melbournebetta

Woah! They look so grown up in their new homes! I luf Bulldawg, I have a feeling he's got some marble suprises for you (already so different!) Seems like there's a bit of a M.A.S.H theme there - which I'm a bit excited about - my first spawn were all named after the Police Academy Movies! Thanks so much for the post, it's so exciting to see them after Ive parted with 'em! 4 months of daily water changes weren't for nothing (phew) -Ness

now, when you say nutrients in the soil... what... could I improvise and put in the pot that it might like. i have a worm farm i have a vegetable patch i have succulents i even keep maiden hair ferns alive but... this lotus.. it's so... pretty... and ..... so emotional!

POTS! yes,.... pots... and you're right, matt did warn me, so thats okay, isn't it? it's okay that it's melting, it's not me, it's ....what it wants to do. substrate - AGHHH yes... I have more of it, I'll get out the bucket and the wooden spoon and wash it's face off. Good reminders, yes yes.... will do these things tonight... between meetings, when i have this deadline.. looming... days... away.... .why... are... . . . . clients. ... . .so... ..so..... s..... ....... so...... -mentalbreakdownNess

Cheers Ash! So... PEEEPS... Yo.. Plant Problem..... Tiger lotus.. looks, depressed, seems to be milling around the back of the tank in a decidedly emo state, looks like it's melting away - like all my good plants... Bettarazzi says LIGHT.. I say, yeah. it has one. one 2ft tube not enough? it's kinda pink. Now, while I'm going to probably let them waste away like everything else - they are... kind of.... pretty.. what do they want to stay alive? just, you know, incase I wanted to do something about it. -nonchalantNess

Hungry, Believe me, the barracks thing still scares the bejesus out of me too.... BUT I WANT ONE (I digress) Something about the 22 litre mark is actually perfecto for a spawn tank (you'll need one down the track, mwahahaha - but is very big for hospital.....) These Aqua Ones come up lots second hand on the Bay, so don't buy a new one! I find they're a good sorority tank too, but the filtration really needs to be altered, they have a craaaazy spray-bar and it's really too much for betta - they're used to still water or really gentle flow. I have to admit - there are some super cheap tanks at places like Kmart / big W that are anywhere from 12-22 litres, and they're pretty good. The filtration is weak as, so it's actually suitable, and you just need to pop a heater in there and bobs your aunty. With this whole tank / intro to betta thing it might be worth mentioning water. Sounds silly, but I have to say, I've learnt LOTS about water, mostly because I was coming up with so many health issues with my fish. Git yourself a PH test kit - it's handy to know what PH the water is that comes out of your tank... so if you need to buffer it or not. Betta like a stable PH, and are kinda flex about what they need, so long as it's stable. My PH is pretty useless (5.5) so I use CARBONATE HARDNESS POWDER / BUFFER this keeps the hardness of the water stable, and the ph stable at 7 - it's a little investment for big piece of mind (don't never use ph up or down, they don't FIX the water) Also - you might want to look at a little bit of shell grit, and aquarium salt - it's the first thing to throw at an ill-looking fish, mineral rich water helps fish keep their minerals IN - mineral deficient water leaches the minerals out of the fish = sick fish. Another good thing to have on the shelf is Bettafix - it's got lots of goodies to help them put a bit of pep in their step if they're looking a bit flat. And Stress Coat - it's a must! Dechorlinates and treats water to make it fish safe... there is so much junk in council water, it's not funny. So when i add new water, it's got: Same temperature as whats in the tank! 24-26 degreez Carbonate hardness powder (GHz) Tiny bit of aquarium salt Stress coat/dechlorinator When you're establishing the big tank with filtration etc - do a bit of research on CYCLING your tank... there's a few threads on here too that might help. It's a little shopping list, but believe me - you'll save in the long run with sick fish and fatalities (learn from my mistakes!) End of rant! -ProNess

Didja hear that guys? We're the PROS... ohhh yeaaaaah! OH, hi Hungry... welcome and all that.... looking forward to hearing more about what you like about betta - fav colours and tail types etc. There's some talented breeders around if you're looking to stock tanks with lovely fush. Much better than your Local Fish Store numbers. 5 FEET! now THAT's a delicate (re)entry into a hobby... I must say! (Sounds like a premo grow-out tank to me!) x Ness

Shrine, Yeah, it'll be interesting, I would have thought a percentage of them would throw back to normal pecs, but then again if both parents have copies of that mutation - mebbe...... (i ain't no scientist) Can't wait to see how they turn out, a lot of energy is going into promoting them in Thailand, you could be one of our dumbo pioneers. x

Shrine, Yeah, it'll be interesting, I would have thought a percentage of them would throw back to normal pecs, but then again if both parents have copies of that mutation - mebbe...... (i ain't no scientist) Can't wait to see how they turn out, a lot of energy is going into promoting them in Thailand, you could be one of our dumbo pioneers. x

moar I love my super blue ladies, they is the jewels of me tank. x

More pics for Les! I have a few other good detailed macro shots of the girls, but i want to use them for a new thread on choosing females. For now - here are the creative shots from the new tank: Cambodian/red & Super blue Super Blue Copper/melano (top right) my last salamander girl (love her!) and a Super blue They love the camera, and the camera loves them. Madam Salamander and her Turq mate

