BettaFishMommy

i also like the tetra whisper air pumps. quite quiet and the design seems to cut down on noise some too.

hahahaha, yeah, i don't think i wanna be smelling sulphur while sipping on my ice water...... lol. not even sure what it would taste like!

some male bettas are just mean and are not suited for spawning. i had a really pretty tri colour veiltail that would kick the living crud out of any female i tried to breed him with, so i decided that procreation just wasn't in his fins, lol. if you have the room i'd keep him as a 'pet' and not use him in your breeding ventures any longer. if you don't have the room you could re home him to somebody that does have room and would take care of him well.

thanks! emailed him already.

I know this is an old thread, but i've been researching this beautiful cichlid and am determined to have one in the not too distant future! does anybody know where in Edmonton i might possibly find this fish?

Wow, she is a gorgeous little gal, hope you have many happy years with her.

Is it a hang on heater or a submersable. Hang on heater will have a clamp on it and hangs on the rim of the tank. Elite submersable will have suction cups and will look like a glass tube with a golfball and a marble on the top. If it fits that description it should be ok, I've had mine totally under water for 2 years with no problems. Are you talking about the Elite heaters that have a blue-ish grey "golf ball" on top, where the packaging says submersible but on the heater itself it has a "max water level" line? I have the same ones and i was never sure if they were truly submersible, so i kept the top out of the water. the pet store i bought them from uses the same brand completely under water, but if they are fully submersible, why the max water level indication? sorry to partially hijack this thread, but this is something i've always wondered/been concerned about.

i signed up not long ago on here and i was just wondering why i have a warning percentage on the bottom of my profile when i post topics/replies? is this something that all new members have? is there any way i can remove it, or is that a moderator controlled action? thanks. Sherry.

I definitely agree, a chat room would be awesome here. I belong to another forum, but most members are in the states or overseas and although the live advice and connection with members is nice, it would be better if we could all connect with other fishkeepers in our locale. Please, please, pretty please with a cherry on top, add a chat room to Alberta Aquatica!!!!!!!!!

Thank you so much Ishkabod for the Epcor Edmonton link! i always wondered what exactly was in the water here.

If he is suffering fin rot i would change your tank to bare bottom, it will be much easier to do 100% water changes, to keep the water super clean to aid in healing. use a glass candle holder or two (votive size-make sure you get all old wax out...lol), add gravel to that and plant your plants in it, my ludwigia does awesome in exactly this set up, but in a 10 gal with filter, and i don't even use any ferts, just 12 hr light. the only time i ever had a problem with fin rot on any of my fish was when i had gravel in my bowls and it was more work to do w/c's, so i didn't do them as often..... i've learned a lot since then! :thumbs:

"If he were mine, I think I'd use water from the tank he's used to, treat with Prime & Melafix, add some Epsom salt, and up the temperature to 78-80 F" you do not need to add things like salt and melafix to a bettas water unless you are treating for a specific condition, disease, bacteria, etc. just use a good water conditioner. if he is not showing signs of any infection i would not medicate. i keep all my tanks at a near constant 80F and my finkids do great at that temp. i used to add salt, but much research says that it is not necessary and actually causes problems with the slime coat. since i removed the salt they are more active and seem happier. I have heard from numerous sources that prime is not good to use in an unfiltered betta bowl, due to the ingredients, so if you are going to temporarily move him i would think about getting a different water conditioner (i use aquaplus and it works just fine in a bowl). A good container for a betta bowl is the bue/green tinted oblong plastic "kritter keeper" by living world. Play Pen Pets in the Millwoods Towne Centre Mall has them, 1/2 gal to 2 gal (approx). not too expensive either, i think $17 bucks for the largest size. comes with vented, hinged lid. i use them for all my bettas and they work great. fit in the sink for cleaning too! the oblong shape gives for more room to swim back and forth. I noticed you said your betta is eating flakes. might be best to do a bit of a diet switch/variation. my fish get betta pellets, freezedried bloodworms, frozen bloodworms, and frozen brine shrimp. think of it this way: would you want to eat the same thing every day for your whole life? lol.

To the starter of this thread: that was probably the same big box pet store i went into a couple weeks ago. me: "boy your goldfish don't look good". employee: "yeah, i don't know what happened to them". ARGH! and even i, who has only kept fish for half a year, could see it was obvious dropsy and some type of fungus. worst part of it was that i couldn't see any evidence of the tank being medicated. another well known LFS i went to on the southside had two tanks (that i saw, maybe more?) with ich. i actually had to inform the employees about it. one of these tanks was baby albino bristlenoses, one at the front was so infested it was twitching. so sad. on a happier note, the pet shop i deal with regularily always has healthy fish, clean tanks, knowledgable employees (the full time ones, anyway), and i have bought all of my fish from there with no problems at all (knock on wood). I refuse to buy fish at any of the big box stores due to the lack of knowledgable employees. i once overheard one of these employees trying to sell a common pleco to somebody that said their tank was 20 gal. ARGH!

Barbs and Swords are never a good tank mate for a betta. Tetras for the most part will leave a betta alone. I would not treat with Melafix, as there are reports of it being too harsh for labrynth fishes. You might want to try a product called Betta Revive by Hikari. I know for a fact the Play Pen Pets in Millwoods Towne Centre Mall carries it. $4. i use it for all fin problems and it works well. buy a couple of them, the package is small. it is a sulfa based med with methylene blue and malachite green, among other ingredients. How big is this tank? seems to be a lot of fish in there already.

I would sterilize everything. awesome instructions are here: bettatalk.com. look for the sanitization page, i can't remember how the heck to get to it. Poor little guy. it's always more heartbreaking when they become a tankmate's lunch.