Keeping Fish

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Despite what I read and others say, many of my bettas don't live long, 6 months to 2 years for that occasional one. They have been bred so intensely and are probably terribly inbred. The fancier the variety the less hardy they seem. There are still some short tailed and wild type that are a bit more long lived. It can help to keep them in a heated tank around 85-90, they suffer in any temperature fluctuations, they evolved in hot shallow pools of water, hence the reason they are air breathers.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Despite what I read and others say, many of my bettas don't live long, 6 months to 2 years for that occasional one.

Them there is the opposite"problem"....we have three glowlught tetras which are *supposed* to live 2-5 years that DD picked for her first community tank almost 8 years ago. ...they just keep trucking along

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

It does seem like a lot of life span data is just best guesses, under optimum conditions. I too have those occasional ancient fish that don't listen to that stuff either. I think sometimes you just have the best water and husbandry for certain species. I have the same thing with house plants, certain species I can keep, others die quickly.

 

[Dianacatz]

Lost a tetra I was wondering if I should cull anyway. The other fish are doing fine and I got the lotus plants installed but am still waiting on my cat tails and sunfish. If I'd known it would take this long I could've caught some myself, not spent so much ordering them. The wait is starting to get to me...

Regards,
Leaf

Stil no sunfish? How long were they supposed to take to arrive?

Wishes,
Diana

 

[Shellybean02]

Stil no sunfish? How long were they supposed to take to arrive?

Wishes,
Diana

+1, have they caught your sunfish yet Leaf?
I took some more blurry laptop pics of my other fish(besides Indigo, Jane Doe and John Doe):
Mamba

Marshmallow

Anna the tiny

Orlando2

Elsa

 

[LeafBlade12345]

No sunfish yet, but I had a nice breeder Molly drop some fry. We'll see how this all goes with the sunnies.

Regards,
Leaf

 

[Chicken-Eye]

Does anyone know how to breed Koi? I put a male and a female together in another small pond, but the female tried to eat the male so I separated them. Any tips?

>Chicken-Eye

 

[Chicken-Eye]

Also, to add to that, does anyone know anything about Koi genetics? I'm currently trying to breed one that's the Utsuri color, sort of like this specimen. However, I'll have to squeeze that in between chicken breeding as well. I may sell some of my koi.

>Chicken-Eye

 

[LeafBlade12345]

Well, I'm not sure how I got talked into this one. Pond guy texted me a few days ago and asks if we could temporarily house five small koi in our koi pond until he finishes a permanent setup for them. I said yes, but I'm a bit worried about disease and overcrowding as the pond is less than 2000 gal and is already stocked with fish. Still no sign of the sunfish, but I have some nice Molly fry one of my breeder females just dropped. Hopefully some end up being breeding quality.

Regards,
Leaf

 

[LeafBlade12345]

Does anyone know how to breed Koi? I put a male and a female together in another small pond, but the female tried to eat the male so I separated them. Any tips?

>Chicken-Eye

Koi are notoriously hard to breed for many novices. They require the right temperature and environment even to start breeding. I don't breed, so I can't help very much, but if you want to make money off of them, I'd recommend talking to a fish club near you. Some breeders can also help you get started if you purchase some of their stock. Good luck!

Regards,
Leaf