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Poma

With Nova and Snap unfortunately passed, I've decided to slowly build a small community tank. Meet Poma, a Gold Mystery Snail.

[thebyzantineboy]

One year with Nova as of 01/08/19

I know he's looking rough, it's getting harder anf harder to prevent his fin nipping. Any tips would be appreciated!

[thebyzantineboy]

Divided Betta Tank

I have kept bettas in divided tanks in the past and have some advice/answers to questions I had before keeping fish.

KNOW YOUR BETTA: take time to keep them alone so that you can understand their personality, are they fin nippers? Are they jumpers? Are they aggressive? (This will come in later)

TANK SIZE: every fish needs enough room to thrive, do not take away the required 2.5 gallons. If possible give more space for them to explore; this will help give your betta the room to get away form the barrier.

DIVIDER HOLES: make sure your betta can not see through the holes but that the holes are still big enough for proper water flow. Pictured below is a TopFin divider, with any divided tank place many plants around the divider to break lines of sight or shadows. Plants do not restrict waterflow nearly as much as solid decor.

LID: check the space between the top of the divider and the tank lid, if there is any doubt in your mind that a jumper could make it over DO NOT put two fish inside.

WATER CHANGES: to prevent against the harmful effects of the stress hormones released through a bettas skin water changes must be done on a regular basis. The water will get dirtier faster and from personal experiences with fin nippers, missing water day can be disastrous.

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Anyone know anything that eats brown algae and can go with bettas?

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This is the lid from a TopFin 5gal kit. As pictured above the original wire is wrapped in electrical tape, this is because the moisture from the tank corroded through the coating and made the light zap off. Luckily I was in the room when it went out and was able to remove it from my tank.

If you have any TopFin kit PLEASE be proactive and tape it up before use to prevent electrocuting your fish!

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Here is some dirty vs clean water from my heated and filtered 5gal which only has one betta. I change my water once a week so that it stays as clean as possible.

This is why you can't keep any fish in an unfiltered aquarium, imagine the build up of dirt, algae, poop and who knows what drifting around in there. Expically when the water isn't changed regularly.

Please take proper care of your pets!!

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Snap? More like Chomp!

The blurriness does go away

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SNAP

He got his name because he darts around as fast as (snaps fingers) <-- that

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Snap's first time eating frozen food!

I gave Snap some thawed brine shrimp, although he seemed to enjoy it he quickly became more interested in the lid being off.

The first video link is of his reaction to the treat and the second is him swimming around the surface. (He hasn't had the lid off this long before)

https://vimeo.com/287545616

THIS IS NOT HIS PERMANENT HOME, NEVER KEEP ANY FISH IN A BOWL! THIS IS ONLY TEMPORARY!

p.s. does anyone know how to post a "large" video without using a link?

[thebyzantineboy]

Pet Valu

I never hear any news (good or bad) about Pet Valu in the sense of fish so I figured I'd put my opinion on here. I'd like to point out that I've only been to one as it is the closest pet store to me, which only sells bettas.

I have gotten Nova and Snap from Pet Valu and they have always been in perfect health.

Bettas are kept in 0.2gal (est) containers, this isn't a good forever home but it is the largest I've seen in any chain petstore. Appears to be 2-3 times larger than Petsmart's.

There are tubes visible in their display stand that seem to suck/pour out water which fit perfectly into the two holes on the tops of the containers. I believe they are for waterchanges as the water is always crystal clear with no poops floating around.

They have pamphlets that describe the real care for betta fish. I actually used one when getting my first.

They sell everything you need for a betta at great prices. I.e. heaters, 10gal tanks, filters, proper media, safe decor, ect.

They keep their marimo moss balls in the containers with the bettas.

I've heard them reccomend our LFS to customers who've been looking at the fish.

[thebyzantineboy]

Remember the 4th "beautiful boy" from this post?

Well that was a month ago, I went back today and brought him home. Snap is currently in a 0.5gal quarantine until he is moved into his 2.5gal (and soon upgrading)

P.S. the pics are a bit fuzzy because my camera had trouble focusing on his translucent spots.

Some beautiful boys of course

[thebyzantineboy]

Keep forgetting to take your meds?

Put them next to your fish food, so that you will remember to take care of yourself whenever you do so for your fish.

[thebyzantineboy]

Switching Novas filter from cartridges to filter foam, here's why:

Cartridges are expensive when because you've got to buy new ones every 2 weeks.

When you toss your old cartridges you are throwing out some of your beneficial bacteria.

If you can't switch to new cartridges as soon as they need to be replaced they will start spitting broken down waste back into your tank. (This did happen to me although I cleaned it off before getting pictures)

Filter foam lasts much longer because it can be cleaned and is therefore saving money.

There is more surface area with foam because of the many holes as well as its bigger size; this leaves more room for beneficial bacteria to live.

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Nova in Jan V.S. Aug I see a bit of a change, kinda miss the green but loving my boy more than ever!

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Happy pride Nova Scotia!

From, Nova

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Some beautiful boys of course

[thebyzantineboy]

Hi, so this is kind of a depressing question, but I don’t know who else to ask. My betta is about 3.5 years old. From the first day I got him, he’s struggled with fin rot. It’s appeared, and gone away. Within the last two weeks, all it’s done is gotten worse. Tetracycline and aquarium salts, nothing has worked. He’s lost his entire back fin, has white spots, and it barely moving. Is it the right thing to gently put him to sleep? I know bettas can live for five years, I just feel so bad

I'm so sorry to hear about this. I've had fish in the past with terrible cases of fin rot and found great success in something called API Fungus Cure. I'd suggest giving that a try, before any further action. Although in the event that it doesn't work then I would agree that you should peacefully end his suffering.