Unique Tank

Random update

2010-01-28T17:44:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I guess I wasn't really back last time, and I know I'm not back this time (because I have no fish). The ones I mentioned last time got sick and died (typical pet store fish). So I'm waiting for breeder spawns to hatch (which won't likely happen until spring). We just moved into a house, though, so now we'll have plenty of room for my fish tanks, and I plan on trying my hand at breeding.

I'll keep you guys updated (that is, if anyone's still out there).

I'm back

2009-04-12T16:20:00.000-07:00

Ya, I know, haven't posted in a while. All my fish died over the winter, when my landlord didn't think fixing the heater was a priority. I was waiting for a breeder to come out with some females so I could start up my sorority again, but she's cut down on her breeding, and I got impatient.

So I bought a few males from PetSmart the other day, and they seem to be doing ok so far. I looked them all over carefully in the store, but you never know what pet store fish might develop. Anyways, I'll post pics as soon as I can find my camera again, since I just moved and it's buried somewhere.

I might not manage to update as often as I used to, though, even now that I have something to talk about. It's been quite an eventful school year for me (getting engaged and finding out I'm pregnant being the most interesting events) so I have quite a few other things to worry about right now.

As always, if you have any questions feel free to e-mail me and I'll send you a response as well as posting it here so other people have access to the information. Other than that, I'll see you when I get around to posting again.

Making care booklets, anyone want to help?

2008-03-27T15:11:00.001-07:00

If you don't want to read this monster of a post:
I'm
making two booklets, one of general care and another directed at people
working in pet stores to try and convince them to take better care of
their bettas. Any ideas you guys have about content and any pictures
you'll let me use would be great. These will be for free distribution
and I will post them as PDFs when they're done so you guys can print
them and distribute as you please.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Alright...
so I go to pet stores a lot... I'm sure I'm not the only one. It's like
"I have ten minutes to kill... hey, pet store!" and then I spend more
money and tend to come home with a new fish... and it's all bad.

Anyways.
Recently, I was standing in PetSmart staring at their female bettas.
They were in with some other fish that obviously weren't the best tank
mates and they all had really, really dark stress marks. My boyfriend
comes up behind me and says "no", which is a fairly common occurrence.
"But look at them! They're so stressed..." to which he said something
that has been bouncing around in my head ever since "So don't buy them.
They'll just keep buying more so long as they sell." Now, I already
knew this, it just hadn't really sunk in... because really, staring at
those poor fish, what could I possibly do other than buy them? It's the
same with the males, even though every single male I've ever bought
from a pet store has died within the month - usually within the week -
due to a combination of ich and columnaris, usually.

Then
yesterday I stopped into the pet store near my work on the way home and
was caught staring at the bettas. The lady working there walked up and
asked if I wanted to buy one and seemed kind of surprised when I said
no... because I had been standing there playing with one of them for
about five minutes already (gorgeous... almost black body, royal blue
fins... I wanted him...) so I explained that every pet store fish I buy
dies. Then she asked where I get my fish - Big Al's, breeders - and I
tried to tell her a few ways they could keep the fish healthier for the
week they're usually hanging around the store. She obviously didn't
know much about bettas, but she seemed concerned.

So that got me
thinking... if I made a booklet about this stuff - highlighting the
main problems with how bettas are kept in pet stores - something might
come of it. The higher-ups might not care, but at the level of the
employees actually working in the stores it's generally just ignorance.
I plan to give it to whoever I see working in the stores and somehow
make it clear that I'm not trying to make them stop selling and it will
be beneficial to them to not have their fish dying all the time. People
kind of like pets that live.

While I'm at it, I thought I might
make a simple "caring for your betta" booklet to distribute for free to
new owners. I'm sure at least some of the smaller stores won't have a
problem handing them out for me.

Now that I've said all that...
I need some input. Anything you think I should include would be great,
as well as some pictures of the most common ailments among pet store
fish. I plan to put these online somewhere as PDFs that you guys can
print them out aswell, once I have them done.

I'm about to start a list of things to include right now... just so I can be sure not to miss anything.

And
I won't take offense to you guys tearing my idea apart, if you feel
like it... so long as you don't take offense to me fighting back.
Arguing is one of my favourite pastimes ^^

Technorati Tags: betta, care, booklet, free, help

Maddi died...

2008-03-24T14:03:00.000-07:00

I have no clue why... she was acting strangely... but I have no clue why, and now she's dead. She was totally my best fish - total brat, but definitely had the most personality out of the bunch. I knew it was too much of a risk to put her in the sorority. I don't think she got killed by the others - she was the alpha - internal parasites, maybe? That's what I'm treating the tank for for now. None of the others are clamped or acting strangely yet, which were the only symptoms she showed.

So... ya... I think I'm going to carve her a little tomb stone decoration that'll go in my sorority tank. She deserves it. It's not like I haven't lost other fish before, and I do get upset over the others... but this was Maddi! I don't think I'll ever find another like her...

Anyways, using Jungle medicated fish food and aquarisol on the tank right now, going to try and find some Maracyn later...

