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felix
Registered: 01/20/00
Posts: 10,503
Last seen: 2 months, 14 days
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Pet Fish - Fighting Betas - Small Sharks - Colorful
#2875219 - 07/10/04 02:18 AM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
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I was in walmart the other day and decided to walk by the fish tanks. they have a nice little collection and was thinking of getting a few to start out. They had some types of pygmy sharks that i liked along with a bunch of others. does anyone have a nice fish tank? i think they add a nice color to the room. they add a little life and soothing bubbly sound too. anybody know of some easy to follow sites about pet fish or have any first hand info about keeping some? like what kind of stuff do you need...pump, filter sizes...things like that. what kind of fish do you have or want?
-------------------- Real botanists laugh at HPS systems, we do however use high pressure sodium in the parking lot. - artthug
Edited by felix (07/10/04 02:25 AM)
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kadakuda
The Great"Green".......East
Registered: 05/21/04
Posts: 7,048
Loc: Asia
Last seen: 6 years, 2 months
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Re: Pet Fish - Fighting Betas - Small Sharks - Colorful [Re: felix]
#2875257 - 07/10/04 02:33 AM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
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i keep many fish. what exactly do you need to know?
i think the first and best advice youll ever get is...dont buy them from walmart. i wouldnt even get em from petmsart or big box store type pet stores...just arent good.
anyway as for bettas, they are easy as fuck. along with gills they have can breath surface air. so airation isnt needed. they come from rice fields in the orient so are used to shallow quarters...personally i think little bowls are cruel, i would want at least a 5gal tank or equivalent. they are also not as sensative to chlorine, so tap water can be used without thought really. VERY pretty fish.
here is a link of a great breeder that breeds em here in bc. pricey, but good photos. www.bcbetta.com
peace, kada
-------------------- The seeds you won't sow are the plants you dont grow.
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OldSpice
Geritol Breath...
Registered: 08/25/03
Posts: 59,080
Loc: Crankytown, Texas
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Re: Pet Fish - Fighting Betas - Small Sharks - Colorful [Re: felix]
#2875593 - 07/10/04 08:39 AM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
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-------------------- So hard to be ....WDWGFH? Texas is humongus compared to France Our Gair, who art in Texas, Paw Paw be thy Name.... My friends are thirsty You never see a motorcycle parked outside a Psychiatrist office
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ToTheSummit
peregrinus
Registered: 08/22/99
Posts: 9,126
Loc: Las Vegas
Last seen: 1 month, 13 days
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Re: Pet Fish - Fighting Betas - Small Sharks - Colorful [Re: OldSpice]
#2876108 - 07/10/04 03:00 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
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Quote:
Alounacara said:
Is that some kind of cichlid? Did I even spell that right? Nice colors whatever it is.
-------------------- You invented the wheel....You push the motherfucker!!
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OldSpice
Geritol Breath...
Registered: 08/25/03
Posts: 59,080
Loc: Crankytown, Texas
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Re: Pet Fish - Fighting Betas - Small Sharks - Colorful [Re: ToTheSummit]
#2876146 - 07/10/04 03:23 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
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Its one of my old breeding males and yes it is a African Cichlid... It is a Alounacara OB ....OB stands for "orange blotched" All of the Alounacara species are also called "Peacocks" This is the only type i breed now...Its a Aulonacara Ngara.. Aulonacara is the correct spelling and "Alounacara" is the way it was spelled in all my books by the man who originally found this species..I first started breeding the African Cichlids way back in 1978 and used to sell them to most all the petshops in Houston. I still supply my Ngaras to a exclusive African Cichlid supplyer in Austin.... Ck out my old partners fish...He supplys all over the US www.fishrushouston.com
-------------------- So hard to be ....WDWGFH? Texas is humongus compared to France Our Gair, who art in Texas, Paw Paw be thy Name.... My friends are thirsty You never see a motorcycle parked outside a Psychiatrist office
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dnL
stranger thanstrange
Registered: 09/02/03
Posts: 668
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Re: Pet Fish - Fighting Betas - Small Sharks - Colorful [Re: OldSpice]
#2876182 - 07/10/04 03:40 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
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here is my tank as of last month:
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John
ssdp.org
Registered: 08/08/03
Posts: 7,026
Loc: Vancouver, B.C.
