# My First Aquabid/Thailand import arrival and more.



## JDragon

Opening this thread to document my new arrival coming from Thailand. I and my husband both have 10 gallon tanks. He has a Petco betta and a lot of snails (nerites/mystery/ramshorns). My new betta's tank has 4 albino cories (1 female and 3 young/males who have already attempted to spawn) and 6 small blue/ spotted ramshorns I liked and thought may accent his color.
Here is a few pictures of my fish on his listing, from the seller while waiting, his tank/tankmates(please excuse the water level  it was topped off after the picture was taken.) and a picture of him having been shipped to my transhsipper this morning(arriving 02/17). 
He will be here on Tuesday(02/18) and I am picking him up from the post office after getting off early from work at 12:30 and I will be monitoring him until I leave for college at 5:30, when my husband will be monitoring for my return. I am extremely excited as I have been waiting over a month for him. :-D Name suggestions are welcomed. I have been kicking around ideas, but I want to match his personality also. I will try the reign in my excitement.


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## 0ut0fsight4443

He is Beautiful like a butterfly. I home he gets to you well. I'm sure he will be worth the wait. I don't name my batta's they tell me their names after a week or two.


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## JDragon

They say that their bettas are usually sold between 3 and 5 months. Not sure if his fins will grow out any further for matching with his really long anal fin, but I already know I will need more resting places near the top. I'm also working on getting frogbit and possibly different plants. All I have now is anubias barteri, barteri nana, anarchis, and java fern. Any other suggestions for resting plants? Any suggestions at all are welcomed.


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## beautiful Betta

arrived safely from the link, lol
Thanks


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## JDragon

:lol: Glad my link didn't lead you astray. :-D


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## JDragon

*Water Tests*

I finally sat down and tested everything that I can in my tank since my boy will be here in two days. I think everything looks good, but I am not very familiar with GH/KH and possibly needing to add food to feed my nitrItes... Of course, any suggestions are welcomed:

Temperature: 80 Fahrenheit
Nitrate: between 5-10
Nitrite: 0-.25(is this too low? do I need to add some extra food to prevent my bacteria starving?)
Ammonia: .25
Phosphate: .5
pH: 7.2-7.6
KH: 4 drops (71.6 if I understand the chart)
GH: 7 drops (125.3 if I understand the chart)

I also moved the plants a bit hoping that this will create resting points. Suggestions please on additional plants/locations.


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## animallover4lyfe

Awesome choice !! Hes an excellent breeder buy most of my rare bettas from him


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## Scott7975

Beautiful Betta you have there. I have never used aquabids, but would like to get my next from this breeder. 

Could someone please explain the process to me? Like you pay him shipping and then he ships it to another shipper. Then you pay that shipper more shipping and they ship it to you?

How does this all work please?


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## DBanana

You bid on a fish. If you win the bid then you send the breeder the money for the fish and a minimal shipping fee (something like $5). The Thailand transhipper then sends it to the transshipper in your country (I'm in Canada, there's only one transshipper for us). 

The transshipper has to pick up the fish from the airport, usually re-packages them in fresh water (mine doesn't) and prepare the fish to be shipped to you. In certain countries (most?) the transshipper must have a license to import live animals from abroad.


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## JDragon

So... I was too excited to realize that today is President's Day and the post office will not be open. That means everything is delayed a day and that I will have to see if my boss will let me change the date that I am off for a few hours. :roll: *sigh*

On a better note, my cories decided to spawn again -less at 15 eggs- so i have those eggs with the snail egg sacs in my hubby's tank in a small plastic hang over tank with an airstone. The first eggs did not make it, so we will see if they do this time.


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## JDragon

Got my time off approved for Wednesday. working 7:00-noon and going straight to post office to get him. I also asked transshipper if I could get a picture. We will see.


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## DBanana

Sounds amazing. Keep us updated.


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## JDragon

Final day of waiting! :evil: Should be getting tracking number and I am seriously considering going to get him on my "lunch" tomorrow from 10:45 to 11:15... maybe bring a small electric blanket on top of a towel or two until I leave for home. Keeping his area dark... it has to be better than sitting in a box at the post office... Maybe I'm being too paranoid. :lol: :roll:

Someone please talk me out of it... (I really mean INTO it) :lol:


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## beautiful Betta

No I don't think you are being paranoid, I would be the same and want to go and get him, having thoughts that new boxes coming in the store might get knocked into my fish box and horrible thoughts like that, sorry not trying to scare you, but I would get him as soon as possible, just so that I knew he was being kept safely.
Have I talked you into it, lol.


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## JDragon

beautiful Betta said:


> No I don't think you are being paranoid, I would be the same and want to go and get him, having thoughts that new boxes coming in the store might get knocked into my fish box and horrible thoughts like that, sorry not trying to scare you, but I would get him as soon as possible, just so that I knew he was being kept safely.
> Have I talked you into it, lol.


Just what I thought. I'll bring my stick on thermometer that I have tested as working as I have a real one on the same tank so that I can monitor temperature... Might not be perfect, but better than no heat. Pictures galore to come! :-D


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## Agent13

Did you get your ammonia and nitrites to zero yet?
You wouldn't want to put a fish you've gone through so much trouble to get into toxic water. 
If you haven't finished your cycle yet.. You'll be needing to do 50% daily water changes till you see no ammonia or nitrite .. And double dose seachem prime water conditioner as well to protect your fish.


Sent from Petguide.com App


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## JDragon

Agent13 said:


> Did you get your ammonia and nitrites to zero yet?
> You wouldn't want to put a fish you've gone through so much trouble to get into toxic water.
> If you haven't finished your cycle yet.. You'll be needing to do 50% daily water changes till you see no ammonia or nitrite .. And double dose seachem prime water conditioner as well to protect your fish.
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com App


Already on it. Everything has leveled out and I will be doing another WC with all tested today to make sure everything is as it should be. I just hope I don't go home to more eggs. Both Cory batches have been duds. Hubby's snails are hatching already. Very interesting to watch... On another note, anyone want some ramshorns? Lots and lots of ramshorns? :lol:


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## beautiful Betta

JDragon said:


> Just what I thought. I'll bring my stick on thermometer that I have tested as working as I have a real one on the same tank so that I can monitor temperature... Might not be perfect, but better than no heat. Pictures galore to come! :-D


Please do take loads of pictures, from opening the box to how he actually looks in the bag, and the whole moving to tank process. I will be keeping my fingers crossed all goes well for you.;-) Its gone midnight here in OZ so will be checking in, in the morning and see where you are at, although I think Australia is pretty much ahead of everywhere in the time zones, lol


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## JDragon

Never. Use. Jesse/Jesus/whatever he calls himself in Florida as a transshipper. I paid him a month ago and jow my shipment is delayed another day. I give up.


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## DBanana

My complete utter sympathy.


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## beautiful Betta

That's a shame you must be so disappointed, not to mention the hassle of having to change your days again.


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## JDragon

There was a horrible thunderstorm last night that kept me up. Plus hubby's pillow found it's way to my side and now Ihave a crink in my neck and a headache. I will be using my time off to do homework and catch some sleep. Will be getting him Thursday on my lunch. And seller advised that my boy is only 4 months, so i'll have a long time with him if we make it past the hump here...


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## beautiful Betta

Fingers crossed for tomorrow. At least you can catch up on some sleep, and do some homework, so I guess your day isn't wasted.


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## JDragon

Thinking about bringing something like java moss to put in his bag with him. Any suggestions to help his transition? Put the cories in the othe tank so they don't bother him... anything? I want to make sure he is comfortable as possible.


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## beautiful Betta

Yea, I wouldn't have anything else living in his tank except him of course, lol. You have to remember that he has come from pretty much a cube of water, with not even any decoration, so just getting used to a totally different environment will be enough for him to deal with, and to share that with something else living might be a bit much for him at first, as for at the office I would just keep him in the dark or very low light, that will help keep him calm until you get home.


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## JDragon

:lol: I hope they don't eat all the tiny ramshorn snail babies. Will have to float hubby's betta in his cup as he doesn't like the cories. :roll: Will get everything ready tonight.

Thinking of names still... Just need to see his personality. :blueyay:


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## beautiful Betta

I don't know Blaze kind of comes to mind when I look at the image, a Blue Blaze.


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## JDragon

Did I go overboard with plant shopping today?


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## DBanana

I would say you can never go overboard with plant shopping.

The hub disagrees.


