Thought I’d give you guys an update on my newish betta, Houdini. He’s doing really well. His fins have grown some since I got him, and he’s changed colors quite a bit. He wouldn’t sit still though, so these pictures are pretty horrible. Sorry :/
The top picture is his current tank setup. He’s got the 6.6 to himself while Scooter’s fins heal up. The filter is set pretty low, and he doesn’t mind the small current it has. It’s got some live and some plastic plants. He has Java fern, java moss and marimo balls. I also made a carpet out of a marimo ball and it seems to be doing pretty good.
The little butt wouldn’t stop swimming around like a tard so the pictures are pretty blurry. You can see he has a lot more red on his anal fin, though. His tail has gotten more black/gray, and his body has more of a bluish/black color to it now.
He’s still super friendly and always goes right up to the front of the tank whenever I walk into my room. Please ignore the protein scum and bits of food floating around. He was too busy trying to get get my attention to eat his lunch, and as for the protein scum, I was gone for a few days and haven’t done a water change yet. I plan on doing that tomorrow. (Also gotta wash more sand and add it to my cichlid tank. Tomorrow’s gonna be a busy day.)
blakethechao asked: I've been thinking about having a pet turtle or toroise, but like, in the future, like 5-8 years from now. What do you recommend I do to prepare?
save up PLENTY of money and DO YOUR RESEARCH. Also take the time to find and build a relationship with a source that you trust, whether it be a breeder, a chain store, a mom and pop shop or whatever. A tortoise is a large responsibility, mainly because of the lifespan of the animal. You have to prepare yourself for it to be your pet for basically your lifetime.
And it’s not like a dog or a cat either, where it will run around and make cute noises— yes, they’re PRECIOUS creatures, but make sure you want to make that commitment to an animal that isn’t affectionate in the traditional way.
But yeah, set aside enough funds so that you’ll be able to buy everything right off the bat— a cage to comfortably house him/her at their adult size, a suitable diet including fresh fruits and veggies (and possibly frozen mice depending on the species— redfooted tortoises are one that should get a frozen pinky mouse AT LEAST once a month), and the appropriate substrates, decor, large bathing basin they can easily access and exit.
With turtles, same deal. Land turtles are very similar in care to tortoises, but aquatic turtles require plenty of swimming space, occasional live food, pump, filter, water conditioner, etc.
unbeatablerootbeer asked: My betta's fins used to be pretty solid red, but recently I've noticed that they've been turning whiter/more transparent, especially the back fin, from the outside in as time goes on. Is it possible that these are ammonia burns? Should I change his water more often?
Changing the water more often can’t hurt— I would suggest doing a 20-30% water change once a week, depending on the size of your tank.
While you do that, take a sample of your water in to a pet store and have them test it for free— ask them to test for ammonia specifically and see what it’s at. If it comes back at 0 or you’re not noticing an improvement in color, wait a little while longer.
My mom’s betta started “losing color” and I had thought it was a variety of things— until someone kindly informed me that he is actually a marbled betta. These bettas don’t develop their marbling until later in their life.
cyvivi asked: (crabbyhermie) I saw your hermit crab care post, and I thought I should let you know that most "hermit crab foods" are actually really terrible for them. Ingredients like copper sulfate and other preservatives have been shown to cause molting defects. There are some prepared foods that don't have nasty ingredients, but they can be hard to find. Always check the ingredients! I find that the best (and cheapest) diet is fresh food.
Yeah I actually am feeding mine only fresh (or freeze-dried, in the case of the red shrimp I give them) food.
Right now they are chomping down on coconut shavings, dried cranberries and apples and the aforementioned red shrimp with ground cuttlebone for calcium.
Some of the new fish we got in today at the store— two more Pigeon Blood discus, a red and white discus, what APPEARS to be a turquoise red discus (it’s hard to tell because the pattern is so light yet) and some marble hatchet tetras~
We also got some blue snails in, but by the time I was able to take pictures, they had all scooted off to find yummies to eat.
This is my focal tank at work that I get to play with and do what I want~
In the tank is:
2 Pigeon Blood Discus
1 Rhino Pleco (his name is Buto)
4 Blue Gouramis
5 Thicklip Sunset Gouramis
5 Roseline Sharks
a bunch of gold inca, zebra nerite and black mystery snails.
The tank is about 90 gallons worth of water, combining the sump’s gallon amount and the tank’s. (The tank is about 75 gallons and the sump is about 15).
Hermit Crab Ownership Tips! (reblogged from my main account)
crypticsparrow said: Oh?? Do you have any hints for us? I’ve always wanted one because they seem like pretty low maintenance (and honestly I’ve never taken care of anything as well as I feel I should) and they’re really cute :3
Haha, yes, they certainly can be low maintenance!
For handling tips, the best way to handle a hermie is to hold your hand as flat as possible (so there is no pinchable loose skin) and keep your hand over a soft area, in case your hermie jumps ship. While a hermie’s shell isn’t part of its body, you don’t want it dying of shock or a concussion if it falls from a great height and sharp edges on a broken shell can injure it.
TYPICALLY a 10 gallon tank will suffice as a nice sized habitat, with a 50/50 soil/sand mixture as a substrate. They also LOVE to climb, believe it or not, so I suggest things they can easily crawl up and fun platforms to traverse. Food needs to be refreshed regularly to avoid spoiling/molding, and their saltwater and freshwater sources should be refreshed once a day.
If your room is not consistently warm, I would also suggest a UTH (under tank heater) to regulate the temperature, and to keep the substrate pleasantly moist (like the consistency of wet coffee grounds) to maintain a high humidity.
Because hermies don’t really create a lot of waste, substrate should be refreshed every month or so, depending on how clean it can be kept. If you see signs of mold or dirty substrate, change it immediately.
Most pelleted hermie foods are great food sources (I suggest T-Rex’s hermit crab diet) but they also like snacks like apple shavings and coconut shavings. :)
And always make sure you have several, larger shells for your hermie to move into in the cage at all times! You don’t want your hermie to be forced to streak!
ihasabutter asked: Your initial post on bettas was really helpful when my betta came down with finrot! Thanks so much for posting such clear pictures (super helpful for diagnosis) and treatment options! The little guy's all better and much happier in his new larger tank.
Fantastic! I’m so glad to hear that! The earlier and clearer the diagnosis, the faster the problem is resolved with the least amount of stress for you AND your fish!