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Re: Pet Fish - Fighting Betas - Small Sharks - Colorful [Re: felix]
#2876202 - 07/10/04 03:51 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
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i got a beta i keep in this thing below-
i like it because it's cheap easy to clean and the bamboo is purdy. all the junk around because i'm moving
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Le_Canard
The Duk Abides
Registered: 05/16/03
Posts: 94,392
Loc: Earthfarm 1
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Re: Pet Fish - Fighting Betas - Small Sharks - Colorful [Re: felix]
#2876297 - 07/10/04 04:31 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
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Although I don't currently have a set-up, I've been an aquarist for many years. To start out, I would advise a 10 gallon tank, undergravel filter, and a heater. There are also many good books designed for the neophyte aquarist. Of course, you'll need rocks, etc. too as well as fish. Preferably cheap fish, that way if you kill them by over feeding them (a common mistake) you won't be out much. Plus you can get a bigger set-up as you grow more experienced.
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Delyrium
lemonadeh.o.n.e.y.
Registered: 12/26/99
Posts: 5,941
Loc: vermont
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Re: Pet Fish - Fighting Betas - Small Sharks - Colorful [Re: Le_Canard]
#2876480 - 07/10/04 05:50 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
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hehe i have 2 fancy goldfish (all i can keep at my place). After about 3 weeks I finally named them. Kai and Lana. They are both BEAUTIFUL!
with goldfish - it's a lot about cleaning. hehe. they are lil pigs!!
i also found out that goldfish are better on a vegetarian diet. so i keep a live plant in there for them to pick at and also give a slice of zuchinni which they LOVEEEE. It's so funny.
i've always had fish - i did the guppie route. also the tetras and such.
dont keep a beta fish in a little tank - i too believe that's cruel.
fish are great - but don't think of them as just fish - they are very special and shouldn't be treated like an easy pet.
-------------------- Fuck Ted Nugent he?s a fucking jerk I wish that he?d be gone Chauvanistic republican Kills animals cause he Forgot how to write a song
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John
ssdp.org
Registered: 08/08/03
Posts: 7,026
Loc: Vancouver, B.C.
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Re: Pet Fish - Fighting Betas - Small Sharks - Colorful [Re: Delyrium]
#2876659 - 07/10/04 08:13 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
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do you think it's cruel what i have my beta in? i don't really see the point of getting something bigger for just one fish and he'll kill anything i put in with him. i rescued him from a tiny plastic bowl and now he's got bamboo roots, distilled water, and a loving home, but now you make me question if i'm being creul to him or not
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OldSpice
Geritol Breath...
Registered: 08/25/03
Posts: 59,080
Loc: Crankytown, Texas
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Re: Pet Fish - Fighting Betas - Small Sharks - Colorful [Re: John]
#2876676 - 07/10/04 08:19 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
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Its not cruel as long as you keep the water clean...they only feel things like eating and breeding...you cant hurt a fishes feelings
-------------------- So hard to be ....WDWGFH? Texas is humongus compared to France Our Gair, who art in Texas, Paw Paw be thy Name.... My friends are thirsty You never see a motorcycle parked outside a Psychiatrist office
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felix
Registered: 01/20/00
Posts: 10,503
Last seen: 2 months, 14 days
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Re: Pet Fish - Fighting Betas - Small Sharks - Colorful [Re: kadakuda]
#2877108 - 07/11/04 12:03 AM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
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thanks for the link kadakuda, that guy has some very vibrant colored fish. i want several of the ones he has, but i don't think i can afford them. the conditions the fish live in at walmart aren't that great...all the more reason to rescue them and bring them home with me. a couple of the tanks had dead fish being sucked into the filter devices. the idiot there didn't really care for the fish...it's like it was 'just his job'.
