Cgy_Betta_Guy

On occasion I get some thready/ hair algae growing in the tanks and have been thinking about getting a good algae eater to combat stuff that grows. I have MTS snails, shrimp and otos in the tank already but I have been on the lookout for the siamese algae eater (SAE) since I have read that they are great algae consumers as well as a decent addition to a community tank. I was poking around Pisces yesterday and saw these guys that were tagged as siamese flying fox which I remember reading that SAE are sometimes labeled as. Based on this article they appear to be SAE since there are bits of black that go to the fork of the tail, forward facing barbels, clear finnage as well as mildly defined scale outlines on the top portions of the body with no dark coloring on the top of the body. Identifying the Siamese Algae Eater or are they one of the 3 contenders as described in this article? Which Siamese algae eater? Can anyone confirm that these are in fact SAE and not the false SAE or one of the alternate Crossocheilus species. If they are one of the 3 other Crossocheilus, I am guessing they also eat thready algae too? Thanks for any help! These pics are of 2 different tanks, the first one with larger sized fish.

I got mine from Big Als about 7 months ago. Saw them and just had to have them cuz of their color and activity. That second female dropped again but I only see one fry swimming around from it. Maybe some more will turn up from hiding. I might have to check the canister filter since people have been mentioning finding surprises in theirs.

So did my API Fresh water master test kit. included was the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, low and high ph.

Well since the time of this writing the female endler that gave birth to the 18 fry has passed. After the birth she looked really skinny but was eating and I figured she would eventually fatten up again. About a month afterward she was still pretty skinny but not really sickly looking or anything and one day I found her belly up. I am thinking she might have been an older gal. At least she left me with a good brood of 11 males and 7 females. I have since separated the sexes into 2 different tanks to make sure I am controlling the population and the males are all colored up and probably old enough to breed. My second female just dropped a few weeks ago and 3 fry that are not yet sexable have survived that. I think she may have eaten a few of them as I saw her making chasing them, stop and makin chompin motions otherwise I wouldnt have noticed she was giving birth. The plan to control the population longer term is to drop one lucky boy into the harem for a few weeks at a time and see what comes along in a months time. :P Its quite entertaining to watch him dance for the ladies.

I have been thinking of getting a CO2 System as well and I am curious since you mention inspection schedules which I assume is on the tank itself and required by the company filling the tank? Just trying to get a full picture of what is involved in buying a system and tank and any hassles or difficulties etc involved with getting fills done.

the scratches are definitely worse along the back lower edge just because of sheer number of scratches. The front has a couple along the lower portion of the glass but the stand out portion is the long scratch about midway up. This one is roughly 3 inches long and is actually 3 scratches stacked above one another. Unfortunately that is the best face so it would be cool if I could buff them out. I already have an idea about getting a couple pairs of Bolivian Rams. They look pretty cool and I just have to find a source. I am almost afraid of going to the auction and finding that I could stock the entire tank with purchases from there. This impulse buy was bad enough but buying lots of fish would be worse since I dont have the tank set up properly yet, decorated and not to mention cycled. I did however hook up one of the new canister filters and swapped out a tray of bio media from my current canister and put it in there just in case :P I am also thinking of painting the back pane of glass using either some latex paint rolled on or using the Krylon spray paint. Also have to figure out how to rearrange my little fish room so this sucker will fit so probably best if I dont buy fish (or too many) yet until everything is up and ready.

