[Gatto]

Does anybody else own fish? I've had bettas, goldfish and a small freshwater tank in the past and tonight I finally decided that my dorm room is a bit lonely and picked up a new betta. His name is Buster

 

[will75]

Nice! Looks like a goldfish-betta hybrid. Give Buster an extra bit of food tonight : )

Why Buster? A nod to Arrested Development???

 

[Gatto]

Thanks

the pics make him look that way but he's just an orange betta, I really like his colors. You can't see it too well but the tips of his front fins are white and he has black in his tail. Actually buster came to me randomly but if I had to pick a Buster to name him after it would be mythbusters Buster.

 

[obobskivich]

I used to have a 15 gallon freshwater tank (a few years), just got sick of the maintence after a while (undergravel was too expensive for me, and manual cleaning is a nightmare if you've ever had to (and I've got some stories about that too....

))

very nice/neat tank you've got there, you might consider reading through the following:
housing (seems fairly informative, just remember, even though Betta's are sold as "easy to care for", they still require more or less the same treatment as other freshwater fish (proper temperature, ph, oxygen, etc regulation))

 

[cyberidd]

My family had a Betta, but it had a sense of humour. It would lie under the rocks at the bottom of the tank for hours on end (often over 5 hours at a time) without moving at all, or would float upside down in the plant roots we had in it (again for hours on end) but always came back to life later. Crazy fish...

 

[Gatto]

Quote:

Originally Posted by obobskivich /img/forum/go_quote.gif I used to have a 15 gallon freshwater tank (a few years), just got sick of the maintence after a while (undergravel was too expensive for me, and manual cleaning is a nightmare if you've ever had to (and I've got some stories about that too.... )) very nice/neat tank you've got there, you might consider reading through the following: housing (seems fairly informative, just remember, even though Betta's are sold as "easy to care for", they still require more or less the same treatment as other freshwater fish (proper temperature, ph, oxygen, etc regulation))

Thanks for the link, seems to have some good info, the only problem is it's suggestion for divided tanks and mirrors. A betta that can see another betta is an unhappy stressed betta. A divided tank is never a good idea, they don't want to see other males which is why they flare up and get angry. A betta sitting on the bottom of the tank alone or in a plant is a very happy betta. Eventually they will get use to each other but bettas are much happier in a little 1/2-5 gallon tank alone. Everything else is great though

 

[Nocturnal310]

i had a big fishtank....gold fish and small Sharks also..

the fishes used to die with some infection every few weeks..was very saddening ..so closed it down.

but its great to have a fishtank at home.

 

[cyberidd]

We thought it was a happy fish, but it was still a shock to find it "dead" in the tank. We had someone house sit for us who almost flushed it (she poked it with a fish net and it didn't move) because it seemed so dead, but went away and checked again the next day and a miracle had happened, it was back from the dead! Haha. That fish lived a really long time to, I guess it was saving its energy!

 

[Gatto]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cyberidd /img/forum/go_quote.gif We thought it was a happy fish, but it was still a shock to find it "dead" in the tank. We had someone house sit for us who almost flushed it (she poked it with a fish net and it didn't move) because it seemed so dead, but went away and checked again the next day and a miracle had happened, it was back from the dead! Haha. That fish lived a really long time to, I guess it was saving its energy!

That is really funny! I'd definitely freak out if my fish did stuff like that

 

[obobskivich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gatto /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks for the link, seems to have some good info, the only problem is it's suggestion for divided tanks and mirrors. A betta that can see another betta is an unhappy stressed betta. A divided tank is never a good idea, they don't want to see other males which is why they flare up and get angry. A betta sitting on the bottom of the tank alone or in a plant is a very happy betta. Eventually they will get use to each other but bettas are much happier in a little 1/2-5 gallon tank alone. Everything else is great though

didn't see that part

(I was looking more at the "don't do's", assuming if he knew what not to do, he'd know what to do...

), that is very true, don't put them squared off against one another, although I have seen divided tanks with multiple bettas and the fish not being overly stressed (just put plants up against the divider

)

as far as other fish with bettas, depends on the other fish, I've heard ghost knives aren't an issue, oscars (but oscars can hold their own, and probably kill the little betta), and some goldfish are "not a problem" (although goldfish are a nightmare for their own reasons

)

 

[Gatto]

Quote:

Originally Posted by obobskivich /img/forum/go_quote.gif didn't see that part (I was looking more at the "don't do's", assuming if he knew what not to do, he'd know what to do... ), that is very true, don't put them squared off against one another, although I have seen divided tanks with multiple bettas and the fish not being overly stressed (just put plants up against the divider ) as far as other fish with bettas, depends on the other fish, I've heard ghost knives aren't an issue, oscars (but oscars can hold their own, and probably kill the little betta), and some goldfish are "not a problem" (although goldfish are a nightmare for their own reasons )

Yeah, some fish can work but it's just not worth it. These little guys are content on their own and I like my fish to be happy

I always put them in with little snails to keep the tank clean and to just have a little more life in there (you can see the two of them in the first pic I put up) but other then that I try to keep my bettas alone. If this guy does well this semester I might end up trying to breed him for giggles next semester and just giving the babies away after the whole thing is over. I have a 10 gallon tank at home with a heater that could work for breeding. Just an idea

 

[obobskivich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gatto /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yeah, some fish can work but it's just not worth it. These little guys are content on their own and I like my fish to be happy I always put them in with little snails to keep the tank clean and to just have a little more life in there (you can see the two of them in the first pic I put up) but other then that I try to keep my bettas alone. If this guy does well this semester I might end up trying to breed him for giggles next semester and just giving the babies away after the whole thing is over. I have a 10 gallon tank at home with a heater that could work for breeding. Just an idea

yeah, alone is always best...but knifefish are just cool

(and yes, they'd probably rock a Betta's world...

)

 

[Zodduska]

Pretty betta Gatto! I've had a few in the past and they are fun fish to keep, it's really neat watching them build bubble nests.

Here's a few of my past aquarium set ups, excuse the crappy pics my camera sucked, this first one is a 210 gallon 6' x 2' x 2.5'

2.5' Silver Arowana, raised it from 4" over about four or five years then gave it away.. it was hard to part with it but I wanted to try something different.

some of his tankmates

Siamese Tiger (Datnoides microlepis) these fish are awesome predators..

 

[Zodduska]

210 gallon revisited, smaller fish this time..

Cardinal tetras mostly

Apistogramma Trifasciata, dwarf chiclid

29 gallon planted aquarium:

Discus, Cardinal Tetras, Ottos, Siamese Algae Eaters

a week or so later..

 

[Gatto]

wow nice tank and really interesting fish set ups