alounacara, damn tex...i would have never known you bred such beautiful creatures. right on man. thanks for the links.
dnl, i don't see any fish..what kind do you have?
john, my mom told me about this thing she wanted to do with a vase, plant and one of those betas. i think she wants to do something exactly like that, but with a different plant.
toiletDuk, that's about the size i want i think..if not a little bigger. i used to have 2 fish when i was much younger. so i know basically what i need, but not really..know what i mean?
delyrium, kai and lana are nice names. did you know kai means ocean in hawaiian? i felt bad for all the betas i saw at walmart. they had about 20-30 of those fighting type and were all just stacked up in small plastic containers in about a cup of water each. none of them moved once while i was checking them out.
-------------------- Real botanists laugh at HPS systems, we do however use high pressure sodium in the parking lot. - artthug
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ToTheSummit
peregrinus
Registered: 08/22/99
Posts: 9,126
Loc: Las Vegas
Last seen: 1 month, 13 days
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Re: Pet Fish - Fighting Betas - Small Sharks - Colorful [Re: OldSpice]
#2877760 - 07/11/04 10:01 AM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
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Those are some nice looking cichlids. Thats cool that you are a breeder. I never got into cichlids but I had fish for years. When I bought my house 3 1/2 years ago I sold my tank (intending to get a new one for the house) but I never bought another one. I miss my tank now. It was a gorgeous 70 gallon "tall" tank. Although it was only 70 gal the face was about the same dimensions as a 50 inch big-screen TV. It had a beautiful oak stand/canopy. I had really nice healthy fish. The last couple years I don't think I ever lost one fish. I don't know what the life expectancy of fish are but I had fish that were pushing 5 years old.
Ever since I bought my house I have been threatening to get a tank. One of these days I'll do it. I think I'm gonna dive right in to salt-water. Always looked like fun. And we have a really great fish store here with knowledgeable staff and healthy fish. Damn, now I got myself thinking about it again. I just might have to do it!
-------------------- You invented the wheel....You push the motherfucker!!
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OldSpice
Geritol Breath...
Registered: 08/25/03
Posts: 59,080
Loc: Crankytown, Texas
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Re: Pet Fish - Fighting Betas - Small Sharks - Colorful [Re: ToTheSummit]
#2877790 - 07/11/04 10:13 AM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
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Hey Summit Universal Aquatics is locayed in Pasadena Tx and i sell Aquariums...any size, Bow Fronts are very popular now The only thing is how much shipping cost would be? Find what you want and let me know how much it costs An exanple is a 180 gallon tank w/glass top,lights and oak stand sells for about $1.000...thats real cheap
-------------------- So hard to be ....WDWGFH? Texas is humongus compared to France Our Gair, who art in Texas, Paw Paw be thy Name.... My friends are thirsty You never see a motorcycle parked outside a Psychiatrist office
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YouEnjoyMyself
PHiSH
Registered: 03/01/03
Posts: 8,127
Last seen: 11 years, 5 months
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Re: Pet Fish - Fighting Betas - Small Sharks - Colorful [Re: felix]
#2877997 - 07/11/04 12:08 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
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i had a sweet ass 75 gallon fish tank in my old bedroom at my dads house.
-------------------- -Wash uffitze drive me to firenze
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Delyrium
lemonadeh.o.n.e.y.
Registered: 12/26/99
Posts: 5,941
Loc: vermont
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Re: Pet Fish - Fighting Betas - Small Sharks - Colorful [Re: YouEnjoyMyself]
#2878023 - 07/11/04 12:22 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
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ya Kai means Sea/Ocean and Lana means to float. i don't know if i want her to FLOAT ahah but ya know... i needed it to be a water-esque type name.
-------------------- Fuck Ted Nugent he?s a fucking jerk I wish that he?d be gone Chauvanistic republican Kills animals cause he Forgot how to write a song
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Delyrium
lemonadeh.o.n.e.y.
