Jaide

Good to know I'd love to go marine - maybe one day it will happen. Was looking up seahorses the other day - they're so gorgeous, one day.....one day..... Welcome Sean! (insert waving smilie here)

Hi Imsmith My golden angels have started kissing too (I only have 2), since I moved them out of their squished tank and into my big setup - every night they're kissing (and possibly kissing all day for all I know but I'm not home to see). I found a youtube vid of angels kissing, but this is fighting behaviour: http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=W2uBls1khMk - mine aren't aggressive like this - mine do gentle grabs and let go seconds later. These ones are grabbing firmly and wrestling, then wrenching as they let go. So, are mine actually courting? How exciting! :bounce:

I think it boils down to the personality of your betta - I have one male who's quiet and glides around - he's an easy target for my angels and his fins were ripped to pieces - so I had to move him out. It's funny, as most say you shouldn't mix bettas with other fish as bettas are aggressive, but I found it the opposite in this case. He prefers his own space as he perches a lot too - so needs a quiet tank. If I had to house him with other fish, I'd ensure they were also quiet fish, were not fin nippers and kept out of his way - ground dwellers would work well. I don't think its wise to house bettas with bettas - male or female. Males don't socialise with females at all in the wild, only meeting up for breeding. Don't worry about your betta being lonely if that's what you're concerned about - they're solitary fish and are used to being alone, they prefer it that way. They're territorial so other tank mates could stress them, especially if they go onto their patch. If you're concerned your betta is lonely or bored - you can do a host of things to keep him happy: add a mirror on occassion so he seems himself it encourages him to flare and will encourage aggressive and territorial behaviors natural to bettas, and will normally inspire them to patrol their tank, bubble nest etc. - but not for extended periods or he can become stressed. Move objects around in the tank - take out decorations and objects and substitute with different ones on occassion. Keep a certain object to be removed/added each water change, such as a cave. Change the external environment around the tank - either move objects or move the tank itself. Bettas are intrigued by objects outside the tank - different shapes and colours are exciting to them - they spend hours investigating these objects. Shiny objects work well. Play with him, he'll follow you (or use your finger) around if you move around the tank,. Add toys such as a ping pong ball which floats which he'll flare at, chase and push around with his nose; or a marble that sinks - they'll push them around - but this only works if tank bottom is bare.

I'm not entirely sure why Whetu - every google result always recommends blanching lettuce before feeding to your fish - maybe it makes it more digestible so its easier on their tums

Blardy IT people that can get away with anything online....whereas the rest of us plebs have restrictions in place so we can't access email accounts, Trade Me, download stuff etc. etc. ....just as well the restrictions don't seem to work for me, hehe Though I don't think this site is barred anyway

Lettuce should always be blanched first before adding to aquarium: Method for blanching: plunge foods into boiling water for a few seconds (few seconds for lettuce) or a few minutes, then remove and place in ice water. The food does not cook all the way through, so crisp texture is preserved.

I wonder if red males prefer to be batchelors? :lol: I have a male red fighter and he never blows bubble nests, runs from other males and tends to just like to sit around all day long :roll: Maybe red males are just more placid and less interested in their own species? I doubt introducing a female would perk him up at all - he'd probably run a mile! :lol:

They like cucumber too. I've also heard they like fruit - such as pawpaw or rock melon - I haven't tried this but give it a go.

Mine too - my tortie loves it and smacks it all over the place - unfortunately it's frequently lost and haven't been seen for yonks. Great idea Whetu - might have to get a kinder surprise and create one of these

My nickname is my dog's name (RIP Jaide) I got into fish by spotting a tank I liked - yep, was a bit backwards about it - liked the tank, now to get some fish.....started with goldfish which progressed to goldfish and tropicals in one tank (see "to kill the cat" thread in "catfish" forum for pics of tanks and my two moggies - tank 1 and tank 2 respectively) - and yes, I did make it work with both tropicals and goldfish together. Moved on from goldfish to just tropicals only and now have 3 tanks (1 big and 2 small) Other interests: the gym (spend half my life there), tomb raider custom levels, gardening, socialising, animals (see pics mentioned above for pics of my two scally-wags) and fish!

One other thing snake kid, both a mouse and rat always needs it's cage cleaned out weekly - not a pleasant job.

Compromise, get a Chinchilla cat: http://www.pelaqitapersians.com/images/chanan/silver_golden/IA08_706_chin_silver.jpg Soooo, much cuter! I had a mouse and a rat - the rat certainly had a lot more character, she would sit on my shoulder and run around under my top (but not next to bare skin) - rats don't mind sitting about, whereas mice run all over the place. Plus I could leave her sitting on the couch and she'd just sit there, she wouldn't scamper away. Get a female - the boys tend to be more aggressive and bite more - and there's the nad thing as enzoom said earlier. I think there's the misconception that people liken tame rats to the disease-ridden things in the wild. But as pet rats are also bred specifically to be pets, same as mice - they don't smell and have no diseases/fleas etc.

