Speaking of not enough hours in the last post, well my package from the USA arrived this morning. I read the instructions on the medication, keen to get started...one half a measure required for the size tank my girls are currently housed in (20L), every second day.
That means a water change, add new medicine into fresh water, add to tank > two days later, same again > rinse and repeat until symptoms are gone (no more white stringy poops).
My SeaChem Stability arrived as well: 5ml/40L on day one and then 2.5ml/40L every day for seven days after the initial dose. Cool.
My wife and I are heading away for three days, the day after tomorrow...
If I start the medication now, then I have to get up at 3:30am Wednesday morning to do the second dose before heading off, and then a third dose can be done when we get back on Friday. I'm hoping they wont need more than three doses.
But the Stability regime cannot be started till I get back!
The girls are still eating well and are still alternating between relatively normal poops and stringy white ones, so they are still infected, but are still doing okay, without much in the way of signs of stress. Kate is occasionally clamped and sits around a little more than she should, and Pippa very occasionally sits around but she's acting pretty normal now.
I don't want to start a treatment of meds and then possibly stop, or alter the times they receive their meds so I'm not going to commence now. I've waited for a little over a week for them to arrive and now I'll have to wait another five days before getting them to my girls...not happy, but I'm not changing my travel plans again. The wife and I need some mummy daddy time ;)
Everyone's being fed twice a day, today and tomorrow, then they will get a single feed Wednesday and Thursday night by my daughter, and then a single feed on Friday night by me when I get back. Medication and Stability regimes will also commence Friday night.
Saturday, the fun begins once more as Diana and Ghost head into the spawn tank! Kate with William, and Pippa with Prime go into their spawn tanks once the girls internal parasite symptoms have disappeared. By next weekend, hopefully, I'll have three spawns to take care of!
Next week - BBS hatchery experimentation week...with photos and recipes!
One fish-keepers journey through the world of Betta
Monday 26 August 2013
Sunday 25 August 2013
Not Enough Hours...
I've read around the net that the hobby of fish-keeping can be extremely time consuming, particularly in the beginning, but once you're setup and running smoothly, it should take you no more than, on average, 10 minutes per fish per day. Therefore, Junior with the solitary goldfish in an unassuming bowl requires only 10 minutes a day to feed clean and maintain his pride and joy.
Someone with 18 fish is supposed to need three hours a day. Doesn't quite work, does it? If I had 18 tetra in a single tank, I'm guessing it wouldn't take much longer, on average, each day than Junior with Goldie.
Betta can be a totally different kettle of...you know what I mean.
Each Betta male must be housed separately, unless you go down the barracks trail and house them in shared water, but even then, you still have to clean and maintain individual spaces within that shared system. Some females can be housed together in a sorority, but not all. There will still be times girls need to separated as much as the boys.
Then there's the quarantine tanks (QT). QT is required of any of your fish become ill, or for new arrivals (imports or local fish shop (LFS) buys). I seem to have had someone in QT most weeks since I started this hobby for one reason or another.
Then there is the spawn tanks - looking after the male and female in the beginning to ensure neither are overly damaged. Watching dad doesn't begin snacking on a full nest. Then caring for up to hundreds of fry. And doing this in multiple tanks at a time!
But before you get to any of that: sourcing tanks, figuring out how and where to store your aging water, which pump and filtration system are you going to use, lighting, barracks, beanie boxes, plants (real or silk), substrate (gravel, sand, bare - what about different choices for different tanks?)...and the billion more choices you will have to research.
And then there's photography. Can you take a good picture? Know how to set up a camera for macro shots?
Or, you can take a breath, relax, and enjoy your single male Betta in his wonderfully aquascaped nano tank - you know what a nano tank is...what about what aquascaping?
To begin with, this hobby, just like every other hobby out there, has a steep learning curve for the budding enthusiast. But persistence pays and slowly...very slowly...things will get easier. They may not lead to extra hours being available in the day, because you'll always find something else to fill the new time you make, but you will get more joy and pride from your accomplishments - even if it because you have a happy and healthy male blowing a bubblenest in his five litre tank with silk plants.
There is one thing for sure, you will have many moments when you take a step back and survey your work with pride and remember why you started all this fishy business in the first place!
Someone with 18 fish is supposed to need three hours a day. Doesn't quite work, does it? If I had 18 tetra in a single tank, I'm guessing it wouldn't take much longer, on average, each day than Junior with Goldie.
Betta can be a totally different kettle of...you know what I mean.
