A Fishy Tale (Everything In Between)

[ZackyBear]

This is just an experiment to see how dedicated I stay to updating a journal/blog/log/story daily. Feel free to read and comment if you want :o

That Darn Prime

:
Well, to start things off I would like to say that my lovely betta Portal Prime is DAFT. Last night I bought some freeze-dried bloodworms as a treat for him. Was totally excited while soaking them, and after a few minutes I popped one into his tank.

He did NOT like that. Oh, he will eat pellets without even thinking twice but one look at that bloodworm and it was flare city. I tried moving it around and he completely flipped, dashing into his pineapple and refusing to come out until after the offending treat was removed. I was very colorful with my words and decided to store the rest of the worms for another betta. Most likely will try again but if he still doesn't like them then he can have his smelly pellets all he wants.

I couldn't find a decent 1-gallon jug for his AQ treatment water, but decided to cheat. After doing some math, his betta cup I bought him in was promptly filled with scalding hot water, 3 drops of water treatment solution, and 1 tsp of salt. I did the same with an empty bottle, but used only a pinch of salt and used 1 drop of water treatment. Now when I do his water change when I get home, I just pour in the betta cup water first after cleaning the tank, place the decorations, then fill with water from the tap and let it sit for about 30 minutes. When doing a 50% water change, the bottled water will be slowly dripped into the tank so Portal prime's reaction to it can be closely watched.

Originally, the day before yesterday I did this, but with less salt to accumulate Portal Prime to it. He seemed irritated, constantly flaring and darting from edges of the tank until I took out half of the water and replaced it with treated tap water (no salt added). Kind of worried that his dorsal may never heal because he is constantly flipping it from side to side, and possibly ripping any new growth. When I get home some stress coat will be added to help.

I feel I am doing something right, however, since yesterday when I got home I was excited to see a bubble next in the corner of his tank.

Breeder Log

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A while back I started a thread, asking for easy-breeding fish to gain experience when caring for fry. Well, I was very sneaky and bought two 10 gallon tanks when my parents weren't looking. I started out with the very basic 1 male and 3 females, keeping them divided as I fattened them up for the best possible outcome (I originally bought 2 males and 6 females, but I picked which ones looked healthier for my breeding). Now a month and a half later, I have 15 little mouths to feed in the morning and evening when I get home. There were more, but I left the mother in with them to naturally cull and cut down their numbers since my space is limited. I do still keep the males and females separated, but I changed my divider to a mesh screen so they could still see each other. That perked up my males a LOT.

I've already found homes for the babies, too ^w^

Stuff x.x

:
- New starter culture for vinegar eels since the original colony crashed. Still trying to find out why this happened
- BBS eggs - LFS sells frozen brine shrimp but I don't think this will work
- Find girlfriend for Portal Prime
- Will Portal Prime eat thawed bloodworms? o.o


And I'm done for today. Tomorrow will be story time, since I've got a headache.

[ZackyBear]

That Darn Prime

:
Judging by how spunky and active Portal Prime is, along with the time it takes for a betta to full grow out their fins and colors, I've deduced that Portal Prime is between 7-9 months of age. On Wednesday I tried giving him another bloodworm. This time he attacked it, but didn't even take a bite out of it. So after removing it I looked into live food options, such as blackworms or maybe even thawed bloodworms. He has also developed a strange and possible harmful habit of flaring whenever I turn off my lamp for the evening. When I posted on the boards, someone suggested that he could possibly see his reflection, but he has never done it before until yesterday. It's strange, yet entertaining to watch. In order to keep him from flaring into the night and tearing his fins I turn off his tank light first.

And again, after the first day of cleaning his tank, it was cloudy again with a film on the water. I was hoping the AQ salt would help with his fin rot and kill of whatever the stuff was, but now it's becoming clear that I am going to need to baffle my filter somehow. Thinking either panty hose, or taking a cut piece of plastic and laying it below the filter. That way it'll collect the water and slowly leak into the tank on the sides so it doesn't create a whirlpool of a current for Portal Prime. Time to hit up free cycle.

Breeder Log

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I've kept the original mother of my platy fry separate from the others in a breeder net, occasionally letting her out with the other females when she seems stressed. I'm going to keep her 'quarantined' for another week or so to make sure she isn't showing signs of pregnancy again. If she is, then I will still keep her with the other females so the fry don't survive. I'm doing this because I don't have the space for another batch right now. One of the fry was having trouble swimming this morning. For some reason it was sinking to the bottom. After using a magnifying glass I confirmed it was a deformity and nothing like ick or fungus. Keeping the little thing in a cup. I don't have the heart to cull....debating on giving it to the grown up platys or Portal Prime....

On a side note, I've decided that my first betta spawn will be with Portal Prime. I'm already getting a few negatives from people about it because he is a 'petstore' betta. In my opinion, you can't find out the unknowns unless you breed, and his coloring is just stunning. I plan on trying to make a strong line with him. It will take a year or three to do it, but it's still possible and I'm going to do it.

And in all out honesty, if you want to remove the 'unknowns' from pet store bettas, people would be better off buying from local breeders. It would take away the horrible conditions in which fish are kept. I would rather buy a CT/VT from a local breeder than wal-mart any day.

Stuff x.x

:
- Get items for Microworm cultures
- Find Portal Prime a Girlfriend
- Need another sponge filter.
- Moss Balls
- Net

Screw story time. Not feeling creative for it, anyways. Uhg,, my sentences are horrible today. I blame exhaustion.