# Aussie Betta's



## SarahandOscar (Apr 30, 2012)

Well hi :wave: Calling all Australians to respond!

Firstly my name's Sarah and i'm from Sydney and i have 4 boys, Waldorf, Statler, Cookie and Chef.

I thought i'd see if we can get a little Aussie group together (not to segregate ourselves but for that added support)

I know we don't have some meds available in Australia and our products differ slightly, i also know some plants are illegal over here. Well that and we don't have evil walmart lol

Sooooo i thought if we have an Aussie thread its be a little more specific for us and our boys!!

I'll start it off by asking what we can use instead of Maracyn II? not that i need it at the moment but i would like to have an emergency kit ready and stocked if anything ever happens to my boys and have read very mixed reviews.

For example i have Primafix, Bettafix and Melafix at home (all small bottles just in case and have never been used) and then i have read they damage the labyrinth organ??? I also have an API freshwater testing kit, AQ salt, Epsom salt, hospital 1 gal tanks and the boys all have their own cup for water changes, i will be buying separate siphons to keep all boys free from contamination and apart from that i think i'm pretty well set, all have their own 2.5 gal tanks, their own heaters, hammocks etc and have just learnt about the importance of climatising them (not just temperature) with water changes and FINALLY after 2 months i have 4 very very happy boys.

Any ways, i would love to hear from all my fellow Aussies and hear your stories of pet store's closer to home.


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

I'm going back to sydney from New York soon, I can probably grab some meds before I leave. I certainly want to get a betta fish for my elderly grandmother


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## SarahandOscar (Apr 30, 2012)

Oh i didn't think about having things sent over.... i thought maybe they were illegal in Aus for some reason otherwise why wouldn't we have it? or maybe there's an equivalent product we can get here and save you from bring it over?? i really have no idea, Thank you for the idea! I'm just unsure about customs but i'll definitely look into it. =)


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

I thought it depended more on the demand for these things in Australia :S


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## SarahandOscar (Apr 30, 2012)

I really don't know, i'm only 2 months into my Fish keeping life, more experienced members may have a better idea.


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

Hehe Aus and Bomba(cant rememer full user name :S) are Aussie who I see around a lot. They can probably help you out a lot. Where abouts in Sydney are you? We have goldfish at our house. We kind of just leave them outside in a large ceramic pot all year round. We lose a couple of unfortunate ones to kookaburras every year .


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## SarahandOscar (Apr 30, 2012)

Yes Bombalurina, batmantha, Littlebettafish, Aus and Pasqua are all i know so far. I'm about 45 mins west from the city of Sydney (give or take traffic) (seeing as this is a forum i'm not sure bout giving specific suburbs lol) My parents back onto bushland so they get rainbow lorikeets and Kookaburras all year round. So pretty.


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

oooh, out in Paramatta somewhere? I lived i. Hornsby  my parents and sister are there still


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## SarahandOscar (Apr 30, 2012)

haha close.... but i know all those areas very very well haha


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Don't try and bring medications into Australia. A lot of what you can get overseas contains ingredients that are banned for over the counter sale and only available by a vet prescription. 

I use Big L (pig and poultry) for internal parasites, and the Waterlife brand of medications (protozin, myxazin etc.) to treat other problems. Otherwise I think you need to go to your vet or possibly a larger LFS to get anything else. 

I've used melafix and pimafix before and while they didn't kill or even adversely harm my bettas, they did nothing to slow infection or speed up healing either.

I'm down in Melbourne, so a bit far from everyone else. The betta scene seems to be better up in QLD and even NSW than it is here.


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

Hey, where's a good place to buy bettas these days? I'm going to be back for a month in July and want to set up a tank for my grandma. I'm definitely getting the heater here though


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## SarahandOscar (Apr 30, 2012)

Hi LBF, Thanks heaps for the meds advice, i figured it'd be illegal like many of the surface plants so thanks for confirming.

So far we have VIC, NT and NSW, i'm not sure about QLD yet. I've found a FANTASTIC store in SYD (Aquadisiac - Surry Hills Sydney) that has the most diverse range of Betta's and takes pride and care of them all, it's a bit far from home but well worth the trip.

Next time i take my pup to the vet i'll ask about fish meds as well. I've been to at least 10 different aquarium and pet stores and haven't seen much (unless it's all hidden behind the counter) so i appreciate the direction :-D


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

If you're in Sydney, I believe Aquaristic is a great LFS. There also seems to be lots of bettas available at Auburn Aquarium, though I'm not sure what suburb this is in.


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

wooooooaaaaaahhhh so far, I have yet to get my Ps. I've been on my La for like... 4 years. I think I'll check out the Aquarium in Asquith before venture out to the city. Though I di live in Surry hills when I went to Usyd


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## SarahandOscar (Apr 30, 2012)

aokashi said:


> Hey, where's a good place to buy bettas these days? I'm going to be back for a month in July and want to set up a tank for my grandma. I'm definitely getting the heater here though


Aquadisiac without a doubt for Betta's! I'm yet to see a store take better care of their Betta's than there.

