Old age to me was just on 3 years old, he was not sick, but old, he had no energy and was just floating aimlessly at the top of the tank, I tried to keep him going by putting him in a shallower tank with a lot of weed for him to rest on at the top, but he was done with living.
I understand the concern by some about putting a new fish straight in with a female, I did know he would not breed with her, but he had a chance to learn.
He was skittish when I bought him, now he is calm and does not panic when I come near his tank, so it was more of a calming trust experience for him,it was a very fast way to get him used to his new surroundings.
The female is removed now he is calm, as soon as he shows he is ready to breed by blowing bubbles, I will breed him, I have 15 females I can choose from.
This is the male I removed because his fin was bitten, I am not a cruel or ignorant person, this boy is my pride and joy, I was quite upset when his bottom long long fin was bitten, s he is in a tank on his own.
Only that bottom fin was bitten, the other fins are naturally zig zaged at the ends.
Just a heads up- what may have worked with your first, or whatever many times pair(s) may not be working for these guys.. Betta all have different levels of aggression, some males have been known to kill females after spawning.
Harsh as it may sound, unless a fry can survive they die, that happens in the wild all the time, it is natural for the weaker of a species.
It does sound harsh, but my fry are fed well, water kept clean (which is the hard part) only the stronger and more determined fry survive.
I do NOT sell my fish, I keep every last one of them.
I breed them because they are a beautiful fish and I enjoy them, if I didn't I would not spend an hour collecting mosquito lava from the special containers I put out to attract mosquito.
Harsh as it may sound, unless a fry can survive they die, that happens in the wild all the time, it is natural for the weaker of a species.
It does sound harsh, but my fry are fed well, water kept clean (which is the hard part) only the stronger and more determined fry survive.
I do NOT sell my fish, I keep every last one of them.
I breed them because they are a beautiful fish and I enjoy them, if I didn't I would not spend an hour collecting mosquito lava from the special containers I put out to attract mosquito.
I did not say you didn't enjoy or love your betta. The way your post came off to me sounded harsh. My betta had changed my views about fish and even the insignificant ones in my opinion deserve some sort of life. But hey that's just me.
Harsh as it may sound, unless a fry can survive they die, that happens in the wild all the time, it is natural for the weaker of a species.
It does sound harsh, but my fry are fed well, water kept clean (which is the hard part) only the stronger and more determined fry survive.
I do NOT sell my fish, I keep every last one of them.
I breed them because they are a beautiful fish and I enjoy them, if I didn't I would not spend an hour collecting mosquito lava from the special containers I put out to attract mosquito.
People who raise fighting betta think that way about raising bettas. They take on the "Strongest Survive" theory and often put a male and a female together to rile his aggression before a fight. Pardon me for targeting you, but you basically treat your fish like fighting fish.
You might think it's the right way to do it, but for most of us, it's very wrong. Cruel, even.
You will never find a vail tail, a double tail, or anything you pay 150 dollars for on AB. They have been selectively bred in order to produce a product that appeal's to mankind's vanity. Our own love for these beautiful creatures has driven them to the point that they --CAN NOT SURVIVE- without us; their surrogate mothers and fathers. When you treat them as nothing more then breeding machines, made for nothing but YOUR pleasure, you draw a true parent's of bettas out. We realize we must treat them as mother to a child, because it was by our hands that they where brought into being. We want them to be as comfortable and cared for as we can. And safe from all dangers. We did bread them to be so delicate, what kind of mothers would we be if we did not protect our fragile children.
Needlessly kulling so many just to weed out the weak makes me cring. Putting them in tanks together... even more so.
I went and looked at your first post and it's date... and if I'm right you've only been raising Betta for a year. And it looks like you started breeding them not long after you got your first betta. Do you think it might be possible that you've done a few things wrong, and maybe we could give you advice? This site is lucky enough to have a few very knowledgeable people who have bred bettas most of their lives. Try to keep that in mind.
You could be losing beautiful fish and not even know it..
Culling is normal, but should be selectively done, fry with physical deformities should be culled. Not some poor fry that ventured off your breeding may and got stuck under gravel.
Ok, ok enough ganging up the bad guy! I'm sure they'll take your advice now can we be nice and get back to the pictures, please? Here's a Green Cambodian Over Halfmoon I'm trying to free up tank space to spawn.
Thanks, I'm glad you like him. I am so pleased with several of my recently grownout spawns. There are so many great looking male Halfmoons and improved color and finnage from past generations I feel like I'm really getting somewhere with my breeding programs. I can hardly wait to get this guy in a spawning tank.
Check out the eBook Betta Fish Care Made Easy
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