# Wanna see my fishies?



## LennytheGecko (Mar 12, 2008)

Just some pics of my siamese fighting fish, Napolian and Pedro. Thinking of getting them a couple of girl friends. I have been checking out fish stores and havent found any as bright and multicoloured as mine  Very proud of my guys, so i just wanted to share  Please feel free to share ur pics of ur fish too  Thank you


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## LennytheGecko (Mar 12, 2008)

oh and here is the truck tank i got with them. The wheels work and erverything so it is easy to roll them along so i can clean under it.


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## Miss B (Mar 12, 2008)

Beautiful fishies! I used to have some betta's that were imported from the States... beautiful fish, but that was a few years ago now and they are all long dead! I had a couple not so long ago called Frankie and Ruben but they have gone to that big pond in the sky 

Ever tried breeding them? It's pretty interesting with the bubble nest and Dad looking after the eggs.


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## Magpie (Mar 12, 2008)

Breeding them is great fun and quite easy.
I used to collect the "egg rafts" - mosquito eggs - from the ducks water bowl and put them in the tank. The newly hatched wrigglers were perfect food for the baby fish.


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## andyscott (Mar 12, 2008)

cool little tank, i like it...


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## LennytheGecko (Mar 12, 2008)

I would love to breed them. But want a bit more info first... Thanks Miss B and Magpie for the feedback  and i hope all my other fish went to the big pond in the sky and not the mud puddle below . hehehe


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## Miss B (Mar 12, 2008)

Magpie said:


> Breeding them is great fun and quite easy.
> I used to collect the "egg rafts" - mosquito eggs - from the ducks water bowl and put them in the tank. The newly hatched wrigglers were perfect food for the baby fish.


 
That's a good idea. Easier than setting up a brine shrimp hatchery.



LennytheGecko said:


> and i hope all my other fish went to the big pond in the sky and not the mud puddle below .


 
:lol:


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## snakes01 (Mar 12, 2008)

haha i like the truck tank


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## beardy_boy99 (Mar 12, 2008)

Lenny they look really kool!
I am looking at getting a banana 1 or whatever its called...its has 3 big tail fin things...its really bright....blue and red only 4 dollars....is a 1/2 gallon tank okay....its a little bigger than what you have them in...and wat are you feeding them?
Cheers
Dylan


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## LennytheGecko (Mar 12, 2008)

Thanks guys. I got the truck tank so they were more 'boyish', and my partner was more likely to like it than a 'girly' tank. And my uncle is a truck driver, but its not a kenworth so he doesnt like it  lol
beardy_boy99 i have been feeding them just 'betta food' from pet stores but have just found out i can feed them live or frozen bloodworms or brineshrimp and for variety and fiber, finely-chopped, high-protein vegetables, such as soybeans, green beans, broccoli, corn, and carrots. And mozzie larvae. And the more variety in their diet the better the colours and health. I keep them in the kitchen and give them 3 pellets a couple of times aday, but will change that to pellets once or twice a day and veg at dinner time. 

Not 100% sure on tank sizes. My guys seem very happy in the tank they are in but im thining of getting another tank and opening up the truck tank so there is more room. I have been told if the tank is big enough u can keep 2 males in there and they will not kill each other. Im a bit scared to test this thou


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## bredli_lover (Mar 12, 2008)

When I tried to breed my fighter fish the girl killed her boy  I still haven't figured out why...there tank was large enough+ enough food etc....maybe she just hated him...


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## imalizard (Mar 12, 2008)

Yes the tank is to small to have 2 males in it. They need atleast 2 gallons to be happy. You could try breeding but i think you need a 6 gallon tank. 

Here are my 2 males:







Its an old pic and they are both in a bigger tank now.


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## imalizard (Mar 12, 2008)

You also meant to have a heater for them. Dont put a heater in that tank thoguh, you will cook them.


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## LennytheGecko (Mar 12, 2008)

imalizard i like the dragon pic in there..... lol Nice fish too 
Yeah ive decided im getting a bigger tank... maybe a custom made long tank to go along the ledge of my kitchen counter... 
Just checking, i dont need filters? I might put a heater in there for winter......
Bredli_lover - Lol i dont think u are a good match maker.... I think the female wanter a stronger guy or something Hope the second one goes better


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## arbok (Mar 12, 2008)

just curious do thoughs fish mind being in sucha s mall area.. like when ever i see them in stores the fighting ones are always in tiny enclousures swimming in circles


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## Miss B (Mar 12, 2008)

bredli_lover said:


> When I tried to breed my fighter fish the girl killed her boy  I still haven't figured out why...there tank was large enough+ enough food etc....maybe she just hated him...