Hurstville Aquarium (hurstville) or City pet and Aquarium (Blacktown) for accessories and Tanks. Heaters are $20 for adjustable (25w aqua one) or $30 non adjustable (10w marina) and they are the best i can find so far. and i've been visiting aquariums and fish stores every weekend for the last 2 months, calling around, getting prices... best i can find so far.

You may find bits and pieces cheaper at either Petbarn or Petcare2000 but they are general pet stores and although they have live fish take atrocious care of them, as in they are in those round shallow plastic "take away" food containers and don't get water changes.

I definitely recommend Hurstville and Blacktown for supplies and Aquadisiac for Betta's.


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## SarahandOscar (Apr 30, 2012)

LittleBettaFish said:


> If you're in Sydney, I believe Aquaristic is a great LFS. There also seems to be lots of bettas available at Auburn Aquarium, though I'm not sure what suburb this is in.


hmm i'm yet to visit those ones, They're on the list for next weekend as i'm away this long weekend. Thanks so much :-D


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

SarahandOscar said:


> Aquadisiac without a doubt for Betta's! I'm yet to see a store take better care of their Betta's than there.
> 
> Hurstville Aquarium (hurstville) or City pet and Aquarium (Blacktown) for accessories and Tanks. Heaters are $20 for adjustable (25w aqua one) or $30 non adjustable (10w marina) and they are the best i can find so far. and i've been visiting aquariums and fish stores every weekend for the last 2 months, calling around, getting prices... best i can find so far.
> 
> ...


Awesome, I'll be down in Hurstville quite a bit too. Are the tanks there cheap too?


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## SarahandOscar (Apr 30, 2012)

aokashi said:


> wooooooaaaaaahhhh so far, I have yet to get my Ps. I've been on my La for like... 4 years. I think I'll check out the Aquarium in Asquith before venture out to the city. Though I di live in Surry hills when I went to Usyd


Well Hurstville and Blacktown are right next to the stations, I saw 2 DTVT's a few H/moons and a few Giants at Blacktown last night actually. i gotta pay off the Credit card before i buy any more.... sigh.


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## SarahandOscar (Apr 30, 2012)

aokashi said:


> Awesome, I'll be down in Hurstville quite a bit too. Are the tanks there cheap too?


Well they're the cheapest I've seen for filtered tanks although i'll be going back to petbarn or petcare2000 for my unfiltered tanks. 

Hurstville is pretty kool, very friendly HUGE range of well priced food and filter/water care, they have an ok range of Betta's too.


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

Melbourne's northern suburbs here!

I think part of the reason the betta 'scene' is more active up north is that it's so darned cold down here!.. I hate winter.. lugging a betta to a show in the cold doesn't sound too appealing. 

The other week I had a new bed delivered, the company was late coming, it was evening and I had my tank lights on. The couple (family business) who arrived with the bed immediately stepped toward Cleo's tank, lol - "Oh, we had bettas, we miss them!" and then we talked for about half an hour about our fish.. they decided they were going to get another.. then remembered we were meant to be doing business!

Was funny, but made me wish there was an informal sort of betta-lover's group (that I could get to, with no car!) for discussions/swaps/ etc. It was so nice to chat away with people who truly loved their fish.

Great to see so many Aussies here, and yes, good to have those alternate medications.. I've used Myxazin & Protozin.. Protozin kills ich dead, amazing stuff. I'm yet to find the pig&poultry treatment, but sooner or later I'm sure I'll come across it and stock up. 

http://aquagreen.com.au is a great place to get native plants, fish and inverts. I emailed Dave there (they're in NT I believe..) re low-light plants, and he was really nice, gave a recommended list and a good price. He has a really good reputation, as well. for sales/shipping and the like. When I do my NPT later this year (pending a house move..), I want to make it a native tank and I've been after a place to get long-armed shrimp for ages, so that was all super helpful.


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

this is the lotus that bloomed last year in the plastic goldfish tub we have outside  if anyone wants, I can probably ship them some of that water weed we have growing on top, might make a great ammonia sink


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## amynuss (Mar 31, 2012)

Brissie girl here! I've only got the one fish so far and am still trying to figure everything out so some tips from Aussie locals would really help!

There's an aquarium store reasonably close to my place, Aquarama, that is where I got Tully from. I went there the other day to see if they had any plants for my new tank and they were quite expensive I think, but I don't really know where else to go. The betta cups also seemed very dirty... Which was very disappointing. I'd love to get another fish but want to get it from somewhere they look after the fish!!


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## SarahandOscar (Apr 30, 2012)

aokashi said:


> this is the lotus that bloomed last year in the plastic goldfish tub we have outside  if anyone wants, I can probably ship them some of that water weed we have growing on top, might make a great ammonia sink


Ammonia sink?? I don't have any live plants, I didn't think I could with barely any natural light or my 9L tank (man it's good to speak metric hahaha) perhaps there's an option after all??? 

HI AUS!!!!! Lovely for you to join us, I'm excited about this thread!!!!


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

SarahandOscar said:


> Ammonia sink?? I don't have any live plants, I didn't think I could with barely any natural light or my 9L tank (man it's good to speak metric hahaha) perhaps there's an option after all???
> 
> HI AUS!!!!! Lovely for you to join us, I'm excited about this thread!!!!