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## Agent13

Looks good to me!! My tanks are jungles !! Beautiful jungles .. But a jungle none the less. I have so many happy fishies trying to breed in every tank .. You should see my kids 16g tank.. Seems to some degree equal parts water to plants .. A happy home to Pygmy sunfish and freshwater gobies 


Sent from Petguide.com App


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## beautiful Betta

it looks great, I hope your fish appreciates your hard work.


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## Scott7975

JDragon said:


> Did I go overboard with plant shopping today?


I think it looks fantastic. What kind of plants are on your rockwork and how do you get them to stay there. I am totally new to plants.


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## Exquisite

Beautiful! And nice tank too!


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## JDragon

All plants are....

Anubias barteri
Anubias barteri nana
Java Moss
Java Fern
Lace Java Fern(few very smalls I got free)
Klein Bar Sword
Melon Sword
Ocelot Sword(small and got it free as it was there so long! :lol
and Water Sprite(floater)

***And I finally got a tracking number :blueyay:, but he told me fish would be here tomorrow(Friday)... so crossing my fingers. I had to call him yesterday so many times he turned off his phone, but I got him shipped! :lol:


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## beautiful Betta

That's great, at least you can track his travel progress, do you know what sort of time he is likely to arrive?

You must be so excited now, knowing he is on his way to you.


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## JDragon

beautiful Betta said:


> That's great, at least you can track his travel progress, do you know what sort of time he is likely to arrive?
> 
> You must be so excited now, knowing he is on his way to you.



Not exactly sure, but he is not very far from me... About 2 states away, so not very far. I'll keep an eye and grab him on the soonest break I can. :-D


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## beautiful Betta

has the transhipper said anything to you about his condition?

just curious, he must have seen him if he changed his water and re-bagged him.


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## JDragon

beautiful Betta said:


> has the transhipper said anything to you about his condition?
> 
> just curious, he must have seen him if he changed his water and re-bagged him.


As I said, he would not even answer the phone yesterday, so no... we will have to see when he gets here. I know he's from a quality breeder in good water. I just hope he was fasted enough not to make his water toxic and/or he was rebagged well. If needed I will leave work tomorrow. She asked if I wanted to use my time off tomorrow. I might do just that.


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## beautiful Betta

I don't know why but your transhipper being called Jesse, I cant help imagine some blonde guy with shoulder length surfer hair, lol.

Your boss sounds nice assuming that is who you are talking about offering to let you take your day of tomorrow.


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## JDragon

beautiful Betta said:


> I don't know why but your transhipper being called Jesse, I cant help imagine some blonde guy with shoulder length surfer hair, lol.
> 
> Your boss sounds nice assuming that is who you are talking about offering to let you take your day of tomorrow.


She is the nicest person I've ever met. Amazing lady and a flawless boss. I will verify what times with her and see what I can do. Tracking says he's only about a 30 minute drive away! :blueyay: :greenyay:


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## beautiful Betta

That's good, hopefully you will have your boy by the next time I check in, it's quite late here in OZ, and I really need to get of this computer, and feed my cat, lol.


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## JDragon

Package is marked as out for delivery! :shock2: (even though it was marked hold for pickup...:evil But that means I can go pick him up on the way home! Pictures to come! :mrgreen:


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## JDragon

Finally home safe and sound. I see he did fin nip a good bit of the blue from his tail. I'm just glad he's alive. And what a small little boy. I've never had a betta so young. What a beauty. Not as much color loss as I anticipated. I am so very proud of my unnamed little baby... will post more later after he is swimming around in his jungle. :-D


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## DBanana

What a relief!


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## beautiful Betta

so glad you have him safely, cant wait to see some pictures of him happy in his home.


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## Hishifishy

Thank goodness he's alive! Can't wait for the new pictures! If he's very young I bet his finnage will fill out a lot more in the future.  How exciting!


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## JDragon

He did not appear to have fin rot with the little time I had to look him over before leaving for college... but what else can I do to help his fins grow back other than relaxation? What do I treat with if he does develop fin rot? I already have epson salt due to hubby's betta being constipated. Also, he was one hungry guy who ate 4 NLS pellets presoaked and still looks a bit skinny. Will be working on getting him up to shape, just wanting to prepare for the worst. Thank you for any suggestions.


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## JDragon

He seems to have adjusted well in my absense. He is very afraid of fingers, but comes up to your face. Quite a bad picture taker too as he sits perfect and when I take the picture, he's started moving. Lol. Oh well. Silly boy. Also fed him another NLS pellet to his anxious self. As promised, pictures! Love the one of him hiding behind the sprite. And his mask looks really cool. Apparently he wanted to be a doubletail with his nipping.:shock: but there is room for improvement! 

Oh! And name suggestions please. I've been kicking around the names Blaze and Jazz.... I prefer one syllable and not common per se... unless he speaks to me and tells me his name or changes it once i've named him that is. :lol:


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## beautiful Betta

At least he is alive and eating, that's all good signs for a promising recovery. I would be looking at using a Indian Almond Leaf for healing at this stage, it is natural and quite gentle, and I have read great things about it, I have never used it myself though.


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## Reagan

I used pure Rooibos tea in my tank when my boy was nipping his fins. I have had it in his tank for about a week now, and with regular water changes he is getting a lot of regrowth! A beautiful boy by the way!!


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## kman

Beautiful fish, glad his long journey worked out!


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## 0ut0fsight4443

He is Beautiful. I hope everyone is healthy and happy. Congratulations.


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## JDragon

He did still have a bit of the almond leaf left from the breeder. I rinsed in tank water and it is in there. I will order more later today. He is swimming all over the tank and does not mind the cories yet. More pictures to come.


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## JDragon

I was watching him before work this morning and found that sometimes half of his mask either does not come up when he flares or comes up after he is already flaring. Of course sometimes it is normal also. Is this something to be concerned about?


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## DBanana

The same thing happened to Laufey recently. I think he just pulled it by flaring too hard. I'm trying to keep him from flaring to rest the muscles.


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## JDragon

DBanana said:


> The same thing happened to Laufey recently. I think he just pulled it by flaring too hard. I'm trying to keep him from flaring to rest the muscles.


Thank you. I will try and prevent him from flaring as much as possible.


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## beautiful Betta

Its great that he is acting normal so soon after his journey. I did read they can get out of practice of flaring if they don't have enough room to stretch their fins and flare, what with your boys journey he could be a bit out of practice.


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## JDragon

Seller is so great. They have been answering any questions I ask about my boy. I mentioned about the fin nipping. They said that he would be better in a week, but I doubt it will be that short. Any ideas how long it will take for his fins to go back to normal? The split down the middle almost goes to his body. 

Also, i've almost decided on Jazz for his name. Also thinking about Ventura to signify his adventure here... i'll sleep on it.


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## lilnaugrim

Aww, he looks almost exactly like my Rembrandt if I had bred him, this could be one of his offspring! lol, he's beautiful and I'm a sucker for Mustard Gas, especially true MG's like yours!


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## beautiful Betta

I think time line you are looking at a few months at least my boy ripped half his tail out he must have got it caught some how, he ripped it right off to the body, his tail was lovely and tidy before that, no tares, it is growing back in but it still has half the length of tail to go, so about half has grown back in, in 3 to 4 months.

I prefer the name Ventura, I think it's more unique than Jazz, I did think of the name Colonel, a bit of a play on what your boy is a Mustard and the famous murder mystery game the player Colonel Mustard.

I have been planning to do a update on my boys tail with before and now pics.


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## JDragon

beautiful Betta said:


> I think time line you are looking at a few months at least my boy ripped half his tail out he must have got it caught some how, he ripped it right off to the body, his tail was lovely and tidy before that, no tares, it is growing back in but it still has half the length of tail to go, so about half has grown back in, in 3 to 4 months.
> 
> I prefer the name Ventura, I think it's more unique than Jazz, I did think of the name Colonel, a bit of a play on what your boy is a Mustard and the famous murder mystery game the player Colonel Mustard.
> 
> I have been planning to do a update on my boys tail with before and now pics.


