Sorority Tank

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

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!

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!

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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...

... 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.

Spike has ich

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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...

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.