Each Betta male must be housed separately, unless you go down the barracks trail and house them in shared water, but even then, you still have to clean and maintain individual spaces within that shared system. Some females can be housed together in a sorority, but not all. There will still be times girls need to separated as much as the boys.
Then there's the quarantine tanks (QT). QT is required of any of your fish become ill, or for new arrivals (imports or local fish shop (LFS) buys). I seem to have had someone in QT most weeks since I started this hobby for one reason or another.
Then there is the spawn tanks - looking after the male and female in the beginning to ensure neither are overly damaged. Watching dad doesn't begin snacking on a full nest. Then caring for up to hundreds of fry. And doing this in multiple tanks at a time!
But before you get to any of that: sourcing tanks, figuring out how and where to store your aging water, which pump and filtration system are you going to use, lighting, barracks, beanie boxes, plants (real or silk), substrate (gravel, sand, bare - what about different choices for different tanks?)...and the billion more choices you will have to research.
And then there's photography. Can you take a good picture? Know how to set up a camera for macro shots?
Or, you can take a breath, relax, and enjoy your single male Betta in his wonderfully aquascaped nano tank - you know what a nano tank is...what about what aquascaping?
To begin with, this hobby, just like every other hobby out there, has a steep learning curve for the budding enthusiast. But persistence pays and slowly...very slowly...things will get easier. They may not lead to extra hours being available in the day, because you'll always find something else to fill the new time you make, but you will get more joy and pride from your accomplishments - even if it because you have a happy and healthy male blowing a bubblenest in his five litre tank with silk plants.
There is one thing for sure, you will have many moments when you take a step back and survey your work with pride and remember why you started all this fishy business in the first place!
Friday 23 August 2013
Waiting waiting waiting
The worst bit about not being prepared is having to wait for the stuff you need to move forward...stuff you should have had to begin with.
It can never be stressed enough that research is your number one priority before venturing into anything new.
But, when venturing into a new field, something unexpected will always crop up. This is when patience is your best friend.
My girls became infected with internal parasites. Research has shown me that this ailment is usually introduced through food. Nothing I could do about it. Nothing I could see, but definitely something I should have been prepared for.
When your fish are sick, there is nothing else you can do other than care for them, and you cant care for them if you don't have the right medications and treatment options on hand -- immediately! Otherwise, it's waiting...waiting...waiting.
The most common illnesses for Betta and the medications you need to treat them, and where to get them:
Velvet: http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/disease/p/velvet.htm
--- Treatment: http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/quickcure.html#quickcure
This is excellent medication for Velvet, Ich, and most external parasites. If you are going to order it from the USA (and this is the best place to get it), then grab some other medications and SeaChem products while you're there to make the postage cost worthwhile.
Internal Parasites: http://bettaessentials.wikispaces.com/Sick+Betta+-+Internal+Parasites
--- Treatment: http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumMedication2.html#metro
You cannot get this medication in Australia without first paying for a $60 vet consult and getting a prescription - and then forking out more $$$ for the actual medication. Or you can get it with your Velvet/Ick medication and products like Stability and Prime and pay a fraction of the cost.
Fin Rot: http://www.aquarium-pond-answers.com/2011/06/betta-fin-rot.html
--- Treatment Options: http://bettasplendid.weebly.com/fin-rot-101.html
As with all Betta diseases, prevention is better than the cure, but, with Betta in particular (but with all fish in general), keeping the water quality up is paramount, but adding a little bit of aquarium salt and Indian Almond Leaf (IAL) tea in the water is a good to keep fin rot at bay. For Crown Tail (CT) Betta, get yourself a UV globe to fit into a standard table lamp and leave it on for an hour a day (be careful not to overheat the water/fish).
There are plenty of other things that can go wrong as you can see here, but if you get the above medications and a couple of other general things like Meth Blue, Kanaplax or TriSulpha, aquarium salt, and frozen peas, then you'll be covered for most eventualities and get away without having to wait...wait...wait...
It can never be stressed enough that research is your number one priority before venturing into anything new.
But, when venturing into a new field, something unexpected will always crop up. This is when patience is your best friend.
My girls became infected with internal parasites. Research has shown me that this ailment is usually introduced through food. Nothing I could do about it. Nothing I could see, but definitely something I should have been prepared for.
When your fish are sick, there is nothing else you can do other than care for them, and you cant care for them if you don't have the right medications and treatment options on hand -- immediately! Otherwise, it's waiting...waiting...waiting.