Another Update

2008-03-19T21:54:00.001-07:00

So after getting home from work I started doing water changes and stuck that new tank in the tub and filled it with water - 20 gallons! If it doesn't leak, it should be perfect for breeding, there'll be enough room to leave the fry in there much longer and just keep adding more water as they grow.

Also picked up another male... he's from the pet store, and I named him Glorp... because I'm exhausted and that's what I ended up calling him XP. I added melafix and extra salt when I put him in his new home... and I'll still be surprised if I wake up tomorrow and he doesn't have ich or columnaris. The water in the pet store obviously hadn't been changed in a while and it smelled funny, as well as being yellowish...

Update

2008-03-19T09:32:00.001-07:00

Sorry... again, I've been so insanely busy... I'm trying to catch up and keep up with school work, and portfolio time is coming up, and I'm applying to other schools and looking for a summer job and... and... *collapses*

But I figured I should update you guys.

My sorority tank seems to be doing well. There's some nipping, but they seem to be doing ok. I still want to add in more girls but I don't have any others I can add in - Maddi's sisters are too aggressive and all my other females are suffering from diseases I don't know how to diagnose.

I did manage to acquire a breeding tank, though. It's so cool ^^ six-sided, about a foot and a half wide and like two and a half tall. It'll be my breeding tank once I clean it and set it up... the previous owner lost all her fish and just left the tank sitting there for weeks on end, so it definitely needs some bleach and elbow grease. I also want to make sure it doesn't leak, there's a fairly large crack in the bottom that has been repaired. I'm guessing it holds about ten gallons, and it would not be fun if it exploded on me one day.

Once I get that set up, I'm going to have to go on a search for males... preferably from breeders or other betta owners who can't take care of them... I still haven't had any luck with pet store bettas, unfortunately. They always get columnaris!

So... um... I think that's all I have to say. I'll try to update more often.

Sorority Tank

2008-03-12T19:23:00.001-07:00

So, as I said, I have gotten the sorority tank going. Here are the pics I promised. The top one shows the whole tank - and I'm pretty sure you can see all the fish too, if you look hard enough. The slideshow is just the same as always - mouse over to see any of the pictures properly, click to see them full sized.

The girls (in pecking order):
Maddi (big red one, you've already met her)
Big Blue (the bigger of the two blues)
Runt (little reddish one... orange/dragon mix, I believe)
Little Blue (the smaller blue one)
Silk (a.k.a. that little white one)

Not very original names, I know... but often I start calling them something before coming up with a real name and it just sticks. That last image of Runt is my fave... she's so cute ^^

Anyways, they seem to be getting along. I tried adding in Specks and Iri, but they're too aggressive, which is strange because when I had my three original girls (Maddi, Specks and Iri) together, Maddi was the most aggressive. In some of those photos you can see them chasing each other... Maddi chasing Big Blue and Little Blue chasing Silk... but there hasn't been any damage yet. Silk has a bite taken out of her tail, but she was like that when I got her. She also spends a lot of time hiding - there's a pic of her hiding in that slideshow, too, see if you can find her. You might also have noticed that some of them look a little bloated... I haven't gotten the hang of how much to feed them yet.

One kind of pellets in my inventory are too big for any of them to eat all at once... and I love watching them eat them... they all grab one and dart off to their caves and then repeatedly let go of their pellet and attack it again until it's gone... so amusing...

Only other thing I wanted to talk about was how I decorated the tank. Went out and got some more gravel and buried an air stone in the front left corner. Then I went to Sears and found a whole bunch of mugs on sale for $1 each, so I bought six of them. That log ornament in the middle was on sale at WalMart for less than $10, and I got the plants mostly on ebay, though some were donated by other betta owners who didn't need them anymore.

So it really didn't cost me much to set up this tank. Got the tank, lid, light, gravel, filter and aerator along with a bunch of other useful stuff for under $50 from a friend and the decorations cost me around $30 all together. It may seem over planted, but female bettas like crowded tanks, they need places to hide from each other.

Testing

2008-03-10T21:26:00.001-07:00

Just testing out a new firefox add-on. If I like it, this'll probly make me likely to update more often... I've kinda fallen behind.

Sorority Tank!

2008-03-10T09:09:00.000-07:00

Alright... bad news first. I lost two of the girls that got shipped to me and two others are still sick... hoping I won't lose them too.

But, me being impatient, I can't wait for them to all get better before starting my sorority, even if it means extra work in the future if I want to add more fish in eventually. So, I bought two more females yesterday and stuck them in the 12 gallon tank with two of the females I got from Ontario Betta. They seem to be getting along fine... which is good, because that tank is so stuffed with hiding places that I don't know what I'd do if they still couldn't get away from each other when they needed to.

I want to put my three original females in, but they're really big now, so I'm going to wait for the new girls to grow up a bit and then see if I can add in the older girls.

I'll try and get you guys some photos later.

Got the girls!

2008-03-05T19:18:00.000-08:00

Ok, so they finally came. The five girls I ordered plus two extras that Ashley (from Ontario Betta) decided to throw in. They're all alive, despite the delay. They were supposed to be shipped overnight, meaning they should have been here yesterday, but I assume the delay was due to the weather.

