Hello friends! My tank was finally ready to invite in some new family members, so say hello to my new friends, CuChulainn (the betta), Macha, and Sanglainn (nerite snails)!
I named him CuChulainn (a historical/mythological person from Ireland, who I wrote a book about, link in bio) because of his firey fins. The snails are named after Laeg's horses (Laeg was CuChulainn's charioteer, so the horses that pulled their chariot), the Gray of Macha and the Black of Sanglainn. :) You can also see dolls of CuChulainn, Laeg, and the horses in @faeriestories videos (that's my alt)! :)
the snail in the back who is more spotted is Sanglainn; the snail in the front who has more thin ribbed lines is Macha
Can we talk about how fast they got the top of the arch cleaned of algae? This is around three hours after I first put them up there in the tank after acclimating in their bag for a bit. They were hungry snails!
I did finally get my lid made for the tank, and I'll make a separate post about that in a DIY community because it was a bit of an ordeal, lol.
CuChulainn did finally notice Macha after a while and stared at her very interested a couple of times, but left her alone. I think he's just curious about them. :)
CuChulainn watching Macha ...she's heading behind that rock on top of a leaf to his left
Macha is FAST, by the way. She climbed down from the arch on one of the sword leaves and made it across the tank in just minutes!
Sanglainn is more chill I think - actually this morning he's being a ninja. I keep checking to see where he is in the tank and haven't found him yet (there are plenty of places to hide and it will probably take a while for him to come out, so I'm not too worried yet, but I would like to know, since they're still adjusting to their new home!). Macha was also difficult to find this morning as she's on the back of the glass where it's harder to see, so I'm hoping Sanglainn is just under a leaf or something.
Sanglainn up on the arch, Macha climbing down the leaf
I got these three at the big Petco store (there's a littler Petco within walking distance but they don't have any fish stuff, so I had to take the bus to the big one). They survived the bumpy bus ride and walking home like champs!
After letting them acclimate to the tank water temperatures while still in their cup/bag for about an hour, I set them loose in their new home! I hope they like it here. :)
Yuan wasn't sure what to make of all this. We'll see if he enjoys watching them in the tank later. :)
Thanks for reading and have a great weekend everyone!
Yuan thinks they're treats...
I tried showing him them when they were still in the cup and bag and I don't think he realized anybody was in there. I picked him up and showed him the tank and I don't think he noticed them, either. Maybe eventually when CuChulainn is swimming around while he's looking he'll finally notice him. Yuan does like Cat TV videos on YouTube, so he'd probably like to watch the tank. Thankfully it's a 10 gallon and I made a lid for it so he shouldn't (hopefully) be able to get at them!
Cats are evil. They can get into anything. Try hiding the catnip. I had a cat kill a entire 600 gallon aquarium full of fish.. the lid was cat proof.. but in his excitement at batting the fish thru the glass he hit the heater and turned it up... killed everything.. prolly $1000 in salt water fish.. cats are evil. Doesn't mean I don't want one.
😲 Ohhhhhh man! And here I thought it was tragic that 20+ years ago Deidre ate my betta Yoshimitsu. Back in the day I didn't know any better about how bettas need more room, and so I just had him in a little bowl (the pet store guy assured me that was cool, they lived in puddles, etc. Now I know best advice is a minimum of 5 gallons, and I feel bad that I had my previous fishies in WAY too small of a space). He was up on a VERY crowded shelf, about 5 feet up. She had lived with him for a year and a half and never paid him any mind. Then one day I came home from work, and his bowl was on the floor ...as well as his tail. She had eaten the rest of him. :(
I mean, she was just doing what was natural to her, but I felt terrible. So even before I knew that bettas actually need more space, I was like, "OK, if I ever get fish again, I am getting a tank that is too heavy for a cat to knock over, and with a lid... "
Thankfully because I keep my apartment around 80 degrees year round (yes hi I am one of those popsicle people), I don't need a heater for this tank because the temp is fine without it, so no danger on that score!
Your content has been voted as a part of Encouragement program. Keep up the good work!
Use Ecency daily to boost your growth on platform!
Support Ecency
Vote for new Proposal
Delegate HP and earn more
Thank you!
😊🌈🤙 Hello new friends!
I can tell that Yuan is so excited about it all!
Hahaha. It's been a couple days now and I'm still not sure he realizes anyone is inside the tank besides plants, lol. It doesn't help that I've been working on setting it up for like a month and a half or so, so he's used to seeing me mess with it. 😄