Update: The boys, breeding and life

Sorry about the lack of posts lately. I've been pretty busy with life.

Sadly Lilith died the other day :( She some how managed to jump out of the smallest hole :( I was pretty upset for a few days, she had so much life in her, and loved watching me clean the house. Will miss her.

The boys are doing ok. Sammy & Dean had a case of finrot, Deans went away when I took a log out of his side of the tank, and put it in Sammy's... however Sammy's tail, fins and just general well being looks a bit low. His fins/tail are shrunken, and his colour is not as vibrant, however he appears happy enough, swimming around, showing off, and still eating, so I'm not to concerned at the moment.

I have two new introductions to make:
First is a dragon VT named Castiel, and the second I purchased from Aquabid. She is an orange CT and I'm going to try and find a male CT for her as well as breeding her with Castiel.



I won't post a picture of the new girl until she arrives in early Jan, but I think I am going to call her Ruby. I've been looking at Aquabid for a male, but it is rather expensive. Ruby was $19.80AUS, but then it is going to cost $22 for quarantine and then $16.50 for shipping. So I might go look at the LFS and see what I can find in terms of another girl, and a CT boy.

I've also started to research breeding. I think we'll give Dean the first go, and then Castiel after I have raised the first spawn. I have a friend who is interested in one, so I'm pretty happy about that, and I might keep one if it turns out well. The tank I was going to use for Ruby was given away, so I'll have to invest in a new one, and then I already have one here to use as the breeding tank. It's about a 8 or 9 gallon tank, so hopefully that will work out ok.

For those in Australia, keep an eye out at FishChick's fish. She has some stunners! Fishchick youtube

Lilith

Darling Lilith is turning into a photo whore recently, so I decided to show off some new pictures of her. We have decided that she is a Cambodian VT. Such a little stunner!

The Tanks and The New Girl

After all the searching, my brother has finally found me a female! Yesterday he went to the Gawler aquarium, and they had just got an order of female bettas in. He said that they had a lovely white one with a redish tail, and a blue one, and I went for the white. She currently has a tank underneath Dean and Sammy. The tank needs some doing up, but I think she's happy at the moment.

So introducing Lilith:

The tank set up

Dean's tank (yes, the outside glass needs a clean!)

Sammy's tank

I missed out on a beautiful marbled crown tail the other day. My brother said it was ugly, so I didn't get it, got home, and then wanted it, so I drove back, and they had just sold it. :( It was white with black spots over it's tail, and a green tinge to it. Hopefully I find one like it again soon!

No Ladies for these boys

There has not been much to update in the ways of Sammy and Dean recently. They have managed to get into the same part of the tank twice. Sammy seems to be the dominate one, flaring up at Dean and chasing him away. They have both built new bubble nests, and they seem rather happy.

Went around Adelaide today to try and find a female. The only ones I saw were very boring looking, and I'm thinking of resorting to buying one of the internet (probably from here). I gave up on a beautiful crown tail. It was white, green and black, and I so wish I bought him now. I think I might head back on Saturday, and if he is still there get him, because he was a stunner, and would have beautiful babies!

I really hate shopping for bettas, because half of them look dead in their tanks. It's horrible!!

That is really it for today. Will post pictures of the tank next time :)

The New Tank

The boys got a new tank yesterday. I decided to get a 3 foot tank, and divide it in half for them, it ends up a bit smaller than the tanks they already have, but it frees up the other two tanks for a female, and an eventual breeding tank.

Obviously I had to divide the tank, and as mentioned before, no one had ready made dividers. However the other day I stumbled upon a valuable source of information on making a divider.

DIY Aquarium Tank Dividers

All I did was get two A4 sheets of plastic mesh from a craft store (Spotlight, around $3.50AUD a sheet) and two A4 clamp files like above (Coles, $2.09AUD each) My tank is a bit higher than the A4, so I just sewed the two pieces together with some clear fishing line, and then ripped the clamp off the folder, and put it on either side of the mesh. After that I just put it in the tank, and cut to size. Stupidly I didn't think of taking any photos for here, but everything is above in the link!

My tank itself, as mentioned is a three footer. It was about $250AUD for the tank and the stand, I got a heater for about $30AUD and my brother shouted me a new light ($100AUD), and two plants for each side, so hopefully Sammy & Dean are happy with that!!

Made a trip down to PETstock. They had new male bettas in, but none of them really appealed to me, I think I was incredibly lucky with the colours I got in Sammy & Dean, however now I know where they keep the females, but I'm going to wait until I see a stunner before I get one. I might even buy over the net.

I hope to have Sammy and Dean in their new tanks before Saturday, so once they have settled and it all looks pretty, I will post some pictures!

