Very active betta fish

[joseofsa]

yeah i hate that when i go and see the bettas at the pet stores i noticed that they are either very young or very old never a good looking middle aged one. and i never said crappy. keep up what your doin because it looks like it works very well for you.

 

[Arachnophilist]

well to be honest.. until just now I didnt know where to get anything but petstore bettas.. I am actually quite interested in seeing these amazing fish you have!! do you have any solid black crowntails? I would like one of those..

 

[funnylori]

One of my favorite places to go gawgaw over bettas is www.bettatalk.com the site is a bit weird to navigate sometimes, but there are some gems in there!

 

[Nich]

nich... i already got in trouble for being rude today so plz refrain from typeing anything for the next few months...maybe a year...plz
any-who i do hope the slate can be scrubed clean aneesas.

You werent rude, you were realistic. My comment was not aimed at you. I've read posts of yours on other sites as well as anne's.....but i fail to see how you want me to refrain. Your the one thats been bashedd for being blunt. I guess retail and actual LFS work has brainwashed me over the years.

 

[joseofsa]

i am a man who loves sarcasm but found yours out there. yet again a reading error almost got me in trouble again. let me end this sorry nich. i will not respond to another comment until i fully understand the point of the post.=)

 

[Binky/Carol]

I have a blue female betta that I keep in a glass jug with a swiss cheese philendron vine that I am growing..

I read 90% of the posts.. and I think although most of you mean well...
Here is a bit of information from a great website, and you may be causing more harm than good putting your males in larger tanks..


http://aquariumlore.blogspot.com/2006/03/betta-siamese-fighting-fish.html
Habitat/Care:
To fully understand their needs it is important to become familiar with their native habitat. Bettas originate in the shallow waters in Thailand (formerly called Siam, hence their name), Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and parts of China. They proliferate rice paddies, shallow ponds, and even slow moving streams.

Although many fish keepers are aware that Bettas come from shallow waters, a key factor that is often overlooked is the water temperature. These countries are tropical, which means the water temperature is quite warm - often reaching into the 80's. Bettas thrive on heat, and will become increasingly listless when the water temperature falls below 75 degrees F. Water temperature is perhaps the biggest argument against keeping a betta in a tiny bowl (which cannot readily be heat controlled).

An organ called a labyrinth allows bettas to breathe air from the water surface, thus permitting them to live in water with low oxygen levels. Because of this ability aquarists often keep bettas in small containers, but ideally a 3-gallon filtered tank or more is better and allows the bettas to stretch their fins. Even though Bettas do well in waters low in dissolved oxygen, that does not mean they require less oxygen than other fish. Studies have shown the betta that are denied access to the water surface to breathe died even though the water is contains high levels of oxygen. Therefore, betta must have access to the water surface to breath air directly from the atmosphere

Optimally the water for keeping healthy Bettas should be soft, warm, with a neutral to slightly acidic pH. Water movement should be kept to a minimum, which means that power filters and powerheads are not suitable. Bettas may be kept in a community tank as long as the water conditions are met, and if no aggressive or fin-nipping fish are present. However, only one male may be kept in each aquarium, unless they are separated by a barrier.


Mixing with other fishes:
Males must not be kept together, otherwise they will fight - sometimes to the death. Females can be kept together, but can be territorial. This is often a difficult fish to mix in a community tank. Many fish will nip on the long flowing fins, even some species which do not usually fin-nip. On the other hand, some bettas can be aggressive to fish they see as rivals (such as male guppies with their fancy tails).

And from Wikipedia:
Bettas are anabantoids, which means they can breathe atmospheric air thanks to a unique organ called the labyrinth. This accounts for their ability to thrive in low-oxygen water conditions that would kill most other fish, such as rice paddies, slow-moving streams, drainage ditches, and large puddles. [2]

The various bettas can be divided into two groups, based on their spawning behaviour: some build bubble nests, like B. splendens, while others are mouthbrooders, like B. picta. The mouthbrooding species are sometimes called "pseudo bettas", and are sometimes speculated to have evolved from the nest-builders in an adaptation to their fast-moving stream habitats.[3]

 

[joseofsa]

I have a blue female betta that I keep in a glass jug with a swiss cheese philendron vine that I am growing..

