Oliver

My new fish for the 10gal is a "half moon double tail" plakat betta. I've never seen another fish quite like him. I see many long-finned bettas with double tails (the usual variety) but this was the first short-finned betta with a double I'd noticed. Also the dark coloring is very distinctive. I've had my eye on this fish for quite some time, and when I started thinking of him as Oliver just gave in and brought him home.

He seems a very tough fish. All the others living in bare plastic tubs (this store keeps bettas in individual containers the size of a butter tub) looked depressed or ill, fins drooping, laying on the bottom. This dark plakat was always alert, moving in slow, leisurely curves around his tiny enclosure. I figure if he's done well for so long in the confinement (I've seen him in that store for months) surely he can survive my ineptitude, maybe even thrive. Pinkie has been with me for just a year now; most places you look estimate a betta will live two to three years, five if very healthy and well-cared-for. Fish guy at the shop said university studies have given the fish a lifespan of six to eight years. I'll hope for three to five!

His color is so striking- a dark russet brown -almost purplish- base color, with the scales outlined in black and the fins and eye area black. Fin rays in the tail have some bold blue streaks, some paler blue on the gill covers and his eyes look blue in certain lighting.

The double tail gives him quite a different look in profile than other bettas I've kept. He has a distinct wedge shape, and I keep thinking of him as Black Flag, his fins waving in the water like a pennant. The other name that springs to mind is something to do with his dark coloring: Smokey or Shadow or Dusk... but Oliver already feels assigned.

Oliver seems to have settled in well; never showed signs of fear or stress when introduced to the aquarium. He did try to nip the nerite snail's feelers a few times but doesn't seem to mind the cherry barbs. I left the lights out and did not feed yesterday to let him settle in. Today gave a few betta flakes, which the barbs ate eagerly. Oliver bit them and then spit out again; maybe its different from what he was fed in the shop. Have a variety of other fish foods to try on him.