melbournebetta

Hi Ineke,

I'm a big subscriber to transitioning fry from grindals onto chopped black worm. It's not a pretty process and I suggest you listen to loud music to muffle out the silent screams of the worms (their screams under-water as they are stalked and killed are equally damaging) ...but I'm no vegan - so I acknowledge the sacrifice and move on.

I use a fantastic pair of dental or aquascaping tweezers to pluck out a bunch of worms and place them on my plastic chopping board (kept exclusively for this task), and I use old school razor blades to rapidly slice and dice. 

The tweezers are then good to dish up the now shortened worms, that still wiggle and inspire the hunt drive from little fish still transitioning to a new food. (I would have jarred mine by now, so the tweezers help with portion control for me too)

I hope that's given you an alternative, otherwise the scissors in a cup would have worked well too. 

He doesn't look too damaged to me over the dorsal... lovely boy - yes the dragon girl is a good match colour and form wise...

Congrats (:

Hey Pyrefly,

Lettuce know what you've got lurking in them there tanks.

Hi b00f,

Dont be put off by the forum's pace, The old grey mare, she ain't what she used to be... but having said that - trawl back through old threads and you've got a genetic gold mine.

I thought I might let you know that there's an upcoming Victoria Betta meeting at Clifton Hill on the 27th, you are most welcome to come along - you can even show your fish if you like (love the red/salamander guy!) or you can check out the Facebook page for more details.

It's pretty casual, but lots of people will be there, with a table show, talks, food and more.

Cheers,

Ness

Hi Will,

Welcome to Ausaqua, there are several bustling Betta communities around Australia - and as Brenton kindly mentioned, Victoria Betta is the Southern state group.
The website is here

The facebook page is here

and the next meet is nearly here! July 27th will be the next meeting, this will include a table show (many of the fish on show will be for sale from breeders/showers)
you also get to meet the lovely lot of buddies that are VB members. Feel free to come along (bring Jess) and have a look around, the day starts form 12:30 and we have various activities on during the day.

/shameless spruke.

Cheers,
Ness

Brillant! I'm going to start digging in my ridiculous archives.
Do you want a banner from me for winners (first second and third?) and short listed ?

Yeah the IBC points thing was really exciting for me showing my colgate spawns, while they didn't stop the show by any means, I still get points!
Part of me says meh, I just want to buy shmexy fish and show a few, but the other part of me (that clearly has more say) has three pairs in the spawn tank as I type.

So you know, fight it all I might, there will be more MB kids at shows next year!

Sounds like there will be some IBC shows before mid-year, so start conditioning your breeding stock I reckon.
-Ness

Yeah, totally - but my whole argument is that while I'm not a scientist, I have only a few tools at my disposal (that I test monthly) and I can't tell if hormones are or are not a factor... it's still inconclusive, this would be a good myth to bust.
I have my opinion in what I think is going on, but I can't say fo' sho.

It could have even been environmental elements that helped the 20 blossom, I had heaps more cover in plants and a whole different tank - so who knows?

(I do full tests in my stable display tanks and twice weekly water changes with a ph water test weekly and a full Nitrite, Nitrate, GH, Ammonia done monthly)
I like the pretty colours.

More than happy to make banners/awards if y'all want.

I'm quite inclined to agree with you Ash... it's a delicate one too when identifying what fish you have bread and bought - once we get bigger, how the hell are we going to be able to tell?
As for the F1 and beyond - I've only taken a line to F3 and found the difference between the parents and the great grandkids, mostly disappointing.

The clique is unavoidable, and as such (while I hate that you don't join us so we can pick your brain) I completely understand why one would withdraw from the social element. I'm nearly there myself.

Brenton - I'll ruffle back with respect.. when I hear about being snipered on the grassy knoll, bitchiness and pi$$ing contests, it's hard not to react.
I respond to that sort of language because it's provocative.

But at the end of the day - while our club is cruisy, enjoyable and a pretty relaxed environment to show fish, share experiences and incubate new arrivals in... I'll keep going back.
I wonder how strange it must be to arrive at a fish meet with tensions high and knowing your ears have been burning the week beforehand.
If other clubs can't keep their excitement in their pants, well, good luck to 'em... I dont want anything to do with it.

I hope the rest of the VB gang hold the same opinion.

Time to get back to water changes and reality I say (:

Oh my god. I love these~!

That blueHM looks like the best in show VIC IBC SEPT 2013

I have to second much of Brenton's post here, I am a bit of a believer in the old Growth inhibiting hormone, and I've harped on long enough about it in previous posts to try and be eloquent about my reasons...

