An update of the February variety.
Mood: 
Killing time
Killing timeI finally got my West Wing series DVDs delivered! YAY! I've lost a little bit of faith in Amazon after all the trouble I went through to get them, but I blame it more on the incompetent customer service person on the phone rather than the company itself. *Hugs her long-awaited seven seasons of the Bartlett administration*
My poor beta fish is in a state of doomy sick turmoil. I realized on Sunday when I was feeding her that her tail appeared noticeably shorter than usual, almost like it had been ripped or torn, but careful inspection of the gravel in the tank showed no evidence of any falling off. I did some frantic Googling and found out that C.J. has a disease called fin rot, in which the fins and tail start to deteriorate and can be lost entirely and kill the fish. D: I went out after work the next day and bought some antibiotics for her, so hopefully we start to see some regrowth pretty soon. *Stares sadly into tank and nurses Claudia Jean back to health* ;_;
So after careful consideration and some general playing around, Wordpress = Awesome. I've spent the last week learning my way through the tagging and templating process and the CMS system, and on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give it a firm exploding bunny with half a rainbow. Blogger, eat your heart out. After I'm done this contract work I think I may make the switch over~
Speaking of joy that is probably not as exciting for anyone as it is for me, progress is actually being made in our apartment! Mason has been absolutely splendid and handy-man-ish and over the last month we've gotten the bathroom painted, doors installed, light fixtures changed, pictures hung; and when I came home the other day he had even completely cleaned out the chaos that was our computer room! XD *so much love and cuddles for sweet boyfriend*
We have also discovered the television series awesomeness that is Avatar: The Last Airbender. Mason downloaded the entire first season and we watch a couple episodes before bed each night. It's one of those shows that you don't really have much hope for when you first hear about it, but then you're pleasantly surprised and soon enthralled by the quality after watching a couple episodes~ The art style is kind of American anime-ish, the animation is great, and the dialogue is really where Avatar shines. They have some funny damn writers on that staff, fresh and clever. There's a few characters that you just can't help but love too. Color me addicted. :D
EDIT: OMG, I just found out that Admiral Zhao is actually voiced by Jason Isaacs! Jason. Freaking. Isaacs. Okay, see, now I understand why Makani gets all fluttery and fangirlish.
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Who the fuck is Jason Isaacs?
He was Lucius in Harry Potter! And Hook on the new Peter Pan! And...uh...he did some guest spots on West Wing! And lots of other stuff, basically he's a very big name British actor who just oozes smarmy-ness. And is AWESOME!
Your next blog layout should definitely be Bunny-Exploding-Rainbow themed, you know. Definitely.
Your betta is probably actually just biting his fins - they do that if they're bored or stressed.
http://bettysplendens.com/articles/page.imp?articleid=1113
Sadly, nothing you can really do about it.
If the fins have a whitish or brownish edge - then its fin rot and definitely start treating him.
Hmm, bunny exploding rainbow blog theme...this has definite potential... *ponders*
In all of my beta googling I never actually came across information about betas biting their fins. I'll have to keep an eye on her and see what she's up to - I've been giving her Melafix or whatever it's called so either way hopefully her tail starts to get better. >_< Thanks for the info~!
Just be careful with Melafix - I've heard mixed rumours about it being bad for bettas since they're labyrinth breathers. I've also heard you need to avoid giving them a full dose. I haven't had to use it yet so I don't know for sure.
Tail biting is REALLY common and in long finned bettas - so I highly suspect that's the problem over fin rot any day.
Do you use aquarium salts? My betta makes more bubble nest when his water is treated with aquarium salt. That's the other thing, is your betta making bubble nests? That would signify that he's happy.
Yeah I've been giving her 1/4 or 1/2 the dose, some people in the forum I'm with told me that. I also bought some aquarium salt but it conflicts with the Melafix because the Melafix needs to have the carbon taken out of the filter; yet the salt says it should have full filtration (ie. with carbon) so I haven't added any salt yet.
And what the bugger are bubble nests and how do I know if my beta is making one...? D:
Oh, yeah, I don't have a filter on my tank but that's because I only have a 2.5 gallon tank. How big is your tank anyways? If it's a small tank, don't bother with filtration - bettas breath air by going to the surface so as long as you keep your tank clean it's not really neccesary (but only if you have a smaller tank). Also filtration systems sometimes cause too much current which they won't like.
Bubble nest is when they blow a bunch of bubbles on the surface of the water in a cluster - usually in a corner, if my betta has some when I get home, I'll take a picture. The water might have foamy edges too. They also like leafy plants to make their bubbles under and also just to swim through and lie on (they lie on the leaves, it's really cute). Just be careful and make sure you get a plant that won't cut his fins.
I have a 20 gallon tank actually -- Mason got it originally for lots of fish but they all died, so then I got to use it for my beta. The filter is turned on it's lowest level. I don't know if I've ever seen CJ make bubbles... does that mean she's not happy? ;_;
I have a couple plastic plants that just came with the tank, and also a stick of bamboo. I also have a little log she can hide in, only she never does. :P
Doesn't mean he's unhappy per se - he could be blowing bubbles but they're getting filtered away.