A Betta

The last of the black neon tetras finally died several months ago. I'm pretty sure those fish lasted nearly seven years. They were the last in a long running series of aquarium fish, dating back to when Frances was starting the early grades. The first of the fish had been a very pretty and happy betta named Rainbow. He was a beautfiul blue color, and he lived for quite a while. He had several lives just like a cat, but eventually he died in spite of my best efforts at fish doctoring. After that we had a series of various fish, ending with the black neons, which were the longest living of them all.
The aquarium had migrated out of Frances's room and into the dining room with the advent of the black neons. After the last fish died back in December, I had left the aquarium running. There was a thick green coat of algae over the gravel and rocks. I hadn't gotten around to cleaning out the tank during the winter months, since I knew I would want to take the aquarium outside for a good washing out.
Our friends were coming over for the monthly game night, and I really didn't want the aquarium looking the same way it had been when they were here two months ago, so I cleaned out the aquarium. My intent had been to retire it to the shed, or give it away, but once it was all cleaned up I began to think I might actually miss the aquarium. I checked with Ted, who commented that the aquarium certainly brings a bit of liveliness to the dining room. Soooo, I decided to begin again, and I decided to go with a betta. But this time I decided to get a red one. I actually prefer the blue bettas, but somehow the memory of Rainbow was still fresh, or maybe it was the memory of the good times Frances and I had watching that fish. I felt it would be wrong to get a fish that looked like Rainbow.
I rooted about in the garage and found some of the old plastic plants and hidees, which I cleaned up and put in the tank.
I stopped at Petco on the weekend. The bettas were rather pathetic looking. They were in the little individual containers, and many of them were in foul looking water and looked half dead. I didn't have the aquarium gravel in yet, so I didn't buy a fish. I went back several days later. I think it was the same collection of fish but the water had been changed. I bought a red betta that looked reasonably lively. It's now a week later. Today for the first time we saw it eat a betta bite. Either he was really well fed before or those betta bites are really dreadful.
I put a spider plantlet into the aquarium when I set it up last weekend. No roots yet, but it seems to be hanging in there. Salt content is 1 t per 2.5 gal, but I am backing off that as I do the water changes. My current thinking is .5 t with each water change which is on the order of somewhat less than 2 gallons.
This betta does not seem to have the happy personality that Rainbow had, but it is at least somewhat interesting to watch.
Update: It has taken the betta about 10 days to figure out that tapping means food in the front corner of the tank.
UPDATE 10/8/2012
Alas, the Betta died today.  He had been looking and acting very old for a week or two, and I had been worried about him.  He didn't have any visible signs of disease but was looking a little gray around the gills.