melbournebetta

Excellent thread, it's great to see what's been and what's currently around... I'm a quiet Killi fan, when I get over this Betta thing I'll surely get some Killis x

Are you maaaaaaaad? (okay)

Riff - are you coming along next Saturday? I'm postponing a trip to Sydney just for it. HMMMMMMmmmmmmmmm? You could take out all the prizes without even trying. x

Oh my god. The colour on the first one is trés beau, i love the dark wild stripe on the dorsal fin, over the dark body and oh - oh - pale blue dragon scale (I'm dribbling, pass me a towel) I wonder what he'd throw in his prodgeny, that kooky marble gene might gift you with a hundred differently coloured fish! I love him BEAUTIFUL body shape. Matching female seems to have non red 2 (orange) CUTE SQUEE GIRLY ....watch out that copper boy is coming home with me at the next dinner Raff!!! Really loving the form on the females - strong bodytype! You've got some really lovely fish - now when are they going in the tank together???? xx

Thanks Les! The boys are the only two I've held onto - the other males were blond (yes I know they're useful) but they all had tattered and deformed tails from a bout of velvet... I still like the original male (dad) so Ive put him in with the girls and isolated the two other boys. No snakeskin (I think??) in the males - only the lace and the metal coming through on the boys I'll look up the PDF Cheers

These are incredible!!! I'd tip happily over into Killies if I could have one or twenty of these!

MT like I said today - i think i might try and find him a RT or DT female (non red) and see what happens - agreed that the topline and ...dammit... the anal and dorsal need more work (volume) but if I find an outstanding female - everything's a maybe. Happy with my little noodle For the record - this is my show pony from the Metallic blue x Super blue spawn: Copper (F3) x Super Blue HM...

Normally I wouldn't just buy a fish for the sake of it, but I was walking through petstock to see their display systems, I'm toying with getting an A1 Barracks, but all the retailers seem to have 20 bay systems which I quite like the look of. Anyway, I saw some half decent crowntails and my interest was piqued, and then I saw this dude, originally lying on his side gasping. I know I know... usually I would say walk away, but I had a moment of weakness and just thought - meh, I like colour. and it's the GFC, he's $9... and sort of delta tail. I shuffled him around and he gave a half hearted flare, with his lumpy topline and 8 ray division (albiet on a delta spread) I just wanted something in my tanks that isn't shredded. Quite like Jarrod's 'rescue' I gave him some IAL, a big feed, and today was rewarded with a huge bubble nest and flaring! He's no beauty pageant winner, but he's REALLY CUTE. (ugh) What have I become? His name is Bruce. Glamor shot You can't see his colour, but he's that really lovely crisp white (dragon or metallic??) over very very yellow (transparent) but no other reds or colour through his finnage... except some darker yella bands in the tail (very inneresting) Maybe I need a Non Red DT girl...? hmmmmmzzz Is he super delta? Maaaaaaybe Stained water etc... but when he's out of quarantine I'll do a little photo shoot with him - he loves the camera, and is so ACTIVE now.... I spoke to the girl in the shop and asked if she could check the heater (cold barracks) and she said there wasn't one. *twitch* I asked her to talk to the manager about popping one of their big heaters in the sump and heating the whole system... They're tropical you know? Are they? Yep... you'll sell them when they're warm, active and energetic... and if you tell people to heat them - they'll stay alive heaps longer! Oh cool, yeah she'll be fine with that, in fact I'll put one in now... cheers, we didn't know. WIN!

There will be moar pics soon as the original pair have just had their second set of fry... in the hatchery now with food stuck in their faces... I tried to capture the mums giving birth.... need to review all the footage first. In the meantime, here are my 2 standout males from the original batch I posted this in the wrong thread before - sorry. Still looking for advice on which of the two males would be useful in a breeding program (and why?) ...for now all the girls are in with their dad, but until they're a little bit bigger and I can choose which of the girls I like best, I won't be keeping anything they drop (they're probably prego with their brother's babies too... there were some pretty lousy boys, I re-homed about 6 average boys) Feed back encouraged! I'm flying blind with these fishus.

My two stand out guppy males - the rest were really damagedby some early velvet so have gone to nice pet homes. Do they has the A.D.D? Press mute if you dont want your ears to bleed.... wonderingif either of these are half as good as dad, if I should be looking forparticular markings / body types / tail types - branching shape etc. x

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Shadoh - I wish, my giants are looking amazing, but they're 1cm long.... my super blue (singluar) is more round tail than D shaped, and everything else has been turned into PK or "crown tail" after spawn efforts... *sigh* no pretty display fush. I am toying with buying one of someone's and just sending it over to the show!!! CHEATER PUMPKIN EATER! If something worthwhile comes up I'll totally enter!

Looks good!

