starting over with betta for the first time

[prince'smom]

I thought day one of my fish journal would explain it best.??????????
DAY ONE i have a 20 gln tank and a one gllon tank.i lost a lot of fish to ick im blaming walmart all 16 gold fish 3 pirnhas (red belly) 4 catfish, and 4 clown l oach ,not all at the same time,but from the same wallmart. i cleaned the tanks with elbow grease and hot water filled the big tank set it up and waited 1 week my water is very hard not city but well water no worry of additives.
march 16 2006 yesterday i went to petco with a list cure all, bloodworm, brine shrimp,tree appropiate plants (live),a breeding net (in case i need to isolate for some reason),Bettta plus treatment, and a gravel vac., and biozyme and quick dip test strips.not a cheap endever but i do rather like watching them. i got home treated tank with quick cure and biozyme, and removed the filter about 3hrs later i tested the water got no3:20/no2:.5/very hardwater200/alkalin:120/ph7.8. i put one plant in the gallon tank used water from big tank. put the other two in big tank with some plastic floating and on bottom one piece i also floated one in the gallon tant. while both betta were both still in cup from store i treated them with betta plus.
i added the betta to the tanks one each. they swam around for hours. the white and light blue one in the big tank my son named charlie would swim from corner to corner high and low hid in the floating plastic plants at the top diving down in the corners rutting in the gravel then swimming behind the rock and back it was neat. this morning he still seem real happy he will swim to the glass if im by the tank that i think is neat expesialy because all others seem to run.
this morning after adding the biozyme to the big tank after 3hrs it settled i replace 1/20oz cup of water from littel tank to big then back (not told to but my idea of keeping both at same lavel or abouts) i tested i got lower nitrite;no2 /no3 20+ still very hard water and both alkalinity an ph came down some. this is the big tank.
the little bowl with the unnamed betta has real good no2/no3 levles hard water and high alk./ph. so thats were i am the unnamed betta swam alot last night but is slower today he still has not ate that i can tell while charlie is eating but im not worried abot the eating right now the smaller tank is a little cloudy and i feel bad that the other gets the big tank un named betta is buetiful he lays in the grass/plant bed swims/squeezes throught the roots but all in all is a lot slower and a little bigger than charlie this one is blues red and purple gold leading to green then blue ever so slighty he is also the one on my desk where i can watch him and type i just reliezed his tank is to cool 68f im in michigan and our room and office is chilly maybe ill have to keep him in another room till it get warmer im gonna call him Prince. hes cool i placed my hand on the bowl and he swam to it i move he moved while i type this he checking me out.

i was scared i would shock the bettas but i am told they are hardy so far i see no ick keeping fingers crossed im not planing on doing any thing else to tank for a week or so (i think) unless it smells or sick bettas. march 17 10:17am gonna see how it goes i might try adding two females to the big tank but not right yet.