Anyways, they're alive and seem to be ok for the most part... which is better than I expected with that delay. Still, one of them appears to have dropsy, which I have never dealt with before, and it's usually caused by kindney failure, which means there isn't really a cure. Another has some cuts (I think they're cuts... I hope they're just cuts...), which should be ok with clean water and aquarium salt and I suspect that a third may have ich, but that should also clear up with the salt.

Now... I have school work to do... I'll keep you guys posted.

Blarg

2008-03-05T10:15:00.000-08:00

Still really busy, as I'm sure you guys guessed. Still, felt I should update you guys, let you know I haven't forgotten about you.

So those five females I keep hoping will get shipped soon? Ya, they got shipped on Monday... but they were supposed to get here yesterday, and they haven't. So according to the tracker, they're on their way here now... but alive? I'm not sure yet. And I'm about to run off to work until 8... so... we'll see.

A whole week!

2008-02-28T14:42:00.000-08:00

Sorry, I've been kind of busy with college applications and whatnot. I still am, but I'm taking five to post on here because I haven't in a while.

So... I'm dealing with a lot of fin rot lately. Been doing daily water changes instead of every second day as usual and adding aquarium salt. And... I don't really have much else of interest to report. I've ordered a lot of plants for my 12 gallon and they should be coming soon, and those five females should be coming (finally) on Tuesday, because we finally have a few days of above zero coming.

Other than that... I donno, give me something to talk about. I might not manage to post features tomorrow, we'll see... definitely don't have time to do it today.

Update

2008-02-21T13:34:00.000-08:00

I was so preoccupied with bad news and features that I forgot to say everything else I had to say! So now that I'm done those water changes, I'm posting again.

I moved Maddi to the 12 gallon by herself for now. She has always had a chronic case of fin rot in the .5 gallon, even when I change her water every day, so hopefully she'll do better in there. When the other five females come, I'll take her out temporarily before putting all eight females in together. Don't have to worry about her claiming territory because there are only a couple decorations in there right now, and I'm going to be adding tons of plants before putting all the girls in, so she won't recognize it. I have a couple live plants and tons of silk ones on the way, so by the time I get the fish and quarantine them for a week I should be all set.

I should be (finally) getting those five other females in the next week. I'm getting to be less and less of a fan of winter. I don't normally mind it all that much... but it's keeping me away from my fishies.

Also, I'm moving Sky to the 2.5 gallon. Alpha's not happy to give up his tank... but Sky is so jittery about everything, I don't want to freak him out with water changes every second day.

And... I joined Technorati. So if you've got an account, there's a link to fave this blog on the left.

Features

2008-02-21T11:21:00.000-08:00

So I lost Spike last night... didn't even have a chance to get rid of that ich and show you guys some pictures first... and I'm not really sure what caused it. Only had a couple spots from ich in the morning, was dead when I came home late at night. It looked like columnaris, but I've never seen it move that fast before.

Anyways... in an attempt to be more cheery, I'm posting features a day early.

The first image is by Daniella Vereeken and was actually one of the ones I was considering using in the layout when I redid it, but it didn't match. Just something about the way he's looking right at you always gets me. And his colours are really neat.

The second one is by Zara and it's just really cool. I don't really have much more to say about it.

And the last one, which is by Spyzter, is neat too. Check out the rest of his photos - the bowl makes them look really neat.

And that's it... I've gotta go clean my tanks.

Fin Rot

2008-02-19T20:49:00.000-08:00

With all the holidays happening around here (Valentines for real on the 14th, then Valentines with me and my bf on the 17th, then his birthday today) I've been exhausted most of the time and busy the rest. The result being me falling behind on water changes... and the result of that being fin rot for Maddi. She tends to be prone to it... and I figured she'd be fine until I get her and the others in the sorority tank. But this morning she had fin rot again. So I stuck her in the 12 gallon by herself for now because I didn't have time to do anything else. She seems to be improving already, though. I might leave her in there until the other fish come (next week hopefully) and then take her out, add the decorations and put all of them in.

Um... ya, just an update. Not really any useful info there for you guys. Open to questions as always, though.

Buying Bettas from a Pet Store

2008-02-18T07:43:00.000-08:00

Alright... so we all know how tempting those rows of little cups can be - and sometimes in our eagerness we concentrate too much on the colours and finnage and forget about things like health. I always pick the most active, colourful betta I can find - and yet every fish I have ever bought from a pet store has gotten ich. For that reason, I've decided to add salt to the water of any new fish for at least the first week.

Some signs of a healthy fish:
-Bright colours - an unhealthy fish will often get pale and develop stress lines (horizontal lines from nose to tail)
-No signs of disease - keep an eye out for clamped fins, cottony patches, ich, damaged fins and anything else that seems out of place. Last time I was at a pet store, most of their bettas had fin rot (i.e. edges of fins are red or black, there may also be holes in the fins or they'll look deformed). If you're looking for a rescue, make sure the fish isn't too far gone to rescue. Things like fin rot are usually cured with clean water, but things like columnaris (cottony patches) are fairly fast killers and contagious.
-Look for one that's active - swimming around, but not darting around (darting is a symptom of ich and a few other things)

And... good luck ^^

If you go to PetSmart, I don't know if this is all of them, but the one near me has blue water in the betta cups for some reason... I suspect it's ich meds, but if that's the case then why do all my fish get ich? I'll try to remember to ask someone next time I go - and if anyone else finds out before me, please tell me.

