Fish Keepers Circle

[LadyVictorian]

Somehow when I walked into the store to get plants for my 10 gallon guppy tank I walked out with a new betta. I'll get pics of him tomorrow. Right now he is trying to sleep and settle in. I now realize I have an empty 5 gallon tank....this might become a problem for me as empty tanks hurt my soul >.<

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I am on the down side of fish keeping. I have been slowly shutting tanks down. It will be a long while before all my goldfish pass so I'm not out yet. I used to have 11 tanks running. Now I have hamsters and gerbils in some. I currently have 3 tanks with fish, and have 4 bettas. Those are addictive.

 

[LadyVictorian]

I stopped breeding betta but it seems when I try to shut tanks down somehow new betta's just magically appear in them the next day. I really need to stop 'just looking for fun' at aquabids. Sometimes I still get betta's delivered to my house and am like "WHAT? WHEN DID I GET YOU? Oh he's so pretty though, nice buy." >.< I might have a problem.



Speaking of new betta's here is the one who showed up last night xD. My little Koi baby, I got him in my guppy 10 gallon tank. Got some new wood for the tank so it's leeching tannins and turning the water brown but he seems to be liking that. My guppies not so much.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I've not seen them that color. I can see why you bought it. I get mine from the local Wal-Mart. I try not to look at them, but they always look too sad.

 

[LadyVictorian]

Petco unfortunately just started carrying koi betta and unfortunately I was there yesterday to get plants for my guppies 10 gallon. Came home with him as well. Petco has been getting nicer and nicer betta's lately. Not quite at the quality I use to breed but for just pets and not breeding or show stock they are lovely. My show stock on average cost be about 50-55 dollars a pop. I got this little koi from petsmart for $20 and had a $50 giftcard from Christmas. Now I got that $20 TSC giftcard to spend on chicken stuff >.<

My new problem is I have an empty 5 gallon tank with a heater. Needs a new light but...o.o I can't live with empty tanks staring at me...and extra sand from my 10 gallon tank >.< It's going to happen. Next payday I am going back to petco for 'plants'.

Also have an empty 2.5 gallon tank and an empty 20. I want to get chiclids but I have never had them before and am a little concerned if I should give it a go. I have been into fish for 15 years now. my other option is divide it 4 ways and get 4 betta's but my family might put me in a hospital or fear I'm going to start breeding again. Back when I breed them my mom rolled her eyes when she walked into the fish room and had hundreds of betta just swimming around in their tanks. Plus she wasn't too keen on opening up my fridge and finding the micro worms I was growing in there. >.<

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

That would be quite the sight, all those bettas. I have only kept Angel fish. The other types of ciclids seemed too challenging to me, as well as a bit more aggressive than what I keep. I like harmony in my tanks. Ciclids are always chasing and arguing from what I read. Plus many breed too easy and I would become overrun.

My goldfish bred for their first few pond seasons and I had too many and no where to go with them. Now my fish eat all their eggs thankfully after they spawn. I feel responsible for every critter born under my care so no more of it for me. I do like reading about others doing it though.

 

[LadyVictorian]

That was my fear with the cichlids. They seem to need a certain balance of breeds to avoid aggression and breeding but oh so beautiful. My other option is to turn that 20 gallon into a female better sorority tank which is fun. Had three of them back in the day when I bred. Mostly mothers, sisters, and daughters together.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I have kept quite a few female bettas together too, occasionally there was a bully but they mostly got along. I did try a few ram ciclids once but they didn't last long, they were more gentle. I assumed my water conditions weren't compatible with them. You got some great ideas and choices. The hard part is picking one.

 

[LadyVictorian]

Oh yeah, choosing is the hardest step too. I miss my sorority but sometimes you have to step outside your comfort zone to see what else you like. Same old is nice but new things can be fun....or your worst nightmare. xD still trying to see what the cichlids would be for me. Maybe both knowing my luck with other tropical fish.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

We have a tank of three different colored cichlids at the vet school and they are really nice. They seem to coexist well and even though they breed, they take out the eggs/babies on their own so you shouldn't be over run. My friend put together the tank so I can ask her the species if you are interested.