Haha. I like the play on words. I wasn't absolutely positive on the fact of being a mustard, but I thought he was and he was labeled as such(I just know how accurate the labeling can be on aquabid :lol: ) You've given me more to think about. Will have to think of some more names.... Will be posting pics once I get up. I already see him swimming all over. He's such a sweetheart. He's at the front a lot too. At the rate I look to check on my boys, it's a great way for me to know he's alright. my husband's boy tends to go near the back or lay sideways :evil: I still have not seen aggression towards the cories or snails. Cross your fingers. :lol:


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## JDragon

Pictures galore. He checks out the snail I was afraid would die overnight (it did), I tried to get pictures with the cories to show size, I had him flair to see the extent of the fin nip, and he helped me clean the algae off the glass... by flaring to protect me it seems. or atleast that's what i'm telling myself :lol: i'm learning how much to dose for the plants, so please excuse the algae.


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## JDragon

lilnaugrim said:


> Aww, he looks almost exactly like my Rembrandt if I had bred him, this could be one of his offspring! lol, he's beautiful and I'm a sucker for Mustard Gas, especially true MG's like yours!


Sorry I have yet to master the multi quote from my phone. I meant to mention about the MG to you. I have been admiring your boy in your avatar from afar even before I quit lurking. :lol: So I guess I do have a true mustard. I had looked through so many boys on aquabid and I saw him and stopped I knew he was my boy. I still can't believe how young and small he is. I have never seen a betta other than the adults at pet stores and the babies/spawns on here. I can't wait to see how long I have my boy.I can't stop looking at him. So i've effectively joined the MG club. 

Also wih the pictures... all of the cories I could picture him next to are the small/males, not my big female. Her girth dwarfs his girth. Wish I had another way to show his size.


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## beautiful Betta

looking at him now in those pictures his tail looks a lot better already, maybe it will grow in quite quick. And his colour as really picked up you can see the difference from your first pictures. It looks like he is settling in really well. I am so pleased it has gone so well for you, and him.


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## DBanana

BT got torn up and it's been about a week and he's grown in half of his ventrals (they got nipped right off) and his anal and caudal fin are both about a quarter grown back. Good food and clean water does do wonders for them.


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## JDragon

beautiful Betta said:


> looking at him now in those pictures his tail looks a lot better already, maybe it will grow in quite quick. And his colour as really picked up you can see the difference from your first pictures. It looks like he is settling in really well. I am so pleased it has gone so well for you, and him.


Thank you so very much. I was getting extremely nervous in the end there. He is constantly swimming around his jungle and surfing the edges of the tank. He has a healthy appetite I have to say he seems to love the tank and I can't help being proud of it. I'm loving the idea that I can watch him grow up.


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## JDragon

Whole tank shot and him next to my female cory. She is about 2 inches tail tip to nose. Makes his body about an inch and three quarters long. I'll try to stop spamming with so many pictures. :lol:


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## beautiful Betta

I love the picture of him next to your cory, it looks like he is trying to get a bit of her algae tablet, just trying to gently sneak in the side. lol


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## JDragon

That's exactly it. I think I have him close to the perfect fullness with that belly, so he didn't partake in her wafer. When I am up and see him near their food, I distract him. Seems to be working. I have never seen him take a bite. I'm glad about that as I have been battling consipation/bloating with my husband's betta who he's affectionally named George Castanza from Seinfeld.


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## lilnaugrim

Yeah! True MG's just need a blue body, yellow/orange fins and a blue or black band around the tail like yours has. My boy used to have a nice definitive band but as he's grown up he still has blue edges but it's more orange/yellow now  I'm real happy your boy is healing well though! He looks fantastic!

And yeah, most of all the AB fish are quite young and small, he's probably just hitting 4 months now. AB fish won't last as long as a fish bred in the US because of the water chemistry changes, I don't mean he'll only last like 6 months or so! but he won't normally get up to 3-4 years in age, 2 is average.


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## JDragon

lilnaugrim said:


> Yeah! True MG's just need a blue body, yellow/orange fins and a blue or black band around the tail like yours has. My boy used to have a nice definitive band but as he's grown up he still has blue edges but it's more orange/yellow now  I'm real happy your boy is healing well though! He looks fantastic!
> 
> And yeah, most of all the AB fish are quite young and small, he's probably just hitting 4 months now. AB fish won't last as long as a fish bred in the US because of the water chemistry changes, I don't mean he'll only last like 6 months or so! but he won't normally get up to 3-4 years in age, 2 is average.


I didn't know that they had shorter life spans. :-? Well I suppose it could still be relatively longer than a petstore boy. Plus I couldn't find a MG for sure. Plus surprisingly, he is JUST the exact personality I wanted. (big flarer though.. :roll I had asked the seller, but didn't expect him to be the "very active and friendly/come up to you" kind of fish I love. And not afraid of my finger on the glass anymore.

He has really nice fin regrowth going on. :-D Proud mommy here.


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## lilnaugrim

JDragon said:


> I didn't know that they had shorter life spans. :-? Well I suppose it could still be relatively longer than a petstore boy. Plus I couldn't find a MG for sure. Plus surprisingly, he is JUST the exact personality I wanted. (big flarer though.. :roll I had asked the seller, but didn't expect him to be the "very active and friendly/come up to you" kind of fish I love. And not afraid of my finger on the glass anymore.
> 
> He has really nice fin regrowth going on. :-D Proud mommy here.


Hooray for fin growth! :-D

Yeah, it is kind of a chance and gamble as to how long they will actually live! They can live for quite a while or sometimes not as long :-/ but yes, definitely longer than most sickly petstore fish  he should be with you for a while ^_^


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## JDragon

Now, just for curiosity's sake... if I were to decide to breed him, what would I look for? I know his anal is a bit on the long side... I just hate the thought of losing him and having to find another MG I love... If I can make one similar to him... Plus hubby is thinking about setting up the 55 Gallon we got for $40 as a female sorority... :roll: 
He loves the two marble cellos from Aluka's spawn and I'm fond of Mustard F84 because of the mask. Plus we're planning to get some Petco/Petsmart girls. But I am definitely open to ABing a female for my boy later as I don't see much now...
Would I look to do a MG/MG or... I have no idea. :shock:


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## beautiful Betta

I don't know anything about breeding, but it might be worth contacting the breeder, you often see them advertising a sibling female can be available, I have no idea if this is good breeding practice but it seems to be norm, but if you want the same that might be the way to go.


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## JDragon

Here's my pretty boy regrowing his fins. :-D And begging for his morning food. ;-) 

Still taking name suggestions. Love fantasy kind of names... and i'm a 90's kid... if that helps.


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## DBanana

I'm trying so hard to come up with a Gargoyles themed name for the 90's kid, but all I can think of is Broadway.


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## lilnaugrim

As for breeding, the great thing about MG is that they breed true! Which means that if you breed MG/MG you get MG yayayaya lol. So for a female for him I would look for a more complete Dragonscale girl if you want to continue with the dragon scaling, however don't go for a full mask young girl, chances are that her eyes will eventually scale over with the scaling. This often happens with full masked Dragon Scales when their scaling continues to grow and that's the only "open" space left, it doesn't hurt them, they just become blind.

Anyway as far as form, you want a girl with a very smooth top line so you can balance out your boy. His tail is still growing out so he will eventually match his caudal with his anal fin. So get a girl that has relatively short fins and around 4-8 ray's for her caudal so you don't end up with a rose tailed fish which can make all sorts of issues later on. But for the most part, just get a girl with fins that meet, relatively short and not many rays and you should be set since your boy actually has really decent form


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## JDragon

Ok. That is good. As I said earlier, I am planning to buy a few females from Aluka for my 55 gallon sorority we're building. I have attached a pic from the video, however, I am not sure if she would be a good pick with him. I ultimately chose her because of her mask, so either way I will be happy. I'd be concerned because they are plakats and have marble in the genes. Any thoughts?

Keep in mind, I'm not planning to breed anytime soon. It will likely be at least a year. I just want to be educated.


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## lilnaugrim

I would not breed her, first yes because she is PK and that will give you an asortment of fin lengths; nothing terrible but annoying to work with since there are much better options. Her body is way too thick, her topline is not a smooth curve, ventrals are kind of on the thin side. And the marble genes will hurt your chances on getting 100% more or less, of MG babies.

For example, this would be a good girl for you to get. Not so thick bodied, nice smooth curve to her topline, great scales and color, very neat and not messy color most importantly.
View attachment 303970

Her auction if you wanted to look: http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fwbettashm&1393446054


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## JDragon

lilnaugrim said:


> I would not breed her, first yes because she is PK and that will give you an asortment of fin lengths; nothing terrible but annoying to work with since there are much better options. Her body is way too thick, her topline is not a smooth curve, ventrals are kind of on the thin side. And the marble genes will hurt your chances on getting 100% more or less, of MG babies.
> 
> For example, this would be a good girl for you to get. Not so thick bodied, nice smooth curve to her topline, great scales and color, very neat and not messy color most importantly.
> View attachment 303970
> 
> Her auction if you wanted to look: http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fwbettashm&1393446054


Ok, that was what I was looking for. I knew about the lines and fins to a degree... But just needed a walk through. I didn't see her the other day when I was looking. Thank you. :-D I likely wont be breeding soon anyways.