Hum... felt like I should say something...

2008-02-16T20:00:00.000-08:00

... but I don't have much to say.

I've been too busy planning for Valentines (Devin and I are celebrating tomorrow) to find photos to feature, so that'll start next week... not that anyone's suggested any.

And... hum... I still haven't taken photos of Spike, I'll do that over the next week sometime hopefully. Sky made a bubble nest today ^^ so proud of the little guy - and Alpha's bubble nests are getting bigger all the time. I'm not going to try breeding until I have a bit more money and it's a bit warmer in case I have to ship any of the offspring.

Stupid weather - it was supposed to warm up this week, but it doesn't look like it's going to. So I have to wait even longer for my females. I'm starting to get quite a collection of plants for their tank, though, and I'm gonna go buy some nice mugs to use as caves later.

Oh! There's something I've been meaning to post: what is generally safe to put in your tank.

Anything sold as dinnerware has to be high enough quality that it's safe for us to eat out of. So it's safe enough for the fish, too. I generally don't use anything that isn't dishwasher safe, but a lot of people don't worry about that rule and are perfectly fine, it's just a comfort level thing for me. Also, terracotta pots work really well, just plug up the hole in the bottom so no one will get stuck.

Photo Features!

2008-02-12T14:40:00.001-08:00

Alright, so I've been meaning to start this up, I just wasn't sure how. And now I've figured out how... so here it is:

Every week (or maybe every two... depends how well this works out) I'm going to feature three new photos. These might be photos I find on Flickr or dA or some other photo site, or they might be photos from you guys that you've sent me, or photos that you guys have found somewhere. I'm looking for good photos of bettas - any kind, any gender, any age. The more original the photo is, the more likely I am to feature it. Once I've chosen photos to feature, I'll post them and give credit to the person who took the photo as well as the person who found it - unless it's me, because that's just redundant.

So... if you've got photos, or know someone else who has photos, link me.

I think I'll start doing features every Friday or something...

Spike has ich

2008-02-12T06:40:00.000-08:00

So I was going to post pics of Spike this morning, but apparently he has ich (why do all my new fish always get ich?) so I've added salt to his tank (1/2teaspoon per gallon) and I'm keeping it dark and hopefully he'll get over it in the next few days.

Heating

2008-02-11T20:19:00.000-08:00

So, being in Canada, it gets kinda cold in winter... and my house can get a little chilly. Right now my fish are all getting kinda pale and showing stress lines (horizontal lines from head to tail) because they're colder than they're used to. They're all in small tanks, so it's not as easy as turning up the heater - I can't even put a heater in with them for the most part. Last time this happened, I floated them in a heated tank - but I don't currently have the means to do that. So I put them as close to the heat vents as I could manage... and they seem to be doing a bit better.

If you're having heating troubles, too, here are a few ideas that might be useful:

-Get a larger tank or just a big container of some sort - a Tupperware container works fine - and put your smaller tanks in that. Then fill it up with water so that it's near the top of the smaller containers and stick a heater in (remember the thermometer!). It will warm up the larger container of water, which will warm up the smaller ones.

-A spacial heater, if you already have one lying around the house, might be the most cost-effective solution, just make sure you're around to keep an eye on the temperature.

-You can get heating pads that are meant to be used for reptiles, but work fine for fish if you keep an eye on them (or so I've heard). Just make sure you have a thermostat attached to it and it's set up properly so you don't cook your fish.

-There are also lights and mats used for heating germinating seeds that would work for heating tanks - but again, keep an eye on the temperature.

Amusing diagram of useful knowlege

2008-02-10T17:47:00.000-08:00

Just thought someone else might be as amused by that as I was. It's the best diagram I've found... because it's not boring, and it's useful information, too.

I also got a new fish yesterday. Spike... he's blue and red and just cool-looking in general because he's a crowntail. I'll post pics later.

Small tanks

2008-02-08T15:00:00.000-08:00

Ok... so I figure it's time I tackle this issue. Small tanks are acceptable to a point - and they require a lot more care to keep up without your fishie getting sick. Stores and companies will often try to sell you a smaller tank, saying that it's perfectly fine to keep them in that small area because it mimics their natural habitat... at the same time as saying that you only have to do a water change somewhere between once a week and never. All my half gallons came with instructions, and they all said to change the water once a week - when with a half gallon you should be doing water changes every second day or every day.

Frequent water changes can also be stressful for the fish, because they're being taken in and out of the water all the time. A solution to this is to use a small scoop rather than a net. I found mine at PetSmart, though I'm sure they can be easily made (tell me if you figure out how, and I'll post a how-to giving you credit). It pretty much looks like a clear plastic pipe, so you can scoop out the fish along with a bit of water. Still stressful, but not as stressful.

