Betta Fish: They have so much personality 🥹

I’ve had this 20 gallon tank set up for a bit and had no intentions on getting a betta, it was supposed to be for an axolotl. I had plans on stocking it with shrimp and feeder guppies to add more life to the tank as well as a food source. The store was pretty much out of feeder guppies but one did end up in the shrimp bag.

I went to another store and decided to look at the bettas while I was there. They were all mostly sad, mangled and inactive. This guy was as well, until he saw me looking. He proceeded to flare about all big and showy, almost as if he knew exactly what he was doing because he definitely caught my attention. I wandered around a bit, contemplating if I really should be bringing him home.

I went back and he put on his show as soon as I started paying attention. You got me dude. When we got home, I put him in the tank and I swear I have never seen a fish happy but this was legitimately one happy fucking fish. You could see the excitement in him and it genuinely brought me so much joy. Then he realized there was shrimp and a random guppy so he spent most of the rest of the first day chasing her away from him and trying to intimidate the shrimp.

He seems to have settled in and found his spot among a small group of rocks, this morning when I turned the lights on I found him resting there. Most of today he has been moving sand in that area to his liking. He doesn’t stalk the shrimp anymore and only gets annoyed if they get too close to his rocks. He also seems to tolerate the guppy as well. She spent almost all day yesterday hiding from him and now she is out and about and occasionally tries to hang out near him. He doesn’t seem to like her but he doesn’t actively chase her away anymore and lets her do her thing near him.

I’ve had aquariums in the past with various fish and invertebrates. I’ve always enjoyed aquariums but I don’t think I’ve ever seen an aquarium animal have so much intelligence and personality!