Bettarazzi

Oh so you were offering to PAY!! Go for it Ness!

How do you know the fishless cycle in the first tank worked if you don't have a test kit? Did you take water to an LFS to be tested? Can't you go back to the same one? I don't know how sensitive axolotyls are but I certainly don't bother cycling betta tanks. In fact I don't for guppies, endlers, bristlenose, platys, or swordtails Some species are more sensitive than others I guess. If you want to be sure that your tank is in fact cycling and not simply sitting there getting older, then you really need to get your own test kits. You want to be able to see the ammonia rising, then falling away, then nitrite appearing then nitrate. And all this is so that you know that your filter will be able to cope with the bio load that you're going to put in there. If your filter is big enough and you're not overloading your tank, it shouldn't be necessary to cycle the filter before you add fish. The tank will go through a much more natural cycle using fish poop to feed the filter bacteria. As long as you're doing water changes everything should be fine.

Anyone can have a go and be in the running for the people's choice prize. Possibly not everything will make it onto the short list to get it's day in the sun as one of the final banners. But everything will appear in a thread for people to vote on.

Oh you don't have to use the same font. Different would be better. You could even have a go at trying to create an AusAqua word made up of fish.

Very nice. More pics once you've fattened them up a bit. :)

So I thought it might be kinda cool to have a little banner comp. I'm sure we're all getting a bit sick of seeing that gold dragon without a full mask. So some guidelines. 1. Must include "AusAqua" and "Australian Aquarists" 2. Height must not exceed current banner. 3. Width can be a bit wider than it is now but shouldn't interfere with the bits which are currently on the right. (I'm mega-articulate tonight aren't I) 4. Doesn't have to include bettas but probably better if you make a little bit aquarium themed. 5. Could be for general use or very specifically themed eg. for Grand Final, Melbourne Cup, Christmas, Gene Lucas' birthday. Think google logo. Deadline Not sure. How long do you need? Shall we say end of July? How to Submit Send your entries to admin AT ausaqua.net Prizes What? Bragging rights not enough? Having your work displayed for all the world to see? OK I'll find something good to act as prizes. Who's Judging Well umm... ME and maybe I'll find some arty farty graphic designer type. Plus we could have a people's choice or something. Let me know what you think. Happy to tweak the rules. We want to make this fun!

Very interesting info. Would love to see some studies that back it up.

Excellent. Will this be an IBC sanctioned show?

Yep the spawn drought is definitely widespread. Happy to see some good news.

That jar doesn't seem that much different to a beanie box. I wish there was a beanie box that stood horizontal rather than vertical.

Blond body, black tail? Interesting. So the blond gene in guppies can control black on the body but not the tail? I've just started reading Phil Shaddock's Guppy Genetics Simplified which might shed some light on the blond gene. I already had some of his other books and a TFH guppy genetics book I bought about 15 years ago. I tell you what... even when it's simplified, guppy genetics is way more complicated than bettas.

Someone needs to do some microscope work and have a look at how the colour cells are arranged on killie skin.

I haven't seen a great deal on killie colour genetics. Generally the killie hobbyists try to maintain the wild form. So in the absence of a more scientific approach then definitely try the selective line breeding method. It will be interesting to see if you can develop your own strain.

The blond gene causes a reduction of black colour cells just like cambo in bettas which incidentally used to be called blond and sometimes still is.

Striatum are gorgeous. One of my favourites. Can't wait till I get my new fish room and I can start keeping a few lilies again. Might have to try and squeeze them into the current setup somehow.

Permission granted for davo to move to Melbourne. Friday 22 June - EDAS meeting in Nunawading (some Vic Betta people will be there) Thursday 26 July - ASV meeting in Clifton Hill (most VB folk attend) Saturday 18 August - Victoria Betta meeting in Clifton Hill Apologies for the :hijack:

Hi pkeeves. Please provide a little more info about yourself and your fish keeping experience. Have a read of other intros if you need ideas. You'll get full access once you've done that.

It's a spam control measure.

Ahh SFF doesn't like birthdays? My head is spinning with reasons why. LOL. Sorry folks it's a running Facebook joke between James and me.

Thanks guys had a good day. Days actually. Started with a birthday lunch at work yesterday. I was up late last night so I got my present pretty early. A beautiful set of babushka dolls! I'll have to get a pic for you. The craftsmanship is extraordinary and the smallest doll so tiny. The other part of my present was watching Avengers in gold class this afternoon. We had the full 3 courses. One EACH. I think you're meant to share. The serves were huge. I'll be on the couch for the rest of the evening recovering.

I hate when they do that. They do have more of a Jos Plateau look than a N'sukka look about them.

Just because one person nominates you doesn't mean you're going to win. Lol

I would setup one whole shelf for jars. Might even be a good idea to add a tier so you can for more jars in. There seems to be enough height between shelves. But make sure there's an easy way to do water changes in the jars. Is the room heated? Bain marie style barracks can be modified to add a tap allowing you to drain and fill multiple jars at the same time. With the top shelf I would get larger jars or tanks around 4-5 litres. You use these to hold the adults you're thinking of breeding. These are a perfectly good size to act as a long term home for 'working' fish. Bottom shelf I'd use for growouts and spawning tanks. If you use 4 of the 2 x 1 foot tanks they could be dual purpose.

Good on ya for maintaining the numbers. It's rare that anyone has so many of a single species.