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MattsBettas fish journal!

156K views 2K replies 63 participants last post by  RussellTheShihTzu 
#1 ·
So, be been meaning to start a journal. I really should stop commenting so much on some other members journals lol. I'll try to get lots of pics but technology is a pain in the butt and won't let that happen at the moment, which is very frustrating.

It sounds like I have a lot of pets, but when you think about the fact that everything but the male bettas and the crayfish (and my lizard obviously lol) can be kept together, its not THAT bad. So, I have:
-six male bettas
-six female bettas
-one self cloning crayfish (more to come... Obviously)
-two african dwarf frogs
-three male guppies
-one endler
-two female guppies
-four shrimp
-one pleco
-one swordtail
-way to many ramshorn snails.
-and one leopard gecko

And that doesn't include fry. I swear it isn't as bad as it sounds. Since this is a betta forum, I'll tell you all a bit more about my bettas. I'm horrible with names, so not all of them have names. My five males, who all live in divided tanks, are:

- Spike, a beautiful halfmoon purchased from logisticsguy. He will be bred in the future, but right now he is just a spoilt little boy who (and I'm kind of ashamed to admit this) I had to put on a diet. logisticsguy keeps his fish well fed and me making sure he is full sure doesn't help. He lives in a divided, heated, and filtered five gallon tank with:
- My unnamed black traditional plakat. I bought this guy as a female from petland for a grand total of three dollars. He's one of my favorites. He will also be bred in the future, to Freckles.
- Jackson, a white and blue super delta. He lives in a divided ten gallon with Xanthus and Ares. I got all three of them from Sena Hansler when she had to rehome. Jackson got on to Xanthus's side somehow two days after I got him, and I was at school at the time and I did not know how long he had been in there but I took him out, put him back on his side, and even though at the time he was bleeding and his fins were tattered, with clean, warm water and ial, he is making a great recovery.
-Xanthus, a yellow butterfly halfmoon also from Sena Hansler. This guy has a lot of personality. He did not get damaged nearly as much as Jackson in their fight.
-Ares, a dragonscale with red fins (armadillo), who has already produced over 200 fry. He is currently in the spawn tank with Jess, hopefully I will get a nice spawn.
-My unnamed ee. I bought this guy as a female from petland (a new employee thought all bettas were the same and gave me this $25 fish as an exchange for my $6 crowntail who passed shortly after I purchased him). I know better then to trust what the petstore says, so I looked at him and he looked pretty female to me. Lets just say that he is an awful sorority member. He will soon go in the divided ten gallon (Ares, Jackson, Xanthus).

And the girls:

Lilith- The fourth fish I got from Sena, a Cambodian crowntail. She is the alpha.
Freckles- The girl I chose from logisticsguy (CJ). She's a nice marble. She will be bred with my black plakat sometime. Spikes sister.
Jess- A dragonscale geno halfmoon with nice, yellow fins. I got her at petland, somehow. She is currently in the spawn tank with Ares.
Unnamed ct girl- I really love this girl. She has a unique blue-orange color, but she is really beat up and currently in treatment for a unidentifiable external parasite.
Unnamed white pla kat girl- Another petland find. A real sweetheart in the sorority.
Unnamed red veiltail girl- My oldest fish at the time. Lots of personality. I can't go near the water in the sorority without getting bit lol.

So yea. My self cloning crayfish is berried, my lizard is old and happy, etc. I will post updates on the spawn and make a real spawn log if its successful. Thanks for reading!
 
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#1,210 ·
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Punched what I might do in the 20 into AqAdvisor and added endlers 'til it hit 100% haha. It would certainly make for an active and interesting tank. I will probably end up not adding that many endlers though (until they reproduce, but then I'll sell them off), and, depending on what CJ ends up doing with that pineapple male, the betta in the tank might be a giant.

Or I could just do a pair of wilds and cories.
 
#1,211 ·
That is a cool cory. They look like Panda corys (I love these guys) with a yellow racing stripe added. Things are going very good with Mr new guy he is next to his first girl friend and putting on a show for her and already building a bubble nest so this might go quickly.

Mah given the water that we deal with in Calgary chiclids are a smart choice. Going to the Calgary aquarium club auctions can net you a super deal on big tanks and equipment.
 
#1,214 ·
Fry update!

Its been about a full week since I got this awesome fry. I think it is a male as I had it flaring at the mirror today. Not sure it females flare. So it looks like its really getting color now and has a blue green white irridesence on the body when i shine the light. Still have to think of a name .
 

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#1,215 ·
He looks great! Flaring is a good sign of a male at this age... Not certain by any means but I'm yet to have a fish I know is female flare from this spawn. The tank looks awesome too, love the white rocks and plants. So nice to see my baby spoiled haha :).
 
#1,219 ·
There, I did it. Over the last day and a half I have read every single one of the 1218 posts. I totally have a life, NOT. Its not an addition or anything, anyway it was better than school.

