I wasn't prepared
On a whim I saw a post in a mom's group for a free small fish tank with rocks, plants, and a heating light. We grab it on a family adventure and I'm thinking we grab a cpl cheap fish and move on. Nope!!! She used her tank for a turtle, it didn't have a lid, filter, etc and was probably 2-3 gals. We start grabbing everything we need to make the tank work and our LPS had a buy 4 get 1 free so we bought 4 Mickey platys and a snail. We decided that McGuivering a small tank isn't gong to work so we buy a 5gal tank instead. Now what I think is going to maybe be a $20 purchase turns into $85. I do my best with my limited knowledge and funds to make it work for everyone. I did the 1st week's water change and noticed white spots on the darker colored one. My tank got the ich, so I quarantined the snail and medicated the fish. Within 4 days they all died (not Gary the snail). I felt so bad and guilty for waisting money and letting our kids down. Before they got sick I ended up down rabbit holes of fish care, which I never expected because I've had old mentality of "it's just a fish". But we haven't had an animal in about 2 years and I wanted this to work because furry animals are not in our immediate forecast. So.... here's where my betta comes in.
I sanitized the tank because I'm not sure if the parasite of ich stays long on equipment. I put back in my water plant and Gary the snail, and get cycling and researching. For several days I read through this group info, comments, etc. YouTube and good ol Google. We were officially ready to welcome a betta. As a family we picked out a female plakat and added a bigger aquarium plant. My daughter named her Starlight and I was INSTANTLY obsessed. I watched her examine her tank inch by inch. Watched her discover Gary, and attack a gnat that happened to get in there. I've cried because I was testing the water daily soo paranoid her conditions weren't right and I told my husband "I flunked chemistry and I'm not sure what to do if I get it wrong, I just want her happy". But it all looks good and she seems so happy. So now I've started training her and of course she follows her feeding tweezers and will kiss the tank with me. I've slowly tried enrichment things and she's attentive to them all. She's near my kitchen sink and when I'm doing dishes she watches me and wiggles her little tail. I'm only uncertain if tannins will add more benefits or if I'm still over thinking it.
I may not have been initially prepared BUT I wasn't prepared for how quickly I was going to fall in love 🥰 praying she's a part of our family for awhile ❤️
Thanks for reading, here's Starlight 🌟