My Very Own Betta Fish

So one of the very exciting things that has happened in the last 2 weeks is the arrival of my very first pet.

I spent 1 month cycling my tank (establishing the nitrogen cycle in it so that the waste produced by the fish is processed by bacteria into harmless chemicals) and his tank is 5.5 US gallons, which is plenty for a betta fish.

His name is McClane, after the 'Die Hard' character because of the ordeal he went through to get me. I ordered him from a betta breeder here in the UK, and he was meant to be sent to me in the post (which apparently is completly normal for these fish, they are even posted from thailand!).

However, he was accidentally posted to my parent's house instead of mine! about 2 days drive from were I live. I was so worried about him because of course, my parent's weren't prepared to look after a tropical fish! Poor little guy had to live in a big flower vase for a week, which the breeder saud would be fine. Also my old gear for looking after reptiles was still in my garage, so he had a heater at least.

Then my parents had to catch and bag and post him again up to scotland >.<

BUT he got here alive! And so he was dubbed McClane. Originally me and my boyfriend had picked a thai name for him (Rich studied monkeys in thailand for a year, and knows some thai) but it sounded too peacful!

Anyway, I love this little guy, he's so full of character and he's doing great in his tank
(oh and his water is yellowy because he has indian almond leaf in his tank, which stains the water but makes the pH and water conditions better for the little guy)

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