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Thread: Fighting Fish

  1. #1
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    Fighting Fish

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    I've just started with a single male LONG fins and tail fighting fish... some questions to ask:

    1. What family do they belong to?
    2. I know they are hardie fish... BUT, how do I make their life better?
    3. Can they live in a planted tank? What plants/setup would be suitable? Currently, I'm housing him, together with two snails to keep algae off, in those cheap plastic tortoise aquariums. No filter and pump (since they are hardy).
    4. How to (try) breeding them? I've got tens of females available readily.
    5. Feed him once in every 2 / 3 days enough?
    6. Lastly, he is motionless MOST of the time. How to encourage more movement? Or, are they just born this way, to remain motionless most of the time?

    Sorry for all these really newbie questions. Want to understand him (them) more. Thanks!

  2. #2
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    Yes they can be kept in a planted tank provided
    1)They get enough to eat(slow fish).
    2)There is little current
    3)Their tankmates do not nip their fins.
    This will also solve the stationary part as they have more territory to protect.

  3. #3
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    jacquetlc,

    Fighting fishes are anabantoids and belows to the genus Betta. The species that you bought is most likely an aquarium variant of the Betta splendens.

    A lot of folks keep bettas in jars or small tank without filtration. If you can afford the space a 1 ft tank is great. Otherwise, a small cube tank is fine too. As for filtration, they can survive with a water change every other day if you feed it just enough without leftover food to decompose in the tank. Try to feed it everyday if possible rather than a larger feed every two days.

    Also, some floating plants will be good decoration for your little betta tank. Options will include amazon frogbits, Egaria densa, Hornwort (which can melt when you change water).

    DO NOT keep barbs with long fins betta. In fact, do not keep barbs with any fancy bettas. If you must keep some fishes with them, keep only smaller and light color fishes. Pygmy croaking gourami should be a good option. They are also labyrinth fishes.

    To get your fish excited, use a mirror. But don't do it too often that it tires the fish.

    As for breeding, I'll leave it to the experts to sort that out for you. But do take note that it will be quite a commitment to bring up the brood.

    Cheers,
    I have dwarf cichlids in my tanks! Do you?

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    Hi all,

    Thanks for the advice!

    I tried to use mirror initially but my silly boy doesn't get excited at all! Think it recognises it's own image? My colleague in the other cubicle keeps another male... therefore on alternate days, we put the two plastic tanks together to excite each other's pet.

    How many Pygmy croaking gouramis would you suggest with my SINGLE MALE in a 'tortoise plastic tank' environment?

    Thanks.

    P.S. I'm beginning to like solo/lonely fish... Hmm... His tail is beautiful!
    Last edited by Justikanz; 18th Jan 2007 at 11:19. Reason: 'alt'

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    can try some of other wild Betta species, something your other colleagues probably wouldn't have

    why I don't do garden hybrids and aquarium strains: natural species is a history of Nature, while hybrids are just the whims of Man.
    hexazona · crumenatum · Galleria Botanica

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    Quote Originally Posted by jacquetlc View Post

    4. How to (try) breeding them? I've got tens of females available readily.
    Hi there,

    Let me try to answer question 4.

    Getting betta splendens to mate is comparatively easier than successfully raising the frys.

    The spawning trigger for fighting fish is perceived abundance of water and food. So what you can do is to do a large amount water change, or put the betta into a larger container, feed it well for a couple of days, soon, you will see a huge bubble nest.

    For females, the sign that a female is ready to spawn would be a huge tummy, more often than not, you will also notice verticle stripes on its body.

    I would strongly advice you against trying to breed them in your tortise tank, the reasons will become apparent later.

    When male and female are both ready, what you can do is to introduce the female into the male's tank. Some people will use a DIY separator, just cut the top and bottom off a soda bottle and place the female inside the cut out bottle. That way, the male can see the female, but cannot mate with her yet.

