New Spawn...Going Postal

Two bits of news to convey:

1) Ghost and Pippa (see previous post) have spawned and started my third line of CTPK!

I have been trying to spawn Ghost almost since the day I got him, back in September. As with all things with Betta, patience and perseverance pays off.

 

After much trial and error, we finally got a cup full of eggs.

To the left, you can just see the bubble wrap I left in as a secondary choice

Ghost chose to use both, without building a bubblenest under either...

 

And shortly thereafter...we spied tails!

 

 So I now have three CTPK lines on the go. To successfully line breed, according to many successful and experienced line breeders in the USA and in Europe, you require multiple lines in the fish room to allow you to cross between them as required, to introduce new blood, and to improve individual traits.

The three spawns I currently have will all produce combtails in F1, but will give me CTPK in F2. Selective breeding should help me to produce a quality CTPK in a few years.

2) My green giants have been sold and have arrived at their new home...eventually.

I've heard stories of fish going missing in transit, only to turn up a week or two, or three, down the track - still alive, and apart from a little hungry, not really worse for wear.

I always thought these were somewhat exaggerated urban myths, kind of like fish only have a three second memory...turns out I was wrong.

Now, I don't condone the sending of live stock through a medium which specifically states it does not allow it, but we are simple hobbyist, trying to do the right thing by our fish, and by others who share the same passions. We do not make a living by the selling of fish (that is another urban myth). Most of us cannot afford to pay for dedicated couriers - so we use overnight parcel express, with heat packs, double bagging, and a wing and a prayer to send our fish around the country.

I'd sent an experimental parcel of vinegar eels to a fellow fish keeper as a trial run. It arrived successfully and without issue. I sold my giants at auction, double bagged them, fasted them the day before being sent, packed them tightly to reduce jostling, used a polystyrene boxed taped to within an inch of it's life, added heat packs, and sent it off for overnight delivery.

A week later...they arrived on the doorstep, hungry, but very much alive. They have now been fed and are being acclimatised to their new environment. A scary seven days...

Not sure long fin Betta would have survived. Not sure even short finned plakats would have...lucky these were giant plakats and had the stamina and fortitude to endure it.

So the lessons here are:

As the sender

• Ensure your packaging techniques are as good as you can make them
• Ensure your fish are in peak condition
• Do not feed for 24 hours prior to departure
• Always send in IAL and rock salt treated water
• Individually wrap the fish in newspaper (or similar) so they are isolated and in the dark
• Add in a heat pack (if needed) for longer than you think you need
• Be aware that things can go the long way round
• Be prepared to refund the cost of the fish
• Don't use parcel post if you're not prepared to pay the possible fines for sending live stock and/or if your parcel breaks open and destroys other mail items (it can be hefty).

As the receiver

• Be prepared to lose the cost of postage if your new purchase doesn't make the journey successfully.
• Always ensure the sender has a Dead On Arrival policy, and you know exactly what the policy entails.
• Do not go all belligerent on the sender if your fish arrive dead. They will feel just as bad about it as you do. Treat them kindly and with respect and they should return the favour in kind - if they don't, take your business elsewhere.