The fish kids - all grown up!

It's been a while since we've published anything on the fishy kids. These are the fish I mentioned in an earlier post in January - when my fish had babies while I was on vacation.

I started out with about 20 baby fish. I thought that was pretty decent since I wasn't there to do any sort of monitoring or rounding up of the tank and the filter had been left on the whole time.

3 of those 20 are still alive. It makes me sad, but it was a learning process (turn off the filter!!) and baby bettas don't seem as hardy as the guppies and swordtails I had while growing up.

The three that are still here are phase bettas - meaning they all started out one color and changed over time to where they are now. Dad-fish was a phase - he went from a calico green and white to a dark, almost black, when he got older. Mom-fish had a white body and red fins. I chose her because I liked the white on her body and I was hoping for babies that would have white bodies like mom and green fins like dad. Didn't happen.

The three ladies that are now all grown up:

• Big Red -  all white (although she started off white bodied with red fins)

• Money-Penny - red, white, blue, and green, and yellow... and a little mix of everything. She started out red and purple but has changed a ton!

• Puddles - She has the most stable coloring - blue, that's only gotten darker blue since she's grown

Mr. Fish is the only male betta in the tank, but he isn't the only fish and he isn't the only male. Most people are pretty surprised that I have a tank with male and female bettas and other fish in it. I think it depends on the temperament of the male, the other fish, and the layout of the tank. 

I got Mr. Fish because he had the most beautiful iridescent pale green fins with a mostly white body. I also knew that with those big honkin' fins, he wouldn't be able to swim as fast as my delta tail ladies. 

Shy-boy was an addition from D's parents. They were leaving on their retirement cruise and downsizing their tank. 

I got Shy-Boy and a female sword tail who was half red, half white  and who I called Half'n'Half, but she jumped a few days after arrival. My tank has no cover and the water level is pretty high, so jumping fish are dead fish. *sad face*

The last fish is Sneaker. He's always the last fish - he's sneaky and likes to hide! Sneaker is a sucker fish. He was added to the tank to be the janitor. I hoped for something more showy - but the other types of fish that were available would've all outgrown my tank! 

Sneaker is pretty much full sized at 2" so I think he's pretty happy. 

I have a mix of both live and fake plants in my tank. I need lots of foliage to keep things calm - so every time I add a fish I also add a plant. 

The rocks (not the gravel) are petrified wood from the volcano explosion. You can find it all over the ground out near the amphitheater. It's sharp, but I try to use more pieces and I let moss grow on it to soften it up a bit. 

The three white rocks in the front of the tank are from the beach. When the food sinks to the bottom of the tank it generally lands right near the white rocks and whatever lands there always gets gobbled right up! 

Big Red's space is the rocks. Puddles hangs out by the live plants with Sneaker. Money-Penny prefers the fake plant and the back of the tank. Shy-Boy is a surface dweller always skimming up and down the front of the glass. Mr.Fish hangs out front and center - like he's watching us...or waiting for food!

Thanks for visiting us! - The Fish Kids