Another solution taking a large tank (like 20gallons) and putting in dividers (cheapest are made out of plastic craft canvas), then you have to take into account the fact that there are more fish but you can also filter. Or you could set up betta barracks - though this is only practical if you have lots and lots of fish. However, both of these methods involve sharing water. So make sure you keep an eye out for diseases and whatnot - because if one gets it, they're all likely to get it, and fifty bettas with ich is not fun.

Some fish will get so stressed that they start losing fins after water changes... these are the ones you don't want in a little tank. If possible, keep him/her in a larger, cycled tank.

Next step up is a 1 gallon or a 2.5 gallon. Still too small to bother filtering, in my opinion, and water changes should happen once a week. If you're looking to filter, I think 5 gallons and up is what you need (though the only filtered tank I have is a 12 gallon). You can get kits that have a tank, filter and light included, for about $20-30 depending on the size, and they tend to come with free samples of food and purifier too (though don't count on it).

Now, on to the worst of them all. Betta in a vase.

Pretty, right?

This is a fairly big craze these days... and I'm not saying you should totally discard the idea, just that you should use some sense. Most people buying these set ups are being told that it's the perfect, hassle-free live centerpiece. These vases are typically a half gallon or less, and the companies making money off this craze are saying that you don't need to do water changes or even feed the betta - the plant will take care of it. This is completely wrong. For one, bettas are carnivores, so you will need to feed them pellets. They may eat the roots, as the companies are saying, but they can't survive off of them and will still end up starving to death - as well as killing the plant. For two, water changes are still necessary, the plant may even pollute the water more depending on what it is. Also, the vase is too small to share between a betta and a plant. If you're going to do this, I suggest at least a 1 gallon vase (that's four liters), and a fake plant... or one that's made to live in water. Otherwise it's likely to start rotting because it's not made to live in that much water, and then you'll have a nice deadly tank.

And lastly, make sure your tanks have lids, or the water level is kept a few inches from the top. Bettas can and will jump, and you don't want your fish to be flopping around on the floor. Any questions, comments? Everyone going to run off and do a water change now?

Suggestions

2008-02-08T13:45:00.001-08:00

Just wondering what info you guys would like to see. If you've got questions, I can usually find answers - though checking out forums might be better for more urgent questions. Not only do you usually get a quick reply, you get multiple replies and opinions based on different experiences. I usually reply quickly, since I'm usually on the computer about 10 hours a day, but forums are still a better resource. If you're in emergency mode, though, there's no harm in sending me an e-mail or replying to a post on here. If I'm on, you'll get info quickly.

Anyways, here's what I've been planning to post, tell me if there's anything else you'd like to see:

-Anatomy/Fin Types
-Diseases/cures
-Ideal tank readings
-Sorority tank how-to (putting that off until I get mine up and running so I can add in anything I encounter along the way)
-Gallon to cleaning schedule ratios
-List of Breeders (might just link someone for that one...)
-Some simple DIY decorations

... that's all I can think of right now. I'm like halfway through researching most of those topics, so I'll get them up eventually...

Alpha and his bubble nest

2008-02-08T12:23:00.000-08:00

Alright, so I keep on saying I'll add photos of Alpha... and here he is. He's much happier since I moved him to the 2.5 gallon - he's much bigger than any of my other fish, so he needs the extra space. In the 1 gallon he just kinda... sat there... But now he's happy and I had fun taking pictures. He even flared at the camera! Unfortunately I wasn't focused properly and that photo's just kinda a blur... so it's not here. I'll try and get another one sometime.

And yes that's a beer bottle, even though beer is disgusting... I needed to put something in the tank and the bottle was there XP If you're going to use that idea, make sure you clean out the bottle really well and fill it part way with gravel or something, especially if you don't have any ground cover, and fill it with water.

And today I came home and went to feed him and there was a bubble nest! It's not a very big one, but I've never seen one in person before... so I was really excited. I'm going to try breeding him... with Maddi, I think... when I have the space and time. Also have to wait for a little tear in one of Maddi's fins to heal - think it was a bit of an ammonia burn, I didn't have time to do any cleaning on the day I normally would have cleaned all the tanks out so I had to leave it an extra day.

Layout

2008-02-07T12:17:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I updated the layout to make it more fishy. All the photos I used were found by doing a CC search on Flikr... and I think I'm going to start featuring photos in my posts, because some of those photos are awesome!

Anyways. Credits.

The layout is still the one designed by Douglas Bowman. So he deserves credit for that one, even if I did change the images.

Here are the three photos I used, click on them to see the profiles of the people who shot them:

And there you have it... all I did was take those photos and the original images from the layout into photoshop and fool around for like half an hour. So they deserve the credit, not me.

Tip re: Water Purifier

2008-02-07T11:14:00.000-08:00

So, one thing I've been looking into lately is water purifier. I tend to use AquaPlus and BettaPlus - which are exactly the same thing, so far as I can tell (please correct me if I'm wrong) except that Betta Plus is diluted to make it easier to measure out for use in smaller tanks. The catch is that because BettaPlus is specifically made for use with bettas, they get away with charging a lot more and only selling it in small bottles, which don't even last me a week.