Java moss and Java fern hardly need any light, unless your tank doesnt hve lighting at all... which is another story.


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## Batmantha (May 27, 2012)

I like the look of java fern. I'm still considering putting it in the betta tank, it always looks nice when I see it in the shops but then they always do


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

aokashi - it'd be cool if we get a plant ID on that floating weed - State laws also restrict some plants.. it'd be best to check before I hassle you for some of that! I'd be happy to send you some $ by paypal to cover postage, if it's all a-okay. That lotus is stunning, by the way! We had them wild on our duck pond when I was a kid, white ones.. they were considered a pest. :lol: But I loved them. 

Nice to be here, Sarah! I'm excited about it, too. I'm hoping a few more Melbourne folks hop in. It'd be great to know some more locals. And susswasstertang (freshwater 'seaweed') also tolerates low light. Mine's going nuts in the dingiest corners of Cleo's (possibly slighty over-planted atm) tank. Just tie it gently in a bunch so it doesn't break up all over the tank.. Java moss has been proven to lower ammonia levels by a bit, best stuff ever for low light.. You might consider a few small LED lamps if you wanted plants though.. I use the ones that came with my Dymax tanks, 6500K LED, they screw-clamp to the sump section at the back. You can get strips as well.. I'm finding them good for small tanks, the plants are thriving. Cost about $12-15.

Welcome, amynuss! Nice to meet you. My best advice as a fellow noob is: don't panic! lol. It all seems very overwhelming at first.. If you buy plants from the LFS/pet store, be aware that quite a few are not actually aquatic plants.. they'll eventually die and rot, submerged. Good ones for betta tanks (worth the hideous cost of shop prices) are java moss and wisteria. Depends on your set-up, as to which plants will suit.. whether you have lights/natural light/temps/etc. Maybe there's some people local to you on here who could post a few..


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

Batmantha - java moss is brilliant. And that fish in your avatar.. I just have to say - wow! So pretty.


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

I'll try to ID it when I get back to the Aussielands. My mom got it up near New Castle somewhere, there apparently is a place that specializes in water lily and ponds up there. I think we also have some other weeds growing, i'll see what we have in there when I get back in a week or so.


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## Batmantha (May 27, 2012)

Aus said:


> Batmantha - java moss is brilliant. And that fish in your avatar.. I just have to say - wow! So pretty.


Thank you, Phanta is my first, I was looking around and saw him, my giant purplish boy and couldn't help myself, I had to buy him


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

foooooouuunnndddddd and ID'd 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azolla_pinnata

" The plant has the ability to absorb a certain amount of heavy metal pollution, such as lead, from contaminated water" 

Awesome huh?


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

Awesome. It's native down here, too, so should be okay.

While researching that, I found this list of prohibited plants - it gives a list of States per plant, which might be handy when shipping/sharing plants:

http://www.hypervision.com.au/aquarium/topics/plants/prohibited.htm

Interesting that it produces nitrogen.. I haven't found any problems cited for aquarium vs pond use.. so aokashi, PM me your paypal details when you're ready, I'll send you some monies for shipping and my addy. Thank you, this will probably go very well in my larger NPT when it's ready.. so pretty, too! 

And here's aquagreen's catalogue, the pinnata is listed there, too: 
http://www.aquagreen.com.au/catalog.html


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Dave is great. I get all my natives (plants and fish) off him and am waiting until he gets back from his latest trip so I can get some get some more stock for my latest set-up. 

Azolla can be annoying in a tank setting as if it dies off it leaves a huge mess all over your glass. It is apparently a great fertiliser so any excess goes great chucked on the garden. 

Amynuss if you are in Brissy have you ever dropped into Jodi-Lea's shop in Annerley? She supplies show-quality bettas and I'm jealous of anyone who lives within driving distance of her store.


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## amynuss (Mar 31, 2012)

LBF, I've not heard of Jodi-Lea's store! I live on the northside of Brisbane without a licence, but might be able to convince my partner to drive me..! Does she sell just bettas or other fish/plants/aquarium stuff? The website is down at the moment 

Aus, I just bought a Blue Planet 20L tank that comes with a light in the hood. I've been recommended by someone else on the forum to get low light plants. Am I better off buying them from my LPS/LFS or from that aquagreen online store? I'm going to my LPS today to pick up some sand and a gravel vac. I'm going to try and set up an Egyptian theme in my tank. Where do you guys usually buy tank decorations and ornaments from? Can they just be from Crazy Clarks or do I need to buy stuff specifically intended for fish tanks?


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

Hi amynuss. Re the ornaments, the research I've done suggests being careful with what you put in the tank - some pottery glazes and non-aquarium ornament paints contain lead, zinc, all kinds of heavy metals and stuff that can leach out into water and some plastics/paints release toxins when heated even a little bit. Basically, anything classed as 'food grade' is okay, as well as stuff sold specifically for tanks. I haven't seen much in the way of Egyptian ornaments.. BUT I did this...

.. search on Google here..


.. and found a stack of awesome tank ornaments on ebay! So maybe there's a pile of stuff there you might like that's safe for fishies.

I'm not huge on ornaments.. I like natural-looking tanks, but the ones I have bought have been from LFS. Now I want an Egyptian urn.