** Someone(may have been you) said about the number of rays to avoid rose tail, would that be an issue with that particular female and my boy?**


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## DBanana

lilnaugrim said:


> I would not breed her, first yes because she is PK and that will give you an asortment of fin lengths; nothing terrible but annoying to work with since there are much better options. Her body is way too thick, her topline is not a smooth curve, ventrals are kind of on the thin side. And the marble genes will hurt your chances on getting 100% more or less, of MG babies.
> 
> For example, this would be a good girl for you to get. Not so thick bodied, nice smooth curve to her topline, great scales and color, very neat and not messy color most importantly.
> View attachment 303970
> 
> Her auction if you wanted to look: http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fwbettashm&1393446054


That's the sister of the girl I got! If she was purchased your fishy babies would be NEPHEWS/NIECES! I approve of this idea!


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## JDragon

DBanana said:


> That's the sister of the girl I got! If she was purchased your fishy babies would be NEPHEWS/NIECES! I approve of this idea!


To be honest, I am afraid of importing another fish. With the reduced life span and the horrible transshipper... I've heard good things about Linda though. Any thoughts? And yes, that would be neat to have nieces/nephews. :lol:


----------



## beautiful Betta

your boy and that girl Lgrim listed, I think would create some great fry.


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## JDragon

beautiful Betta said:


> your boy and that girl Lgrim listed, I think would create some great fry.



Would the amount of rays create rose tails? :-?


----------



## beautiful Betta

not a clue, sorry, I am sure one of the others will advise.


----------



## lilnaugrim

Linda is amazing, she is the only one I use now! I used to use Jennifer when she was still around but Linda is just as good as she is! Very polite as well!!

As far as her rays, you would be cutting it close but he should be able to balance her out since he seems to have less rays and more membrane between his fins so with his tail, you really shouldn't get many RT fry, maybe a few depending on chance and genetics of course. But I believe they are quite compatible with each other! As far as the shortened life span, that's only when fish are imported so if you breed them within the year, that will be totally fine! They would be make it until then for sure :-D


----------



## JDragon

lilnaugrim said:


> Linda is amazing, she is the only one I use now! I used to use Jennifer when she was still around but Linda is just as good as she is! Very polite as well!!
> 
> As far as her rays, you would be cutting it close but he should be able to balance her out since he seems to have less rays and more membrane between his fins so with his tail, you really shouldn't get many RT fry, maybe a few depending on chance and genetics of course. But I believe they are quite compatible with each other! As far as the shortened life span, that's only when fish are imported so if you breed them within the year, that will be totally fine! They would be make it until then for sure :-D


Wow. And I thought I would get stoned for wanting to breed and here you all are encouraging me. :lol: To say the least, I would have to learn everything I can from you all... We'll see if she's still there staring at me in about a week. Getting my sorority set up is hurting my wallet... Not to mention my tax lady mistyped so we had to correct and resend. :roll:


----------



## lilnaugrim

Yeah, I hear you! I had a sorority once upon a time as well and I remember the cost of it all lol, granted I got the tank and stand free but upgrading lights, filters, substrates, plants...yeah it all adds up quickly!

Why would we stone you for wanting to breed?? lol, that means more MG babies to go around for us!! hahaha But we'll all be happy to help you along if you want to surf around the Breeding section, there are a few great people there who can definitely help you out more than I can ^_^


----------



## DBanana

Soon your house will be overtaken by shelves and tubing and the splish splash of baby bettas...


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## lilnaugrim

DBanana said:


> the splish splash of baby bettas...


Lol!! :rofl:


----------



## JDragon

DBanana said:


> Soon your house will be overtaken by shelves and tubing and the splish splash of baby bettas...


I already committed my husband to me having a computer room and a fish room before we got married... :lol: Once he gets hired on, we may be able to afford a small house, but I'm still in college for(you may have guessed) computers. I'm just concerned about when I switch from community college to the university for my 4 year bachelor's degree. :-?


----------



## DBanana

I call anyplace anyone lives a house. I live in a 2 bedroom apartment and the hub isn't happy about the suddenly expanding quantity of tanks and shelving.

I would like to go out and get my BA but right now we'd have to get the funding. I'm excited for you! You're not allowed to be nervous now, I'll be living vicariously through you.


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## JDragon

Looks like that female's auction ended. Wonder if they will put her or some sisters back up. :-?


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## lilnaugrim

JDragon said:


> Looks like that female's auction ended. Wonder if they will put her or some sisters back up. :-?


You can contact that seller and see if they have any more since I know for a fact that was the second girl of that spawn to go up so I'm sure they have more ^_^ just ask for some pictures and generally they would love your business so they'll give you some! lol


----------



## JDragon

lilnaugrim said:


> You can contact that seller and see if they have any more since I know for a fact that was the second girl of that spawn to go up so I'm sure they have more ^_^ just ask for some pictures and generally they would love your business so they'll give you some! lol


Was it just me, or did I see some recessed webbing on the fins? Like there may have been crowntail in the line at one point? Just noticed it and wanted to see if I'm going crazy/on the right track with seeing things. :lol:


----------



## lilnaugrim

JDragon said:


> Was it just me, or did I see some recessed webbing on the fins? Like there may have been crowntail in the line at one point? Just noticed it and wanted to see if I'm going crazy/on the right track with seeing things. :lol:


The little bit of reduced webbing that she had was most likely from a Rose Tail trait in her line not from CT which would be different and she wouldn't have as many ray's as well if she were from a crossbred CT line. But the reduction is minimal and should not harm the form of your boy, together they would both balance it out and as you go through your line you can correct the minor web reduction fairly easily most likely by generation 3.


----------



## JDragon

Got a few pictures of my boy this morning.  Bad boy kept trying to eat algae wafers after being fed. :evil:
I really need to think of a good name for him. :roll:


----------



## lilnaugrim

His fins look great! I'd call him PITA haha not really but silly still ^_^


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## DBanana

I love the yellow in him. It's so crisp.


----------



## JDragon

lilnaugrim said:


> His fins look great! I'd call him PITA haha not really but silly still ^_^


Ugh, now that I see that belly on my work computer, it makes me look like a bad momma! >.< Grr. I swear I didn't overfeed him!


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## lilnaugrim

JDragon said:


> Ugh, now that I see that belly on my work computer, it makes me look like a bad momma! >.< Grr. I swear I didn't overfeed him!


Are you kidding? That's a healthy tummy!! You want him to look like that if you only feed once a day or so :-D

EDIT: as long as it is reduced by the time you feed him next, that is all very healthy! :-D


----------



## JDragon

lilnaugrim said:


> Are you kidding? That's a healthy tummy!! You want him to look like that if you only feed once a day or so :-D
> 
> EDIT: as long as it is reduced by the time you feed him next, that is all very healthy! :-D


Well, to a degree it's not the size per se, but I KNOW when I get home, he'll have eaten more of the wafer and have a pretty big tummy. I wait until it goes down/change amount fed, but he keeps going after the wafers. :roll: 
I have even tried feeding them after lights out, but he's such an interactive fish that he sees everything I do. Plus he overfed himself a good bit when I tried sneaking it in at night. He always passes it, which is a relief as my hubby's boy was having issues with constipation which have cleared now... (YAY daphnia!)


----------



## lilnaugrim

Yeah, they tend to do that. Can you separate him while you feed the others? What is he with again? Were they cories or something?


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## JDragon

lilnaugrim said:


> Yeah, they tend to do that. Can you separate him while you feed the others? What is he with again? Were they cories or something?


Yeah, 4 albino cories. Wouldn't be too bad, but everyone but my female is a bit intimidated by him, so he gets in the way and they go the other way. that's an interesting idea... Wonder how much of a fit he'd have if I put him in a petstore cup and floated him while they ate. :lol:


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## lilnaugrim

You also don't have to use the wafers daily for them, instead, sink a few pellets in the back or under some plants and the cories will eat those as well. That way you won't have to worry about him eating the wafers all the time. Twice a week should be fine. Also the cories will love a slice of cucumber every now and then so that's something else that your boy would probably not touch or try and then find he doesn't like it lol.


