New Betta Boy!

[aemaki09]

I always break pellets in half for my females bc they can't eat whole ones without them bein soggy, seem to do pretty fine with that, never tried flakes.

And yeah that was my plan with the AB guy, he's got better form but isn't a black orchid which is my absolute favorite coloring

[sunstar93]

Yeah I sprinkled in a couple of tropical flakes to test and he has completely ignored them. I went and picked up 2 more silk plants (I stole one from Leo's tank) and got him one of those "flower balls" they sell at the pet store so he can have a place to hide. Right now he's investigating the heater lol

I love black orchids! Never had one but they are beautiful!

[sunstar93]

You will definitely have to post pics when yours finally spawn(:

[aemaki09]

Oh I'll definitely post pics if they do spawn, the female he's with now looks very interested in him (much more than any others I've tried) and he's building his nest yet again, but he still really doesn't get the hint to pursue her! It's really irritating. If they haven't done it by the time my new guy comes in I'm gonna take them out and start conditioning the new guy with a different female.

How's he liking the flower ball? I don't think I know what you are talking about?

[sunstar93]

That must be so frustrating! Hopefully he will take the hint or miss his chance to breed!

It is one of these:
http://www.petco.com/product/117186/...ium-Decor.aspx

I notices tonight that on either side of his head, by his gills, he has a patch of dark rust colored..something. I am afraid it is velvet but it is not like a dust its almost like a patch of scales...I don't want him to sick!

[aemaki09]

Ooh that thing is pretty cool, we dont have petco around here so that's probably why I've never seen it.

And I don't think you have to worry unless he is acting weird. But I've never had a fish with velvet.

[sunstar93]

Ours is pretty small. It was the cheapest decoration that had a hidey hole in it. I caught him using it today!

I pm'd Sakura and I'm adding AQ salt and I bought a new heater today. It is adjustable and she suggested turning the temp up to 86 degrees to kill off the disease. Apparently it's caused by a parasite or Protozoa...weird. And I got some Maracide that I have heard is very effective...except it stained my fingers blue lol. Tomorrow I am going to bleach my gravel vac and gallon bucket I used for water changes...so much to do! But I bought him some mini betta pellets (API brand I think) and he was trying to eat them. Not much of an appetite but he did eat a couple so I'm glad. I think I went to petsmart like 3 times today...my wallet is crying haha. But I'm praying that after all this he lives!!

[aemaki09]

Mine finally did the dirty today! So hopefully I'll have some babies Ina few days! The spawn tank is actually a big Tupperware container so I can't see in through the sides to tell if there's eggs, but I know they were embracing for atleast the couple hours before I went to school and when I got back tonight the female was on the opposite side of the tank and the male was guarding. I can't tell you how bad i'm hoping it worked!

[sunstar93]

Finally!! I hope that there are some babies after all the waiting! I guess he finally got the hang of it lol! What color is your female? Just curious lol.

Woke up this morning and almost had a heart attack. Apparently I set the heater too high and the thermometer showed it was at 90! I almost boiled the poor guy. And I was looking for him and saw him hanging upside down gasping for air. Apparently he is so small that he can get stuck in between the stems of his silk plants. I moved the plant and he shot up to the surface to gulp some air. But he had a belly on him (as much of one as he can for his size) so he is eating!
I have decided to bring him home with me for Thanksgiving break...i don't know how my parents will react because they don't actually know I have any fish at all. It'll be interesting lol.

[aemaki09]

Thacker call!! Yeah, when u get a new heater u gotta be able to keep an eye on it for atleast the first 5 hours, I have a 100w in my 26 gallon, if I set it to the temp I actually want (78) it ends up at like 90 it's at 72 now and its actually like 80 in there. How did he get stuck in the plant?

And the female he spawned with was a red Cambodian, not thrilled by her color and she wasn't my first choice but my first 2 choices wouldn't go near him, atleast she has nice form, really interested to see what these babies look like

And maybe we should move this to a PM so we don't keep clogging up everyone else's pages?