But I also agree with Razzi, while it's a great discussion, nobody is going to say that the end result isn't the same: Lots of good quality food, excellent water quality and appropriate environments help fry grow faster. If it's environmental or hormone related - sort of dosen't mater in the end.

I've had a 80+ head spawn be stunted in excellent water conditions, however when I took 20 of them out and put them into a smaller tank that I found easier to water change, the growth rates went through the roof. When they were jarred in separate water, they also bloomed.
There are probably several factors into what makes a fish blossom when it's jarred, but one major factor will be the lack of other hormones (if indeed they exist) from the other fish.

The other consideration is their natural environments, imagine a successful spawn of 80 betta in the wild - potentially in a smaller body of water.
80 fry get tails, mum is probably around, so is dad.
Mum might eat 10, dad might defend his brood from her (potentially killing her) ...oh, this is getting morbid but stay with me...

let's say there are a few weak ones, so we're down to 60 by the first week - limited resources, natural factors... some will grow quicker than others

Could be genetic, could be from a growth inhibiting hormone... Let's not forget about the survival of the fittest - 60 fry are not going to be there at the end when they are ready to spawn again, let's face it.

I say 15 blossom, grow faster, and quickly double in size - the smaller ones become food, and the bigger fight until the first pair decide to find a quiet corner and spawn.

All a bit quick in the explanation, but in nature, there's going to be faster growers, more naturally aggressive with food - and the runts are gunna get eaten.
I have the Lion' King song "the circle of life" in my head now.

but there's 2 cents, spend it wisely.

On the up-side, you won't need to worry about Jarring?
Good luck with him/her!

I'll be honest, I'm going to the thing I'm good at and dive head-long into a conversation that is probably thicker and stranger and kind of banging-head-upon-brick-walls than I'm prepared for.... but hey, it's Friday!

As far as I can decipher, this thread was originally about showing and the points system that we tried to encourage breeders and showers (with their local and imported fish) it worked too btw.
There was a fear early on that if we had international shows, that the Aussies would never win anything. Looking back at our event, and I'm sure Queensland's event, the Aussie owned fish held up well enough - and the Aussie Bred fish (albiet few entrants) all got a good look at...

There is a strange opinion that has surfaced about the VB vs BA attitude, which from the VB perspective is two hundred packets of bum dust.

Let's reel it back a little shall we?

It all started here, on the lonesome forum, someone was the one with the pretty fish and the credentials, The Queensland mob had the tanks without the heaters and the killer growth rates, and the Vic gang had meets happening in halls with dated decor... it was all pretty basic.
When we got together, we talked about form, we showed our fish in unofficial table shows, and we posted pics of them on the forum.
Brissy was doing the same, and we were all encouraging each other.

(Forgive my simplistic run-down, but I am still struggling to see where the nark evolved & what the point actually is)

So fast forward a bit, the clubs grew a bit, the shows got bigger and some numpties from Melbourne got on a plane after a thousand emails and a thousand hours learning a big long handbook, and got themselves qualified... IBC thought it was tops, we thought it would promote the community, perhaps take some of the pressure off someone who was the sole judge ...and we got on with it.

We don't think we're king, we think we're learning, ya kna?
This is the first part of our judging careers - you know, the kind of "careers" where it pays you nothing, you learn a bunch of stuff, you work to maintain it, you host shows, you work long hour days to judge, you argue, you tolerate five thousand opinions, you play diplomat, you field endless questions and you keep on doing it because you really really like one specific kind if fish... all without giving up because there is too much ignorant and arrogant politics.

hmmmm
Sounds rewarding, right?

We organized our show the second we stepped off the plane.We invited someone because we respected her knowledge, as well as a nod to her contribution to the betta community. We didn't need to, we wanted to.
See that word? That Dirty R word... yeah... I used it.
Watch out, I'm about to keep using it.

So a bunch of conversations happened (I find it ironic that this all blossomed after the real 'competitive' element entered into people's radars) and a bunch of false information, as well as a bunch of real information happened... understanding and misunderstanding. But at the meets, the conversations, the general attitudes in the VB gang didn't change. Sure, we see how you guys are doing we're interested - but it's hardily b!tchy.
We're adults, no?

So while the QLD gang are grouping, regrouping getting their positions in order, we wish you all the best. I've said exactly that to the members list. I've also approached and voiced my disappointment in the misunderstanding that VB don't like QLD. Actually that really **** me off.
Firstly, we have no reason for that - you guys do your thing, we do ours... the fun part of all of that, is that the clubs run independently. So what's the point?

We earn, gain and achieve nothing by being in conflict with interstate clubs, there aren't gang colours, we don't get loud motorbikes to ride around on, and I'm pretty sure nobody's given me a gun (yet.)
I'm a good shot on a .22 - just sayin'.