 
That happened to me once too. I came back to find that the female had not only killed the male, but she'd eaten him too :shock: There was nothing but a few shards of his fins left.

I have a great tank that I bought a couple years ago, it's a betta 'barracks' with four compartments to hold a single fish each. There's a fifth compartment that runs along the rear and holds an aquarium heater. I'll try to find some pics of it.

And yeah, if you wanna breed them you do need a decent sized tank. The little betta cubes are no good.


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## imalizard (Mar 12, 2008)

They dont need filters because they hate them because of the current. Thanks, i painted the dragon, thats why it looks so bad lol. You can get a long tank but make sure it is divided up. If you want females they need to be in groups and they need a 15 gallon tank for 5 and lots of hides.


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## imalizard (Mar 12, 2008)

arbok said:


> just curious do thoughs fish mind being in sucha s mall area.. like when ever i see them in stores the fighting ones are always in tiny enclousures swimming in circles


 
Yes they do mind, its sad to see them in a small tank. The reason petshops do that is because they dont want to get a 2 or more gallon tank for each one. They might be selling 20 bettas and they dont want 20 different tanks.


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## Helikaon (Mar 12, 2008)

these fish have adapted to living in cow foot prints in their native habitat. they are designed to live in small stagnant areas, althoughhsayign that i have mine in a 5 litre tank with filter and i had my old breeding pair in a 2 foot tank all thrived. ive found the biggest problems is that people over feed them and also think they will live for ages when they only live for an average of 2 years. and you never do know how old they were when you bought them.


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## Mystery (Mar 12, 2008)

Helikaon said:


> these fish have adapted to living in cow foot prints in their native habitat. they are designed to live in small stagnant areas,



Nice to see someone knows what they are talking about.


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## luke_84 (Mar 12, 2008)

i believe they live in little puddles, ie footprints in the rice fields of asia....
and on the colour topic, the females are never as bright as the males


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## imalizard (Mar 12, 2008)

Some fighters like to be in big tanks while others like small. Just because they adapted doesn't mean they want to live there. Would you like to live in a cow foot print? Its probably the only water they had so it chose to live in there.


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## scorps (Mar 12, 2008)

they live in chinese rice feilds in very shallow water and only live in a very small territory


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## euphorion (Mar 12, 2008)

luke_84 said:


> i believe they live in little puddles, ie footprints in the rice fields of asia....
> and on the colour topic, the females are never as bright as the males


 
Never? lol. some of my girls are the most stunning Bettas for colouration, just depends on where you get them from. i wouldn't reccommend pet stores as they typically recieve all the 'cast offs' from breeders here and from overseas, you'll be better off joining a forum like ausaqua.net (GREAT aussie site) and looking in the classifieds there. Also, Jodie-Lea works at Westside Pets in Taringa in Brisbane (look it up on yellow pages) and she works as the transhipper into Aus from all over the world, she can get you ANYTHING! so if you want some beautiful fighting girls drop her a line, you wont be dissapointed. 

As for breeding, you'll find everything you need to know on the above forum. so i wont go into it in detail here but as for the matter of your girls killing your boys. NEVER HOUSE THEM TOGETHER AS THEY WIIIIIIILLLLLLLLLLL KILL EACH OTHER (rant rant). "but how do they breed?" i hear you say... well, its a silly and complicated process most of the time that involves letting them see each other and flirt with each other without letting them get to each other (like floating a clear plastic cup with the female in it in the males tank) typically the female will kill the male in most instances unless they have been properly aclimated, which is a shame as most first-time breeders use their faves and then lose them 

i like your tank by the way, the truck is awsome 

oh and get them a 2 foot tank, use a sponge filter (very little current but will keep your tank nice) some java moss, and a 25-50W heater for winter. otherwise they'll be too cold and likely get Ick (nasty cold disease... bleh)

i think i've prattled on long enough lol XD


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## euphorion (Mar 12, 2008)

scorps said:


> they live in chinese rice feilds in very shallow water and only live in a very small territory


 

Thailand....