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## JDragon

Just realized in those pictures that his huge tear has really improved and is almost even with the rest of the nipped fins!!! :blueyay:


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## Alyssum

Wow, what a beautiful fish. I just wanted to chime in to say that  I'm also having problems feeding my cories and betta. I give him his own food, but he will not stop! He scares them away from their own food when he is done with his, so I had to start separating them during feeding time.


----------



## JDragon

Alyssum said:


> Wow, what a beautiful fish. I just wanted to chime in to say that  I'm also having problems feeding my cories and betta. I give him his own food, but he will not stop! He scares them away from their own food when he is done with his, so I had to start separating them during feeding time.


Thanks! I'm very proud of my little guy making it after dealing with that horrid transshipper and for growing his fins back so well. Though I do wonder if it is possible for them to "scar" or grow back too much or incorrectly like many other animals do. I don't see any issues with his fins growing back, just a thought. And I'll give it a shot with separating him for feeding. I'm just glad he's not a mean boy who does not like tankmates like my husband's betta. 
I'm still sure he'll pitch a fit or give me "Oh, I can't BELIEVE YOU!" eyes. :roll: Never got them from him yet. :lol:


----------



## beautiful Betta

In my experience with betta's small tears can grow back in fairly unnoticed. Bigger ones you will see a difference, slight different in colour, the tail wont fall quite the same. Your boy is still very young so maybe that will help. I think mine would have been all older fish, as bought from stores.


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## JDragon

He swam right into the cup... then found that I was evil. Ended up feeding the cories for a little bit, but they are used to being fed in the morning. Either way it didn't seem like he ate much of the wafer, but he was swimming in the cup like a mad man... :roll: No stress stripes or anything of the like, but he was NOT a fan of this idea...


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## lilnaugrim

Lol, silly fish! Did you feed him while he was in the cup? You should try that, eventually he will associate the cup with food which means that cup = good and not evil! So he'll swim into it willing for real then ^_^


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## JDragon

lilnaugrim said:


> Lol, silly fish! Did you feed him while he was in the cup? You should try that, eventually he will associate the cup with food which means that cup = good and not evil! So he'll swim into it willing for real then ^_^


I thought about it, but he already had a big belly and was too busy swimming like mad... Wish I could get more cups without buying another betta. I am down to one. I'll need them for the sorority... But I'll try the food. 

Thanks for the reassurance on that idea. How long could I keep him in there? I'm sure the poor guy had never seen or been in one before...


----------



## lilnaugrim

Lol, he'll be fine! You could technically keep him in it all day but then he wouldn't be using his tank XD an hour should be plenty for the cories to get their food, two hours if they are eating slowly I would say!


----------



## JDragon

lilnaugrim said:


> Lol, he'll be fine! You could technically keep him in it all day but then he wouldn't be using his tank XD an hour should be plenty for the cories to get their food, two hours if they are eating slowly I would say!


Gosh, I surely chickened out too quickly... I would bet about 10-20 minutes.  I just want my boy happy and not eating wafers! :lol:


----------



## haveyouhadyourteayet

I've got a friend that works at a pet store, she hooks me up with any spare cups they have... although that usually means they lost a betta so it's kinda awful... I tell myself someone just wanted it bagged to take home, and everyone is happy.
You should just go ask if they have any spares.


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## JDragon

haveyouhadyourteayet said:


> I've got a friend that works at a pet store, she hooks me up with any spare cups they have... although that usually means they lost a betta so it's kinda awful... I tell myself someone just wanted it bagged to take home, and everyone is happy.
> You should just go ask if they have any spares.


That's not a bad idea, but now after reading the forum about the disease with blue bettas on the disease forum, I'm wondering if that could happen to my MG boy... :shock: He has a blue hue to his body... I'll be buying some sort of plastic containers once I find suitable ones.


----------



## lilnaugrim

You can use wal-mart plastic food ware, it's what I use! There is a small round set for 1.88 or something like that for three :-D it's awesome!


----------



## beautiful Betta

if your not tight on cash you could buy a plastic floating birthing tank, they float and are bigger than a cup, he might swim into that better, I fed a betta that I had years ago in a community tank that way, so he didn't miss out being slower than the other fish, he would swim into it no problem it was our routine, then release him once he was done.
here's a link to what they look like.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Durable-...d=100005&prg=1088&rk=1&rkt=5&sd=131116394266&


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## JDragon

I cupped him again tonight and it was hard for him to find the daphnia. Once back in the tank, he got a nice full belly. I did manage to sneak the wafers in the back of the tank. Maybe yhat will help. Plus the fact that it now seems I have two female cories, maybe they will hold their own a bit more with the location and size advantage.


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## JDragon

Here's progress. Even has some blue growing back! And his new visitor that will be going in the sorority... Bristlenose Pleco. He/she is LOVING all the algae. :-D


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## Alyssum

He looks great! We decided to buy a cheap divider when we are feeding our fish and it seems to work okay. If you don't want to put him in a cup, you might like this method instead. I didn't even put it in right because I only put it in temporarily, but it still works well. I guess it won't work if you have too many plants or rocks in the way, I'm not sure what yours looks like.


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## JDragon

I'm actually toying with the idea of moving the cories to the 55 gallon once its set up. I have too big of a decoration for a divider. 
Had a small photoshoot this morning. I did a lot better with focusing on my phone. Found his anal fin got a good tear in it. I will have to see where it came from. Either way his tail is looking loads better. Also, any idea why he had his fins clamped in the middle of the pics? 
Remember, the bristlenose pleco is going into the 55 along with the albino bristlenose in my hubby's tank that somehow wedged itself between the edge pieces of the filter.... and lived. It had to be there a few hours. I was about to bag it and it started squirming.


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## lilnaugrim

Meh, for the clamping just looks like he didn't feel like flaring at that point and was just resting. He isn't clamping hard, just sort of resting there to conserve some energy ^_^


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## JDragon

Alright. I think I may have decided on a name... Not sure yet as I think it is too generic... but I like it. I just know I am tired of calling him... him.

Dyno/Dynamite. I'm so bad at this. >.<


----------



## beautiful Betta

yea I call my boy, my boy purely because I never got around to naming him. Plus it used to be a bit of a joke when we first started keeping fish that some seemed to die not long after naming them, so it was tempting fate to actually name a fish, lol. Of course I know now why the fish were dying, when we first went into tropical we had a rubbish test kit and showed our water as being all fine. When we went to a really specialist fish shop and we explained what was going on, they asked what test kit do you have, we told them, they said they are rubbish sold us good ones. Ammonia was off the scale, and we were able to fix the problem. But we still had that fear of jinxing a fish, lol

I love the new avatar by the way, I was trying to resize mine so it was bigger, just doesn't seem to work, I must be doing something wrong.


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## JDragon

beautiful Betta said:


> yea I call my boy, my boy purely because I never got around to naming him. Plus it used to be a bit of a joke when we first started keeping fish that some seemed to die not long after naming them, so it was tempting fate to actually name a fish, lol. Of course I know now why the fish were dying, when we first went into tropical we had a rubbish test kit and showed our water as being all fine. When we went to a really specialist fish shop and we explained what was going on, they asked what test kit do you have, we told them, they said they are rubbish sold us good ones. Ammonia was off the scale, and we were able to fix the problem. But we still had that fear of jinxing a fish, lol
> 
> I love the new avatar by the way, I was trying to resize mine so it was bigger, just doesn't seem to work, I must be doing something wrong.



It's probably the actual size/shape of the image. Yours seems to be more... Widescreen where mine is a larger square. It resized it for me.