I read 90% of the posts.. and I think although most of you mean well...
Here is a bit of information from a great website, and you may be causing more harm than good putting your males in larger tanks..


http://aquariumlore.blogspot.com/2006/03/betta-siamese-fighting-fish.html
Habitat/Care:
To fully understand their needs it is important to become familiar with their native habitat. Bettas originate in the shallow waters in Thailand (formerly called Siam, hence their name), Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and parts of China. They proliferate rice paddies, shallow ponds, and even slow moving streams.

Although many fish keepers are aware that Bettas come from shallow waters, a key factor that is often overlooked is the water temperature. These countries are tropical, which means the water temperature is quite warm - often reaching into the 80's. Bettas thrive on heat, and will become increasingly listless when the water temperature falls below 75 degrees F. Water temperature is perhaps the biggest argument against keeping a betta in a tiny bowl (which cannot readily be heat controlled).

I stoped reading here...

 

[joseofsa]

ok im guessing you assume we mean keeping our male bettas in one big tank correct? no we are discusing the fact individual bettas need bigger homes because too small a container is just mean and cruel... the article you posted even backs us up so... i dont know where else to go on this subject... everyone who wants one knows male bettas fight. even pet store people know this hence the name "siamese fighting fish" i know you meant well but plz know what you are talking about. and i hope you are feeding the betta and not one of those idiots who bought the betta plant thing which states "do not feed your fish this is a small ecosystem and the fish eats the bacteria and roots and the plant is fed through the fishs' waste!".

 

[AviculariaLover]

I think the main point is these fish need at least something larger than those silly bowls most people use.

I have a friend who kept a betta in one of those plant set ups and didn't feed it and she claimed it was doing just fine... until after a few months it died.

My tank is approx 3 gallons (rectangular, so theres plenty of surface area) with a small bubbler and my room gets very warm. My lamp is also near the tank and it heats up the water a bit. My betta seems quite happy. If I had more room and money I would get a larger tank and try to provide a more natural set up with some plants... I will probably do that when I bring him home from school in the spring. I have a betta at home thats been kept in a large bowl and I want to revamp that set up as well, I think too often these fish are used merely as room accessory and not a special fish that may survive in poor conditions but could really thrive in the right environment.

One question about live food: the pet store I go to sells starter kits for brine shrimp, would this be worth looking into as a treat, not worth my time or not recommended?

 

[joseofsa]

Nah... when they hatch they are way to small for an adult betta. but brine shrimp as a once in a while treat is very recomended as the exoskeleton makes a rather good laxitive for fish and its the same thing with daphnia so once in a while i order live daphnia or brine shrimp from my pet store. if you want a project sure go for it and raise some brine shrimp i did it once and i looked at it as raiseing sea monkeys but then gave the few that lived names and could not feed them to the fish.

 

[joseofsa]

i thought i answered last night but cannot find my post? no i do not raise crown tails nor do i have any solid black fish because solid black females are infertile. if you want to have a HM i have one he is kinda old(7 months) but would make a good starter. he is a breeder so if you want to try breeding him he will know how to treat a lady and i will walk you through everything. my good camera is dead(the one i took the first two pics with) but i might have a digi cam somewhere and if you are intrested i might be able to get you a pic.(this is to arachno btw)

 

[GailC]

joseofsa, you make me want to get a nice half moon... I managed to talk myself out of it awhile back because I didn't want to have one shipped from overseas but if I can find the one I like just maybe I'll go ahead with the shipping.
Are you by chance in the states? I can't remember the color I was looking at, something like black orchid? it was all black with bright blue between the rays. I'll check aquabid.

 

[joseofsa]

yup yup black orchid is a beautiful color morph unfortunately my orchids passed from age a few months ago. i have yet to see a pair i like. yes i am from the states. i tried to make my own orchid line but i got that marbled copper line and hit the floor running when i saw how beautiful they turned out. i was just about to cease all major breeding and focus on my chemeleons for a bit but it seems i have a little comunity who is intresed in buying some bettas. i mean i had to empty my pm box this morning from requests. i have about 600 and change of fry growing up but most im keeping or giveing to other breeders who helped me out with my lines. hmm.

