YOU CAN'T HAVE JUST ONE

As I said, I have kept bettas before. So I knew I knew bettas were like potato chips. You can’t stop with just one. So it is no surprise to anyone in my household that a week after my first purchase, I have two more male bettas in route from Thailand, each accompanied by two sisters. If you stay with me long enough you will find that the number three comforts me, but I digress. 

The Sand Man, pastel blue mustard

Acquiring the second male, a lovely pastel blue mustard half-moon, was a bit of putting the cart before the horse. Normally, I find a male I’m interested in and then contact the breeder to inquire if females are available from the same spawn. However, in this case the sisters were on auction with closing dates before the male’s. Which meant I purchased the females before I was certain of getting the male. AquaBid’s technology is not as sophisticated as eBay’s and since most of the quality bettas available are half way ‘round the world, a bit of 2:00 AM bid watching was involved to assure I won the male. As you can tell from the above photo, he was worth staying up ‘till the wee hours. Enter The Sandman. 

Kris Kringle, red & white bi-color

 
There was not such drama in the acquisition of my third male, a very Christmassy red and white bi-color. The least expensive of the group, Kris Kringle, is destined for a tank with a green moss Christmas tree festooned with cherry shrimp. I have surgery scheduled for 15 July. So any further additions will have to wait until later this summer, but I intend to have a full calendar of bettas by the new year. I’m thinking a solid red for February and Valentine’s Day, a black melano for October and Halloween...

In my next post, we’ll talk nano aquariums.

BACK TO BETTAS

Indy, red, white, & blue tricolor

It’s not like I really left. Every time I would stop by PetSmart for supplies for my 60 gallon tank of koi patterned angelfish, I would stop and mourn over the sad little bettas scattered around the fish section. I would look in on the Aquatic Gardeners Association web site and marvel at the nano aquarium aquascapes. Whenever my Drs Foster & Smith catalog came I would check out all the fun stuff available for small aquarium set ups.

After a light fixture failure necessitated the replanting of my big tank, I dropped in on AquaBid to look for plants. I knew I should have just logged off when I couldn’t find the plants I needed, but, no, I had to browse the betta section and then I found him, a red, white & blue, tri-color. The breeder called him a “Super Fancy Dragon”. As you can see from the above photo, this totally superlative description in no way did him justice. With the 4th of July holiday approaching, I knew I had to have him. A couple of emails and a Paypal transfer later, “Indy” (for Independence Day) and two female companions are making their way from Thailand. 

This blog will chronicle my reacquaintance with betta keeping. I hope to share my enthusiasm for this most beautiful and entertaining of fishes with those who drop by.