So I switched to AquaPlus - it's cheaper and comes in bigger bottles. The problem was that with BettaPlus, measuring had been easy - 1 cap full (1 teaspoon) for every 2 liters (.5 gallon). With AquaPlus, it's 1 cap full (still 1 teaspoon) for every 10 gallons, and I only ever purify one gallon at a time because that's the size of the containers I use and what I find to be easily manageable.

Solution?

Find an empty water bottle and put in 1 tablespoon of water for every gallon. So my purifier says 1 teaspoon for every ten gallons, which means I'll put ten tablespoons of water into the water bottle. Then add the amount of purifier you would use for that number of gallons (1 teaspoon in my case). You can repeat this until the water bottle is full if you want, just make sure to keep the ratios right.

Then, every time you need to purify a gallon of water, you add 1 table spoon of the solution in the water bottle.

And of course you can modify the numbers to suit your needs. Just remember to double and triple check your math.

Just a post...

2008-02-06T09:06:00.000-08:00

Ya, felt like writing something. So Alpha's doing fine. He wasn't eating for a while, but now he is, plus he's getting his colour back. I'm going to move him to a 2.5 gallon later - my other fish are all fairly small, but he's like twice their size and I think he'll be happier in a bigger tank. I've also been hearing from his previous owner that he's great at making bubble nests - and I've been meaning to try breeding. So maybe he'll be the male I use. Sky is still too young to use for breeding, I think. I'll post pics of Alpha later once I have him settled in the 2.5 gallon.

And Sky has got his colours back, so more pictures of him will be posted soon. I liked his previous colours better - but at least now I know he's happy. He's a solid turquoise-blue colour now, where as before he looked more like a blue/purple-ish iris. That little guy makes me smile all the time, he's so full of energy.

It's getting there...

2008-02-04T08:00:00.000-08:00

So I got Lisa over here on Saturday to help me set up the 12g. She's the one I bought it off of, so set up went a lot faster with her help. I'm sure I could have figured it out on my own... but then I might have made some tiny mistake somewhere that made it not run smoothly.

So I now have a huge tank full of water... still need six more caves and a lot of plants. I bought some tumbled stones at Michaels and got some aquarium sealer and was planning on making some caves with that (using the sealer as glue) but when I got home I realized the stones said "not for use in aquariums". So learn from my mistake and read the fine print before buying these things. If it was summer, I'd just head to the beach and find my own rocks... stupid Canadian winter... but now I've wasted like $15 on useless rocks. They're not even anything worth putting in my old stone collection (that has been sitting under my bed untouched for two years now).

So, I'll continue my cave search... and if anyone has any plants or caves to donate, let me know. I'll pay shipping. Right now I have two clay pots in there as caves, but I need more. There should be one cave for each betta - and I think I'm going to try putting in all eight and I'll pull out the more aggressive ones if there's a problem.

I'm also looking into bottom feeders to cut down on the work I have to do. I wanted a little catfish, because catfish are cool, but they don't like temperature fluctuations too much - or rather they like them less than most fish - and with the thermostat in my house being constantly fiddled with, sometimes my heater can't keep up. So corries are being recommended - but I really don't like them that much.

So... ya, that's my update.

As for next year when I run off to a different city for school... my half of the dorm room will be a box of clothes, a bed and the rest will be covered with clothes XP I can do homework on campus somewhere, right? The rate I'm going, I'll have my 12 gallon and like ten half gallons. Really, so long as I can find a place to set up the 12g, I should be able to find space for the others easily enough - and most dorm rooms have a desk... I should be able to share a desk with a 2'x1' tank.

My mom doesn't think I'll manage. But I always do.

Sky

2008-02-01T15:03:00.001-08:00

Ok, so this is like the best "slideshow" template photobucket has come out with yet and I'm going to change all my fish slideshows to this style. Mouse over the pictures to see them properly.

So this is Sky, my new male. He's tiny, barely an inch long (not including fins), but he's still a baby. And I think he's absolutely gorgeous. The pictures don't even do him justice. I wanted to call him Sunset or Iris because that's what he reminded me of... but somehow I started calling him "Sky" for lack of another name and now I can't convince myself to call him anything else. I tried, I just forget.

I was also supposed to get Alpha today, he's a male in the area who needed a home... but we had a pretty nasty snowstorm, so I'll be getting him on Sunday.

And... I bought some females from Ontario Betta. There were two solid orange ones! So excited! I also got two dragon/orange crosses and one blue one. So that's three females I already have, plus five more on the way - and the owner of the site said she might even toss in a couple more because they need homes. I finally got started on actually setting up that 12 gallon, too. So it'll be ready when they come. I think I'm still only going to put 6 in there, though, 8 might be pushing it.

But I'm so excited! Everyone over here is laughing at me because I can't stop talking about my fish tanks!

So... ya, that's all, I think. Check out Ontario Betta if you're looking for fish (and you're in Ontario), and join the mailing list. It's one of the better sources for fish in Ontario, in my opinion.

New fish!

2008-01-31T08:01:00.000-08:00

So I got a shipment of fish the other day from the amazing Pandora. It was four young males and unfortunately only one survived (it's kinda cold up here right now...) but he's gorgeous. Named him Sky, and I'll post some pictures later. I kinda went to bed an hour and a half later than planned yesterday because I was doing water changes and then couldn't resist picking up a camera. Don't know how many of the photos are actually in focus, but we'll see.