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## LennytheGecko (Mar 12, 2008)

Yes it is true they do live in mud puddles in asia ect. Thats why i wasnt to worried about the size of my tank... but saying that i would like to put tem in a bigger tank because im a sucker when it comes to my animals, i love to spoil them 
Breeders are breeding coloured females now but the females will never have the beautiful fins that a male has. Hopefully i can breed multi coloured females. After i get a bigger tank i will start looking for the females 
As for the age... i was told the max was 6 yrs.... But i dont know about that. And when pet store sell them they sell the males at 4monthish because that is when they look their best and the females at 6monthish for the same reason.
and can anyone help me with converting gallons into litres please... 
and just curious but are people still interested in buying fighter fish, i dont want to breed them then have no where for them to go... (dont really want to sell them to pet stores)


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## LennytheGecko (Mar 12, 2008)

Shooshoo u are awesome!!! Thank you for pointing me in the right direction!


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## just_brad1983 (Mar 12, 2008)

Hi Len, if you go to google and type in the search area, .5 gallons in litres, google with calculate it for you. Google with actually convert any measurements or currency you like.

Nice fish to.


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## euphorion (Mar 12, 2008)

being that you're in perth, Aquarium Artists down south is great. they usually have a huge selection of gergous boys and when i was last there they were getting some pretty girls in too. i would recommend just going for your veiltails if you want to practice breeding, as they're typically less agressive than the crowns. but then again you can get some wonderful variation using crowns. mutli colours are easy to produce so no worries there, its when you start trying to breed one particular colour that the genetics come into things! crazy stuff. also as a subnote, breeding can be quite labour intensive what with having to feed the bubs all the time and all that, but its a great hobby! have fun


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## LennytheGecko (Mar 12, 2008)

Im excited now lol. I like to keep busy atm so im going to hve to hurry up and get some tanks... I think i will get a couple of tanks and just keep them seperate. except for when they breed. I like the metallic colours u can get too. Im going to have fun nd thanks agian for the website shooshoo and thanks everyone for taking the time o have a look at my pics


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## mckellar007 (Mar 12, 2008)

i wish my fish looked cool like that, but i guess that would cost alot more to replace when the turtles eat them


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## Mystery (Mar 13, 2008)

You can also buy or bid for Bettas on Aquabid. They use Jodi to import and recommend anybody wanting to import contact her. I think its about $25 dollars per fish if you go through her.


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## Tatelina (Mar 13, 2008)

Just because those types of fish can survive in very small amounts of water does NOT mean that it is an ideal living condition for them....just food for thought.


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## euphorion (Mar 13, 2008)

as a general rule of thumb for fighters, any tank with a total volume of less that 2L need to be changed AT LEAST every 2 days. ie, a tiny 500ml fish shot style tank gets changed twice a day. something to keep in mind if you consider breeding as you might end up with a lot of little fishes in need of their own tanks very quickly.


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## dancing_pharaoh (Mar 14, 2008)

this is my fish tank


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## rebeccalg (Mar 14, 2008)

fighting fish live in puddles of water in the wild, they don't mind being in a small area. But they thrive in a larger area, I've had them mixed with other community species without problems. 
http://www.aquariumfishwonders.com/fish-breeding/how-to-breed-fighting-fish-successfully/


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## cootiesami (Mar 14, 2008)

nice set up dancing pharoah


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## callith (Mar 14, 2008)

I've tried breeding them, the breeding bit is fairly easy. The bit i struggled with was keeping the baby's alive as you have do water changes daily and feed them a few times a day.


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## LennytheGecko (Mar 15, 2008)

My little guys seem happy as. I change the tank once a week, taking the fish out with half the tank water and washing out the tank,sometimes replace some of the pebbles, trim the plants back and replace the other half of the water with water that has sat for 12ish hours roughly that has tap water conditioner. Takes about 15mins tops. 
Im thinking of making my own temp tanks for the baby bettas with perspect(sp?)plastic. Any opinions on how hard it would be to do and if its a good idea?


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## euphorion (Mar 17, 2008)

www.ausaqua.net for making your own tanks. wouldn't recommend it, just hoard those 2L plastic milk and softdrink bottles etc and cut the tops off, thats what i did  the females will very happily live in a community tank with guppies or tetras etc, very cute to watch.


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