melbournebetta

Les: Obrigado les, quão sensível para você dizer isso na minha língua nativa

THANKS DUDES! I LIKE PEANUTS!

On my birthday I got a job and set up my barracks, it is EMPTY.

JUST SAYING.

Why did I have to see this?

I was just shutting down my miniature grow-out tank thinking - MTS isn't real, I don't need this tank

AND NOW

I WANT THEM ALL

Great setup - do you have some ideas about what lines you are interested in with the betta?

HELLO

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=TCQpqWHCx1Uhttp://www.youtube.c...h?v=TCQpqWHCx1Uhttp://www.youtube.c...h?v=TCQpqWHCx1U

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=TCQpqWHCx1U

...!

It's a tricky one, because he might just be looking at the reflection on the inside of the glass where the water meets the glass (we have fish doing that at shows that are carded in beanies)

You have a few options, i would obstruct his view with a few pinches of gravel or some java moss - or an indian almond leaf would do it (soaked)

Really diluted bleach is good - but a bit of overkill unless the tank had fish in it (even then, still a bit of overkill) I use a combination of bicarb soda and vinegar and rinse and rinse and rinse and.... you get the idea...

Scrub 'er real good and use warm/hot water to save yourself from freezing and loosens the grime much more quickly.

Soak if you can!

Godo to have you back Jon Sno

What are your thoughts on your dream fish to start back with?

What a shmexy little fish - I can't remember who's she is - maybe one of Roys salamander girls?

Lovely little girly -the females are wonderful display fish too I rekon

My largest spawn was 80, and I tried to raise them with the same considerations I had for my others 20-50 odd fry... and they all stunted.

I suppose you need to be prepared to cull for deformity, but I also make the decision at around 4 weeks, who is just not keeping up and would otherwise be eaten/left behind in nature.

But this is not a culling thread - plenty on that.

It's hard to do this without sounding like a bit of a moron, but you should be talking to local fish shops and asking if they would be interested in taking young adult halfmoons if you can grow them out.

Sure, you'll keep some if you want, and then advertise on forums and gumtree if and when you have good stock to sell (you'll sell much more if you are prepared to ship interstate)

Prepare for about 40 fry, by the time you jar them (8-12 weeks) you'll have a fair idea how many you will have to house.

Yes, be prepared - there's nothing more unfair than someone saying OH GOD my fish just spawned! now what!

So you're doing the right thing.

Oh, I've also heard of people keeping just a few fish to grow out and enjoy, and selling off the rest of the spawn, or giving them away - most people would be quite happy to try their hand at raising some young ones without the spawning hassle.

GOODLUCK! we need more greens!

-Ness

I have some footage (i.e. 3 hours of it) and somewhere are the trimmed fish, it's hard to spot, but there are quite a few clues that the mentor judges showed us - all were disqualified from judging.

I find you with a sharp blade and I'ma cut you... xxxxx

Hey BT,

Planning your breeding setup is a great idea, and asking as many questions as possible from those of us that have made the mistakes, might save you some hastle and money in the future, I had a pretty ORGANIC approach to my plan and ended up with more glass and water in my bedroom than actual living space.

From the above description (if correct), it looks like I'll need up to four tanks. Is this where I need to start looking at a canister filtration system? Can they be setup to do all the tanks and possibly a barracks system as well? <br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; background-color: rgb(250, 251, 252);">Cannister filtration is god, they're expensive and if you buy products like eheim, you'll have them for decades (mine is going on 12 years) however it can be over-kill on some tanks, and the water flow is particularly strong.

I can't quite imagine your system without a diagram plan (artist brain) but if it helps, I've usually got a plan of my current setup written down somewhere.

At a very basic level I have the following tanks (all with heaters) and the following filtration

* Community display tank (just for my eyeballs) - Eheim 2217 cannister

* Spawn tank 40 lt (filled only to 12cm for spawning) this also doubles as a primary grow-out until I'm comfortable to move them - this has an airline and a sponge filter bubbling at varying strength for the occasion.

* Grow out tank 80-100 lt depending on size of spawn, This has two large sponge filters and bare bottom, I move the fry at about 2 weeks

* Baine-Marie jarring setup with a large long & low under-bed-storage plastic container, filled with water and one heater in the bottom, where I float jars/boxes/tupperware and do daily changes.

What about heating? A heater for each tank or does the cannister setup look after this for me?<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; background-color: rgb(250, 251, 252);">Cannister won't heat for you - unless you have an "in-line" heater witch is expensive and not really necessary. Heat each tank, that way you can monitor each temp - I'm suggesting you don't actually need a cannister for a betta breeding setup.

<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; background-color: rgb(250, 251, 252);">Jarring - do I look at lots of small containers or can this be a barracks system? With Adelaide winters being particularly cold, no heaters really arent an option. If I go to a barracks (which is my first option, can they be setup to cycle water for filtration and heating? Does this mean another cannister setup or will one system be able to handle all of this? <br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; background-color: rgb(250, 251, 252);">Cannisters are god, but have too much flow to slap into any betta tank directly... I've lost adult size male fighters in the intake of a cannister - HOWEVER if you can put it into some sort of protected sump area that the fish can't get to, it can work.

Some people subscribe to the Growth inhibiting hormone, that means if young fish share the same water they stunt eachother's growth (I think it stands to reason) so I like to separately jar, others have sucessfully grown out in shared water barracks like the Aqua-One betta barracks.

Has anyone had any dealings with Aquarium suppliers in this part of the world to recommend an establishement? I've visited a few and haven't been overly impressed with staff or products. I'm visiting another one this weekend (fingers crossed). Or can anyone suggest a place I can order from that won't kill me with shipping costs?

