Fish keeping

I note that there are (at least) a couple of people on here that keep fish...

I have my first Betta and am getting a little bewildered (I obviously read too much) about the range of temperature they should be kept at. I'm not breeding them - just have one male.

Help??


(And then there is the range of opinion on water hardness and pH... )

We can discuss my "Goldfish Kill Rate" another time....!

There is more misinformation about Betta than about pretty much any other type of fish. This ranges from the temperature they like to be kept in to the size of the tank they can be kept in... It is true that during the summer Betta can be kept in unheated aquariums. During winter they will require heating. I keep a heater in my Betta tanks and keep them at about 24 degrees all the time. When I'm breeding them (I breed Cambodian plakats) I will increase the temperature to about 27 degrees.

I hope you have him in a big enough tank. Another myth about Betta is the size of the tanks they should be kept in.

Thanks. Bit warm here today - heater is turned off!

The tank is a self-contained type with hood, filter, light etc. About 10-11 litres. I've seen those "betta bowls" and they make me cringe.
He likes his plants and I made him a new cave yesterday. It would be nice for him to have company but I suppose the tank is a little small to have a small catfish in there or something.



I plan to start up a coldwater tank too (after I work out how not to kill goldfish. )

A little Bronze Catfsh or Peppered catfish would be ok in with him. If it has a heater in it they are generally thermostatically controlled. When the water temperature reaches the temperature you set it at it turns off. This way you don't get large temperature swings. In aquariums, stability is a key to success.

Have you got your tank for your goldfish ready to set up. They aren't hard to keep but as with any fish the success is in the setup.

Thanks. Will check out the local(-ish) availability of those catfish then.

The goldfish set up seems to have been the problem previously. Am starting pretty much from scratch again and have told myself I'm not allowed to buy the fishes for a month so the tank can mature *properly*. :p

Discovered our rain water (pH of 5-6) really wasn't suitable either.... thankfully the betta is tougher (and I had done a better job at preparing his tank!)

My sister-in-law said to forget goldfish and get paradise fish instead!

Paradise fish are nice... tell us about the set up you have for the goldies? Goldfish are pretty tough and a pH of 5-6 shouldn't have affected them too much. There are tricks you can use to change this too. Tell us abou the setup first though.

I'm in chat atm if you'd like to chat about it real time

Great thing about up here is the Betas do really well, still 'weeding'out -pardon pun- facts and fiction, tho I suspect like all of us, they are fairly individual regarding companions, aggression etc. I found that my first guy -sorry Simon, didn't know you back then- Simon, enjoys having his female, simona.. of course... in with him and because I have a water hyacinth free-floating there are all sorts of weedy roots etc for both to hide in and stay separate when they choose (secret to a happy marriage??). My other guy, a Crownie, is in a tank nearby, and suddenly had an urge to build a bubble nest a few days ago. I moved Simona over to him, and had the privilege of watching courtship and mating ritual. Spike is now guarding and fussing over his little brood of eggs... and I am waiting to see how he goes! Incredible lil folk, and have become quite people-oriented and tame. Nothing stupid about fish!

BTW, the website [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] is a great site to check out too if you are a fish lover, I got stuck for hours just reading other folks' reviews.. fascinating, and a really interesting site.

I breed Betta as well but my taste is for cichlids... these are some of my beauties atm:

Mr Polleni (Paratilapia polleni). Large cichlid from Madagasca:

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Mrs Black Belt Cichlid... she's beautiful! Still a sub-adult at about 7" from Central America:

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Oh wow they are stunning! I have been trying to find out what types of filters etc are best for cichlids, and how best to go about setting up a tank for them, wanna get it right before I buy the fish... so much to learn still. Simon maybe you can advise on filtration systems for 10 and 30lt tanks for bettas? From what I read they prefer still water, don't like a lot of water movement etc? Also worry about filters and tiny babies, but undergravel filters for such small areas seems tricky too..

A simple air-lift corner filter is fine for Betta, Deb.. don't want oo much flow. I use a small canister I bought on Fleabay for my Betta digs.

The cichlids like as big a filter as you can get and big tanks... 4ft +... external canisters are best IMO or a sump.

My Betta is in a small "all-in-one" type tank ~11L that a friend gave me. It has a top trickle filter so it's just right.
Mine's a crowntail but I don't spend time getting him to practice flaring. *g*
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AWWWW nice guy! I read that some people put a mirror in to make the lil guys flare, but it seems to me that if they are flaring constantly in response to a perceived intruder, it would put them under stress and be rather unkind.. My Crownie and Cambodian chappies flare when they see food coming, or even just hoping... lol... or when they want a female's attention.. pretty guys. I would like a half-moon I saw recently, but want to get the hang of it all first, especially since I am keen on the cichlids. Hmmmm.... maybe I had better look for a bigger tank first, thanks Simon! I have been watching those corner units on eBay, there seem to be so many types available, with huge price variations too. I read that Cichlids need limestone or similar (Texas Holy Rock?) to help with P.H levels?

Depending which cichlids you get... Africam ones like harder water/higher pH. I prefer Sth American cichlids who often ike softer acidic water.... it really depends on which ones you are interested in.

It's taken trying to keep fish for me to discover that our rainwater is acidic... So I'll be sticking to fishies that don't require me to deviate much from the soft, acidic environment. Thankfully, this doesn't limit my choices too much I am discovering... (Except I am going to save goldfish for a pond.)

I have been looking at the Demasoni Cichlid from Tanzania, and Astatotilapia Latifasciata (what a mouthful!) but from what you just said, maybe I should try keeping a couple of Red Tiger Oscars for a while, and see how happy I can keep them? I like the Red Tigers, and tho I am not a fan of albino animals in general, the Albino Oscars look interesting too.
BTW Autumn, I have managed to kill goldies in an outdoor pond, they didn't seem to cope with a couple of really heavy rains, whereas the long-finned Rosy Barbs just keep on keeping on, and having babies. There are some really cool native fish around

I've kept oscars before and they are awesome pets. You need a BIG tank though. Mine were in a 6x2x2.

I'm not looking at this topic anymore as I could become addicted.
I used to breed Barbs for the Sydney aquarium shops.

Good bye I won't be back here.

What's an addiction or three between friends??? Having a passion makes life worth living!

i breed fish too, have Wc moba , they come from lake tanganika

Speak of fish

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The Estate wrote:Speak of fish

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hahaha

Oh Estate, what was the porpoise of that? haha. Oh dear terrible fish joke I'm sorry.
I used to keep tropical fish years ago, I do miss it sometimes.

My tank is now a terrarium


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