sick, I am up with them. When they are being naughty, I have taught them that they can expect a tap on the "glass" to "quit it" or "knock it off". I simply have the luxury of having the time to put aside the other things in my life at most times to put them first. They are spoiled and pampered and outrageous and I love them. But please do not think I have not had my failures, I have lost 2 fantastic males and 3 beautiful females in the last year and a half and it was hard, but I am hoping that none of them died in vain. I learned more from every one of them and each of them owns a bit of my heart.

There are many members on the Betta Board and I have learned something from them all. Every one of the Bettas in the Betta community is unique and valued and important and we are all happy when one does well and all saddened by a loss. This is another reason why we like to call our Bettas by name because they are the reason for the board and members just like the humans that they give permission to love them.


Rose

 

[AesSedai]

What I did was to bookmark this Betta Fish subtopic (since I've only come here to this part so far) and forgot that there was another whole rest of this place.   A plethora of information in fact!  And the "Other" section is great.  I'll use it.  TY for the heads up Rose and you know I'll be voting!! 

The apprentice comment was sorta a joke and a compliment although I really am an apprentice of sorts, yours and everyone elses that comes here to share and help, and gratitude is a given. 

I have the same luxury, home 24/7 (but with a bad back so it makes tank work a bit challenging but worth it and once the tank's cycled, it won't be as daunting). 

2 1/2 yrs. is a good chunk of time.  It's not even 2 months for me yet.  We got Zen on October 18th.  Something that's helped me alot is keeping a notebook, and a bit of a journal in the notebook as well.  I've learned more than I would have thought I would in such a short amount of time but total interest and love for this newly discovered and incredibly special and intelligent creature called Betta...and Zen     has fueled that desire to learn all I can and to do the research.   

Loosing Zen someday can't be helped    The same with Tess, my cat, that I've had since she fit in the palm of my hand (rejected by her mom, a stray, and found laying on the ground near our door).  Tess is 8 yrs. old now.  Death is as much a part of life as birth, as much as I hate it, but I won't give up on having Bettas when I do loose Zen.  I'm sure that, like you, the great people in the forums I visit that have shared and helped so much has something to do with that already and so too Zen of course.  I just adore that you memorialize those who have passed too. 

"This is another reason why we like to call our Bettas by name because they are the reason for the board and members just like the humans that they give permission to love them."

Indeed!

(((Rose)))