A guide on humane fish euthanasia is currently being written and is about 1/4 finished! Woop! This guide will include a how-to as well as an assessment. Finding information about the topic can be pretty tough, and usually once found, is written in a cold and too-factual way. Hopefully, it will serve people well and make the process a little easier.

Thus far, I've been having a bit of trouble finding photos to use for headers that are high-quality and large. Hmmm! It's been a big pain. I will leave comments on THIS post if anyone is willing to allow the site to use a high-quality, large photo of their fish for headers or similar uses, with credit. I am happy to link back to pages that are family-friendly, list names, professional sites, etc. with a hyperlink. Not safe for work host sites will not be linked back to, but a name certainly would!

If you offer the photos, please specify what/which, and how to be credited. As always, thank you for your support!

You can also chat with me about this matter (BSp will not reply back to informational queries!) via facebook at the Betta Splendid "like" page. 


Thank you everyone! Have an awesome sauce day today.

Aquabid is the ebay of fish, where you can buy anything from bettas to snails to plants to posters to filters. They have it all! For the most part, using the site is simple and straight-forward. However, the process of buying a Thai fish from a breeder gets complicated in the betta realm. Here's a small blurb on what it's like to deal with the breeder, the transshipper, what to expect, and how to stay informed. 

So, you've found your fish on the site and its beautiful. Assuming you've made an account (it's free), you can bid on the fish. I won't go into detail about bidding right now, but bid what you feel comfortable or use the "buy now" option if there is one. If/when you win, you will have time to pay the breeder or pay right away; this option is best lest you forfeit for non-payment (and get a bad rating...). The breeder will charge you their shipping fee (which is usually quite reasonable). This shipping cost is the cost from the breeder to the transshipper in your country. 

Once that is all set and the breeder ships to the transshipper, it'll be fully out of their hands and fully into yours. They sold you the product and now it's done! Your transshipper (literally an import agent) is in control of your item. It is wise to read up on the people in your area; generally, you can choose who you want. These folks tend to be spread across a region and it makes the most sense to choose someone closest to you or to a major shipping hub/city. 

Typically, you tell the breeder who you want to ship to, get in contact with them, all that. Breeders usually have transshipper info at the bottom of their auction listing.

Now you've paid your fish's price and the breeder's shipping fee. Your transshipper will get in touch and tell you their price; as the fish will then be (typically) unboxed, allowed to rest in a small tank, and then re-boxed up to get to you, this price can be a little steeper than you may expect. It's a good idea to get the quickest shipping speed possible from your transshipper. 

The transshipper's fee is paid through whatever means they accept (usually Paypal) and they ship based on weather, fish health, and payment clearing. They usually have their own pages that tell you their policies, so make sure you look it up!

Your fish will then get to you, and tada! You're set.

Here's a scenario:

A black halfmoon male is for sale from seller ThailandFish4u for $20 auction or $25 Buy Now. You elect to save some time and Buy Now. The fish, based on the seller's listed price, will be $5 to ship from him.

You pay these two fees and are out $30.

You get in contact with the breeder and choose a transshipper nearest your area named Jane Doe. Jane Doe is contacted, things are arranged, and you pay her shipping and handling fee of $35. 

You wait a number of weeks, because it takes time to pack the fish in Thailand, ship it, get it in your country, have the shipper let it recover, and box it up again. In total, you've spent $65 when you get the fish.

And that's it! It's fairly simple. Most Thai breeders have FAQ pages (like this one) and most shippers have their own websites. Language barriers, lack of communication, and more are all issues that may crop up. Your fish may die and you'll only get back the initial $25. It's up in the air: are you willing to play this game of chance? If it makes you nervous or you do not like to deal with people business-wise, buying in your area/country is a better option.

Hopefully that quick spiel helps! When in doubt, ask your seller or shipper! :) 

These past few weeks have been hectic! Unfortunately, with a boom in BSp's popularity, the site's contact info and facebook page has received hundreds of messages in only a few days regarding questions about specific fishy cases. Normally, I would go through the messages and reply, but about 90% concerned things easily answered through reading our guides, which was frustrating and got repetitive. I have decided to stop answering questions for this reason. (Sorry!!) Forums that are trustworthy (non-betta, too!!) can give tailored information about the specific questions one may have.