 

[AneesasMuse]

joseofsa, I accept your apology and I apologize myself if I was insulting to you in any way. These boards are for people to find help and others with the same hobbies, etc. ...there's no purpose or benefit for foul behaviour.

waldo, it sounds like you are speaking of blue lace or black orchid maybe. Two of my Plakad giants were this phenotype... here's Shukr with Mar before he decided to tear a chunk out of her (she died later, as a result)

This photo is from Shukr and Shadow's breeder, I assume. This should be Shadow, the brother.

The color isn't true in the second pic, but gives the idea; and the pic I took was with my old obsolete HP... not great either, but the actual color is closer.

A year ago, when I was still involved on a larger scale, Duen and Watt were great sellers on AB (aquabid.com) and where I got my giants and a few others. If they haven't changed their seller names a zillion times, try Grandbetta... the fisheries... Cherry betta... and my memory fails me now. There's quite a few names left, but they escape me. It seems like Betta_center and maybe Zorro something had some nice fish and were newer, but showing some promise in their stock. Zorro is stateside too, so that would be less shipping costs and worry. Jim Sonnier had nice stock once upon a time, but he was recovering from hurricanes last time I was buying.

Whoever you buy from, you will be amazed at the beauty of a nice HM or DT, my all time favorite... besides of course, my beloved Plakads. They're the only ones I keep in my tanks now.

 

[GailC]

Yup, black orchid is was I was after I just checked aqua bid and didn't see any I really liked, most are either too chocolaty colored or have too much red on them.

I do like these ones thought.
http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fwbettashm&1169199923

http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fwbettashm&1168830622

Shadow is incredible, I don't see many that are a true purple like that. I would love to have one like him.

 

[joseofsa]

ok i just set these guys up to spawn. if you will be intrested in buying a baby from this pair plz pm me and i will reserve you a male or female or pair or trio(1 guy 2 girls)
possible colors: marbled, copper ,copper melano with copper wash, melano, marbled butterfly melano/copper(like the dad) mid march i will show off the babies here kinda like an arachnoboards exclusive. price from 15-25 if they have spawns like before.
dad

mom

 

[joseofsa]

i never took a likeing to plakads much for some reason??? im weird. some of the brightest colored bettas are plakads. i do love giants though a almost 5 inch betta is a very impressive sight! but most only hit 3 1/2 inches.
coolness thanks for accepting.

 

[AneesasMuse]

waldo, you will be hard pressed to find them without "red wash" ...as you can see very well in Shadow's pic, he had red on him and the 2 females had it worse than that!! (I wasn't pleased, but it was done and I worked with it) This isnt' to say that it's impossible, though. I guess, most breeders keep the best of the lot for themselves or they try to get a ridiculous price for the "perfect" fish. However, the red can be selectively bred out of them... with lots of time... and that was my goal. (My health prevents me from doing hours worth of water changes and multiple daily feedings of 100s now, hence the reason I am out of it for the most part) I still "dream" of the perfect black orchid, a truly super black (not paper sack brown... BLACK!) and a very dark "fertile" female.

 

[AneesasMuse]

I guess my affinity for the Plakad is the attitude along with the agility due to less finnage.... have you ever tried to swim in a formal gown? Their speed and form while maneuvering a tank... it's just awesome! One of my "super black" Plakads, Umar, used to mesmerize me and the Aneesa diva (cat) almost every evening... we would sit and watch him. Just sit and watch him swim. He was amazing... and a great dad, too. (I still have some of his kids in my tanks)

When I bred him to Luna (a platinum), I was dreaming of this Suporn specimen:

This is an absolutely gorgeous fish, in my eyes!

 

[joseofsa]

yes red wash is the most annoying thing in the world!!! i am pround to say i charge what the fish is worth! and with me i let you show the fish as your own i just ask that you inform me of any awards.