Just try to choose ones that look smooth not rough or jagged, to prevent fin rips. 

As for plants.. I hate buying from my LFS.. they keep fish in with the plants now, so goodness knows what's all over them. If you buy from LFS/LPS, quarantine the plants for a week or so, just in case of ich or something hanging onto it, and check them for tiny snails - I've had more than one hitch-hiker... 

Aquagreen's not anywhere cheaper, on the whole, with shipping considered but you can be sure of truly aquatic and not semi-aquatic plants, and have the option of native plants as well. Plus, supporting a good, ethical fish person. =P

ETA: oh, and do let us know how the tank works out, I've not heard of Blue Planet..

And cheers, LBF, for the azolla tip.


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

Thought Id share a couple of pictures of the susswassertang taking over my plants tanks by the window.


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

What a pretty tank! So this is the result of your 'experiment'? What's that bit of purple near the top?

Ooh - and the susswassertang.. lol. It's strange stuff, isn't it? Everything looks healthy and happy. Now I want a NPT jar, too!


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

puuurrrrple? me no see purple. do you mean the blue rocks? 

Thanks for the compliment, I'm glad you like it. This is literally the tank where I throw everything in (without arranging or planting) because everything miraculously grows in there. There's 4 feeder minniws in there keeping up with the plant fertilization.  but even these guys beg for food when they see me. lol

edit: oh and that experimental tank  i never ended up using it for bettas, but in the end it ended up housing a few endlers, a couple of ottos and a mini cory as well as 10 RCS and 2 ghost shrimps and a bazillion snails  I eventually gave those to someone I met on craigslist who wanted to do a planted tank. I figured they'd enjoy the 30x extra space  And surprisingly nothing died in there (Well a few ghost shrimps did, but I don't think It's the tank). I also got yelled at by almost everyone in the forum for grossly over stocking lol  

this is what it looked like shortly before I dismantled it








And the inhabitants

























The guy later sent me a photo showing his cory next to my tiny one


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

In the first picture - at the top of the tank - just off halfway along.. I see purple! :shock:

I like the disorganised look. It's very natural! Something like this would be lovely for my desk by the window...


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

Aus said:


> In the first picture - at the top of the tank - just off halfway along.. I see purple! :shock:
> 
> I like the disorganised look. It's very natural! Something like this would be lovely for my desk by the window...


does this help?








did you read my edit btw?


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

That's it. I want a planted shrimp jar for my desk.. so beautiful! I like the sunken pots. Is that sitting on a heater?

Oh, and the purple was _snails_! :lol:


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## Batmantha (May 27, 2012)

What kind of snails are they?


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## Pasqua (Jun 1, 2012)

yay xD love all the conversation and reccomendations to specific lfss that is going on in here. Not that I can go to any, but its good to have it there all the same =) 
I don't have anything to add at the moment, but just thought id stop by to say hi to my fellow aussies on here =)


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## Pasqua (Jun 1, 2012)

Oh wow, just had a look at the Aquagreen site and they look really helpful! I want to set up a native tank now lol. Maybe in a year or so when I am a bit more experienced. =) I love the look of all native tanks, a friend has a six foot tank with sand and native fish and plants and it looks so peaceful


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

Hiya Pasqua!  I love looking through that site. Wish I lived closer.. plus I'm jolly sick of being miserably cold down here, might have to do the retiree's fling and go north one of these years, lol!

The native tank thing is really appealing. I've seen some truly beautiful ones, doing the rounds of Google.


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## Wolfie305 (Jan 31, 2012)

I saw this thread and though "Australian Shepherd Bettas" and got kinda excited xD *shot


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

Batmantha said:


> What kind of snails are they?


Just your average pond snails


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

Aus said:


> That's it. I want a planted shrimp jar for my desk.. so beautiful! I like the sunken pots. Is that sitting on a heater?
> 
> Oh, and the purple was _snails_! :lol:


Oooh do te shrimp tank, something nice a peaceful to look at. I had my jar on a turn table for 360 degrees lazy viewing, lol! There was an air line into the pot stuck in a small bottle of gravel. I got sick of the proteins film forming above stagnant water


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## amynuss (Mar 31, 2012)

So I went shopping on the weekend for some stuff to set up Tully's tank and happened upon an awesome LPS! It was a City Farmers place, not sure if you guys have heard of them? The girl in the fish dept really seemed to know what she was doing, she helped me pick some plants for my tank and we got to talking over some Mexican Walking Fish they were breeding. They also kept their bettas in a "betta barracks" style setup as well, rather than those tiny dirty cups you see everywhere else! Not to mention the prices were so much cheaper than the other pet store I'd been to earlier that day!

I'm really glad I found that place and it's actually a lot closer to home than the other LPS I was going to.

I've set up Tully's 20L now and have started the cycling process. Unfortunately I have to do a fish-in cycle as the heater I was going to get for Tully's bowl is out of stock. I'm quite nervous about it!!

Anyway, here's a pic of the tank!


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## Batmantha (May 27, 2012)

amynuss said:


> stuff to set up Tully's tank and happened upon an awesome LPS!


It looks great!