I also had that same thing with the naming also... and to a degree I still have it. I waited until I knew my husband's betta seemed like he would live and then asked him what he wanted to call him. I ideally, I would wait until he fully grew his fins back, but other than that he is healthy as a horse... Other than the wafers he's been eating. I will be moving the cories and the pleco to the sorority and leave him with the snails. No more stealing food! :evil: (also have not named the girls yet due to the name thing... :lol


----------



## JDragon

He is officially only with snails now. No more wafer surfing! Will update pics soon. Been working on the big tank... might have a male in the girls I bought at Petco... (saw small bubble nest :roll Will need to read up on how to look for ovaries >. <


----------



## lilnaugrim

I can sex the "females" for you, I'm pretty good at that ^_^ also, are you sure it wasn't just from the filter if you have one? They make bubbles. And females will occasionally make small bubblenests and sometimes even larger ones. I had a female who made her own nest, dropped her eggs and put them in the nest all on her own without male stimuli!....And then she proceeded to eat them all lol


----------



## JDragon

lilnaugrim said:


> I can sex the "females" for you, I'm pretty good at that ^_^ also, are you sure it wasn't just from the filter if you have one? They make bubbles. And females will occasionally make small bubblenests and sometimes even larger ones. I had a female who made her own nest, dropped her eggs and put them in the nest all on her own without male stimuli!....And then she proceeded to eat them all lol


Unfortunately, my filter had conked out (Marineland Penguin 200) even though it had been used... less than a week. Motor just would not kick on. Hubby said he heard a weird noise and it died out. The day after he convinced me the girls should not be floating in cups... after filling the tank with livestock. (Redtail shark, 4 bleeding heart tetras and 4 longfin serpae tetras... his choice with my suggestions... :roll: (only have seen minimal chasing and they actually seem to stay together peacefully more than I expected. They LOVE the frogbit I received. Paid for 50 and got at least 70.
So... today I went out and got an Aquaclear 70. First one had broken intake end and I had to drive all the way back and made them open the next in front of me as I had to drive about 10-15 mins to and from. Still had the material seeded, just more bio capacity now. I decided to try sponge on top as I thought it may be better than biomaterial getting dry if it cuts off... May not be what they suggest... but they also suggest carbon and switching all three media at once. I'll see how it goes.
I'm pretty sure I see ovaries on at least one. Will add to my thread on planted tanks with pics if you could help. They are still pretty young, but i don't want another male. Just don't have room. Thanks!


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## lilnaugrim

Sure! Just give me a link to the page so I don't have to hunt through hundreds of threads >.< What size is this tank? I really want a redtail black shark so bad lol


----------



## JDragon

lilnaugrim said:


> Sure! Just give me a link to the page so I don't have to hunt through hundreds of threads >.< What size is this tank? I really want a redtail black shark so bad lol


55 gallon tank. I kept one before in a 30 gallon, but I read they can get over 7 inches. 
It wont let me hyperlink on my phone. Will put the link at work tomorrow morning.


----------



## lilnaugrim

Nice! I have a 33 that I had planned on getting a shark in, they generally only get to 5 at max, 4 is more like it from what I'm hearing and reading.

And that's fine! I'll be around tomorrow to look at it ^_^


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## JDragon

Pictures from this morning.

Lil - http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?p=4062297#post4062297

I will get more pictures of the girls today. I've never owned females before... not sure if they're growing ovaries or hubby overfed. I've read it's hard to tell. I'm trying my best!


----------



## lilnaugrim

Oh! You have a Rainbow Shark, not a Red tail Black Shark, they are very similar though and can get confused quite often ^_^ very similar to needs and stuff though, still 1 shark per tank is good idea with these guys. I remember when I was little and the 20 gallon we had was in my room after my mom didn't want to take care of it, we had gotten a shoal of 4 little Rainbows for it....yeah, they died actually from sort of freezing. The heater we had was extremely old and malfunctioned and couldn't keep the temp u. I'm surprised still that they lasted as long as they did lol Oh well...

Looks like you've got all girls! That yellow/multi CT is a bit suspicious though. But from the body shape, it does look female, just doesn't look eggy so her ovaries are basically empty which makes them harder to spot I find. That's all fine and dandy though! They are definitely fat with lots of food lol. Keeping a sorority well fed is a good idea though, I find there is less bickering involved but you still don't to overfeed them of course! I know how hard it is when you have an over zealous person watching over the tank as well. My mom made one of my girl's very fat, I had to take her into my room to put her on a diet >.< Mom was like "but she's giving me those eyes! She's hungry! I just know it!" lol, I tried explaining the whole thing that fish are opportunistic feeders but she didn't care much XD I'm glad she took care of Selkie but at the same time...:roll:


----------



## BlueLacee

wow, he is so beautiful


----------



## JDragon

lilnaugrim said:


> Oh! You have a Rainbow Shark, not a Red tail Black Shark, they are very similar though and can get confused quite often ^_^ very similar to needs and stuff though, still 1 shark per tank is good idea with these guys. I remember when I was little and the 20 gallon we had was in my room after my mom didn't want to take care of it, we had gotten a shoal of 4 little Rainbows for it....yeah, they died actually from sort of freezing. The heater we had was extremely old and malfunctioned and couldn't keep the temp u. I'm surprised still that they lasted as long as they did lol Oh well...
> 
> Looks like you've got all girls! That yellow/multi CT is a bit suspicious though. But from the body shape, it does look female, just doesn't look eggy so her ovaries are basically empty which makes them harder to spot I find. That's all fine and dandy though! They are definitely fat with lots of food lol. Keeping a sorority well fed is a good idea though, I find there is less bickering involved but you still don't to overfeed them of course! I know how hard it is when you have an over zealous person watching over the tank as well. My mom made one of my girl's very fat, I had to take her into my room to put her on a diet >.< Mom was like "but she's giving me those eyes! She's hungry! I just know it!" lol, I tried explaining the whole thing that fish are opportunistic feeders but she didn't care much XD I'm glad she took care of Selkie but at the same time...:roll:



My mistake. i briefly read now that rainbows are less aggressive.
Hubby was so proud that he was able to make sure all girls had 3 pellets(NLS) each while i was at school last night. 
Also, i think Dijon is a bit... bloated/constipated. he's been about that fat for about three days now and i've been feeding one smaller pellet a day. I thought he was eating more of the algea wafers. Going to feed daphnia today to see if that helps.

Thanks Blue Lace! :-D


----------



## JDragon

I think my boy is missing the catfish... he's doing a lot more of... treading water/sitting still. I saw him laying on the anarchis barteri at the top that i put there to act as a hammock... will be doing a nice tank cleaning tomorrow. Hopefully he passes some of the food he's been holding..

Lil- will get another pic of the crowntail. I'm pretty sure it's growing ovaries now. The girls are really filling in and coloring up. Hope the new/older girls I have coming wont beat them up too much. I should have the plants by then, so that will help.


----------



## beautiful Betta

It's probably not the fish he is missing more their algae wafers, lol


----------



## JDragon

beautiful Betta said:


> It's probably not the fish he is missing more their algae wafers, lol


:roll: It's actually been since his last snack. They're liking the big tank. One isn't schooling well but the females are loving it. Either way, I just need to get my boy passing. I've been working too hard for him to let him get in bad conditions. Fins are growing well. It is more apparent in person than in pictures. I see the blue hue to his fins growing. Maybe he'd like shrimp? I've never had shrimp. Makes me nervous...


----------



## beautiful Betta

Maybe fast him for a day, then try the daphnia.


----------



## JDragon

beautiful Betta said:


> Maybe fast him for a day, then try the daphnia.


I'm fasting him today. Will work on daphnia tomorrow. Found out I wasted a cube leaving it out... sigh. Oh well. I could not find that tropical mix or bloodworms. Have the day 'to myself' until hubby gets home tomorrow. I have homework, but I might have to go out to petsmart as they carry more than my Petco. (Heck, all they had frozen was San Francisco Bay whom i've heard of bad batches recently.... not testing it on my boy or my girls.)
Anyways. Going to get the glass cut for the top of the sorority/community tomorrow so I can finally get good pics with the light on.


----------



## JDragon

Picture heavy post. He is hard to get a flare from because he almost immediately puts it up. Trying to teach him to on command... excuse the blurry pic. pps:Finally got some bloodworms. Will feed some this coming week.


----------



## beautiful Betta

I was just wondering how your boy was doing today actually. His fins look to be growing back in nicely. I loved his facial shots, he was kind of like saying you haven't had enough yet, then flaring and saying I give up. lol


----------



## JDragon

Haha. I keep worrying about his fins. I can't always tell so much that they are growing back. Guess it's because I see him everyday. He's still the same interactive boy I love. I see him laying down and I come by and he swims right to the front, no matter where he was.


----------



## beautiful Betta

Yea my boy is like that, I put it down to him always being hopeful of a feeding, lol.


----------



## JDragon

beautiful Betta said:


> Yea my boy is like that, I put it down to him always being hopeful of a feeding, lol.