The most common illnesses for Betta and the medications you need to treat them, and where to get them:
Velvet: http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/disease/p/velvet.htm
--- Treatment: http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/quickcure.html#quickcure
This is excellent medication for Velvet, Ich, and most external parasites. If you are going to order it from the USA (and this is the best place to get it), then grab some other medications and SeaChem products while you're there to make the postage cost worthwhile.
Internal Parasites: http://bettaessentials.wikispaces.com/Sick+Betta+-+Internal+Parasites
--- Treatment: http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumMedication2.html#metro
You cannot get this medication in Australia without first paying for a $60 vet consult and getting a prescription - and then forking out more $$$ for the actual medication. Or you can get it with your Velvet/Ick medication and products like Stability and Prime and pay a fraction of the cost.
Fin Rot: http://www.aquarium-pond-answers.com/2011/06/betta-fin-rot.html
--- Treatment Options: http://bettasplendid.weebly.com/fin-rot-101.html
As with all Betta diseases, prevention is better than the cure, but, with Betta in particular (but with all fish in general), keeping the water quality up is paramount, but adding a little bit of aquarium salt and Indian Almond Leaf (IAL) tea in the water is a good to keep fin rot at bay. For Crown Tail (CT) Betta, get yourself a UV globe to fit into a standard table lamp and leave it on for an hour a day (be careful not to overheat the water/fish).
There are plenty of other things that can go wrong as you can see here, but if you get the above medications and a couple of other general things like Meth Blue, Kanaplax or TriSulpha, aquarium salt, and frozen peas, then you'll be covered for most eventualities and get away without having to wait...wait...wait...
Tuesday 20 August 2013
New Arrival
It's like LAX or Heathrow around here at the moment with comings and goings.
Here is our yet to be named new arrival:
Why did we purchase him:
At the time, we believed he was a carrier of the red-loss gene. We wanted to have the red-loss gene in the fish room to rid us of unwanted red wash in our lines. Now we believe he may be a carrier of the marble gene and the red-loss gene. He could be a platinum butterfly halfmoon plakat (BFHMPK).
One thing is for sure, he will be interesting to breed with!
Here is our yet to be named new arrival:
Why did we purchase him:
At the time, we believed he was a carrier of the red-loss gene. We wanted to have the red-loss gene in the fish room to rid us of unwanted red wash in our lines. Now we believe he may be a carrier of the marble gene and the red-loss gene. He could be a platinum butterfly halfmoon plakat (BFHMPK).
One thing is for sure, he will be interesting to breed with!
RIP First Spawn
They began at a conservative estimate of 50+
By the beginning of the second week, we were down to less than 30
By week three were down to less than 20
Week four saw us at around 10 and we removed dad.
Week five saw the remaining 7 die due to over eating causing their abdomen to explode.
Lessons learned:
Don't leave dad in there for any more than a week.
Don't change from frozen BBS to live BBS during raising process
Vinegar Eels are an excellent, easy, and no fuss week one live food
Things to do:
****Must figure out how to hatch live BBS at home****
Sunday 18 August 2013
Death Of A Spawn
All the remaining fry of the first spawn died this weekend, due to over-eating. When I say all, I mean the seven remaining fry all decided the live BBS I began feeding them two days ago was too much to resist and ate until their stomachs exploded through their abdomen, killing them instantly.
Back to the drawing board.
Lesson learned: Don't change source of food mid-spawn, i.e: don't change from frozen BBS to live BBS.
Back to the drawing board.
Lesson learned: Don't change source of food mid-spawn, i.e: don't change from frozen BBS to live BBS.
Friday 16 August 2013
Big Weekend Ahead
Last night I pulled down the girl's dorm due to all three girls having come down with a case of internal parasites - not happy about it either.
The fish room now looks like this:
So I've got all the above to wash with hot water before putting it all back together, and...
I have the boys barracks to pull apart to fix a biological bloom. I kept doing water changes and siphoning trying to get on top of it but it just got worse. Then I checked my storage container...guess where the bloom is...
Think I'll change the boys from using sand back to gravel, but I'm going with the white stuff this time.
And this will be the girls new sorority tank when it's finished...if it's finished...if I can get the stupid driftwood pieces to sink!
Lots of work to do :)
The fish room now looks like this:
So I've got all the above to wash with hot water before putting it all back together, and...
I have the boys barracks to pull apart to fix a biological bloom. I kept doing water changes and siphoning trying to get on top of it but it just got worse. Then I checked my storage container...guess where the bloom is...
Think I'll change the boys from using sand back to gravel, but I'm going with the white stuff this time.