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

OMG I just walked around a bit today..And maybbbee I went to the wrong places, but...
how do you guys survive???? $40 for a useless tiny betta heater? $10 for a veiltail???
$44 for an anubias on a vocanic rock.. this world has gone insane. LOL
I'm going to limit my fish keeping stictly in New York and those $3 veitails, $10 heaters and $10 Anubias plants.


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## Pasqua (Jun 1, 2012)

aokashi said:


> OMG I just walked around a bit today..And maybbbee I went to the wrong places, but...
> how do you guys survive???? $40 for a useless tiny betta heater? $10 for a veiltail???
> $44 for an anubias on a vocanic rock.. this world has gone insane. LOL
> I'm going to limit my fish keeping stictly in New York and those $3 veitails, $10 heaters and $10 Anubias plants.


Yes aokashi, i nearly cried when I heard people over in the US could get 40L (10gal) tanks from walmart or something for like... 14 bucks. When a 5gal (20L) costs me $30 from kmart =(

and everything else is expensive too! could just be where I am (small town). Might be less expensive down south (thats our slang for anything south of us which is pretty much the rest of australia lol) as there is much more choice and options and competition. 

But yes, that is why I only have one betta! lol.
(PS, bring me a 10$ heater next time you come down =P)

did you find some stuff to set up a tank for your grandma?


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

Couldn't afford it T____T 
in Australia I paid $2ea for my baby bettas. $15 for my 2.5gal. $6 for the air pump, $5 for the sponge filter. $1.50ea for the Cherry shrimps. 30c for Ghost Shrimps. $3ea for cories. $1.50ea for ottos. $5 for a wonderful brand of sand. $5 for 3 endlers..... $2 for a 50ml bottle of seachem pime, $4 for airline tubing...

I will never complain about the price of things when I get back... ever again! lol


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

Amynuss, I've been reading good things about that store. And yay tank! It looks great!

Aokashi, welcome to GST-world. We pay so much tax for everything.. the prices were meant to go _down._.. but that's what we get for voting John Howard in. :X

It really burns me that the same stuff in the uS is sooo much cheaper. I've started buying on ebay from Taiwan, etc, with free delivery or cheap, I find I'm saving heaps. Sooner or later, everyone will buy good off shore, and then where will we be? But anyway..... hope you're having a nice time over here!


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

im sure if that becomes a trend then the Government will start putting ridiculous prices on incoming overseas shipping or something oO

Edit: and for my previous post it should say US instead of Australia


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

aokashi, did you get my pm?


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

Oh I saw it butdidnt read it yet, I'll do that right now


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## SarahandOscar (Apr 30, 2012)

Haha yes expensive is an understatement, I've stalked all of Sydney to find the cheapest prices and it's all still 4 times as expensive than in the states...

Sam paid $20 for 6 cherry shrimp and $12 for 4 ghost shrimp. I got prime on sale 250 ml for 12.50 today and the cheapest betta I can find is $6.50. Some staff members at stores, even specialty aquarium stores are not that bright, one didn't know the difference between a catfish and a betta.... Its the same place I got a giant for $6.00 today, I hope he de-stresses soon (if he ever does since he'd been in one of those tiny cups the vt's and ct's are kept In For at least a month)

Cheapest I can find half moons is $30....

The cheapest filtered tank I can find is $50 and that's like 10L (not even 3 gal) I heard the US have $1 per gallon sales with their tanks... NO FAIR.... Stoopid gst....


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## steve watson (Jun 22, 2012)

can my betta be healthy and happy in a 1 gallon fish bowl


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## SarahandOscar (Apr 30, 2012)

Hi Steve, your going to get a lot of conflicting information and opinion on this site but the general consensus is that yes you can have a happy and healthy betta in a gallon bowl if you do twice weekly changes eg. 50% Wednesday and 100% Saturdays... They need a heater cause fluctuating temps ( night vs / day ) will effect them. As long as you feed him, upkeep a clean and safe environment and keep him at a steady temp he will thrive. Happy Betta keeping =)


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## steve watson (Jun 22, 2012)

thanks i hope to be upgrading to a 30 gallon tank with dividers here pretty soon so i can keep multiple bettas but for now a 1 gallon will have to do


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## SarahandOscar (Apr 30, 2012)

No problems!!!! If U've got a water test kit just check for ammonia and if ur extra paranoid more frequent water changes won't hurt ( unless he seriously stresses out )... A filtered divided tank will be great! Just make sure to baffle the outtake and cycle the water first. There are sticky threads on this site that can help with both those ideas too. Any other issues everyone on here is happy to help!


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

> ... NO FAIR.... Stoopid gst....


Trust me. I have burned my effigies. :|


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

Kmart has what seems like a 5 gallon kit for 30. Not bad I say


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## Pasqua (Jun 1, 2012)

aokashi said:


> Kmart has what seems like a 5 gallon kit for 30. Not bad I say


Yes that's what I use =),the filter that comes with it works well too from my experience 

And I worked it out to be 20L which according to Google was 5gal =P


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## teeneythebetta (Apr 29, 2012)

Im in the USA.. At walmart I got a 10 gallon tank w/ hood, light & filter for $30. I got a 100 watt heater on sale online for $15. 

