GBoyd

Should be fine. Worse things happen in the wild.

Definitely interested, hope customs lets it thru??

Great to hear you got some good girls to work with. Pretty cheap too! You should buy them all and put em up on that other site 8) 8) Pretty good page on tail types here: http://www.bettatalk.com/betta_finnage.htm I got a double tail off a local breeder the other day, its not a very good one tho. I really want to get those genetics into my breeding program. Unfortunately it is recessive, so kinda rare. Colours here: http://watershed3.tripod.com/types.html

I have an RO system, lot of others use rainwater. Or go African :lol:

Our water is very hard.

yes, its quite a problem, how to keep lots of fighters economically. Divided tanks will only get you so far. To do it properly is going to take a lot of space and resources.

Move them to a grow out tank and keep up with the water changes for good growth.

I think there is more to a project like this than is first evident. The Aqua One system has very small containers, not so good for long term fancy betta, without room they will get permanently bent rays. The containers are glass, which makes cleaning easier. I use RO water and change water in my jars every 2 days, and scrub them at least once a week, because they get slimy feeling. The Aqua ones will be getting green due to: 1. Uneaten food 2. too much light 3. Not enough water changes Almost every betta barrack plan has a UV filter. There is a reason for this, even though it is contrary to most tropical fishkeeping lore. Kill all bacteria, good and bad if you want to avoid algae, finrot and disease spreading. Adult betta in jars don't eat much, so you need a very good mechanical filter to get the uneaten food out of the water.

New halfmoon fry hatched this morning: http://aquarium.1a.co.nz/2009/04/dads-a-bit-busy-right-now/

Well, I guess I will keep trying with these two. I figure eventually I will get it right. However, I do know that if there is a bunch of females next to a male, that a preference will show up over a day or two. I have also seen bettas who are just not compatible, in fact with Plakat, to such an extreme that the male will kill the female. Probably my own fault, nonetheless it happens. Now if a shop tells me these two are a pair, I can only believe that some attraction has been observed, why else should I pay more and rely on the statement that they are a pair? Actually in this case, the female is bigger than the male and i already noted this before trying to mate them. I did pair her with a much bigger, quite aggresive crowntail. After two spawns she is a lot less stroppy in the spawning tank and i think I will soon get them paired up and spawning together. Just took a bit longer than I first thought.

I always carefully question the shop staff as to how the two fish interact. On several occasions I have had to buy a pair as they have been "paired up" and will not be sold separately. I'm not bashing the retailers, they need to make sales. However I would like to know a pair really are a pair rather than just a male and female of the same species. The only solution is to have several males and females to mix and match. It is very frustating if you only have a so called "pair" that will not get along.

Yes, it is a female, I have spawned her with another male. It is unfortunate, the fish shop said they were a pair. I have a few more halfmoons to play with now so I can mix and match.

I've had a bit of a challenge with these two. The female is very aggressive, flares and blows bubbles, while the male is very timid and hides. I tried them together for short periods with little success. The only time I left them together overnight she thoroughly shredded him. I have bred them both successfully with other fish, just not with each other!

Heres mine (or at least one version, still evolving) http://aquarium.1a.co.nz/2009/01/cell-block-betta/

how old is the bulb? Wipe the bulb with an antistatic cloth and see if that helps. Its probably due to the bulb aging tho and presenting a different impedance to the ballast.