Also planning on (finally) getting to work on cleaning up that 12g tank and accessories today. It likely won't get done today and I still need more decorations before I can stick my females in it... but it's a start, right?

Post!

2008-01-29T10:53:00.000-08:00

I realize I've been neglecting the blog... sorry... so busy...

Anyways. Maddi has recovered from ich, constipation and fin rot. It was wierd... I did a water change and didn't have time to put the decorations back in, and she's suddenly fine. I think it was the marbles I was using as ground cover. Either way, she's fine now. The constipation and fin rot went away on their own and ich went away with salt and darkness.

Just got some fish shipped to me from someone in Winnipeg. Four fish and only one survived. I think it was because there was only one heat pack and it's winter up here. If there had been two and they were attached to the bottom rather than the top (heat rises), all four might have lived. The one that survived is currently floating in my heated 2.5 gallon to try and get him to perk up a little.

Also, I bought a 12gallon tank, along with a heater and a filter and some other miscellaneous stuff off of a friend for $40. Such a good deal. Once I have a chance to clean and decorate it, it'll be my new sorority tank.

More ich!

2008-01-21T17:16:00.001-08:00

Ya, ya, haven't been posting... not much to say. Maddi has ich again - guess it just didn't totally go away the first time. But salt, heat and darkness seem to be working... and that's about it.

Lost Rose

2008-01-17T16:18:00.000-08:00

Couldn't find Aquarisol anywhere, either... but came home and he was dead... so I have no more males for now, and I might never buy fish from a pet store again. Thinking maybe I'll get a peaceful betta and another... something betta... from the aquarium store once my new tanks get shipped and I have money.

Rose...

2008-01-17T07:26:00.000-08:00

So he's got an insanely severe case of ich. Added salt, keeping him in the dark and going to buy Aquarisol this afternoon... hopefully I can afford it...

Posted pics... in case anyone needs to be like "hey, that's what my fish looks like!" and then you'll know what to do...

...

2008-01-15T09:06:00.000-08:00

I just got paid $46... that is the most pittiful paycheck ever... and it means it'll be even longer than I thought before I can afford that 10g tank.

I owe a couple friends quite a bit of money, and I only have $76 even with that last paycheck... which means I have to wait until the end of the month to be able to start paying off the money I owe people and it'll probably be the end of February before I can get back to my fishies... *sigh*

More on Rose

2008-01-14T16:29:00.000-08:00

So apparently it's just ich that came on really fast (which is such a relief...) so I've added more salt and I'm trying to raise the temperature so he can get through this thing... and hopefully he'll get better.

Also... careful when you have a sick fishie. You can easily cross-contaminate the tanks, and then you'll have lots of sick fish. I wasn't as careful as I should have been yesterday when I decided to clean Maddi's tank and now she's got ich, too >.<

Rose is sick again...

2008-01-12T11:29:00.000-08:00

It's strange. It looks like ich, and he's acting like he has ich... alternating being irritated with just sitting looking miserable on the bottom, like he has before when he had ich... but it came on so quickly that I don't think that's it. One night he was fine and the next morning he was just covered with white spots. Usually it's just one or two spots and they go away quickly when I start treating them.

So... I'll write more when I know more. Treating it like ich with salt for now.

OMG!

2008-01-10T13:35:00.001-08:00

I just found the cutest fish in the world on AquaBid (Orange CT Male) but he only ships to the U.S. I'm so heartbroken over this... and now I'm not going to be happy with my fishie collection until I manage to get one of these guys. Of course, every fish is different, and I doubt if any other orange CT will look like that one... but there isn't much I can do about it... except sit here and whine and stare at his photo. Humph.

I lost power this morning

2008-01-09T17:42:00.000-08:00

Did anyone else lose power this morning? I always get nervous when I lose power and there are electric things in my fish tanks - not that anything ever happens, but I always have to check on them obsessively just to be sure. Took me forever to find Iri... she was hiding in the plant and all I had was my little mag light.

Anyways, everyone's fine, got another fish on the way and still waiting on those two tanks I keep mentioning... scroll down, I posted pics yesterday!

Iridescent (Iri)

2008-01-08T18:47:00.001-08:00

Maddi

2008-01-08T18:45:00.001-08:00

Rose

2008-01-08T18:42:00.001-08:00

Specks

2008-01-08T18:40:00.001-08:00

Pictures!

2008-01-08T18:19:00.000-08:00

Ok... so I took about twenty photos of each of my fish... and failed miserably at focusing most of them. So here are the half decent ones. There are more of Specks than anyone else because every time I take the lid off her tank she thinks I'm going to feed her, which makes her a lot easier to photograph. And some of them are over-edited because the lighting's crap.

These are all my betta tanks.

This is where I keep my brine shrimp... yay live food!

Rest are coming up in slideshows made by Photobucket... because Ocie is lazy today.

Had to separate them again...