    Observe the male, if he flares at the female, and rushes back to his nest to produce more bubbles, this probably indicates he is looking forward to mate. Few hours or 1 day later, you would notice that the nest is much bigger, at this stage, remove the soda bottle.

    The male will probably chase the female around for a while, the mating ritual for betta splendens are amazing, you will see the male folding itself around the tummy of the female to 'squeeze' out eggs... which the male will then pick up and place in the bubble nest. (I think Kelson's betta at Roxy Square has a video of this which they use to show at the shop window, not sure if it is still there)

    You can remove the female when there are no more eggs. 3-4 days later, you will see frys, at this stage, they are not free swimming yet, so the father will pick them up and place them back into the nest. Food is still not a problem at this stage as they can feed on the egg sac.

    When the frys starts to swim around, you will need to feed them, that's when the problems comes. The mouths of the frys are very tiny. Most people suggests newly hatched baby brine shrimps, some people use Liquid Fry (make sure you get the one for egg layer), some old timers use little bit the egg yoke of a hard boiled egg, some uses green water, some even use finely crushed pellets.

    Whatever food you feed, there is always a high tendency that you will overfeed and foul up the water, this is why it pays to breed fighting fishes in larger tank, so the pollution would not be so bad.

    There's no hurry to remove the father yet, in fact, it is good to keep him around as he can help to finish up some of the food. In fact, in my exprience, you can keep the father around till about 6 weeks. In my experience, it is a bad idea to change water during the first 3-4 weeks, the difference in water parameter will often result in high casualty rate among the frys.

    Hope this helps.
    Last edited by Justikanz; 19th Jan 2007 at 14:44. Reason: 'q', juz
    - eric

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    Other types of food that the fry welcome is daphnia.

    The liquidfry is better for cultivating infusoria that the fry feed on. The fry themselves are more accepting of food that is moving.

    Yes, try not to change water the first 3 weeks. Fry are very very weak then...
    Last edited by Justikanz; 19th Jan 2007 at 14:45. Reason: 'tt', 'v'... Please try to avoid sms short forms. Thank you.

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    Observe the male, if he flares at the female, and rushes back to his nest to produce more bubbles, this probably indicates he is looking forward to mate. Few hours or 1 day later, you would notice that the nest is much bigger, at this stage, remove the soda bottle.
    boss! thanks very much for the very detailed process of pre and post breeding! much appreciated!

    However, what do you mean by nest?

    Also, one of my colleague emphasize to me that must set up hiding places (eg. logs) for the male before the process of introducing in the female, NECESSARY?

    Sorry for the naggi-ness... got to clear up doubts before the whole process.

    Thanks!
    Last edited by Justikanz; 19th Jan 2007 at 14:46. Reason: Edit quote

  9. #9
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    Hi,

    When your male is ready to mate, you will see a thick layer of bubbles form on the surface of the water. This is commonly referred to as a bubble nest. Some breeders float a small piece of dried ketapang leave on the water surface to allow the male to build its nest under it, some others who are more modern use a styrofoam cup, cut vertically into half and float it on the water surface, again for the male to build his bubble nest under it. But usually, they will just build their bubbles in one corner of the tank.

    I don't think the male needs to hide, it is usually the female that's in danger if the male is not ready yet. So it pays to observe how the male behaves in the presence of the female. (Hence the DIY separator). If not, you can do well with a tiny bit of moss at the bottom of the tank, it should provide enough cover for the female if the male is overly aggressive toward her.
    - eric

  10. #10
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    hi boss!!

    thank you lots!! so now i understand why these 2 days my tank was so bubbly on top... there's this layer of bubbles... like thick and very foamy! Think i'll slowly introduce in my Female mate...

    Thanks!
    Last edited by Justikanz; 19th Jan 2007 at 14:47. Reason: Jac, please avoid using SMS language and spellings. Thanks!

  11. #11
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    Good luck!
    - eric

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