Useless Adelaide and Bubble Nests

So it is official. Adelaide is useless for fish supplies. I decided that I'd like to get one big tank and divide it for Dean & Sammy. I found a tank I like for $500 with a stand, however, no one has actual tank dividers, and when I asked about them, was shown those little floating cubes for them. So I soon gave up that idea, and went searching for some female bettas. No luck either. There are three more shops I want to visit, and might make the trip to one of them tomorrow, but I'll probably end up with a male crown tail if I go there, cos they had some beauties. Which means setting up another tank! This hobby is going to get expensive! So while it was a fail on the tank and fish side, I did get a lovely lamp for Sammy!

Sammy is building a lovely little bubble nest at the moment, so I decided to look more into bubble nests and their function.

Top Views of Sammy's Bubble Nest

Side Views of Sammy's Bubble Nest

What are bubble nests?

Bubble nests can be an idicator of a betta's contentment with his tank, or his readiness to breed. It is essentially where the male will place the eggs after spawning with a female, and will remain their home until they have developed their gills. Bubble nests can occur in various sizes and thickness at the surface of the water. Some bettas are more prone to producing bubble nests than others. This does not mean you're betta is unhappy, but why not use it as an excuse to move the tank around, or give him some new toys! If you are wishing to breed, your male will create his nest at the sight of a female.

What are bubble nests made from?

As the name suggests, bubble nests are made from bubbles blown with an oral secretion, saliva bubbles.

Clearly this is just a really quick overview of bubble nests; so here are some links to some fantastic sites with some excellent information.

Bubble Nest Articles

A Look Inside The Bubble Nest

Bubble Nests & Bettas

Seaview Aquarium Siamese Fighting Fish (PDF)

Bubble Nests

I'd like to have a monthly entry where I can put pictures of viewers fish, and questions and answers. So please feel free and email me at sammy and dean@live.com (please remove the spaces, I did this as to not get spammers) with pictures and questions for that monthly entry. I know we all love showing off our fish!!

I look forward to seeing everyones pictures!

Welcome to the Adventures of Sammy and Dean!

Just a brief introduction on this blog, and all that boring stuff!

Sammy and Dean are my Betta Splendens (or more commonly known as Siamese Fighters). Encourgaged by my fantastic older brother, I'm new to this beautiful fish, and their breeding etc. This blog is basically going to be about my journey preparing my two fish for breeding, and just my journey in general. I hope to get alot of advice on here, and post any useful information I find.

About Me:

I'm 21 years old, and am from Adelaide in South Australia, Australia. I'm currently working as a supervisor in a supermarket, and also studying at university. I live with my parents, and my 27 year old brother, who moved home so he could save for a house. Besides my two fish, I have four Siamese cats, Alyssia (A-lee-sha), Cody, Remi and Nikiya (Nic-kay-ya). I also love ballet and musical theatre (Wicked and Rent being my favourites) and plan to travel to America at the end of 2010.

About My Fish:

Dean is the blue and red fish. I believe he is just your usual Veil Tail. I purchased him from a store called Pet Spot on September 23, 2009. My brother actually picked him, because he was hiding in a corner and I couldn't see him (at 5'8 you think I'd be able to see in the top tank right? Lucky my brother is 6'6!)

His tank was originally used for some red shrimp for my brothers tank, and has black gravel, and a piece of wood with moss growing on it. Dean is the luckier one at the moment because he has a heater, a light and a filter. His tank temperature is finally constant at 26 degrees Celsius, and yesterday the 27th of September started his first bubble nest.

Sammy is a very interesting fish. His tail is that beautiful teal colour, and he has a red fin (for lack of the correct term), while the rest of his body is a very dark blue, which is almost black. Once again I am assuming he is a VT. He was actually a replacement fish, and a rather random find.

I originally went into a store before I got Dean, and didn't like the fish there, but went back on September 27 as I needed a replacement fish, and new gravel, and found him flaring up to a crown tail. I was debating between him, and a creamy colour one, and then another teal one, but Sammy won out due to his constant flaring, and that beautiful tail, and the random fin.

Sammy has a tank with a heater, a rock covered in moss and gray gravel. I will be getting him a plant fairly soon, as well as a light, however he seems happy with his tank as he has a huge bubble nest going on!

As mentioned, Sammy was a replacement for my original fish I got at the same time as Dean. The original fish was called Sam (Dean and Sam from the TV show Supernatural). Sam was a red VT, who sadly died on September 27. I believe he had some sort of fungus.

I really hope you continue to visit my blog, and help me on my betta journey. I plan on going to look for a female betta on Tuesday or Wednesday this week.

Website of the week: BettaFish Forums (click to view)