Raven Posted September 24, 2004 Report Share Posted September 24, 2004 Set up: As it stands the set up is pretty basic. Ive the filter and heater in one corner, then a drift wood with fabric plants angeled in the same corner. I tied some extra plastic plants on, just incase. For the filter ive it set up to a value that reduces the amount of bubbles so it barily disturbs the water. On the opposite end i've the glass chimney. I figure ill let the setup run for a week or a few days more, so that itll give me time to condition the pair with some frozen bloodworms i got. So far the tanks been running for 5 days, and the pairs been conditioned 3. When i go to add the pair i will also tape the cup to the tank. I turned on the heater, on day 2 of the tank being set up so, there should even be some benifical bacteria in the tank since itll run long enough for a fishless cycle. I've slowly raise the temp, and i condition the pair,with betta bits before work and frozen bloodworms after. By next week i plan to introducing the pair to the tank. I hope things go well. Any advise as i go along would be greatly appresated by the way. Right now things, mainly the conditioning, will get screwed up cause i had to go to the hospital, and i might not get home for a couple of days. So far the male (Red) seems to love the bloodworms, only problem is that i think its making him constapated. The female (Mystic) wont even touch it, in fact i cant get the female to eat at all. Though i have caught her being flirtaious as she was all stripped up, and flaring at the guys around her, if i can get her to eat, hopefully she wont be too much of a handful for Red. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokey Posted September 25, 2004 Report Share Posted September 25, 2004 Raven, when you refer to " fishless cycle " to condition the tank's water, you are refering to adding ammonia to the tank. .. ?. Smokey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted September 29, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2004 no, ive just let the tank run with no fish in it the last couple of weeks. The spounge filter has bacteria already built in it from other times ive used it, so i think that helped things. As far as the spawn goes, this one has once again ended in failure. Mystic has now out lived both Canibis and Red, the two males i was conditioning to breed with her. Now ill have to wait and buy a new male that matches her colours. The two i have left are too pale to make any decent looking fry. Angels a white spekled male, and Tajiri is a cellophane. Im going to call petcetra, the place were i first got my females and see if i can get some more, i find there males are sometimes better looking then petsmarts too. Ill post any info if ive got another spawn planned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokey Posted September 29, 2004 Report Share Posted September 29, 2004 Remember, the bio-bacteria need food to survive ..... a tank with no fish in it can not support the bacteria and the bacteria can not multiply. The term "FISHLESS CYCLE" is used to refer to starting a tank by using only Ammonia to cycle the tank. Ammonia being the food for the bio-bacteria. Smokey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted September 29, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2004 ahh i see... hmm, ill have to change things then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinalcore Posted September 30, 2004 Report Share Posted September 30, 2004 I'm sorry to hear about you losses and lack of luck with trying to breed them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted October 14, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2004 My attemtps have new hopes. i got 3 new females, one blue, one purple, and one redish. I cant really breed them i dont think, cause i think theyre still juvies. i also bought a new male, but hes acting weird. He looks to be a delta/veil, his back curved in a hump a bit and he swims aquwardly almost as if his fins are to heavy. I think hell last, ive got him munching on flakes, as the sink. His lack of swimming abitilies make it hard for him to eat betta bits. The females are to small for the bits, but they will fight/play over them, which is ammusing and they will eat small crushed flakes. i think itll be a month before i can do anything with the girls, and how knows how long if the male continues to act weird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chloeclose Posted October 14, 2004 Report Share Posted October 14, 2004 Sounds like he has swim bladder disorder, which is fairly common in bettas that have been fed nothing but dry foods or overfed which is usually what happens at the petstores, (either that or they don't get fed at all). It can also be caused by bacterial infection due to poor water quality. Given the conditions the petstores keep their bettas in, this is hardly surprising. I would cut waaaay back on food, actually I would fast him for a couple days and then slowly reintroduce non-dry foods. Frozen fooods are waaaay better than flake for bettas. Frozen mysis shrimp, brine shrimp, glassworms, bloodworms, daphnia... all my bettas go crazy for these foods and I've not had to deal with Swim Bladder Disorder since I switched from pellets and flakes. Except for the one I rescued recently that came home with SBD... but he's fine now. You could even start with a tiny bit of cut up thawed frozen pea after the fast, this helps clean him out. And keeping him in 'pristine' water conditions is a must if you want him to beat this. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted October 14, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2004 i did fast him for 24 hours after i first got him. But he didnt seem any better, thats when i tried to get him to eat, cause ive had so many die on me cuase they wouldnt. The males are do for a water change tommorow, so ill try froozen blood worms with him, but im not sure. They made my female 'mystic' sick and one of my males died shortly after eating them. Maybe i could fast him over the weekend after a couple days with the worms? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chloeclose Posted October 14, 2004 Report Share Posted October 14, 2004 There's no reason why they should make your bettas sick... what brand are you feeding and how are you preparing them? How much do you feed at one time? I feed Hikari brand frozen bw's just because they are guaranteed parasite free but have had no problems with the San Francisco Bay brand. I have 'been owned' by over 40 bettas and have never had one get sick from frozen bw's... :well: A betta can go along time without food, I've had some really picky guys go for 2 weeks without eating, just because I am determined to feed them something better than the crappy pellets they are used to. I call it tough love... I would fast him at least 2 days and then try the pea... trust me it works. What are your parameters in the tank you have him in... could make a big difference as to whether he gets better or not... Is he sinking or floating? This is not always curable, but I've had some that came home with what looked to me to be a very incurable SBD and after living in some clean water and a stress-free environment with the right foods they were able to overcome it. I hope your boy can too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted October 15, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2004 hes not in a tank, just in his own little bowl. The get cleaned and changed 2-3 times a week. He usually sits on the marbles, unless i come by and hell swim around a bit, getts tired and sits on the marbles again. Like i said before hes weird. Ill keep feeding him pellets/flakes till tommorrow and fast him til mon or tues, then try the pea. Ill let you know how he comes about. Oh and today i actually got him to eat a pellet. ^^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chloeclose Posted October 15, 2004 Report Share Posted October 15, 2004 Yeah, that's not really 'wierd', just indicative of Swim Bladder Disorder. Poor little guy. That's good that he has an appetite, BUT in my experience, food and especially dry food such as pellets are only going to make the situation worse. I would fast him right now, he needs to go at least 2 days without eating and then I would try feeding him a couple tiny bits of thawed frozen pea. After that I would start him on small amounts of frozen food. He is sinking becuse he is has an intestinal blockage (all 'bunged' up), he needs to rest his tummy until things get moving again. Dry foods will only make it worse. Bettas are carnivores with a relatively short digestive tract that is not designed to digest things such as grains and flours which is primarily what pellets are. So it is really unfortunate that betta pellets are marketed as the 'perfect' betta food because nothing could be further from the truth. The last guy (Nimbus) I got from Petcetera had this and he could barely move at all, just laid on the bottom all the time with the occasional strain to the top to breathe. I fasted him for 3 days, then did the pea thing, then swtiched to frozen food, it took a little over a week but now you'd never know there was ever a problem. I will never feed him dry foods though, just in case. Some bettas have particularly delicate tummies and are especially prone to bloating due constipation and may never do well with dry foods. What size bowl is he in? You may consider lowering the water level so he doesn't have to work so hard to get to the surface, however if you do this, you will need to keep an even closer eye on the water quality due to less water. Here are before and after pics of Nimbus. Just so you know that I know what I'm talking about This is when I first got him... all he did was sit on the bottom, barely moving... This is him now, all fixed up!! and another See? He didn't starve and the frozen bw's didn't make him sick either! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted October 16, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2004 lol,ok. hes off the pellets, and im think ill try getting my money back for them too. tommorow he wont get fed cause i wont be home, same with sun and mon, so when i get back on tues he should be ready of some pea. The bowl is..... cantalope size id say... i think soming like 1/4 of 1/3 of a gallon, i dont remember. he was been swiming better, with his body not curved anymore, hes not baloted at all and seem perfectly fine except for the fact the he still swim like his fins are to heavy for him. Ibelieve i read something think that with the "libby" bettas. But i dont know if it genetic like that. anyway, just to be safe, hes being fasted right now. lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinalcore Posted October 24, 2004 Report Share Posted October 24, 2004 Did he manage to eat for you yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted October 27, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2004 yes he was, and now i think he has velet. i treated his water with a pince of aquarium salt but i dont think its getting any better. and lately i cant get him or angel to eat more then one pellet, if they even notice its there. i have meds.... cant remember what its called, but i bought it when the fungus was running throw the 29g. should i use it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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