Registered: 12/26/99
Posts: 5,941
Loc: vermont
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Re: Pet Fish - Fighting Betas - Small Sharks - Colorful [Re: OldSpice]
#2878025 - 07/11/04 12:24 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
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Quote:
Alounacara said: Its not cruel as long as you keep the water clean...they only feel things like eating and breeding...you cant hurt a fishes feelings
btw - i beg to differ: http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s844965.htm
-------------------- Fuck Ted Nugent he?s a fucking jerk I wish that he?d be gone Chauvanistic republican Kills animals cause he Forgot how to write a song
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OldSpice
Geritol Breath...
Registered: 08/25/03
Posts: 59,080
Loc: Crankytown, Texas
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Re: Pet Fish - Fighting Betas - Small Sharks - Colorful [Re: Delyrium]
#2878136 - 07/11/04 01:11 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
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There is a differance between Feeling and Feelings...
-------------------- So hard to be ....WDWGFH? Texas is humongus compared to France Our Gair, who art in Texas, Paw Paw be thy Name.... My friends are thirsty You never see a motorcycle parked outside a Psychiatrist office
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Delyrium
lemonadeh.o.n.e.y.
Registered: 12/26/99
Posts: 5,941
Loc: vermont
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Re: Pet Fish - Fighting Betas - Small Sharks - Colorful [Re: OldSpice]
#2878139 - 07/11/04 01:13 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
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how is keeping a fish in a tiny restrictive tank hurting it's "feelings"? it's just not nice - fish like to swim and shouldn't be restricted like that.
-------------------- Fuck Ted Nugent he?s a fucking jerk I wish that he?d be gone Chauvanistic republican Kills animals cause he Forgot how to write a song
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OldSpice
Geritol Breath...
Registered: 08/25/03
Posts: 59,080
Loc: Crankytown, Texas
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Re: Pet Fish - Fighting Betas - Small Sharks - Colorful [Re: Delyrium]
#2878150 - 07/11/04 01:17 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
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bettas hate to swim...
-------------------- So hard to be ....WDWGFH? Texas is humongus compared to France Our Gair, who art in Texas, Paw Paw be thy Name.... My friends are thirsty You never see a motorcycle parked outside a Psychiatrist office
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Delyrium
lemonadeh.o.n.e.y.
Registered: 12/26/99
Posts: 5,941
Loc: vermont
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Re: Pet Fish - Fighting Betas - Small Sharks - Colorful [Re: OldSpice]
#2878154 - 07/11/04 01:18 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
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why
-------------------- Fuck Ted Nugent he?s a fucking jerk I wish that he?d be gone Chauvanistic republican Kills animals cause he Forgot how to write a song
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OldSpice
Geritol Breath...
Registered: 08/25/03
Posts: 59,080
Loc: Crankytown, Texas
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Re: Pet Fish - Fighting Betas - Small Sharks - Colorful [Re: Delyrium]
#2878164 - 07/11/04 01:23 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
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they are bubble nest builders
-------------------- So hard to be ....WDWGFH? Texas is humongus compared to France Our Gair, who art in Texas, Paw Paw be thy Name.... My friends are thirsty You never see a motorcycle parked outside a Psychiatrist office
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Delyrium
lemonadeh.o.n.e.y.
Registered: 12/26/99
Posts: 5,941
Loc: vermont
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Re: Pet Fish - Fighting Betas - Small Sharks - Colorful [Re: OldSpice]
#2878166 - 07/11/04 01:24 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
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so where are the nests they build
-------------------- Fuck Ted Nugent he?s a fucking jerk I wish that he?d be gone Chauvanistic republican Kills animals cause he Forgot how to write a song
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OldSpice
Geritol Breath...
