Happy's Obsession

Rest in peace, my FishyBoy.

Last night, FishyBoy (aka BigBlue) died, after a prolonged illness. From ich to popeye to gill disease, through multiple courses of tetracycline, and ampicillin. My good boy tried to eat until 3 days ago, even when I had to drop food just in front of his mouth because he had gone blind.

He was such a personable guy. Whenever I walked anywhere near his fishtank, he'd first freeze in recognition when he first saw me, and then swim madly to the front of the tank, dashing up and down, making little gulpy motions with his mouth. He'd follow you wherever you went, not just under the feeding slot. He loved to flare at the "big bad mirror fish" (see the video below), and put on a magnificent display. He was so happy, making big bubble nests, up until his first bout with fin rot, about 6 months ago. Only little bubble nest after that was better, and in the last few months? Nothing.

I don't know when he was born, but I had him from early April 2008 until last night. He was the biggest betta I'd ever seen, at least twice the girth of any other.

He was a very special boy, the only fish who's managed to capture my heart.

Rest in peace, my FishyBoy.

I recently (in the last two weeks), have become a fish mom, with 4 zebra danios, & 2 Betta's (one normal, one crowned). And since this is new to me, I have some questions.

1) Can you put a Betta in with Danio's? I know you can't put two Betta's together, and the two I had used to flare at each other through their divided tank (before I put them in two different tanks). It would be nice if I could put my usually happy one in the bigger tank, with the Danio's.

2) How do Betta's adapt to circulating water? I know they are normally in still water, but the guy at PetsMart said that they would get used to it. But my always happy one seemed out of it today... but that could have been because his little twin tank was dirty, and I had to chase him all over town with the net to get him out to clean it.

3) I like the look of colored glass in the bottom, but I read somewhere that the reflecting light can irritate the fish. Um, what do irritated fish do? And is it really bad for them? Because I like the bigger bits, and I like the shiny part, too.

( Pics of my tanks, and a vid of my office )