Fish Foo

[howeird]

The betta tank has been gunked up with algae, which is very strange because I did not think there was anything in the tank which could have introduced it. Looking at betta mating videos on Youtube reminded me that they do best in a tank which has no gravel - bare glass floor and no ornaments.

So after lunch I put a couple of gallons of treated water into the old 5-gal tank, scooped out my five fish and put them in there while I drained their 10-gal tank, removed all the plastic plants, ornamental rocks, gravel and glass beads. Washed the tank out, cleaned the algae off the heater, filled the tank back up with treated water, re-installed the heater, cover & lamp and put the fish back in.

And saw my male Siamese fighting fish is all bloated and sinking to the bottom of the tank between gulps of surface air. I'm online now to look up cmpriest's betta constipation cure, which turns out to be mashed peas, and as soon as I am done entering this I'll thaw one and feed it to the fishies.

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Productive morning. Changed the litterbox, cleaned out the car's garbage bag, took the car to the car wash, stocked up on kitty little and cat food at The French Store, visited a friend who gifted me with a pretty blue hard cover from my Motorola Razr phone, came home to voicemail that the part for my car had arrived, and called the dealer to find out if I could bring the car in tomorrow. Nope, that kind of repair they only do on weekdays. So I'll bring it in at (don't ask me how) 7 am Monday. With luck they will be done in time for me to make the 9 am staff meeting. No big deal if I miss it, as long as I email ahead. The dealer has wireless in their waiting room.

Caught up on my Tivo viewing.  

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Saw the Harry Potter movie last night. Good fast-moving flick, didn't look at my watch till 5 minutes before the end. True enough to the book, what little I remember of the book. Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge should be nominated for a best supporting oscar, and whatever the UK equivalent is. She creates and maintains a character who is sweet and girlish and completely evil. I have seen nothing like it since Tipper Gore.

Cinematography and special effects were not up to par, nor was audio or sound editing. I really like how they fit Dudley into a teen bully character in his second scene. The whole first scene with the Dursleys was strange - Dudley is still the spoiled fat kid, his father looks walking-dead pale, Petunia is showing more leg (and very shapely leg, at that) than any middle-aged housewife ever would.

Gambon continues to do well as Dumbledore, but Rickman's Snape is a bit too caricature.

All in all a good movie for those who are familiar with the series.  

Comments

[yourbob.livejournal.com]

Algae is a small plant that reproduces by cellular division. The cells can also produce spores which can become airborne. The only requirements for algae to grow in water is water and light, preferably a little bit (at least) of nitrogen. Algae is a sign of a healthy tank. If there is too much algae for your taste, all you should need to do is cut the amount of light to the tank. The fish themselves only need enough light to be able to find food. Unless you're trying to grow live plants in the tank, the only one who needs the light on top is you - so you can enjoy the fish.

Also - Bettas don't do "best" in a bare tank - and neither do any other fish. They simply can tolerate those conditions, and some aquarists (especially breeders) find it convenient since then they can overfeed and clean up the food before it rots in the gravel or behind something.

(and yes, I did write the book [grin] http://www.helium.com/tm/76938/siamese-fighting-ltigtbetta-splendensltigt)

[howeird]

Yeah, I guess I know all that. I should have said that for breeding they do best in a bare tank - and not for the clean-up, but because when they do the egg-gathering thing, it's easier for them to find the ones they missed or dropped.

Good article for the intended audience - but you need to spank them for the "Japanese fighting fish" headline. I know some folks have taken to calling them that, but they are rarely native to Japan (mostly too cold) and the main source has always been the country formerly known as Siam. Besides, Siamese sounds more exotic.:-)

The same way the light is only for the owner, so is the clean tank. Bettas, I'm sure you know, are labyrinthine fish which breathe air from the surface with lung-like organs. Their gills are more of an accessory. They don't need much oxygen in the water to stay healthy. Changing the water often can be traumatic for bettas - as stillwater pond and paddy fish they aren't expecting fresh water.

Interesting that you mention worms as a treat food - the traditional one is brine shrimp.

While they are nice to most other fish, gouramis are an exception. Gouramis are bigger and faster and will win those fights. Gouramis are native to the same parts of Thailand where bettas come from, and also are surface air breathers and bubble nest breeders.

Just by way of an FYI, I started raising bettas when I was about 11, when I'd made enough from breeding and selling fancy guppies. I've also bred gouramis and jewel cichlids. When I lived in Thailand I worked at what is now the children's science museum, which has huge ponds that we used to stock with gouramis and bettas for the kids to catch. Some of those we bred, some we got from field trips to the northeastern provinces where we plucked them out of rice paddies before the paddies were drained and became dust fields for the summer. Nowadays I just keep bettas because they're pretty and have such an amazing mating ritual.

[yourbob.livejournal.com]

Yes. I absolutely hate that stupid name - forced upon my by an ignorant little girl who wrote the first article in that category. Sigh. And yeah, they don't occur in Japan (naturally in the wild) at all.

Yes, the traditional treat is brine shrimp, but my experience, until recently, has been that there are lots of people out there that insist they "only eat live worms". hah.

Cool beens on your history with them. I've been aquaristing since I was five - but never managed to get bettas to breed. And I'm horribly jealous of anyone who's gotten to play with them in the wild!

[howeird]

Breeding them is easy but the conditions best for breeding are kind of the worst for enjoying the pretty fishies.

Only three conditions needed:

Bare tank
only one male and one female
Temp above 82° (below 90, as you noted, is best)

I've found the temperature is the trigger.

As soon as the bubble nest is filled with eggs, put the female in an other tank if the mating ritual hasn't killed her (it often does) and as soon as the first babies hatch, put the male in another tank or he will eat them.

[edith-mf.livejournal.com]

Hope it goes well. I have to clean out a gunked up tank too. Maybe tonight, but I just started on a sewing project . . .