Registered: 08/25/03
Posts: 59,080
Loc: Crankytown, Texas
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Re: Pet Fish - Fighting Betas - Small Sharks - Colorful [Re: Delyrium]
#2878187 - 07/11/04 01:40 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
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On top of thr water
-------------------- So hard to be ....WDWGFH? Texas is humongus compared to France Our Gair, who art in Texas, Paw Paw be thy Name.... My friends are thirsty You never see a motorcycle parked outside a Psychiatrist office
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dnL
stranger thanstrange
Registered: 09/02/03
Posts: 668
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Re: Pet Fish - Fighting Betas - Small Sharks - Colorful [Re: OldSpice]
#2878192 - 07/11/04 01:45 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
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i don't remember the exact species that we have, but there's a total of 9 fish currently [3 goldfish] and an 8-year old algae eater which you can see on the left hand corner.
picture was taken today:
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OldSpice
Geritol Breath...
Registered: 08/25/03
Posts: 59,080
Loc: Crankytown, Texas
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Re: Pet Fish - Fighting Betas - Small Sharks - Colorful [Re: dnL]
#2878212 - 07/11/04 01:54 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
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Platys...
-------------------- So hard to be ....WDWGFH? Texas is humongus compared to France Our Gair, who art in Texas, Paw Paw be thy Name.... My friends are thirsty You never see a motorcycle parked outside a Psychiatrist office
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Phred
Fred's son
Registered: 10/18/00
Posts: 12,949
Loc: Dominican Republic
Last seen: 9 years, 2 months
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Re: Pet Fish - Fighting Betas - Small Sharks - Colorful [Re: OldSpice]
#2879057 - 07/11/04 05:38 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
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In the mid-Eighties I bred Discus while my girlfriend bred Bettas. Discus are magnificent fish, but very sensitive to water quality and temperature. Not the easiest to get to breed.
Bettas are a lot more tolerant and tons of fun. The whole mating ritual is fascinating. My girlfriend did really well with hers -- she had loads of perfect solid red and solid blues, but she eventually got into the rarer types like the doubletails and odd colors like yellow, white, black. One of her doubletail black females sold for about $55 US at a fish show in Buffalo. Believe me, that was a LOT of money for a female Betta back in 85 or 86, doubletail or not.
I can't in good conscience recommend Discus breeding for the neophyte, but Bettas are a hoot. That bcbettas.com site is a pretty good one. He's got some spectacular fish, but you can have tons of fun with the ones you buy at any pet shop or even at KMart for a few bucks. Give them good water and live food and even most of the abused ones will bounce back quickly. Bettas are pretty hardy.
Breeding them is a fascinating process, too. We were always searching the pet shops for good solid colors -- especially the females -- but it is possible over several generations to breed back to a solid red, for example, if you select the mates carefully over several generations.
pinky
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OldSpice
Geritol Breath...
Registered: 08/25/03
Posts: 59,080
Loc: Crankytown, Texas
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Re: Pet Fish - Fighting Betas - Small Sharks - Colorful [Re: Phred]
#2879152 - 07/11/04 06:17 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
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Discus are very hard to breed but they are a cool fish... I think the first fish i ever got to breed were Marbeled Angelfish... Breeding Cichlids are very easy and mainly you need a high alkaline water w/ salt and some rocks for the mom to let the kids go so they dont get eaten....
-------------------- So hard to be ....WDWGFH? Texas is humongus compared to France Our Gair, who art in Texas, Paw Paw be thy Name.... My friends are thirsty You never see a motorcycle parked outside a Psychiatrist office
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ToTheSummit
peregrinus
Registered: 08/22/99
Posts: 9,126
Loc: Las Vegas
Last seen: 1 month, 13 days
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Re: Pet Fish - Fighting Betas - Small Sharks - Colorful [Re: OldSpice]
#2884184 - 07/12/04 10:11 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
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I "accidentaly" bred some fish when I was about 12. We had these little minnow-type-thingies that lived naturally in an old storm-water runoff ditch near my house. Remember, this is Las Vegas, and I'm not sure what kind of fish is hardy enough to survive the extremes of this desert. The water would almost be gone in the summer and what little was left was usually very warm. But for some reason these little fuckers were always there.
