melbournebetta

Reports back from my little 60 litre angel hospital tank, the kids are fine - well .... there are 2 left now, Lacey is MIA... but I think the bullying might have gotten to him/her and 'e might have jumped ship, I'll find out when I move house. I DIGRESS - the tank is still stable. So I got bored and made my 3 foot (and very tall) tank into an angel scape for my two bastard children that hate eachother, dragging out of the VERY stained water in my 44, I took 10 sticks of tea tree into the yard and hosed it all down (imagine a picture of me hosing down sticks, I didn't take a photo) 2 of the said sticks had really spongy cores, stank like rotting bad things, and basically said NO THANKS, WE'VE GOT THE ROT. The rest of 'em were still hard, wouldn't split when twisted (like a chinese burn) and have since found themselves in an in-elegant arrangement in my new angry tank. Ph is 7, and I expect it to stay as such, slight bacterial bloom as it was a 100% change and very little attention to cycling or detail (sorry angry angels, it's a slap dash production) Or maybe I just put in too much cycle? Eheim is on it, heater is crankin, angels are angry and sticks are in - the carbonate hardness buffer should keep these bad boys in-line - I'll be testing in a few weeks to see if there's a ph crash. (ohhhh you can still see the black dividers from my failed DIY experiment, I should point out on that thread that it was a fail... or.. NAH - let 'em work it out themselves!) heehhehehehehheheheh

Welcome to the forum - you're in good hands, there are some vetrans in the north! I love that female too - she's a stunner. Are the pair from Fish chicks? and if so do you know who the breeder is. (: -Ness

You have a lovely brood, did you get the halfmoon from Coburg?

Hi Sal, Welcome to the fold, err I mean Forum.... heh... yeahh... This whole thing has ended up as quite the obsession for little ol' me, and I'm sure there are plenty of other members here that can attest to the addictive nature of fishkeeping. My introduction to this forum was a quiet one until I learnt about the perils of fin rot, however with the Aus Aqua brains trust I was able to identify and treat it, and in-turn - became more au-fait with rot that I'd like to be! There's a pretty steep learning curve with the betta, and working out water chemistry is actually kind of tricky... I still only just get how a tank cycles - on principal. It sounds like you'll need to wrap yourself around a few water principals, and you should be right after that.... Fortunately there's a few things you can do to ensure betta happiness in a tank, even if it's a smaller tank. The water parameters are the key to everything, and while there is a bit of room to move with these - Betta really like stability. - Firstly temperature, ideally between 24-28 degrees. (mine are stable at 26 at all times, 28 if I'm breeding) - Ph from either 6.5 - 7.5 but the key is stability (water out of the tap swings in PH as it oxidises - therefore having a KZ buffer really helps) - De chlorinated / conditioned water (water that is out of the tap and left will actually de-chlorinate naturally as it oxidises, but if you want to use water instantly, you can use a dechlorinator, which is a good idea, as it primes the water and often has minerals and goodies to keep fish healthy) - Carbonate Hardness (this is my faaaaaaavourite thing in the world as it was such an epiphany when I learnt about it) It's a good thing to get your water tested for - you might have a nice PH but if your carbonate hardess is out, fin rot and the rest will follow. I buy a slightly pricey powder from Aquapix called Carbonate hardness buffer and it keeps my PH at 7 always, and my hardness is perfecto. Haven't had rot since = WIN As for things you can add to the water.... - You can put a little bit of Aquarium salt in to help with minerals, fish that are in mineral rich water keep their minerals in, those in mineral poor water tend to leach their own minerals and loose condition and run down their immune systems. - Shell grit - also handy - Indian Almond Leaves - have a read about those on this forum and online - I swear by them. While you're just over in the Vale - next time you're mobile, you might consider going into Subscape Aquarium, one of their services are (and maybe, free? I can't remember....?) Say Ness sent you and they might do it for nothin' " We offer a comprehensive water analysis service that will help take the mystery out of water issues you might be having. Bring in just 100ml of water and we will test for Nitrites, PH, Ammonia, GH & KH." They also have some nice Halfmoons, CT, Veil tails and Plakats (some Aussie bred too!) Hmmm... what else? I don't cycle my betta tanks.... I just chuck in Decholinator and hardness powder, and a few of the extras like IAL/Salt/Grit and they're good to go. Anyhoo - i'm rambling... nice to meetcha. Get a photobucket account and take LOTS OF PICS... we might even be able to help with diagnosing what's going on with them fins - sounds like rot or melt - might not be. - Ness

Yeah, this will be a really interesting result... Marble roulette!