Is this how MTS starts??? So I was browsing some ads recently and saw someone selling a 40 gallon tank which I thought was an odd size, so I went to check it out for fun. Turns out it was actually a 58 gallon tank that matches my current 31 gallon tank which I had been eyeing at the store for the last couple months. The tank glass is about 10mm thick. The guy was selling it with: stand canopy with 2x 42" 40W T8 fluorescent tubes 2 fluval cannisters (404 and a 405 which was newly bought a few months back) large chunk of mopani driftwood about 2' x 1' x1' 2 big lava rocks (1'x1' each) 2 heaters(Jager 250W & 300W), 6 containers of food (probably tossing as they are too big or not suitable for any of my fish) 3 bottles of chemicals that I think are now expired (I wouldnt have used anyways) 2 extra T8 plant grow lights for the canopy digital thermometer 2 nets a gravel vac algae scraper a very large container of carbon that is half full 4 filter trays worth of bio media (50% old and 50% new in bags) On a whim I decided to buy it and I paid the guy 300. The same tank/stand kit with heater and a canister filter retails for $900 - $1200 depending on where you buy it and doesn't come with the extra decorations etc. I know the filters themselves are between 200-250 new retail. Problems with the tank: 1) When I got there the guy told me that the impellers in the filters were making some bad noises so I would need to replace them. When I got home filled and plugged em in and I recognized the noise from one as being an air bubble stuck in the impeller chamber so I shook it a bit and now no issues with that one. The other was making pretty harsh noise but turns out it was just the impeller cover had snapped one of the tabs so it was coming loose causing the impeller to spin wildly. Tried the cover from the other filter and no noise. A new cover will take care of that and replacing a few missing pieces like hoses and uptake tubes will gain me 2 perfectly operational canister filters. 2) Guy must have had a massive outbreak of algae, the back and sides of the tank was covered in spots of algae, the driftwood and lava rocks were basically coated green. I have since scrubbed these down and they are clean. 3) The stand which is that cheap particle board stuff is slightly water damaged on the front 1-1 1/2 " of the uprights but seems to be pretty solid with the full tank on top. 4) There is one really long scratch on the inside front pane mid way up that will probably annoy me eventually as well 2 big ones along the underside of the tank. Looks like there might have been sand between it and the stand and he dragged it about 6 inches or so and it left a nice gouge in the surface of stand and tank. Any idea if this might compromise the integrity of the glass? I have it sitting in my garage for the last 3 days filled with water and there are no leaks detectable. 5) because the tank was dirty and had lots of dried water marks on the glass when I went to view it, I didnt see these until I got it home and cleaned up. There are lots of scratches about 4" up from the bottom along the entire circumference of the tank and some minor scratches in various spots above. I think the majority of these will be covered by substrate. Hopefully they wont be too noticeable. 6) canopy is missing one of the plastic reflectors for the light... considering spray painting the inside white but not sure. I feel like I got a decent deal but curious of any opinions about my purchase? Did I get a good deal? PS Anyone know if scratches can be buffed out?

Burnt orange, pewter and black colors were available at Pisces for $129.99 (regular price) on friday for those looking... only saw one pewter and one black though.

Thanks everyone... I did manage to get to Big Als after work yesterday and they had all the parts behind the counter. Havent tested it yet but I am sure it will be fine.

Has anyone in Calgary seen a Fluval 404/405 impeller cover for sale anywhere? I stopped by Pisces yesterday and they dont appear to be fully stocked and I am not even sure I have even seen parts there before. I dont recall ever seeing Fluval parts or filters at Big Als either. One of the tabs on a used one I got is snapped which causes the impeller to make spin funny and make lots of noise. Oh and I also need the aqua stop connector for the top too. Thanks for any info you can provide!

I am hoping for a sale too... I have been eyeing a tank package for a while and might just succumb to MTS if the price is right.

yeah I didnt really realize how nice that red guy was until I got him into the main tank and under the good lighting and has certainly grown on me. He is catching up in size to #1 too. I do suspect they are both females but not quite positive yet. I am hoping to keep 4 females in there eventually so hopefully neither of these 2 will need to move out. Mom and dad got busy in the main tank about 2 weeks ago but couldnt manage to defend the falling eggs against their tank mates and actually got frustrated themselves and started to eat the eggs. Hopefully they havent acquired taste for it cuz I may want to try to breed them again very soon.

Welcome!

