Hello again, everyone!
I need some advice for dividing a 10gal tank. Due to some circumstances - which, if it interests you, you can read about below - my current female may be getting a roommate soon.
I've done some searching on the web, and apparently a DIY divider made of black needlepoint mesh is the best way to go? Also, there are a lot of conflicting reports on the dangers of keeping a female and a male in a divided tank. Can anyone clear the water for me about this "egg-bound" thing and whatnot? As much as I want to save this new fish, Winters means a lot to me, and I'd hate for anything to happen to her.
Thanks in advance!
Some unnecessary background on the situation and also me venting a little bit (feel free to skip!):
One of the IB Bio classes in my high school was doing a mesocosm project and some of the students used fish in theirs. I saw a couple of tetras and gold fish crammed into half a liter bottle's worth of water. Ugh! >:I
Anyway, this last Friday, they were dismantling the mesocosms, and it seems like there were a lot of fish left behind because the students didn't actually want to keep them. During class, my teacher walked in with a male betta and said that she got a new "class pet" from them. She put him in a wide beaker with some gravel and a plastic plant and I became super concerned.
Firstly, it was less than a gallon, with no lid, heater, or filter. The water was cloudy, almost sandy-looking (and it literally gave me stress dreams about my fish last night), and the plastic plant was barely tall enough to reach over the betta, let alone serve as a hiding place. It looked like one of the stiff plastic ones that might tear, too.
The betta itself - a big ol' male - looked very miserable. He was a very dull aquamarine color, with clamped fins, stress stripes, and a red streak near his face that I wasn't sure whether it was some kind of wound or burn or just natural coloring. He swam around the top of the tank for a little bit and then crammed himself under the plant at the bottom of the tank.
I offered my spare 5gal and extra heater for her use, and she told me that she would only take it if I were willing to set up the tank myself. I went home, talked with my sister, paced around my house for a while, and then shot her an email saying I was very serious about their care and that I would take him off her hands if she didn't think she could maintain him, so now once the weekend's over, he's mine.
If he even survives the weekend.
I need some advice for dividing a 10gal tank. Due to some circumstances - which, if it interests you, you can read about below - my current female may be getting a roommate soon.
I've done some searching on the web, and apparently a DIY divider made of black needlepoint mesh is the best way to go? Also, there are a lot of conflicting reports on the dangers of keeping a female and a male in a divided tank. Can anyone clear the water for me about this "egg-bound" thing and whatnot? As much as I want to save this new fish, Winters means a lot to me, and I'd hate for anything to happen to her.
Thanks in advance!
Some unnecessary background on the situation and also me venting a little bit (feel free to skip!):
One of the IB Bio classes in my high school was doing a mesocosm project and some of the students used fish in theirs. I saw a couple of tetras and gold fish crammed into half a liter bottle's worth of water. Ugh! >:I
Anyway, this last Friday, they were dismantling the mesocosms, and it seems like there were a lot of fish left behind because the students didn't actually want to keep them. During class, my teacher walked in with a male betta and said that she got a new "class pet" from them. She put him in a wide beaker with some gravel and a plastic plant and I became super concerned.
Firstly, it was less than a gallon, with no lid, heater, or filter. The water was cloudy, almost sandy-looking (and it literally gave me stress dreams about my fish last night), and the plastic plant was barely tall enough to reach over the betta, let alone serve as a hiding place. It looked like one of the stiff plastic ones that might tear, too.
The betta itself - a big ol' male - looked very miserable. He was a very dull aquamarine color, with clamped fins, stress stripes, and a red streak near his face that I wasn't sure whether it was some kind of wound or burn or just natural coloring. He swam around the top of the tank for a little bit and then crammed himself under the plant at the bottom of the tank.
I offered my spare 5gal and extra heater for her use, and she told me that she would only take it if I were willing to set up the tank myself. I went home, talked with my sister, paced around my house for a while, and then shot her an email saying I was very serious about their care and that I would take him off her hands if she didn't think she could maintain him, so now once the weekend's over, he's mine.
If he even survives the weekend.