Once you've found a forum that looks good, has lots of members, and knows what's up, post! Remember to give ALL the information you possibly can. Pictures are usually a must.

Add:
Tank size, water change frequency, number of animals in the tank/ their species, how long you've had the betta, how often/much the fish is fed, (if you have it) water parameters like pH hardness ammonia nitrate and nitrite levels, any decor that is not 100% made for fish, if the tank has a filter, if it has a heater (it should!), what temperature, special notes/symptoms, etc.

I (and BSp) don't affiliate with any fish-specific forum, but will likely make a guide on how to best use a forum and how to get the answers you need fast and effectively very soon :) !

If you've received a reply from BSp already, I will continue to reply to your questions until everything's all set, don't worry. We'll continue what we started!

Heck yeah!! In only two days, a lot has gotten done! Just now DIY Dividers has been made live. Check it out here!

Various other pages have been updated, Salt Dips and You is up and running, and the Feedback page has better, more user-tailored responses for you to use. Weee!

On a similarly exciting note, I've been tracking down what sites link to BettaSplendid and have found lots and lots of people finding this site useful! That makes my heart soar! Thanks, everyone. Here are a few snapshots of places that have linked us or used this site. As always, feel free to distribute the information found here but remember to have courtesy and always link back! 

As some of you may know, I'm horrible about updating this site. I usually only am able to while on holiday from college, which is only once or twice in a year. 

Well... It's that time of year again! I plan to add a number of things to the site and try and give it a fresh new face, considering many guides and posts are quite old and need a boost.

No promises on what's coming (because even I don't know!!) but I hope you enjoy everything and continue to be great betta fans!

Thanks again to everyone for helping bettasplendid reach 100,000+ hits! You've made my little side project bloom from something I never once thought people would read into a top-ish hitting page on Google! That's lovely. I hope it can continue to rise and spread good, correct information in a sea of cruddy pages.

Love ya!! c : <3

In the works:

• Much-need revamp of the Day One guide
• Migration of how to make a divider post from tumblr
• More photos
• General re-vamps
• New header photos

Finished!:

• The Re-institution of BettaSplendid's facebook page is All set! "Like" us here!
• We're now on Twitter! Follow us here!
• How to do a salt dip (updated and finally published from 2012!!)

Goodness gracious! Thanks to a new weebly update, I am finally able to get rid of the drop-down menus and create more user/navigation-friendly pages.

I'm hoping to create more articles will smaller, easier-to-reference information for people just passing through, rather than them having to read through an entire guide. First on the list is Acclimation!


The pages that have been redone thus far are the Care and Photos sections, so take a peek!


Others will be posted more likely in December. More development will be put into other sections that are under construction.

Also, new photos are in the galleries as well as header photos! Apparently a number were "stuck" and are now usable with the newest update. Ha-cha! 

Last but not least, say hello to my newest addition: Nemiroff! She's a tiny little fry and was a pity buy from my local Walmart. She was in horrendous shape and took many days to even move around. Poor little thing. Nemi is still adjusting but is absolutely adorable. Welcome, little Nemi!

Oh, college.  You steal away my free time. :(

BUT, thanks to lots of people's requests, I've set aside a bit of time to continue work on product reviews and tips and cheats! 

Unfortunately, I am currently updating while procrastinating from writing a (rather important) paper, so not a huge amount will be done. However, please continue to provide input on what you would like to see more development in, as well as what helped you most! I am going to add in a new poll to help you provide better feedback! :)

Also, since I have yet to mention it, meet Lady Lady, my newest addition! She is a lovely, fun and really dopey Cambodian (pink/red) CT marble. She lives in a planted 5.5g with her three pals: Dude, Little, and Buttoucher (long story!) I adore her, and so does her daddy... Hmm! Lucky for him, if/when he wants Lady as part of his brood, he can have her. 

I just can't tear away a daddy's girl from her daddy... especially when he baby talks her!