Grim's Recovery

So it's been almost 3 weeks since I brought Grim home, and he's a completely different fish.  Animated, funny, completely interested in everything that goes on around him, and excited to see me.

I've always known that bettas are remarkably intelligent for fish, and that they can recognize faces and develop bonds, but I also know that a big part of that bond is because they happen to like being fed.

With Grim, it's different.  He seems genuinely happy to see me, he knows his routine now, so he knows that when the food jar goes back into the drawer, feeding time is over.  However, his interest remains.

He's doing well.  He's put on weight, he has so much more energy, and so much exuberance.  I love watching him.

He's still in his 1.5 gallon tank.  With finances being what they are, I simply don't have the money to get anything bigger right now.

Especially with noticing what I noticed when he started opening his fins.

So every knowledgeable betta owner knows about fin rot.  Chances are, everyone who has owned more than one betta has experienced it at least once.

I've had dozens of bettas throughout my life.  I know about fin rot.  But I've never seen it this bad before.  This was something that couldn't be fixed with just super clean water.  I needed more.

Which meant extra money.  And money is still very, very tight.  Just getting the tank and plants set me back.  I had not budgeted this month for the expense of a new fish with a host of health problems, and I've been trying to recover from a series of hefty unexpected expenses (we're talking 5 figures in the last four months).

I scraped some pennies together and got aquarium salt and Jungle Fungus Clear tabs, and upped the water changes to 50% every day.

There's a funny story with that, though.  Because I'm changing his water so often, and that can be a stressful process, especially for a fish with already compromised health, I took to feeding Grim about a third of a bloodworm after every change.

It didn't take long at all for Grim to associate the gravel vacuum with food, and he gets so excited every time he sees it.  The siphon isn't really meant for such a small tank, so trying to move it around in the tank is already difficult on its own.

But now Grim is all up in my business when I'm trying to do it.  I've got to be even more careful when I do it, so I don't accidentally hit him or knock him around.  Makes things take even longer.

He doesn't really care.  My convenience is not all that high on his list of shit he cares about.  He wants me to hurry up so he can get fed.