Hi! I'm not really NEW (or THAT new) to this site but I'm completely new to this part of the forums.

I've had some troubles with the last few fish I've tried (goldfish and guppies) but I now understand cycling and here's what I've done.

Yesterday my sister and I were in the thrift store and found pretty much this exact tank:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgrF7kIztl8
The only difference is it probably didn't belong to this guy it came with some decorations and stones.

We washed it out well and then filled it completely with the cycled water of my big tank which had one lonely guppy at the time. I moved the guppy to this tank but... had some trouble with the heater which seems to have broken and made the water far too hot (like mid 90's) and poor poor poor Calypso was dead in the morning. (I feel so sad and guilty, she didn't really need a heater in such a small tank in the summer.)

Well after cleaning up the tank a little (excess food) and burying Calypso my sister and I decided that to let such a cute little tank go unused was a huge waste. So we went out and bought a betta.

It makes me sad to see them in such horrible environments and to know that I can only 'save' one. So after much debating we agreed to rescue a particularly pretty male crowntail betta.

He has a half black body, the black part covers his face and... well... half of his body. Then the remaining part of his body and tail is a deep royal blue but the bottom half of his tail is a deep red. Gorgeous, but then again I haven't seen many bettas so I don't know what all the combos are but I'm absolutely in love.

We've named him Shadow, I wanted something that suited his ghostly-ness (and in honour of the new Harry Potter book, which I LOVED by the way, dementor-ness... ) Shadow seemed to be the only fitting name.

He seems happy enough but the last time I had a betta was when I was a really little kid and it basically lived in a 2 gallon tank with no filtration, I *cringes* don't remember ever changing its water either though I suppose my mum may have... and for almost a year it only ate bloodworms since I thought that was its food and not just a treat. ^_^;; Aheh. Surprisingly it still live 1 1/2 years.

I'm doing much better now though. I mean for starters I have a filter (same one in the video) and I will do scheduled water changes of course... but I'm wondering what tips you can give a person who's new to this type of fish.

Here's a photo:

Sorry about the quality, I had to take it with my cellphone.

He's pretty! I'm not an expert on any fish so I can't give you advice. Congrats on your new fish friend!

Wow, he's a beauty. Ummm they don't mind cold water, so if you don't want to bother with a heater, its oky, but if you have one, they like the same as tropicals (I think they prefer it warm, though). Ummm, make sure he gets some betta bites or bloodworms every day with his food since he's a carnivorious fish and has to have protein. oooooo, my sis has that tank, but in a 12 gal......does anyone know if they make it any bigger? lol I stole your thunder there, sorry!

I have some HBH Betta Bites for him... I don't have any other food for him, since I thought the betta bites were their main food. Do I need to get something else?

I don't know how much bigger these tanks can get but they're Eclipse tanks and although I can't remember WHERE I heard this, I do know you can get them at Petsmart, so you could check out their website and maybe find out how big they come.

I'm really pleased with the filter that came with it, it is COMPLETELY silent.... unlike all the other expensive filters I've tried.

Calypso is beautiful and what a cute name. He is probably ( I can not see all his colors too well from the pic) but from you're description a traditonal blue ( masked) with a red wash on his tail. I love crowntails . They are one of my favs. As far as food goes the HBH betta bites are good but also you can get freeze dried blood worms at Wallyworld. They are like $ 3.00 or so. I would give him more variety in his diet. If you get the blood worms make sure not to feed them to him more that 3 times a week. THey are more of a treat. You can also feed him frozen brine shrimp too it you like.You can get them at places they petsmart. They also have frozen blood worms. They do make bigger eclispes. You can find them at Petco.How big is your current tank gallons wise now? I can not get the video to work ( they locked the computers down here at work from playing videos) . You can also get a eclipse at Wally world . They have a different name on them but they are essentially eclipse that are made for them, they just stick a different name on them

He's actually Shadow. But um, thanks for the tip. I found some freeze-dried bloodworms at PetCo today for him and he seems to love them.

I'm not sure how big the tank is actually, and I haven't had a chance to measure it. Does anyone else know how big it is by looking at the video? I want to say somewhere between 2-5 gallons. But I have no idea where on that range it might be.

yup I believe they make a 6 gallon and bigger eclipses as well

Congrats on your new betta. I love him hes a beauty. Crowntails not easily come by here

We have lots of crowntails available around where I live but they cost a few dollars more than the veiltails.

You sure got a pretty one--looks like he's worth it!!

I can't believe how much I adore him!

He's just so soothing to watch and I can't get over how pretty he is! I only realized today when I went to PetCo to get some blood worms that I did get the most expensive kind there. ^_^;; At the time I just looked at all those sad little containers and saw him and thought "What a gorgeous fish!" but he was about $7, whereas the females were $2 and some other kinds were more like $4.

I feel a little upset that it took me this long to realize that bettas are indeed the fish for me. Beautiful, small, easy to care for, soothing, packed with little personalities, tough, and just overall the perfect fish for someone like me. I never wanted to be a hardcore aquarist (spelling?) and I found myself over my head with the other types I tried.

Oh my goodness, I'm in love... I can't stop watching him either, poor guy. He just wants to sleep but I keep the light on until really late just to watch him before I go to bed. He's the most soothing fish I've ever had.

Better watch out! I started out like you and ended up with 32 bettas at one time! They are addicting, especially since they dont need huge homes. Shadow is beautiful!

Glitter is right they are like potato chips. once you get one you can't stop. I was at a local petsmart not intending to get a betta but getting a new gravel vac ( I got a biorb one btw and it is really cool. it can be used on ordinary tanks and has a suction bulb on it to start the suction http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_det...30123&Ne=2) and some prime and ended up wandering over to the bettas to glance at them and ended up bringing Pearl home.They do have really cool personalities. I talk to mine all the time. Especially Pearl( my pastel irridescant crowntail girl) She is quite active. Sunti my male halfmoon is shy at times but so fun to watch. His tail looks like ribbons glidding through the water. And that leaves Scarlet- my red half moon who is quite the terriorizer ( a breeder freind gave her to me) who is going to a new home with a freind at work tomorrow.