You have been through a whole lot. Hopefully everything works out now. Everything will work out one day.
 
#1,220 · (Edited)
Wow BlueLacee, that's impressive. I'm sorry you had to hear me rant like 500 times haha.

And sorry to do it again, guys, but the female channoides died today (or last night... I didn't see her). There's 40 bucks I can't just afford to spend again. I swear you find the fish you want most in this hobby, get them, have them healthy for awhile, and then out of no where have said healthy fish die unexpectedly before you can do anything with them.

I swear I do everything right, even if it seems like I'm irresponsible and am constantly killing fish and then a drama queen about it. 15$ piece of driftwood for shelter and tannins? Yup. Loads of ial? Yup. Plants? Yup. Sponge filter and air pump? Check! Heater? Yup. The channoides setup cost fifty bucks alone and that's with me getting free ial and having the tank and plants on hand.

I know the same rant has been repeated a million times by the more experienced members here but it pisses me off to no end when someone keeps a fish alive in a 2 liter, unheated bowl for seven years or brings a fish back from dropsy when it's fed hikari and kept in a five gallon tank with a goldfish or whatever stupid people are doing now. Like, good for you and everything, but that's pretty much he reason I don't bother with the diseases and emergencies section nearly as much as I used to or could (or should).

I don't know if this was the proverbial "last straw" or not, but I'm not exactly eager to get any new fish at the moment. It's pointless if they (the expensive fish) just turn and die on me in a month and a half and I don't get any babies from them.

I need a hobby that doesn't involve anything alive. I'm going to bed.
 
#1,221 ·
So sorry to hear that Matt. Was there anything visibly wrong with her or was it just a sudden death?

I feel bad that your first foray into wild bettas ended so disastrously. I am seriously at the point where I am over bettas. I never seem to have any luck with them at all. I doubt once all my wilds pass away I will replace them.
 
#1,222 ·
I know it's been tough Matt, but I hope you don't give up fishkeeping. Even if you get the cheapest betta at PetSmart, I hope you find a way to enjoy it again. If you don't mind me asking, how old were they and how long had you had them?
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#1,223 ·
So sorry to hear that Matt. Was there anything visibly wrong with her or was it just a sudden death?

I feel bad that your first foray into wild bettas ended so disastrously. I am seriously at the point where I am over bettas. I never seem to have any luck with them at all. I doubt once all my wilds pass away I will replace them.
Thanks LBF.

There were no signs, except me not seeing her for a couple of days before her death (but I took that as her just being the shy species that she is). I watch the fish every day and didn't pick up anything, and shine a flashlight on them fairly often and that didn't yield anything either. Even at death her eyes were clear and the only physical things different were her color and the fact that her back and mouth were distended like a lot of fish when they die, if you know what I mean.

The wilds are great and a joy to own... Until they die. Believe me when I say I can sympathize with you- both or us seem to be cursed with the fact that it's always our favorite fish that die on us.

I know it's been tough Matt, but I hope you don't give up fishkeeping. Even if you get the cheapest betta at PetSmart, I hope you find a way to enjoy it again. If you don't mind me asking, how old were they and how long had you had them?
Thanks, Bluewind. No clue how old they are/were, I got them from a wholesaler and they didn't come with info. Definitely young adults- breeding age but still seem to be growing a tiny bit. Don't know what age that puts them at. I've had them since the end-ish of January... Pretty disappointing to have a fish you've wanted for around a year die in a month and a half. And haha, petsmart fish... I'm not doing that again. As much as I love all fish and have nothing against veiltails I refuse to put myself through the stress of introducing disease to my system again and considering mass euthanasia. Seems really dramatic until you go through a disease scare, and I mean that in the most honest way possible.
 
#1,224 ·
so sorry to hear that Matt, and Sh*t happens from time to time, well maybe a lot, lol. And I know exactly where you are coming from regarding the disease thread comment. It makes you wonder and it is annoying to see people posting a thread when they have the exact same thread as someone else. Just makes you think people are lazy and want all the answers with no effort. Then you get the ones who blatantly say it's too much hassle hopefully it will a die. Yet they have a fish clinging on for dear life.

On the positive there are the people that are here genuinely looking to help their fish and become good members and able to pass on that knowledge to others. You are one of those people with good knowledge and it would be a shame if you left. With fish you can never really see what other issues may have caused a sudden death, so please don't look on it as what have I done or could have done, it wouldn't have made any difference. It is just the way it is. Hopefully you will be feeling more positive with the new day.
 
#1,225 ·
I think that's even worse than when I lost wilds/euthanased them due to velvet. At least I had a definite explanation for what had happened.

I doubt age played a part as some of my wilds are pushing three years old now and they are still trying to spawn and boxing on with each other.

