There once was a fish called General Fin-ny-gan...

I haven't really been blogging much about my fishy but a lot has happened since I first got him. 
In the next few blog posts I will give quite lengthy updates about General Fin, his behaviour, the way he adapted to various environments and temperatures as well as the conditions in the tank and how it was maintained.


We received the fish on the 16th of March and honestly, I wasn't eager to look after a fish. Firstly because I've never had a pet and secondly because caring for such a delicate creature is actually a big responsibility especially since we'll be marked on how well we care for it.


Getting the fish in a little bag with the minimum water made me quite nervous as to how long it would actually survive despite the fact that I've seen that bettas can live relatively long in unfavourable conditions. 

TANK LOCATION AND WATER TEMPERATURE: 

Having done the necessary preparations in order to make the tank as "homey" as possible, I decided that locating it in an area where it is not too cold would be suitable as it is closer to their native habitat. In addition to this, I ensured that the water in the jar was as close to 28 Degrees Celcius as possible. Obviously using a thermometer to measure this. 
Having set up the Jar in that environment and having the water at a temperature of 27 Degrees Celcius proved to be a good decision. General Fin was happy! I could see this by the activity he displayed (very mobile and  and he was constantly close to the surface). 
When I received him, he was a very light green-ish/blue colour, in the above mentioned conditions he changed to vibrant blue colour (closer to purple). It was so beautiful!


Seeing this really changed my whole perception about the project. I knew that if I kept the tank in the same conditions i wouldn't have a problem at all and I would continue to observe General in this beautiful state. 


But! This project is ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT and one of it's biggest requirements is that conditions be changed to see how well this organism adapts and that is what I set out to do. 

Vegetation

We were given an amazon sword plant to add to our ecosystem. 

Taking care of the plant requires taking off dead leaves and giving it nutrient pellets and in return it takes up some of the waste products of the fish and in some cases provides the fish with food. 

Those nutrient pellets really made the plant GROW! I had to remove several of the leaves because the tank isn't designed to host a fast growing plant and more importantly because General had a really tough time moving around.