Now, I would associate it with that, but he never seems to... bore of it. If I sat in front of his tank for an hour, he would be at the front/middle the whole time. He would rest and not be swimming the whole time, but he would not just get bored.
Every time that I put my hand in, he is always swimming near or on my hand. he trusts me enough to let me graze my finger on his fins shortly and even will lay or rest on my hand. He's such a funny boy. I love him to death. No matter how many girls I get. :lol: 
I'm still considering breeding him, but I don't think I have the space or time at the moment.... I got a nice yellow female that has a little butterfly edge at petsmart... plus the MG (HMPK marble concerns me though) female I got from Aluka. Now sure if they would pair nicely with him.


----------



## Artemis

I just lost my favorite boy a little over a week ago. He was a rescue and was super scared of me at first, he would freak out if I entered the room for about 3 days. Would hide if I approached the tank for 1 week, and it took a moth for him to take food with me nearby but he became my friendliest fish. He would always come up and "dance" at the front of the tank. He was very finicky with food and wouldn't eat more than 3 pellets at a time he was just a friendly fish and he came from horrible conditions. They can all learn to love so most bettas will become very people friendly.


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## daniella3d

Very beautiful betta. I just order 2 betta fish from that same breeder. I hope they get here alive and healthy. Once they get to my transhipper I will pay for the fastest shipping available. I was wondering how long it takes for them to be shipped from the transhipper in Thailand to the transhipper in America? anoyone know?

I have order a total of 32 betta fish from different breeders, so yeah, Aquabid is addictive. I should have stopped at 10 or so, but I could not help myself.

Seing your fish arrived alive is comforting.


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## JDragon

Yes. That seller is great. I expressed interest in my fish and they immediately put everywhere that it was sold (to US). My transshipper was horrid. "Jesse" in Florida. From what I understood, the fish were shipped on a Saturday, arrived in US on Monday... and my transshipper decided to -not- change his water -and- wait until Wednesday to ship him out after I called him so many times he turned off his phone. He had very little water. I don't think he would have made it if the seller did not include an IAL.


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## daniella3d

I am glad he's a good seller. So your fish spent how long in that bag in total? what is IAL? Sorry for all the questions but your experience is precious to me. Not too many people ordering fish from Thailand and publishing their experience!

It will be my first Aquabid import from Thailand and I have 32 fish coming. I am just crazy I guess. Hope the transhipper is good enough to take them out of the bag until they are all there and hope they all arrive in the same shipment. He already got one white fish for me since end of February that he's keeping! That's near 800$ of fish because some I have order were 60$ each. Many of the fish I order are from the same sellers. Like 6 fish from 1 seller, 5 from another one etc..


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## lilnaugrim

IAL is Indian Almond Leaf which leaches tannins making the water softer and more acidic which Bettas prefer. IAL also has minor antimicrobial properties to help keep infection away.

Also, it really depends on how long they get to you. The Thialand shipper will generally send a bunch out at once to save on shipping so he might wait a week to accummulate enough fish to send out at once. Then the transshippers get them and it depends on each one of what they do. Linda will generally send them out a day or two later after she changes the water. Hung Pham up in Canada only ships out once every month :-/ he's running a monopoly up there unfortunately. So if you're lucky and hit the timing just right, you could have the fish to you in little as four-five days! You can ask all them when their shipping dates are as well.

And holy mackerel daniella! Good luck with 32 fish!!! lol


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## JDragon

Haha WOW. That's a LOT of fish... I keep looking on aquabid and I'm still in love with my boy. I don't find any other fish that strike me like he did. The only other fish I have a connection with and really like is a girl in my sorority that is all red. I call her Lil Red. But my boy is always first. I'm still debating breeding him, but if I do I'll probably wait awhile. Hard to find a decent MG girl... Should have gotten that one while I could. >.<


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## daniella3d

Indian Almond Leaf, ok thank you. I have lots to learn about bettas! I just bought some of these leaves on Aquabid.

Your boy is gorgious and I can understand why you want to stick with him breed him. His tail seem to be growing back as well. Me? well I am just crazy, and will probably need to consult a professional to stop watching and buying from Aquabid! lol! it's insane.

Yes we have Hung Pham only. He's been nice to keep one of my fish so far. I hope the rest goes smoothly. You said they might hold my fish until they have enough to ship? do you think they will keep them in their bags for many days before shipping? that's very scary.


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## JDragon

On a side note... here's lil red and feeding time for the girls. Red has blue eyes. I really need to start a jounal...


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## beautiful Betta

Just curious has Dijon grown since you have had him? I would also love to see some pics of your other boys. The girls are beautiful by the way.


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## JDragon

To be honest with you, not really. Still a small bodied boy. I'll attach a few of hubby's and the EE boy... who is also very small bodied... Dijon is bigger and most likely older though. All of the pics are the first few days after getting the boys other than the one with new hide I traded for.


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## lilnaugrim

I believe Hung does put them in small tanks with regular water changes as per his job. That would be awful if he didn't do water changes during that time. Although it's possible that the Thailand shipper holds onto them until Hung's shipping date and then sends them out to him like the day before or whatever and he just passes them along right after he gets them and sorts them *shrug* not entirely certain.

Yeah, Rembrandt in my avatar is also a very small bodied HM much like Dijon here, never quite grew in body just in fins ^_^ he's literally all fin now haha.


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## beautiful Betta

Your DT is a lovely looking boy, was he locally bought? And your rescue EE was also local? He will be lovely when he is fully healed, I suspect his colour will brighten.


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## JDragon

Yes. Both were local Petco boys. The EE was close to death. Took two days of very little movement and laying on his side until he started feeling better. Some of that could be stress, but still.


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## beautiful Betta

When I return to the UK if I could find betta's like that locally I wouldn't bother with all the hassle with the imports, but I think I will struggle to find anything like that from fish stores in the UK, I don't know though it has been ages since I have been back to the UK and actually looked seriously around the specialist fish stores. Although my mum did take me around Pets at home on her mobile through Skype and that store didn't even have one betta let alone a choice. And another day she took me into a fish store at a local garden centre, they had one in a tank with other fish, it looked gold, it could have been a half moon, but the image my mums phone sent through Skype wasn't that clear, and apparently a member of staff said there was also a blue one in another tank but he hides, so we didn't actually see that one.

So for me to buy from a shop it looks like I would hardly have any choice. There are a couple of bigger fish stores in my home town but I wont know if they have a decent Betta stock until I go home. Which if not, I don't have a lot of choice but to go the AB route, unless one, of that one or two I find appeals to me in some way.


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## JDragon

You know... I had been looking on aquabid and I would always see one and say that it was pretty or something... But as I said, he was the one to strike me. And he still does almost daily. I don't care how much I paid all together for him. He's my boy, he's going nowhere, and he was money very well spent in my eyes. :-D

Edit: FINALLY got a decent flare pic. Only half face, but I like it. Might have to change my avatar again. :lol:


(Also, Snail babies.... EVERYWHERE)


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## beautiful Betta

You did have a lot of worries with wondering if he was ok, and there have been others here on the AB thread who have lost fish so was just saying I would be delighted if I could find something as nice as you got from a local store. But I don't think that will be happening anyway, and I will likely be importing myself.


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## JDragon

Yeah... My girls that I got locally are pretty stunning. Lil red is one. Then the only other girls I have are 3 from Aluka's spawn. I need to get pictures of them all separate.


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## daniella3d

That's why I went with Aquabid as I could not find any decent fish around here and those that I found were probably old and have all sort of problems and were even more expensive than those from Aquabid.

I think with Aquabid the way to go is to buy more fish, not just one, or do a group buy with friends. If you buy 5 to 10 fish it grealy reduce the overall cost of each fish.

I just hope that I get them healthy and alive. I think the problem is not so much the shipping from Thailand to the transhipper, it is after that. I plan to go pick up my fish at the transhipper if possible, if not then I will pay for the fastest shipping, even if it cost me 150$ shipping. I don't think it's a good idea to pay for slower shipping that the fish will travel for 3 days more. It's too risky.

where is that Aquabid thread you are refering to?


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## JDragon

Here in the betta pictures section. I would link, but i'm on my phone. And multiples would have been nice... but I just wanted my boy. Probably should have gotten a sister for breeding, but i'm still very happy. His tail is sooooo -almost- there. So excited.


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## beautiful Betta

Yea, he is lovely and I am in no way saying he wasn't worth the money shipping, just was stressful for you and him and thankfully it worked out for the both of you. I have no plans to breed like you, so if I was abled to find a really pretty fish in the standard pet stock I would be really happy, but if I have to go down the AB route I will be looking for really nice form too.