Anyway, after having no luck with pet-shop fish I just went and scooped up some of these guys and threw them in my 10 gallon aquarium with about 3 gallons of water and a couple rocks from the ditch. I never fed them, never changed the water, never did shit. Just came home and looked at them each day. I'll be damned if those little fuckers didn't thrive like they was living the high life!! Before I knew it they had moss growing on the rocks (I'm assuming that is what they ate) and they started having babies! It was like my own little ecological experiment.
But alas, eventually my mother made me throw the whole mess out. It had begun to smell quite stagnate. So I returned the fish (including the new additions) to the ditch and threw my aquarium away.
I never had fish again until I was in my mid 20's, but I can say that I did breed fish at some point in my life!
-------------------- You invented the wheel....You push the motherfucker!!
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Fina
Banana Spacegirl
Registered: 08/09/99
Posts: 780
Loc: Sydney, NSW, Australia
Last seen: 4 years, 10 months
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Re: Pet Fish - Fighting Betas - Small Sharks - Colorful [Re: OldSpice]
#2884331 - 07/12/04 10:47 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
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Yay!! Alounacara, I have an OB Peacock a little bit like him, but not as yellow. I have a 3ft tank with Malawi cichlids and we just put discus in our 5ft tank. The discus are such graceful fish, very relaxing to watch, while the Malawis can be pretty psycho, but they are very smart fish. We just bought a big Blue Turquoise discus to encourage the smaller fish to come out of hiding, and it's the most awesome, beautiful fish. It swims in these big arcs and loops and even swims upside down sometimes. But yeah, I really haven't even thought about breeding them yet. It's not that discus are not incredibly difficult to keep but you just can't afford to be lazy when it comes to maintaining water quality. And they are mega-expensive so if they die early it's extra bad!
-------------------- "On the last day of your life, Don't forget to die." -- Silver Jews
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Fina
Banana Spacegirl
Registered: 08/09/99
Posts: 780
Loc: Sydney, NSW, Australia
Last seen: 4 years, 10 months
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Re: Pet Fish - Fighting Betas - Small Sharks - Colorful [Re: Fina]
#2884383 - 07/12/04 11:04 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
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Here's my OB Peacock, Roger..
-------------------- "On the last day of your life, Don't forget to die." -- Silver Jews
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Phred
Fred's son
Registered: 10/18/00
Posts: 12,949
Loc: Dominican Republic
Last seen: 9 years, 2 months
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Re: Pet Fish - Fighting Betas - Small Sharks - Colorful [Re: Fina]
#2885013 - 07/13/04 05:17 AM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
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Discus are so gorgeous.
They love big tanks, too, so a five foot tank would be just the thing to get them in the breeding mood.
Apart from water quality they are also very sensitive to temperature. This is one reason why it's best to keep Discus in a tank of their own -- the abnormally high temperature they require doesn't sit well with most other fish. The high temperature also makes algae growth and bacterial bloom more problematical, so even with a killer filtration system frequent water changes are a must.
In almost every pet store I've been in which sells Discus, the temperature is too low, causing the Discus to turn dark and hide, facing the back of the tank. They also get a real "pinched" look to them, and they "clamp" their dorsal and ventral fins.
pinky
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Krishna
कृष्ण,LOL
Registered: 05/08/03
Posts: 23,285
Loc: oakland
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Re: Pet Fish - Fighting Betas - Small Sharks - Colorful [Re: felix]
#2885386 - 07/13/04 09:45 AM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
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When I was very young my parents used to have a HUGE fishtank that went all around the walls of our living room. It must have been three big tanks, all connected together, each maybe 10 or 15 feet in length... salt-water, of course shit that was an amazing aquarium. But of course it was a TON of work, and with two small children, my parents didn't want to deal with it, so they got rid of it. I think it is actually still sitting in pieces in my parent's garage...
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