Welcome to AA! Bettas are what got me started about 4 months ago and I seem to have caught the fish keeping bug and am really trying to avoid MTS(multiple tank syndrome) but I have been eyeing the 55 gallon tanks at the stores everytime I go...

That looks awesome! I am torn about the rocks... they look nice but look like the take up a lot of room in such a small tank. Will be good for shrimp to crawl around on though. And this is the first time I have heard of helferi... I am intrigued and want to track some down now! Great job and it really makes me think about getting one of these tanks!

Quite possibly overfed and constipated depending on how much you have fed him. Bettas are known to keep eating as long as there is food. If the betta is still actve but just looks to have a big belly you may want to just fast him for a couple days and monitor him. If the betta is struggling to get to the surface or just floats in one spot and generally lethargic then most likely he is constipated. If that is the case then you can try a bit of deshelled cooked pea to see if you can get him to pass the blockage. The bits of pea will sink so you might have to hand feed small chunks. Alternatively... holding a mirror up to the tank for a couple minutes gets the male flexing and puffing up and can often make him force whatever he has out of his system. Just dont do it for too long cuz flaring does require lots of energy on the bettas part. I only feed my betta a couple hikari betta pellets a day and I havent had any problems with him getting plugged up in a long time.

And here is my biggest as of this weekend. Pics with the parents are for size comparison. Oh look a baby snail! Oh look a baby Endler! Hi Mom... bye Mom! Whats up Daddio!

I had 17 of my fry survive and I had been keeping them all together in a 2.5 gallon tank until recently. I gave 2 to a girl I know as her first fish and 2 to a coworker to replace her betta that died at work of unknown causes. My two biggest have since gone into the main tank with mom and dad and I have separated my brightest blue and the only belly slider(great description of the behavior), to go play with the endler fry in my little 15 gallon tank I have been using as an unofficial breeding tank. Seems any fish I put in there have had kids. The belly slider seems to be very active but doesnt float vertically very well like his tail is heavy but I like him and I dont believe he is suffering since he can get to the surface easily so I will likely keep him around. So that leaves me with 9 still in the 2.5 gallon tank together still and I will separate them as I notice any aggression. The two biggest were moved into the main tank because they were starting to bully everyone in the 2.5 and I am still not sure but I suspect they are both female. Here are some pics: some of the smaller guys in the 2.5 some of the others bright blue swimming by a trumpet snail my second biggest that is in the main tank checkin out a gold filter clam my biggest at 2 months

Yes I saw that too... makes it $129.99 after the discount so after GST its $136.50. Might not be too bad at that price but I still cant imagine cleaning/decorating or catching fish in it will be very easy? Anyone have experience with the HOB filter that is on these? I dont know anything about HOB filters. As far as I can tell they only sell the black version right now and the girl said that they usually only carry the most popular color first to figure out how well it sells before getting in the other less popular colors.

Welcome to the forum! I am relatively new to the hobby as well at about 4 months in and have found some great help and information on this site. Hope you do too.

Awesome! Looks really healthy. How many do you have right now? I certainly enjoyed watching my fry grow from that stage and they will be hitting 3 months old on the 8th. I also like flashing the lights on them to see if they are coloring up... they must really think I am annoying by now

I cant speak for anyone else but I for one would be interested in seeing a thread on your progress and modifications for this tank so I can live vicariously through someone elses MTS. :smokey:

Saw some of these at the Chinook PetSmart about a week and a half ago so I would assume the others will probably start carrying them soon. From what I remember it was quite pricey but dont remember the exact number.

It appears that Riverfront Aquarium in Calgary is going to be moving... I was there today and asked the kid and he said they were probably moving end of August somewhere on Meridian Road which is in the NE. Anyways they have a sale going on in anticipation of the move so maybe someone can get some good deals. Freshwater Fish and Plants 50% off Asian Arrowana's 30% off Marine Fish 30% off Reptiles 30% off Dry Goods 15% off

yeah. The plan was to try breeding them once and see what happens... I really like the colors of the males so I might just let them run rampant for a while.