And this will be the girls new sorority tank when it's finished...if it's finished...if I can get the stupid driftwood pieces to sink!
Lots of work to do :)
Tuesday 13 August 2013
Betta Illnesses
My three girls have just gotten over a case of probable Velvet with a three day course of Quick Cure (a mix of Malachite Green and Formalin). This included a 20% water change for each application of the medication.
Now my most temperamental girl, Lilly, is showing signs of still being ill. The other two girls, Kate and Pippa, seem to be fine, but Lilly is lethargic and is off her food completely.
She looks okay, but twice now I've seen her shoot across her space, launch herself from the water, and crash into the glass lid. Scares the life out of me when she does it to be honest.
I watched her this morning seem to struggle down to the substrate and then turn into her hidey-hole. She rested within for a moment and then floated to the top of the half-log. That's when I pulled her out and put her into an isolation cube of freshly aged water. She's calmed down and the stress stripes have faded, but she's still off her food.
.JPG)
This her in the new digs. She's not clamped (fins held close to her body and the tail fin closed shut), she's not overly bloated (she is a female so she may have eggs, or be a little constipated). Her stress seems to have reduced (no horizontal striping on her body - well, it's almost faded).
I'm a little perplexed and somewhat worried for her. She's not eaten in four days now.
Good sites for learning about Betta disease are:
NippyFish (where you'll also find an excellent chart to check for symptoms)
For specific diseases, try:
About.com's Freshwater Aquariums site for Columnaris (cotton mouth), and Ich
Aquarium Pond Answers for Fin Rot and Velvet
Both sites are pretty comprehensive in their explanations and treatment options for most issues that can be experienced by Betta.
But sometimes you come across a situation like mine, where things aren't clean cut. This where membership of a forum or group, like the IBC, or AAQ, or any of the other superb forums around the net, will become invaluable.
Remember to always check your water parameters, and isolate your fish at the first sign of a problem. And do not medicate for the sake of medicating. Only treat when you know for sure what it is. Until then, an isolation tank with aquarium salt and/or tannins from a source such as Indian Almond Leaves (IAL), should calm the fish and give you some time to figure things out.
Now my most temperamental girl, Lilly, is showing signs of still being ill. The other two girls, Kate and Pippa, seem to be fine, but Lilly is lethargic and is off her food completely.
She looks okay, but twice now I've seen her shoot across her space, launch herself from the water, and crash into the glass lid. Scares the life out of me when she does it to be honest.
I watched her this morning seem to struggle down to the substrate and then turn into her hidey-hole. She rested within for a moment and then floated to the top of the half-log. That's when I pulled her out and put her into an isolation cube of freshly aged water. She's calmed down and the stress stripes have faded, but she's still off her food.
.JPG)
This her in the new digs. She's not clamped (fins held close to her body and the tail fin closed shut), she's not overly bloated (she is a female so she may have eggs, or be a little constipated). Her stress seems to have reduced (no horizontal striping on her body - well, it's almost faded).
I'm a little perplexed and somewhat worried for her. She's not eaten in four days now.
Good sites for learning about Betta disease are:
NippyFish (where you'll also find an excellent chart to check for symptoms)
For specific diseases, try:
About.com's Freshwater Aquariums site for Columnaris (cotton mouth), and Ich
Aquarium Pond Answers for Fin Rot and Velvet
Both sites are pretty comprehensive in their explanations and treatment options for most issues that can be experienced by Betta.
But sometimes you come across a situation like mine, where things aren't clean cut. This where membership of a forum or group, like the IBC, or AAQ, or any of the other superb forums around the net, will become invaluable.
Remember to always check your water parameters, and isolate your fish at the first sign of a problem. And do not medicate for the sake of medicating. Only treat when you know for sure what it is. Until then, an isolation tank with aquarium salt and/or tannins from a source such as Indian Almond Leaves (IAL), should calm the fish and give you some time to figure things out.
Sunday 11 August 2013
Busy Weekend
Done lots and now I'm stuffed.
Hacked away at the three foot (I kid you not) weeds in the front garden - much better now. Only got the four foot ones to do in the back garden next weekend :(
Did some more cleaning of the barracks system - really not happy with sand in the barracks...or anywhere else other than the Cichlid tank. Will replace in the warmer weather. Not overly happy with the water flow either - too slow. Need a bigger pump - will also sort out in the warmer weather...
