RIP Lilly

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.

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 :)

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.

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.

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:

 

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.

 

 

 



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.

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.

 

Midas x Lilly wrapping

 

Midas inspecting the nest