Boo was divine! I'd happily have had him in my tanks... As for the sad looking betta at the shops - It's a tricky one, and we've addressed it more than a few times on this forum. While I too want to 'rescue' the betta that I see sold at fish stores in cups - I realize that all I am doing is encouraging the trade and sale.... By purchasing this fish you might be saving that individual's life, but you're demonstrating demand to the retailer.... and kind of fueling the fire... I realize it's contentious, and obviously - do whatever your conscious tells you! When I see fish housed like this I have a really hard time biting my lip and walking past fish in 300ml unheated jars (including GIANTS) but all I can do is speak with the manager as politely as un-intrusively as possible, and see if they wouldn't perhaps consider different housing for the sale period. They wont, and don't usually change their tactic, but when you ask about how many they loose in the retail space, and when it's over 60%, you have to wonder how it's profitable. Anyway... sorry for fanning the flame on this, but kinda had to say my piece. Just curious - are there any local Betta groups in your area? Or local breeders? You never know! -Ness

I reckon you could totally get over your target - sky's the limit - think about it.... you know you'd pay just about anyone $15 to shave their head. THIS IS FOR A GOOD CAUSE!

your a good lad matty.... I've contributed - now I want before and after photos! x

Shoot the Lion! I want Can't have One day....

I just moved my room around, painted the walls, and moved the MB fishroom/shelving unit.... I found my disappearing dragon giant female... turns out he didn't eat her.... she jumped a 30 cm sheet of glass (out of 20 cm of water and not much of a run-up) Oh, and she was blind. ....and quite crispy when I found her adhered to my carpet

Welcome Thomas, It's a pretty fun forum, what sorts of fish and the like do you keep? We're gluts for photos - so if you have a photobucket account, it makes us VERRRRRY HAAAAAPEEE (: -Ness

you're allowed to catch nemo?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7A16ddT-jM

Thats a lovely layout Les- it'll grow in really nicely! Nice work

I'd probably spend just about the same on them too.... x

I'm getting fed up i tells ya - little sh.... darlings. MY FAVORITE IS THE MEANEST, and little lacey is my other favourite, at the bottom of the pecking order- and buffy is just a boof head.. GUH They actually seem okay when I have my agro betta ladies all in the sorority mucking around, but EVERYONE is in quarantine while I figure out some weird mouth tumor thing that's going around (whole other story) I'm about to jar my salamanders prematurely to accelerate growth - might just throw the angels back in the 3 foot and look away for a little while. I couldn't bring myself to part with them!.... but more naughty fish, I think I just can't handle. Dilemma! Maybe I'll just end up with little lacey darting around the tank... ugh FISH! I think I'll go back to keeping horses.

I'm curious about how you'll control the PH swing that the wood might create - I just checked my water in the 44 and it's bright yellow - so it the ph reading But I guess that's normal as it's only rain water (right?) I've never had much to do with rain water chemistry.... But the good news is (as mentioned on my angel thread) that the small 60 lt tank I had with some of the not even soaked twigs- are not affecting the ph... because I use Aquapix KH Hardness powder... so it's just locked in. Dus that mean there's some psychotic chemical warfare between the water and the buffer and the sticks? Or is it perfect harmony with rainbows and unicorns? Who knows - all's I know is my smaller tank is stable table. Unlike the temperament of my angel fish. So would that mean I could plonk a heap of this wood into a bigger tank and it wouldnt crash? Maybe I should put some teaspoons of my magic aquapix product in the 44 and see how stable it stays.. overkill--- probably. PS the flash made the reading look a bit blue - it's neutral... TRUS ME

I was a bit concerned that the tea tree branches I used might have started crashing my ph - so Buffy insisted that I do a check - Haven't done a water change, but will do tomorrow... say 25% God, angels are psycho without betta bouncers - they've started turning on eachother! (I can't keep up) the big one was bashing buffy - so I removed it - bloody thing is floating around the sump of my barracks threatening all the breeding males (it's a boof head) but now buffy is giving lacey the evil eye... I've planted out the tank a bit more so they can all hide and chill OUT... ugh - do I get more to keep the peace? ANGELS they are NOT. At least the carbonate hardness buffer is working - god bless Aquapix - it might be expensive but GODDAM it's good.

Lucky it wasn't a picture of a LIGER - they're just wrong burger.

How bizarre... wheres MATT!

Totally unhelpful with this sort of thing - but I'd be tempted to airline siphon it all out and treat with whatever the brains trust here thinks... it was going so well!

nice work - the wallpaper is a nice touch feng shuey shrimps...

Beautiful rocks collected rather illegally from the bottom of mt Bulla (do not recommend) mostly because the boy i was dating at the time thought I was a nut job hauling back a green-bag full of rocks I reasoned with him that the other alternative was he could be dating the kind of girl that liked "shopping" at jewellery stores it didn't work out - he was totally mainstream.