Speaking of Cichlids, the Convicts have managed to get another spawn to hatch - there must be at least a hundred of them:
Hacked away at the three foot (I kid you not) weeds in the front garden - much better now. Only got the four foot ones to do in the back garden next weekend :(
Did some more cleaning of the barracks system - really not happy with sand in the barracks...or anywhere else other than the Cichlid tank. Will replace in the warmer weather. Not overly happy with the water flow either - too slow. Need a bigger pump - will also sort out in the warmer weather...
Speaking of Cichlids, the Convicts have managed to get another spawn to hatch - there must be at least a hundred of them:
Those brown spots under her chin and below her pectoral fin are the fry. Impossible to count at this stage. Dad is being very good at keeping everyone else away.
Pulled William from the fry tank. I think he may have been over-snacking and has scared what fry remain. They are starting to come out of hiding now.
This is one of my bigger guys out to have his four week photo shoot. Unfortunately he was yawning at the time:
Started setting up the sorority tank for my girls. I have three in a dorm currently but I'm expecting another this week, and then I'll be on the hunt for a female yellow Cambodian crowntail (CT)...and a female dragon butterfly (BF) CT plakat (PK) (the short finned version of Betta Splenden). Plus whatever females I get from my current spawn, so I need a female tank.
Lots of abbreviations to remember :)
The driftwood is being held down in 20 litres of water by some PVC pipes and a glass bowl. It needs to become waterlogged over the next week - then I'll look to finish filling the tank, adding in the heater, filter, and plants. The filter is currently sitting in the Convicts tank getting all that good bacteria from an already cycling tank.
And last but not least, I've setup the second spawn tank as a temporary quarantine tank (QT) for my new girl expected Tuesday :)
Now I'm off to feed everyone their weekly peas.
Wednesday 7 August 2013
New Spawn Out Of The Tank
It took a while but Midas and Lilly got a nest, figured out what to do and then placed the eggs into the nest - it was a wonderful thing.
And then Midas went and ate all the eggs :(
Midas has been returned to the barracks, while Lilly swims back and forth shaking her head in disappointment.
I figured I'd clean the spawn tank and put Pippa and Prime in as next cabs off the rank.
Pippa went in first to have a look around, but clamped up and went off her food. I was worried sick.
Obviously all spawn ideas went out the window...sorry Prime.
For two days she refused to eat, and she had a long thin whitish thing dangling from her anus. My first thought was some sort of worm.
I went and investigated worms - didn't look like what she was displaying.
I investigated being egg-bound - a possibility.
But I settled on her having too many eggs and occasionally dropping a load, and then eating them herself. This, apparently, can cause her to be a little constipated and when she does pass anything, it can be on the whitish side. No mention of becoming clamped though.
I decided to test the water - pH had dropped to 6.8! My pH is always a rock solid 7.4. No wonder she'd clamped up. If it was any other type of fish, she'd probably be dead from shock.
I put her into an iso tub with a pH of 7.4. Within 30 minutes she was happy to accept a morsel of food and had unclamped her fins.
So spawning is on hold until everyone is properly conditioned...stay tuned.
And then Midas went and ate all the eggs :(
Midas has been returned to the barracks, while Lilly swims back and forth shaking her head in disappointment.
I figured I'd clean the spawn tank and put Pippa and Prime in as next cabs off the rank.
Pippa went in first to have a look around, but clamped up and went off her food. I was worried sick.
Obviously all spawn ideas went out the window...sorry Prime.
For two days she refused to eat, and she had a long thin whitish thing dangling from her anus. My first thought was some sort of worm.
I went and investigated worms - didn't look like what she was displaying.
I investigated being egg-bound - a possibility.
But I settled on her having too many eggs and occasionally dropping a load, and then eating them herself. This, apparently, can cause her to be a little constipated and when she does pass anything, it can be on the whitish side. No mention of becoming clamped though.
I decided to test the water - pH had dropped to 6.8! My pH is always a rock solid 7.4. No wonder she'd clamped up. If it was any other type of fish, she'd probably be dead from shock.
I put her into an iso tub with a pH of 7.4. Within 30 minutes she was happy to accept a morsel of food and had unclamped her fins.
So spawning is on hold until everyone is properly conditioned...stay tuned.
Sunday 4 August 2013
New Spawn In The Tank
Midas and Lilly have managed to wrap. Midas built an impressive nest and Lilly managed to teach him how to stock it - but he's not very interested in looking after it :(
Fingers crossed we see tails in the next day or two. As soon as they are free swimming, Midas is coming out.
Fingers crossed we see tails in the next day or two. As soon as they are free swimming, Midas is coming out.
Midas x Lilly wrapping
Midas inspecting the nest
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