That's annoying - here's some good links if you need them in the meantime http://bettysplendens.com/articles/catview.imp?catid=854 http://www.victoriabetta.com/care-sheet.html

Hey Kitz, Some plants need roots to be planted in aquarium soil or anchored in gravel - personally I don't bother, I can't keep up with water changes and gravel, any plants I have that want potting have their own little bowl with gravel and appropriate soils that I can work around but I'm a bare bottom tank fan. Bubbles They way you're describing the tree, sounds like there's netting for the java to sit underneath, it really just wants an anchor or something to hold it down, it won't need anything to cling to to survite - just nutrients from the water and suitable lighting to promote growth. Just make sure the netting isn't too loose as betta are crafty little buggers and love getting caught in things - if they can't get to the surface cos they're stuck, they drown. (:

They have pretty strong pumps in, there's an adjustable lever on the side to reduce the flow - look for that first. Otherwise do as I have in the past and get some filter wool (very loose and allows water to flow through, but disperses the force) I place it over the spray holes and very loosely wrap it with cotton, loose you hear me! Tight and it won't allow any flow through. We all need flow

dt?

I've got my people 'on the ground' keeping me up to date with new Betta that come into stock at Subscape Aquarium (.com) I know they have some blue halfmoons, but I was waiting for some colourful crowntails to tell you about. They aren't in as yet - will let you know. JHA is a user on this forum with some great fish too - particularly if you'f like a female sorority - but I would suggest starting with 1 or 2 males, there's something majestic about two boys flaring! Goodluck! x

shiny

cant get them to sit still so heres a vide-yo

happened to me yesterday. i got annoyed and left the forum. annoyed. then went home and made me some special coffee (on the rocks thx) works again today. oh well.

Emma, You made it to the forum - Welcome! I responded to your questions on the Vic Betta Facebook page, but it's probably best we look at your journey via this forum, you'll get so much more out of the whole community of betta keepers. Where abouts in Victoria are you? There's a great fish shop in Richmond that I'd recommend visiting (infact there's two) I'm just waiting to hear back form them about when the new shipment of Crowntails are coming in (they get the most amazing colours!) And I know they have some Blue halfmoon males in at the moment too. There's a few people setting up tanks at the moment, so have a peek at the other introduction threads, there might be something helpful there too. (: Welcome! xNess

Hey Kindu, Lots of helpful advice on here - I've gone the other way around and started breeding guppies after Betta! (you're right - SO MUCH FUN!) Betta are a totally different ballgame, and if you enjoy watching fishy behaviour for hours, you're going to love these guys - grab a photobucket account and share the photos, we're gluts for pics. Cheers -Ness

Hey Muss, Welcome to the forum, I would suggest the two mighty beasts that you have are: Sushi: Metallic Cambodian-based multicolour (i.e. pale body, metallic white opal coverage, over red and blue fins with some white) Godzilla: Spread iridesence blue (Steel / Teal / Royal / Metallic ?) with red wash (i.e. black body, black face, blueish body and blue fins with a touch of red in the anal fin, gills and ventrals - visible if you shine a light behind him) They're both Veiltail varieties. I'd be keeping an eye on the shape of Godzilla's tail - he's either bitten or suffered from fin rot at some point in his life... if the shape changes, or the edges get ratty - you might need to investigate medication - otherwise he's just got a stumpy. Setting up a tank and doing the research is great fun, there are some things you really want to get right, and firstly (I'm a stickler for it) is water chemistry. Just about all betta issues will be borne of water quality - and the thing is, it's not just fresh from the tap, that's just not good enough. As a first time fish keeper I would suggest a few test kits would be your best friend - they're an investment, but if you plan on keeping fish, you'll be grateful for them every time! I have a PH, Carbonate Hardness, Ammonina, Nitrite / Nitrate kit - these water parameters are everything when it comes to diagnosing issues... well.. no, that's not true - but it helps. There's a few other things you can add to the water such as aquarium salt, indian almond leaf (highly recommended) and shell grit (for calcium and minerals) You also want the super basics like Dechlorinator, Prime, and if you like - Cycle (which is like a kick-start so you don't have to "cycle" your tank) I never leave home without a powder called Carbonate hardness powder - it locks my PH and carbonate hardness so my fish never experience huge swings of these parameters and I rarely have sick fish. (had my share, it's heartbreaking) The other big deal is temperature.... it needs to be stable, somewhere between 25-28 degrees... stable is key. Sounds like I'm telling you to go and spend a bucket of cash, but really these things last for ages, and the investment means you'll secure the health of your fish as best you can! I often point people in this direction for a general care sheet: http://www.victoriabetta.com/care-sheet.html Another great site is betty splendens: http://bettysplendens.com Best of luck with the pair and the new setup. -Ness