MY STORY

My dad has always kept pet fish, and when I first started owning fish he was keeping African Cichlids. At this age I hadn't even turned double digits, I was about 7. One night while decorating the house for the holidays, a piece of decor dropped into the tank. I looked for the piece, then saw three pairs of tiny eyes hiding under a rock in the cichlid tank. I curiously asked my dad if he bought feeder fish for the cichlids that day, and he said he didn't. We then discovered the cichlids were spawning, and eventually different generations of our African cichlids were living all together. This is what lured me into the aquarium world. I was intrigued with the whole breeding process of the cichlids, and loved watching them grow to the size of their parents. One day my dad bought me a betta I picked from PetSmart — a purple veiltail pictured below who I named Plum. When visiting Petsmart back then, I was always attracted to this species of fish with flowing fins that lived alone in cups separated from the regular fish tanks. Of course I kept Plum in a tiny "betta tank", which could be split in half to hold two fish (which I unfortunately did), leaving each fish with barely enough room to turn around. But as I became more responsible and started giving proper care to bettas, I learned that they are much more than just decorations. Betta splendens are a species of fish that will actually interact with you — they will greet you at the front of the tank when you get close. I've kept countless numbers of different types of freshwater fish, turtles, and thought about the salt water world, but I have always stuck to keeping bettas. I started my instagram, @lovelybettas, on the 2th of September 2013, and the account has affected my betta keeping hobby immensely. I researched betta breeding for years, invested a lot of money into it, and it was very well worth it.

DO YOU SELL BETTAS?

Yes, and only bettas bred by and raised by me. Check out my for sale page to see if I have any stock.

Do You ship bettas internationally?

Sadly shipping fish to countries outside of the USA is very expensive, and fees and import licenses create much hassle for both my customers and myself.

How do you ship bettas?

I usually use Styrofoam to line the box or another type of insulation depending on the weather. I double bag each betta and stuff the box to eliminate any extra movement the fish have to endure. For a more detailed look, check out my customer's unboxing videos on my reviews page here.

How do I breed bettas?

Do lots of research. My goal is to eventually make an article or video series on how I breed and raise my bettas.

I'M HAVING TROUBLE BREEDING MY BETTAS, WHAT AM I DOING WRONG?

You can message me personally on Instagram (@lovelybettas) or Facebook (Lovely Bettas)!

What camera do you use?

I normally use a Canon 60D with a Canon 50mm f/1.8 Canon lens for my fish photos.

Where did you get your logo?

My logo is a custom painting of the father of my yellow tiger X orange koi spawn by adorationdesign.com.

How do you have so many followers on Instagram?

I started @lovelybettas in 2013 and at that time the betta community was a lot smaller than it is now, so most of the people knew everyone in the betta community at the time. I started off with many people who followed me because of this, and grew bigger with time and better quality content.