If I lived in Australia, I don't think I could've gotten into Betta keeping -_-


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

> If I lived in Australia, I don't think I could've gotten into Betta keeping -_-


You definitely wouldn't, after paying for stuff at my local VERY VERY overpriced LFS (which I must go to for emergency buys, as there's no other for miles and I'm sometimes very mobility challenged). 

The LED light I got with my tank? To buy another is $50.00 at the LFS. On ebay, it's $17. :|

I wonder, though, whether we get paid more in wages to offset the living costs? Australians hardly starve, and we do manage to keep fish - even me, on a pittance. I know our minimum wage is much, much better than in many of the US States. It'd be interesting some time to do a comparison..


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

I'm willing to adopt a fish off someone  Today I was at petparadise. they had 3 females bettas in a 1 liter tank.... one was lying on the gravel half dead and the another was being chased and nipped by the third. usually I wouldn't say anything... but I couldn't hold back today and asked the staff to either put them in the huge plant tank they have set up or separate them. Atleast she seemed a little embarrased and said she would separate them immediately. I hope Australia will catch up on the betta education soon....

Aus, you ever bought one of those $5 adjustable heaters off ebay? They come from hongkong. I'm thinking i might just set up my grandma's tank... if I can find everything cheap online. I love NY, I dont even need to buy a heater since our house is super heated in winter. LOL

All recommendations and tips to keep Aussie fish keeping cheap are welcome!


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Buy all equipment online. The mark-up on products here is huge. I can understand a bit with soils and food as it takes a lot to get a product approved and through quarantine here, but otherwise I nearly died when I saw a Eheim 25 watt jager for $75 in a LFS. 

I buy everything online nowadays except for the occasional livestock and tanks. Otherwise I would quickly run out of money. As it is I have easily invested 5-6 grand in the hobby whereas I probably could have halved that if I was in the states. 

You also have to understand we do not have the massive market America has or so many big box stores to keep prices low.


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

I just went to Asquith Aquariums. they seems to have an extensive selection of fish. Cherry shrimps are 2 for $6. (Thats cheaper than Petco in the US!) The bettas are in some kind of semi barrack system with a drip filtration. None of the fish seems to have any obvious ailments, although most seem a little sluggish. Crowntails and veil tails only. Crowntails are $12 and veiltails $10.
The had sooop many plants too! I was amazed at the selection.

Their face book page is here
http://m.facebook.com/pages/Aquariu...p://www.masa.asn.au/phpBB3/viewtopic.php&_rdr
Nostly showing off their marine selection


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## SarahandOscar (Apr 30, 2012)

Honestly with all the different places i've found hurstville aquarium looks to be the best for prices on food, water conditioners etc and not bad with the fishies either. cheapest i got a 25w adjustable heater is $20, i can't even find stuff online which is frustrating, then again i'm not great online and like visiting stores haha, i still love aquadisiac (surry hills) for their Betta range (giant, h/moons, spade tail etc), Aquaristic (beaconsfield - 5 mins from city) has some gorgeous h/moon plakats.... Auburn Aquarium has a few halfmoons as well... Its very easy to spend a small fortune, it all adds up so quickly.... then again, it's a joy to upgrade or add a new little man to our lives haha


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## Batmantha (May 27, 2012)

SarahandOscar said:


> hurstville aquarium looks to be the best for prices on food, water conditioners etc and not bad with the fishies either. cheapest i got a 25w adjustable heater is $20, i can't even find stuff online which is frustrating, then again i'm not great online and like visiting stores haha, i still love aquadisiac (surry hills) for their Betta range (giant, h/moons, spade tail etc), Aquaristic (beaconsfield - 5 mins from city) has some gorgeous h/moon plakats.... Auburn Aquarium has a few halfmoons as well.


Can't forget Fishtank at castle Hill, not many bettas but for tropical and marine fish I think its a good store and everyone there has been so helpful and given me some really good advice when I started the tropical community tank

City Pet & Aquariums have good prices on conditioners, shrimp and food but are very lacking in advice (when I mentioned I had a giant betta he asked if that was a type of cat fish)


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## SarahandOscar (Apr 30, 2012)

^ agreed, overpriced and lacking for Betta's but AMAZINGLY patient and informative for EVERYTHING else...

City pet and aquarium (blacktown) sold me a Giant Betta for $6.... suckers hahaha


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Age of Aquariums and Guppys Aquarium Products are my two go to websites. At Guppys, I got a 500ml bottle of Prime for $17.70. I have not seen it cheaper anywhere else. Usually you pay anywhere from $30 onwards.


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

I love well informed LFSs.
So I went back to Petsparadise after telling the lady to separate the females from the 1 litre tank. seems like she didn't do it. :S
So I guess I was staring at the fish for so long that a store clerk asked me if I need help. So I was like : what do you know about these fish? 
She said they needed a heating mat underneath their miniature bowls heater to ..... 18C. I corrected her and said it should be 26C. She insisted that 26 was the temperature for tropical fish and not bettas, I had to tell her three times that these ARE Tropical fish before she believed me. Face palm. what's with
these super misinformed chain stores? 

And a random other question. is Sydney water generally hard?


