new betta

Last week I got a new betta fish for my tenner.

He is a bright blue double tail plakat, with a dark face. He has gorgeous color, but not the best form. I noticed this when I first saw him in the shop a month ago- although he looked healthy, always alert with fins open- his caudal peduncle seemed blunt, too short.

In fact when I got him home and have a better look (not distorted by curved cup sides) it looks bent- like he has a deformity or old injury- on one side there is a bulge

and on the other side a corresponding dent- which you can see in this dim, blurry picture. Also the red color in his tail and anal fin is uneven, splotchy- although his pectorals are a bright, vibrant red. The scales on his sides look a bit spotted- lots of them have darker centers. He is not a young fish anymore- getting grey under the chin and my guess is he has already lived half his life in a little cup. I feel kinda bad for that- maybe that's why his tail is bent- from cramped conditions?

Personality is different from my last two bettas. He is not shy at all! Doesn't flee from the camera, comes up close to the glass when a person is near. Learned quickly that the lid sliding open meant food, and so far he has eaten everything I offer- betta flake, micropellets, fresh fruit flies, garlic-soaked bloodworms. He flared his beard a bit at the nerites but so far has left them alone. He picks at stuff on the hardscape- I hope he is eating some limpets. Keeps cramming himself into corners and getting stuck in the plants- so when I replant the stems that come loose I leave a little gap there.

My five-year-old looked close once when he was drifting just under the surface, his dorsal fin brushing the little roots of polyrhiza- "what's the fishy doing, mommy? It looks like he's blowing bubbles!" Yeah, he was making a bubble nest already. I think a happy fish.

I haven't decided on a name yet...