Hopefully you don't have any problems with your channoides male. At least I found my channoides had enough personality to make up for the fact that they might have been the only fish in the tank.
 
#1,226 · (Edited)
Thanks. I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels like that about some people here.

I won't be leaving any time soon, don't worry. Just, I don't know, slowing down a bit in the hobby if I do anything at all. Of course I look at this as what could I or should I have done, it's part of being a human. But then I just think and besides making my water more acidic I really can't think of anything (maybe food... But I doubt it). It's a shame these fish are so small, I would have liked to be able to necropsy her so I could at least see if there was any organ necrosis or damage or parasites.

I would love to feel more positive but this is just starting to get really stressful and I've basically accepted the fact that once I like a fish it will die and I just feel like I need to reevaluate whether or not that's really worth it.

Ok... Bed for real now.

...Or not. Edit- I agree LBF, the only good part about the fish dying suddenly is that it's sudden... You don't have to watch it suffer. I hope I don't have problems with the male either. He's a nice fish, it sucks that his mate died and that he is not the only inhabitant of a tank I set up exclusively for wilds and can't really put much else in.

Night. For real this time.
 
#1,227 ·
Night hun. And the petsmart comment was me just trying to get you to not give up. Our Walmart is 10x worse than the PetSmart and Gus (my VT and first fish) came from THAT! He was a train wreck. I didn't think he would last the night and I've had him a year and a half.

Then there was my little Cami who was perfectly healthy until she bumped her head on the tank lid from a crazy jump she did when startled. She must have hit just right because it killed her. And if I hadn't been standing there, I would have never known why.
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#1,228 ·
In other words, don't blaim yourself because you never know what could have caused her death. It could have been a fluke or genetics or something else entirely.

Also, it might be a good idea to contact the seller and let them know just in case it was genetics or a health issue. As little time as you had her, maybe the seller would be willing to sell you another at a reduced price. Unlikely, but still, it couldn't hurt to find out. :)
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#1,229 ·
I hate writing deaths off as flukes... Buy sometimes you have to.

I doubt notifying the seller will do much good as it's a wholesaler and not a private seller that bred and raised the fish themselves, but trying wouldn't hurt I guess. Oh well.


Guys... Right now I have a conundrum. I don't really want more fish... But I'm hating my empty tanks. Shrimp are nice...
 
#1,230 ·
I hear you on the empty tank business! Shrimp are nice....

Sorry about your female though, perhaps it was the stress of the entire situation from being shipped and moving to your tank? Could have just been all too much for her, although I know you said she still had full or mostly? full color when she died.
 
#1,232 ·
Shrimp are very nice. Yellow, blue, red, striped... And much easier and cheaper then wild bettas. I think I'll keep my one empty ten as a qt and worry about filling my existing tanks... That 20 looks super bare and needs something else but as I said before I'm not really eager to go out and buy new fish

I doubt it was the shipping stress since she ate fine out of the bag (ok, it took a little convincing at first), colored right up, and even have me a spawn. My water's pH tests slightly lower or very similar to the bag water if I remember correctly too.

Ah, the joy of being drawn to those weird little rare ($$$) species.

Thanks JDragon.

I put the Endlers' breeding trap into the 20g today because it looks better and the fish are going to be in there for the rest of their lives anyways and that tank will definitely have no problems with the bioload. I hope at least one of the two unsexable babies is female.
 
#1,234 ·
So I finished the tank and put the log in. Here is a update on colors. Some pictures arent great but lighting was perfect like the really blury one you can see how much white he is getting at the front of his fins. back one is getting some almost yellow looking color and some dark spots too.
 

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#1,235 ·
Hey Matt. I know it sucks when fish randomly die like that. My nicest male OB peacock just randomly died last week. Nothing you can do but move on. That fish was $30 value on his own. And I'm sure all these death of urs are costing you way more than me.

Also if you aren't liking the bettas and need some fish for the 20. I'm sure a nice harem of apistogramma caucotoides (not sure if I nailed the spelling on that) aka cockatoo cichlids would look great in there. Especially some triple reds or some oranges.
 
#1,236 ·
Mmm I hate Africans (cichlids! Don't quote that fragment!) but don't mind SA cichlids. Will have to look into species since I don't particularly want to buy and breed a regular, commonly traded species- besides bettas I would rather just focus on the the species that need more breeders. Aka the expensive and hard to find ones. An apisto pair or trio or rams or something is a viable possibility though, thanks mah.

Megan, the fish and tank looks amazing, he looks like he's even grown a bit. The black or blue specking is cuz his mom was a grizzle- it looks a bit strange (not bad, just different) on a cello fish but if he turns white it would be awesome.

Today I did a bleach dip on some java moss to try to get out the hair algae and it kinda worked. I want to try hydrogen peroxide on it, I really don't want to contaminate the 20 wuh this stuff. Speaking of the 20, I want my endlers to make more babies. I need more of them!
 
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