Awww, I'd love to have a baby mutant sucky fish! :bounce:

Do the scales stick out like a pinecone? Just wonder if it's dropsy - but am hopeful she's expecting

He's got his appetite back and the spot on the top of his head has nearly gone (I thought it had but it seems it's still there, but is smaller now) - the meds make the water blue so hard to tell - I'll give him a water change tonight and am considering setting him back up in his own tank as the bowl is a bit too cramped now - he misses the food as it floats down and isn't one to eat off the floor - also the air stone makes the surface very bubbly (probably from the meds). I'll check him tonight and might put him in his own tank but continue with meds if he still doesn't seem quite there yet - will make up my mind tonight (and also have to set Handsome up in his tank tonight too) - so lots to do!

Hope I don't jinx anything by speaking out too early but I think he's on the mend The stuff on the side of his face has practically diminished to nothing - he's still puffy but it doesn't look too bad. So now it's just the white spot on the top of his head. He's swimming around this morning and he ate last night too - not much but enough

Well that was a very interesting read

Thanks Buddy :bounce: And also adodge for trying I don't think there's much more I can do anyway - I don't know what the white stuff is - whether it's part of his wound or some sort of fungus. I've treated him with everything possible that should kill every type of fungus, disease, bacteria and worm - not much else I can do except wait and pray...

Thanks Adodge, they're on the way I'm not sure what it is Dave/Amy - he was showing signs of not being well last week, so fished him out aof his tank and put him in his own hospital tank I noticed he was bleeding when I did this - I added melafix and tonic, I did a water change two days later and readded the meds. I went to pet shop and the guy recommended Furan2 and to try applying melafix directly to his wounds if I could - so the following day I fished him out and applied melafix with a cotton bud, but the cotton bud was soaked in blood and as he's red, it's hard to tell where the wounds are. One of his gill's is swollen and the top of head (where the white patches are in pics when Adodge uploads them for me - thank you ) - I couldn't see these white patches when I fished him out, so assume they're part of his wounds. Anyway, I added the Furan2 Thursday and increased the temperature to about 30 degrees (after a water change) and he's so sick he's now not eating - he just lies at the bottom of the tank Just had a close look at him, the one on top is not so white (off-colour) and has small white filaments coming from it - cant' see the one on his gill, he's facing the wrong way, but they do protrude from his face.

I can't - photobucket doesn't work well for me, "upload" button seems to never appear anymore. Anyway, any pics i get just shows two large white spots - you can't see the wounds as he's red - but they're raised and ugly, I think the white is ragged edges of the wounds as there's nothing there if I lift him out. I've uploaded a pic to Bubbleshare but have no idea how to post it here - img tags don't seem to work and none of the links provided work either.

Oh :lol: Well, his name is Fluffy Um, I think rough? (or fluffy)

Fluffy (the other one is Handsome) I don't know what he has - he's bleeding around his gills and head I think - he's red so hard to tell where the wounds are - I thought it could be gill disease or cotton mouth but really have no idea - the tank he was in is fine, I treated it anyway but none of the other fish are showing any signs of sickness. Fluffy is in his own hospital tank, I upped the heater as that helps speed up the bacteria's life cycle - it's on 30 degrees, could that be too hot? Maybe I should turn it down. What concerns me is that he's no longer eating and just sits at the bottom of the tank

My red boy is very sick - something is eating his face. I tried tonic and have now used Furan 2 but it doesn't seem to be working. What else can I try?

I recently purchased Handsome from yeh_buddy - I asked buddy what his name is and she said it's Handsome, so Handsome he remains (and handsome he is too) There's a pic of him here: http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/my-fig ... 33852.html - he's recently become a new daddy and I can't wait to see the pics of the bubbies - they sound gorgeous already - with dad's colouring coming through well. Handsome is fine, I checked him this morning and he's roaring around the tank as usual so thank goodness for dissolvable capsules! I'm learning fast that bettas are little piggies and will eat anything! Fluffy (my red male betta) - so named because he looked like a bit of fluff floating about in the water with his long flowing fins - not very masculine but Fluffy he remains - is terminally ill - I think he's either got Gill disease or cotton mouth - it's hard to tell. I gave him Furan2 yesterday and cranked up the heat a bit - he's still alive this morning at least Not sure how long the Furan will take to work as I've never administered it before and am kicking myself for not treating him with is sooner.

That fish of yours is a monkey! He eats anything it seems, lol. Anyway, he struggled to eat after eating the plastic but it dissolved or he must have managed to get it down as he pigged out later quite happily :lol: He seems completely fine. Yes, hopefully Fluffy will pull through I'll let you know how he goes