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## JDragon

Funny thjng is I had no intentions for breeding... much less a 55 gallon soroity. I only planned for one male for my husband and one for me. Now i'm debating breeding. :roll: Dang betta bug. :lol:


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## daniella3d

LOL! go for it 

must be rewarding especially with a beautiful fish like yours.


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## beautiful Betta

I think once you go down that path of paying for breeding quality, then you almost feel like, well perhaps I should try and breed him, lol.


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## JDragon

Fins! Happy mama here. Look how much they've grown! I couldn't get him to flare well in the short time I had. Added a before picture for reference so no one has to hunt.


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## beautiful Betta

The funny thing was when I saw the first picture after reading about two words, I thought he really isn't healing that quick, but would have said he's doing really well, lol so not to hurt any feelings:lol::-D and then scrolled down after reading the rest, What a big difference.;-)


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## JDragon

Haha. Poor boy, I notice new finnage almost weekly. Additional anal and dorsal mostly. I see his fins drag him down a good bit... No more nipping at all though. Just makes him rest a lot - until I get up and then he's the most agile thing in the world. :lol:


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## beautiful Betta

I keep telling myself that the next boy I get is going to be a HM plakat, but lately I haven't seen a awful lot there I like, the full finned HM however, I think wow. And I constantly tell myself don't get suckered in with the breeders photos, you know they always damage those fins when they get home, lol. Having said that my boy is quite good, he doesn't damage his fins, apart from loosing half a tail. But he does sit around a lot, and I think that is partly to do with the length/weight of fins.


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## daniella3d

When you say ''drag him down'', do you mean that his tail sink or something like that?



JDragon said:


> Haha. Poor boy, I notice new finnage almost weekly. Additional anal and dorsal mostly. I see his fins drag him down a good bit... No more nipping at all though. Just makes him rest a lot - until I get up and then he's the most agile thing in the world. :lol:


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## JDragon

daniella3d said:


> When you say ''drag him down'', do you mean that his tail sink or something like that?


Well, if he lets it. If he is actively moving, it does not drag him, if he is sitting still or lightly moving, sometimes he lets his tail drag him down. He is still agile enough to jump and such, but you can see his tail weight drag his tail end down when he lets it. If that makes sense..


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## lilnaugrim

Yep, that's very normal for heavy tailed fish such as HM's, the boy in my avatar does the same thing if he doesn't have his plants to rest on


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## daniella3d

I am glad to know it's normal. I have one fish that is doing this. He can swim fine but as soon as he stop moving and flipping the tail goes down and he seem to be sinking. I thought it was a swim bladder problem.

He's got a huge tail too.

Glad to know your boy is regrowing his tail. He's so beautiful! 



lilnaugrim said:


> Yep, that's very normal for heavy tailed fish such as HM's, the boy in my avatar does the same thing if he doesn't have his plants to rest on


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## TerriGtoo

LOL. You sound like me. Over the past year I have had 27 betta boys imported from Thailand. It does get a bit pricey, when you add in the transhipper costs. and then you have to worry about the bettas' acclimation to your good old USA water. Which is very different in Thailand. I have never had a fatality. One bit his tail but that has healed. All except for two were transhipped by Jennifer Viveiros in GA, but she lost her importer and I am not sure if she is still doing it. if she is, she is EXCEPTIONAL. Stays up all night to get the bettas situated in clean water after waiting hours at the import office at airport. I can't say enough good things about her. I've got to say, importing bettas is FUN! The only thing is depending on when you buy them you may have to wait 2 or 3 weeks until the next transhipper's import date. I'll be doing a few more this year.
I hope all your tanks are up and running. That's a lot of fish coming in at the same time all needing attention! The most I had at one time was 7.
Have fun!!!




daniella3d said:


> I am glad he's a good seller. So your fish spent how long in that bag in total? what is IAL? Sorry for all the questions but your experience is precious to me. Not too many people ordering fish from Thailand and publishing their experience!
> 
> It will be my first Aquabid import from Thailand and I have 32 fish coming. I am just crazy I guess. Hope the transhipper is good enough to take them out of the bag until they are all there and hope they all arrive in the same shipment. He already got one white fish for me since end of February that he's keeping! That's near 800$ of fish because some I have order were 60$ each. Many of the fish I order are from the same sellers. Like 6 fish from 1 seller, 5 from another one etc..


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## daniella3d

In deed, I have 15 gallons bukets of water ready at the right temperature and with almond leaves in it. I use RO water with a bit of regular water so it is very soft, close to what they are used to.

It's going to be a lot of work I know. Especially at the begining because I cannot put them in my drip system before they go through a good quarantine. After that it's going to be easy maintenance because my drip system can accomodate 32 bettas.

I have to admit I bought too many, way too many. 2 have already been declared dead by the breeder and refunded before they were even shipped and another one was refunded because it turned cellophan and lost all of its colors. I am very glad to hear you did not lost any out of the 27 you imported. It's nerve wrecking for now.

My transhipper is Hung Pham and it's my first time dealing with him. Hope he will take good care of my fish and I have no idea how many he can ship in one box but I will use very fast shipping. The reason I had enough money to buy all these is that I sold my reef and corals, made about 5k with this so I decided to take 1k for my betta collection. Yes it will cost that much for all these fish as Canadian money suck big time! a 30$ fish cost me 38$ just for the money exchange rate, yuck!



TerriGtoo said:


> LOL. You sound like me. Over the past year I have had 27 betta boys imported from Thailand. It does get a bit pricey, when you add in the transhipper costs. and then you have to worry about the bettas' acclimation to your good old USA water. Which is very different in Thailand. I have never had a fatality. One bit his tail but that has healed. All except for two were transhipped by Jennifer Viveiros in GA, but she lost her importer and I am not sure if she is still doing it. if she is, she is EXCEPTIONAL. Stays up all night to get the bettas situated in clean water after waiting hours at the import office at airport. I can't say enough good things about her. I've got to say, importing bettas is FUN! The only thing is depending on when you buy them you may have to wait 2 or 3 weeks until the next transhipper's import date. I'll be doing a few more this year.
> I hope all your tanks are up and running. That's a lot of fish coming in at the same time all needing attention! The most I had at one time was 7.
> Have fun!!!


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## lilnaugrim

Yeah, Hung runs a monopoly up there which is so unfortunate. He's not the easiest person to deal with but he generally takes care of the fish okay. Not as good as Linda or Jennifer does/did! Jennifer is no longer in the business unfortunately but Linda is just as good and just as pleasant as she was!!


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## JDragon

Ok. Here's some better pictures after water change tonight... Hopefully the growing dins color up to match. He's not sinking nearly as much. Figured the extra fins would make it harder to swim and not be dragged down? Weird.


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## daniella3d

Oh very nice! quite an improvement!



JDragon said:


> Ok. Here's some better pictures after water change tonight... Hopefully the growing dins color up to match. He's not sinking nearly as much. Figured the extra fins would make it harder to swim and not be dragged down? Weird.


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## beautiful Betta

He is nearly completely healed you must be thrilled with his progress.


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## JDragon

Now that I look at it... The progress is only from 2/20. Seems so long seeing his fins all bit up for so long. Hope his color fills in. Either way Dbanana is trying to convince me into a MG girl. She has much lighter scales...

http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fwbettashm&1396008929

Critique? I'm not crazy about the lighter scales/scales not blue... Might get a lot of rosetails... also don't like the long anal like my boy... wont even him out. Ideas?


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## JDragon

Well, her auction ended... Now for those who know about genetics... would another breeding option be a solid yellow/blue female? I know I need to avoid red at all costs... but just looking for alternatives as the MG females I'm seeing are sub-par...


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## BettaStarter24

DBanana said:


> I'm trying so hard to come up with a Gargoyles themed name for the 90's kid, but all I can think of is Broadway.



Goliath, Lexington, Hudson, Brooklyn, Bronx I think that was all of them I could be missing someone.


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## BettaStarter24

JDragon, this girl is up for another day. 

View attachment 330738



http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fwbettashm&1396938237


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## JDragon

BettaStarter24 said:


> JDragon, this girl is up for another day.
> 
> View attachment 330738
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fwbettashm&1396938237



Thanks! :-D Look at the girl I ended up ordering.


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## JDragon

Wow. Haven't updated in awhile. The female arrived fine ans she is getting fat with eggs. I just have to order cultures for the spawn and cross my finger that everything works well. Her name is now Karma. 
Here's a few pics to update.


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