It's been a while since I made a blog post, and I thought this would be a fun thing to share with you guys. I know it's not art related but my blog was so outdated it felt like time for a new one anyways.

I'd been interested in aquariums and researching them for a while. One day I stopped by a local fish store just to check it out since I thought it'd be neat. The fish store was awesome! One thing that made me really happy is they had a few bettas (Siamese Fighting Fish) that they actually kept in community tanks with other fish instead of those crappy little cups like you usually see them in. My boyfriend was with me and we spotted a beautiful purple betta in one of the tanks (which by the way is my boyfriend's favorite color). We both fell in love with him and I decided to get a small tank.



2 days and a bunch of car trips later I've gotten my tank set up and bring my new betta (Roy) home from the store along with a couple of plants. I got a 6 gallon cylindrical tank. Unfortunately, this was not the best purchase because apparently the filter that came with the tank kit pulls water from the bottom and spits it back out the top, creating quite the current. Bettas [i]really[/i] don't like strong currents. I've fixed this by taping a small plastic cup to the filter output, which directs the water towards the back of the tank and it seems to be working quite well. Roy seemed very happy and to be enjoying the tank the first day I brought him home.

I woke up the next day and checked on Roy. He wasn't moving at all and anchored in a bit of plant at the top of the tank. I was so afraid he was already dead, but then he moved to breathe. He did not look good at all, and was moving only to breathe from the surface. I figured out after a while that he had fin rot, which annoyed me considering the people I bought him from could've probably notified me, and I bought it from a specialty store to avoid having an unhealthy fish. Either way, I went out and got a small tank to treat him in.



A couple of weeks later he's finally back in the big tank and seems happy and healthy. It always cheers me up to watch him swimming about. I've learned a lot from this experience and I made so many mistakes in picking the tank and cycling the water I'm just glad I didn't kill him! Even with all the research I did I still wasn't prepared. Aquariums are so complicated! If I keep getting this much enjoyment out of it I may get a bigger tank later. I love animals and always want more in my house!