Have a look through my bad DIY threads, I get tanks made up and go to bunnings and do all the plumbing myself with irrigation supplies.<br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; background-color: rgb(250, 251, 252);"><br style="color: rgb(28, 40, 55); font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; background-color: rgb(250, 251, 252);">In addition to all this, I know I need to come up with a couple of live feed cultures. I'm thinking Grindal worms and Daphnia. Currently the boys are getting a once a week feed of frozen blood worms (which they love). The Grindal worms are cool because I'll be going soiless if I can source a starter culture, but the Daphnia will require their own tank won't they? Any suggestions on what that setup will be and where I can get a starter culture from?|

Starter cultures are pretty available from gumtree, or if you do a shout-out on here most people will send you things - I really like microworms because I can't kill them (VE are good too)

Grindals are stage #2 food, so I'd suggest training yourself to hatch baby brine shrimp too.

GOODLUCK!

The fighters will not do well without stable temp of 26-28 even in the day.... keep an eye out for disease if they've been getting cold at night.

This is the principal of Bain Marie style heating (but not with apron)

Bain marie style heating works for me - this is how:

I get a large plastic storage tub from Kmart/officeworks $20

Then multiple of these, I like the really tall ones that are 1lt each, or taller and BIGGER - beanie boxes work really well too (bit more $) or glass jars - but be careful they aren't in contact with the heater

Poke holes in lid, fill these quite high with water (enough that fish can breathe) then put all of these into the storage box, fill it with water (not higher than the level in your small containers)

Then shove a heater in the bottom of the plastic box.

you have to be careful of evaporation and check the water level every day - you also need to do very regular water changes

Amazing - best for a grow out situation as you can't really see the fish, it's no display tank, but if you want that - look into divided barracks that you can filter and heat.

-Ness

I'd agree with roydy - and be sure to only use wood from the LFS (or online specialty shops) but to be honest any driftwood I personally grab a big plastic storage box and drown for a few weeks outside first.

Shells are pure calcium and calcium affects carbonate hardness by buffering the water to higher and higher pH levels.

So while, yes, the more calcium, the more carbonate hardness you will have it also RAISES pH continuously as it sits in the water.

I've kept a little bit of shell-grit in my tank as a cheap version of carbonate hardness buffer, but knowing full well only a pinch is needed, and that it will be continuously affecting my water chemistry.

The only way to guarantee a pH is by using a carbonate hardness buffer that has calcium and retardants to assure the desired pH.

However if you kept goldfish, I'd suggest using bi-carb all the time and just cranking the pH up weekly, find a dose that keeps the pH up at 7.5 and they'll be happy - weekly a 4 foot goldfish moderately stocked would crash to 6.1 easily.

informashions, I has it.

IMA STARTING THE DID YOU KNOW THREAD, DID YOU KNOW?

I learnt some stuff keeping these fish and working in industry... I was sworn SWORN to secrecy... but I can't be bothered with that.

Here is my knowledges:

Begin

* pH up is bi-carb soda tru

* Ageing your water (letting it sit) is nice, but still needs de-chlorinating (has chlorimine and other baddies)

* Some show betta are trimmed (illegal) Judges disqualify if it is evident - you will also suffer from bad fish karma the rest of your life

* If you can still smell the vinegar of silicone after re-sealing or building a tank, it's too soon for water

* Black substrate is only appropriate for Cichlids or Goldfish (pH yo) unless it's Aquasoil which is a whole other thing

* YO CANT PUT SHELLS IN YOUR TROPICAL FISH TANK YOU N00B

What else?

I really just wanted to reveal that ph is bi carb

secrecy, I don't has it.

I haven't shown Kelson yet - I'm still annoyed he didn't collect us in his hummer on the last night and take us out for a big night on the tiles!

Here is some stupidly rare stuff:

Hey I've just spotted this thread.

Can I suggest you grab a pH test kit rather hastily... that black gravel is a wonderful substrate (for goldfish) but unfortunately it buffers the pH to about 7.5-8 and will be too high for your fighters.

Fist thing would be to test pH..... $10 says it's high and will be the cause of a bit of discomfort (your halfmoon will be the first to show tattered edges I'd suggest)

Just a hot tip... I like the black and have faught for years to find a stable one for fighters.

End of the day, I have brown gravel :~(

-Ness

Hey there, I quite like the africans - I have a secret fantasy about a monster frontosa 8 foot.

.....but that's not before the 12 foot marine wall I build into my new fantasy home... what?? Justin Beiber taught us to never say never.

Hi Levelz, what a great collection you have!

I'm particularly interested in that marble boy with the copper/white/yellow.. amazing colour combo, I've never seen it.

Welcome to the forum - post more pics!

Slowly getting around to editing all the video I took during the Aquarama visit in May this year - if you're going to Singapore, Kelson Betta is a MUST to visit.

Unless you hate fish, then - don't go.

I'm putting together another vid of his SUPER RARE fish - but here are the lovely fighters he has collected from travelling all around asia and hand-selecting fish from breeders (Indonesia / Thailand / Singapore / China & more)

CANT FIGHT GORGEOUS.

Tank wins, now shut up and eat your frozen bloodworm.

brilliant - share away!

Razzo - a mere technicality (and my discus scape is looking a fright, so it HAD to DO)

Are you scaping YOUR tanks for the competition??? HMMMMMM??

Hello & welcome to the forum, sounds like a happy little community you have there.

We're a glut for photos, so if you can hook up a photobucket account we'll love you forever.

Cheers!

-Ness