Nah - hijack away! Driftwood Ive always wanted to buy or source elsewhere, but that nice stuff at the LFS is already ready to go! I've got quite a few of Razzi's super blues, they look so beautiful in the sorority, they neverrrr drop their metallics, even when they're stressed out.. and there is the variety of blues too (Theres a littlel turq girl i'm conditioning for my armadillo AND BF boy) Can't WAIT to get the spawn tanks firing after my return from tasmania mid october. wooooo! x

Lovely fish - can't wait to see how they do in the spawn tank (has anyone had a successful spawn of these from the forum as yet?) I wonder what percentage of the spawn throw big-ears?

yessssssssssssssssssss - can't WAIT !

Wow...they're both lovely fish, and quite good strong colours. Personally if I was going to breed CT's I'd want more of a full shape overall - it's easy to loose the geometry with CT, but it still needs to be there. Keep an eye out - obviously you have access to some amazing fish.... ask your importer to bring in some A grade breeders for you! CT #1 has a short caudal, and dosen't fit neatly into an oval shape... his ray division is uneven - so I wouldn't probably breed him if you were after show fish. CT #2 is really interesting... much better geometry... and a lovely colour now, but with butterfly and marble, you'll get a really mixed bag of fish, and some not-so-sale-able colours However, personally I would breed this fish with a REALLY good female, something with an AMAZING HM spread, and even ray distribution. He might be a fluke, but this quadruple ray (?) is amazing. I've not seen it before. He's a pretty simple fish - so with the right body type, good full finnage on the CT female and even rays, maybe a solid metallic? you might be on the way to some show quality fish. But again - borderline fish - the female will make or break them. (ain't it the truth?) Ness

Nah! whatever! take over (it's semi-relevant) I'm not doing much else with this thread so i don't caaaaaare We were talking a little while back about ...um... ash trees? (ah, now i forget) and Neff used gum (is that right?) for hers.... I guess I could, I just rely now on that nice wood that's had the anubias growing on it from the LFS, i generally can't kill anubias, and the wood's already leaked whatever it was going to and is quite well behaved unlike this silver squiggly expensive bit. bloody thing, and it's white gunk. Maybe a driftwood thread would be good, I don't think ppl would come across this thread when searching for info. OH indecision. i came back and the tank looks much more settled now, the girls are all out and about... more shots on their way Les, thanks for the praise on the photos (; xxNessaRazzi.

Oh you! Co2, Substrate, lighting - it's all German to me.... the fish are having a nice time with the new adventure playground. there are 15 ish ladies in there. I have water. it is nice. I have a 2 foot light. it is bright. i have gravel. it is old. I have ferts, they are fish. This is the survive or perish philosophy, all these plants (bar the lotus and the sword I bought last night) have lived in this tank for several weeks months. they have passed the test. everything else went black and mucky. they did not pass the test. One of the swords are planted in a little gravel pot, it seems to be a nice person with a bright outlook on things, the other one, and the lotus are rootbare. is this bad? i tucked it into a rock. i like rocks. should I elect to put more effort into this tank (unlikely) what would the lotus and amazon want. if they are needy, they die. Hooray! The driftwoods of a chunky persuasion came from various stores with anubias adhered to them. i killed the anubias. (after it flowered quite a lot) now it has java fern. the java fern passes all my tests. the scraggily driftwood i had to take out a small mortgage on my life for, why is it so expensive? this one constantly has white slime, so I have placed it at the back and put a strong jet from my eheim cannister behind it. life is a science experiment.

I just, it's just... Well it's not that exciting, but I haven't had much to contribute lately with the spawn tanks on hold prior to going away.... so here! see my tank! I've had a clutch of plants floating patiently in my sorority, and after the purchase of some more plants at the ASV meet yesterday.... i decided..... it was time. (to embrace substrate) Don't ask me what any of these plants are, I know there's ... java fern, crested java, um.... amazon sword, green tiger lotus. Feel free to ID, or not, I'm easy. The other lovely green things and pink things that have not melted into oblivion, for that, they are commended and placed delicately within the rocky hardscape. Forgive the rubber bands, by this stage i could not be crumpeted doing things aesthetically. ende. x

Listen to Yan, she knows lots, and has gotten me out of more trouble than she probably realizes! x

Fist, You're entering the world of fish keeping WAYYYY more elegantly than I did - I just bought fish, THEN a tank, THEN did the research on how to keep them alive. (idiot) I went through plenty of fish as a teen... those poor goldies!! Stabalizing your Ph is actually easy - there's a powder called carbonate hardness powder that you can buy from most larger LFS, and it buffers the ph wherever you'd like. The ph range for betta is broad, but is best when it's stable (same with water temp) I keep mine at 7 cos thats the powder I buy, my tap water is super soft.... so I just add it to every water change and bob's your aunty. x

Yan!!!! this looks incredible - are you ready for a big shot of the whole tank? i am!

ooOOoooOoooo white... didnt think of white - i likey!

Hey, Welcome to the forum, looking forward to meeting your fish's -Ness

xxxxx