WA have a FB banner that I designed, SA have our support and if we could hear a TAS voice we'd happily catch up and voice our support... The judges (including myself) are all willing to travel to enable IBC sanctioned shows, we want everyone to move forward... why wouldn't we?
I keep it pretty simple - if there are more clubs, there are more fish, there are more breeders, there are more people showing, there are more fish - and I get me some better Betta.
Whatswrongwiththat?

So sure, there's going to be inter-personal differences, I can't help that. If people are rude or do dumb stuff - that's going to happen!
But pointless politics is something I had a gut-full in pony club as a kid, I didn't put up with it then, and have no time for in adulthood.
This is getting ranty, I think it's because I'm back on the forum... I haven't been here in ages. I can taste the nostalgia.

Bla bla, I've lost my point.
But I'm mildly irritated about the whole thing- if one group of people are unsteady, it really doesn't ripple through the borders and infiltrate others.
I'm going to put my hand up and say I'm done with all the interpersonal rubbish, if there's agro with me, come talk - I'm open and I don't feel defensive... pretty sure I'm on fifty channels of social media, so I'm hardily difficult to find.
If you're pissy with the VB club - address it with senior members, or get over it... we like hangin out talkin fish - this is probably because we don't really like talking about/to people.
If you want to know what we think as a group, we think it's nice to hang out with fish people on our days off, but really - it's fun. We keep it light.
Those that don't keep it light in our club are wasting their energy. Go breed some fish and prove you're good at something worthwhile.. or build a house or something.

So after all that, I'm going to shrug, wonder why things have to get political, why plant seeds of doubt? Do people still really love drama? Why sabotage a good thing? Not getting enough stimulation in your own life? I'm going to drive home from work thinking about what cool thing I'm going to paint my mate who'se 4th birthday it is tomorrow, and wonder what size posters I should order for the next show.... you know, dumb fun stuff that isn't psycho negative.

Call me a hippy but It's not that hard to lighten up, may I suggest we all give it a crack?

Hello Forum - you look so handsome!

Any technical changes with images (i.e. are they hosted on the forum YET) and can we max out the number of posts per poster yet

We didn't get any new fonts, boo.

Otherwise, congrats on the upgrade

Hey Durro/Greg,

Despite the tumble weeds around here, it's still probably the best forum for support and knowledge on betta.

I've not kept wilds before, but you've certainly chosen some great fish to start with.

Good luck - grab a photobucket account and share the pics!

-Ness

I'm so excited about this show - I wanted to come up but I'm a bit poor for that.

However I will be sending up some fishy ambassadors! I have some spawns that have been cooking away quietly and a few imports that will make it if their all still in-tact by show date.

Any other Melbourne entrants interested in showing too?

(I'll ask around) it would probably be best if we sent a box up by courier.

S'gunna be great!

Thriving show scene, weren't we just dreaming about this same time last year!

Woohoo!

Welcome Shirley,

there's a pretty vibrant community here so feel free to ask anything traul the forums and look around... lettuce know if you're looking for particular fish to breed with or display, there are a LOT of hobbiests on here.

someone also has some killer fancy guppies and fighters to die for (Fishchick65 on Youtube)

Cheers,

Ness

ENOUGH BANTER

go drill racks

These are bloody hard fish to photograph, they're really lovely shots Maddy!

Keep them coming!

Lovely!

Exclaim!

Maybe send out some emails to industry, I'd target Bayfish and Aquarium Industries (Wholesalers) and see if they have access to them, then ask what retailers are buying those in your state.

Then harass the retailers COS I WANT ONE

mmmstripey.

I just LOVE these guys Ash - more photos of mister boy man! he's a spunk

It's an interesting conundrum, personally I do water changes from new water just adjusting heat with a boiled kettle (I don't like using the hot tap because of the copper content in the water)

I always dechlorinate because I use water straight from the tap, I also have my tanks filtered so I want the Chlorine and Chloramine out of the water so it dosen't harm my bacteria.

You could use both de-chlorinator and a liquid water-ager and work straight from the tap.

When I had my breeding systems up at full-speed (and working full-time) I would do a 20 min routine once a day and take the weekends off, if you just put every tank on rotation, waterchange them on certain days or certain rotations.

This way worked for me as opposed to getting overwhelmed on a Saturday that I had to change 400 lt of water at once.

Goodluck!

Hello WeiBoyTeh,

You'se got good wines, we got's good fush - match made in the heavens!

Sounds like you've got a happy little tank, I like the idea of corys in with the girls.

Have a look at photobucket for hosting images so you can share your beaudies!

-Ness