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## Twilight Storm (Apr 14, 2011)

This might be a silly question:

Is there any way you could send gifts to your family and friends over there (Australia) and not have to pay a weird creepy import tax or whatever? I'm not talking about live fish, but just items?


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

You can't send fish things like substrate, ferts, food or medications, but as long as it's under $1000 and not alcohol and tobacco you don't have to pay an import tax.


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## Batmantha (May 27, 2012)

Strange question: has anyone every tried to transport a fish between states? I'm flying to Queensland in September and I heard there was a really good shop near where I'm staying with a good selection and was just trying to figure out how to get one back to NSW if I fall in love with one.

Sorry still relatively new to this whole thing


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## Wolfboy51 (Oct 12, 2011)

Im form perth


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## Twilight Storm (Apr 14, 2011)

Thanks LittleBettaFish. It's kind of depressing that fish food is not allowed. Kind of good to know on the other general stuff though thank you  *sorry to hijack the thread a bit there*


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

Hi Wolfboy! Perth's a beautiful city. I just wish it wasn't so _far_ from everywhere. :lol: Anyway, welcome to the Aussie thread!

And - because a little knowledge can go a long way:

*Aus's Little Book of Wisdom, Chapter 1*

If you live in Australia, buying aquatic plants from Taiwan on e-bay isn't actually a very good idea. 

For these plants are not sent to you by magical Customs-approved aquatic plant elves. They are, in fact, mailed to you by smugglers, who pop them in bags marked "soft toy" in order to evade detection. When Customs opens said bags, they will _seize_ and _destroy_ your plants - and voila! You are a now a plant smuggler! 

Heed the wisdom of Aus! For it is.. immense.


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## SarahandOscar (Apr 30, 2012)

Hey everyone =)

@LBF - thanks ill definitely be checking those sites out!!!!

@Aokashi - I have no idea about the 'hardness' of our water... I've asked a few times how you can check that and the alkalinity but have had no response. I'm just glad I found this site LFS's are hopeless.....

@Twilightstorm - no apology needed, I live here and didn't even know that haha

@ Woldboy51- welcome welcome!!!! I think we just about have AUS covered now haha SA and ACT to go!!

@ AUS- I get a funny feeling that was personal experience????? Good to know though, sometimes it's a little hard to know what is and isnt legal when it comes to online purchases. I'm not a fan personally, consumer rights don't exist from my experience.


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

I just found another website with crazy low prices. Any one bought from this place before?

http://www.aquaticfish.com.au/


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

Is anyone still subscribed to this thread? I went to my local creek today- took a bush walk. And collected some local speciments of water plants. the only aquatic ones i collected were mostly moss and this random plant.
Any one knows what it is?
And if anyone wants some moss I'm happy to sell some later if it seems to survive well "domesticated"

Other plant, for now I'm just going to call it the bad hair day plant.
















Ignore the murkiness of the water, it is from the fish pond, 
I isolated this plant from the goldfish where it will inevitably be eaten. I'm seeing how long it will take for a plant to clear up the greenwater


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## Greenfish (May 23, 2011)

hi, great to see some Aussies here, haven't been on in a while. From WA by the way. Is cool looking through this thread and seeing how things are different from one side of Australia to the other


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

Hi Greenfish! And welcome! :-D

Aokashi, LOL "bad hair day plant" -- those weeds look really interesting! I'm planning a trip back to Mordialloc Creek's run-off basin in spring (not a protected waterway!) to collect some local native plants/snails and maybe even some glass shrimp.. going to be fun lugging those back on the bus..:lol: Tupperware is my friend, there, methinks.


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## Batmantha (May 27, 2012)

Aus said:


> Hi Greenfish! And welcome! :-D
> 
> Aokashi, LOL "bad hair day plant" -- those weeds look really interesting! I'm planning a trip back to Mordialloc Creek's run-off basin in spring (not a protected waterway!) to collect some local native plants/snails and maybe even some glass shrimp.. going to be fun lugging those back on the bus..:lol: Tupperware is my friend, there, methinks.



is it hard to catch the shrimp?


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

Nope! There's usually tons of them around, it's a matter of luck what comes up in the bucket/net though, so spending a bit of time wading around in the mud is probably necessary to collect a few. Millions of tadpoles.. the spotted marsh frog (no license required to keep those..) used that run off as a major spawning spot, I think, never seen so many taddies since I moved from the country... we raised a few into frogs when Daughter was small, had them for years. 

I love pond water.. so many interesting mini-critters and plants. What I'd really like to do is find some other people to go with and make a day of it.


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

Bumping this for our new Aussie members. =)

Reading my post above reminds me -- it's warming up down here in chilly old Melbourne. Which means it must be almost time to don the wellies and get on over to Mordi Creek in search of native plants and maybe some shrimp...


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## edk911 (Aug 7, 2012)

Aus said:


> Bumping this for our new Aussie members. =)
> 
> Reading my post above reminds me -- it's warming up down here in chilly old Melbourne. Which means it must be almost time to don the wellies and get on over to Mordi Creek in search of native plants and maybe some shrimp...


Thanks for bumping this. I'm in sydney, just had a quick browse of the last page but going to read through this on my lunch break. 