2008-01-07T07:40:00.000-08:00

So my females are now in separate tanks once more. If I can get my hands on a 5 gallon tank that isn't going to take up all the space I have for my bettas, I'll get it. In fact, if I get one in the same style as my 2.5 gallon, I can stack my 2.5 on top of it and hopefully still have room for the others. My other option would be to make some kind of clear shelving unit... but I don't think I have time to do that.

Still planning on posting photos, still have no batteries.

Females!

2008-01-06T06:46:00.000-08:00

So I picked up two female bettas yesterday... why? Because they were there! It was the first time I'd managed to find them at an aquarium store (everyone - Al's is awesome!). So anyways... at the store there were about a dozen fish in what looked like a ten gallon tank... and now I have the two I bought in a 2.5 gallon (the math worked out well...) but I had to separate them last night because they wouldn't leave each other alone.

Even now, they keep following each other up and down the barrier, flaring at each other and looking like they're trying to show off. I have to admit I'm kinda amused by watching them... but I really want them to get along. They were in the same tank at the store and they have plenty of room (they're each less than 1.5" long).

Hopefully I can get this sorted out soon...

And... now that I have more fish, I'll be posting pics of them soon - as in whenever I get around to getting batteries for my camera...

Edit: ok, found the problem, supposed to keep them in threes... so I guess I'm taking another trip out to Big Al's...

Edit2: ok, I have three females now - got them a bunch of plants and places to hide and whatnot... and now they seem to be doing well. Haven't seen them flare at each other in a while, and there's none of the biting that was going on last night when there were just two of them. I also got really cool gravel - black with random coloured pieces that glow under a blacklight ^^ I like neon.

So ya... we'll see how it goes.

Dummy tips for photographing fishies

2008-01-04T08:57:00.000-08:00

Alright - I have seen way too many horrible photos today. If you want to photograph your fish with a digital camera and really only know how to use auto modes, here's what you do:

1. Turn off the flash - it'll reflect and your photo will be a big ball of light. Of course, without the flash, you might need to bring in some other lights.
2. Use the macro setting. It might be called close up or have a little tulip icon on the button.
3. Get really close to the tank or bowl or whatever, you can even put the lens right up against the glass.
4. Usually, you can push the shutter down half way and it'll focus and then all the way to take the photo. This is extremely useful with macros because if you're on an auto setting it very rarely focuses where you want it to.
5. Turn on the screen on your camera if you have one, it'll make this easier to do (and I will never, ever tell anyone who's actually trying to learn to use a camera properly to use the screen, just so you know).
6. Push the shutter down halfway like I said. On the screen there will usually be a box or something showing where you're focused. If it's not where you want it to be, move the camera until it is, still holding the shutter halfway down - you may also have to move it forward or backwards to actually get what you want in focus.
7. Push the shutter down all the way... and check how successful you were.

Is that simple enough?

New lesson

2008-01-04T06:25:00.000-08:00

Ok, see this tank?

Cute, isn't it? Actually, I don't particularly like that one, but you can get them in all kinds of different styles. Mine has ladybugs on it.

Don't use them!

I lost Curly this morning, and I'm sure part of the reason was that for a long while (until he got sick and I moved him to a 1gallon to try and reduce stress) he was in this little thing. It's not even as big as the containers they come in, and even though bettas could be kept in something smaller if you really wanted to do that to them, it makes them stressed which increases the risk of disease. Not to mention how cruel it is to keep a fish in something that it can't even spread out its fins in.

Curly was small, though, I thought he'd be ok because he could spread out in this one. But... that's why I only want .5 gallon or more tanks from now on.

This little tank won't be going to waste, though. There are even smaller creatures that I've been planning on raising that would do wonderfully in this tank. Sea monkeys! Also known as brine shrimp, they're supposedly good to use as live food for bettas - and you can get them at toy stores! They don't cost much, they're easy to take care of and they grow to be about a quarter of an inch long (well, mine do, apparently you can get them to half an inch in the right conditions... but my house is cold).

Introduction

2008-01-03T20:40:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone. I'm Ocean and I collect beta fish - each in their own unique tank. None of these silly simple clear tanks. So this is pretty much just going to be me rambling and ranting about my fish.

I had three fish, but one just died a few days ago and one is currently sick (I think he's getting better, but it's really hard to tell). But I've got two new tanks on the way, so I'll have two new fish coming, as well. I'll post pictures when those two come, since Curly (the sick one) should be better (or dead) by then. The other one I have right now is named Rose and is a bright, deep pink.

So, I'm a little new to betas, but not to fish, and I read and learn fast. So I might also be asking any readers I may have (as if I ever get readers...) for some advice once in a while, or just tossing out bits of advice. Like don't frieking trust the people at those useless little pet stores! The bigger PetSmarts seem to know what they're talking about, but the guy at Pet Value gave me regular freshwater medication for Turquoise when I couldn't find betta fix - and I found out later that that stuff is too strong for betas and is probly what killed him. Also, 7-day feeders are evil. Don't use 'em. They screw up all the levels in your tank.

Beyond that... if you ever stumble across a unique beta tank (.5 gallons at least, please), let me know so I can buy it. In fact, if you have one I'll buy it off of you. But it has to be unique - I don't even wear shirts I've seen other people wearing.

Questions? Comments? Anyone out there?
Bye for now!
~Ocean