I went down to the local creeks here a couple of weeks ago to look for native plants / shrimp / snails and I never realised how much of an impact we have on local waterways. I couldn't find a single living insect or native water plant just lots of algae and not the good kind. Once things warm up down here I'm going to head off up the coast of to the national parks in the area and see what there is there.


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

Another bump for the Aussies, since I have seen a few new members from down under lately.

How great is it to see the sun, finally? (This is mainly for us down here in Vic, etc, lol). I've been out in the garden a lot, it's so refreshing after gloomy winter. 

Just a comment on the post above, and in general: Please be careful when taking plants and animals from our waterways -- depending on where and what, you can be fined heavily for doing so!

If I go 'collecting', it's in run-off areas (not protected waterways) and the things I take are not protected species. It isn't hard to do a check of what's protected in your area. 

Non-native species are fair game, of course! You're doing Australia a favour by taking them.


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## Pasqua (Jun 1, 2012)

Hi again everyone!!

Aus, have had sun all year and lately I have not been enjoying it =( When I left home for work this morning at 7am, it was already 27C outside. I much prefer the cold weather that you have down there!!

Anyway, back to my question. I know this question is probably more suited to one of the other forum sections, but I was hoping to receive some aussie specific answers.

I am setting up a little tank for my betta, a 20L (5ish gals). I wanted to have it as a planted tank, but I am not sure what to use to provide a light source. I have a larger tank with a hooded light unit and T8 globe which my other fishies and plants love. (This bigger tank is my first planted tank so still a little bit new to the planted tank scene!) 
However, I am not sure where I can find a light that I could use for such a little tank? I have seen lots of the little LED lights around, do these do anything at all for plant growth? Based on their packaging it seems that they are more to light up the fish to make them look prettier.

I have fallen in love with wysteria so want to plant more of that in the little tank. And possibly some sort of amazon sword. 

Any suggestions on some sort of light unit I could aquire in Australia, either online or locally would be great! Or suggestions on how to modify a standard desk type lamp for this purpose? Are there special globes I could use?


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

student lamps really work great, office works also sells a lamp that holds the bulb horizontally, if I remember correctly. they are 40 bucks ea  I usually look on gumtree for people welling lamps and aquarium related stuff. You will ideally need a 6500k bulb. but usually daylight ones work well. I found my 6500ks at the $2 store


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## prosthetik (Oct 5, 2012)

Yeah Officeworks sell those desk lamps - my friend got one that clips onto things & is bendable.
Big W also sell cheap lamps. I seen some in my local store for $10 recently.

& yes, its already 32 degrees here - Im over Summer already & it hasnt even started yet!


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

Lol, the weather's getting serious over there huh. I'm sure not looking forward to xmas back in the aussielands. But I'm really anxious to tidy up my tank over at my uncle's house. it was basically a set it and forget it NPT. looks like a complete weedgarden right now. sigh.


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## prosthetik (Oct 5, 2012)

Haha yeah, gonna be in the high 30's here over the next few days. Wish I still lived near the beach!


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

We were 33 degrees here in Melbourne and 30 odd degrees yesterday. Luckily a cool change is coming through. 

Only good thing is that hardly any of my heaters are on since it's 26/28 degrees in my bedroom. 

Can't wait until it's consistently warm enough outside to set-up some planted tubs with killies and bettas. Unfortunately, it's still only in single digits here in the morning!


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## prosthetik (Oct 5, 2012)

I wish it would get that cold. Like 15 degrees here overnight. I just cant stand the hot weather.


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

The heat does nothing for my health - but I love it! 

As for lamps, I use Dymax LED's - I've gotten about 2 years solid use for $17.99 on ebay. It's dimming a bit now, so I am considering another kind of lamp, but it's done very well for the plants up til now. For my 21L I use a clamp-on with a daylight bulb, that works pretty well, and the bulbs are cheap in the little general store up the road.

Basically, any 'daylight' globe that fits the lamp will be okay.


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## Pasqua (Jun 1, 2012)

Do you get these daylight globes from a petstore or from anywhrre that sells regular lightbulbs?


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## Pasqua (Jun 1, 2012)

Do you get these daylight globes from a petstore or from anywhrre that sells regular lightbulbs?


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

I get mine from $2 stores, since they are not very popular as household lights, not many stores sell them. pet stores certainly do, but way overpriced


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## Pasqua (Jun 1, 2012)

Thanks very much for all the responses. Sorry I was a bit short before, and also for my double post, I was on my phone which is hard to type large amounts of text on for these things.
I will have a look for some bulbs marked 6500k and find a clamp lamp to attach them to =) 
My betta better love me, live plants are hard work in a little tank!
The tank is currently fairly bare with coarse sand in the bottom and a mound of sand in the middle holding some wisteria. Looks like an island oasis I was told lol.


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

Pasqua said:


> Thanks very much for all the responses. Sorry I was a bit short before, and also for my double post, I was on my phone which is hard to type large amounts of text on for these things.
> I will have a look for some bulbs marked 6500k and find a clamp lamp to attach them to =)
> My betta better love me, live plants are hard work in a little tank!
> The tank is currently fairly bare with coarse sand in the bottom and a mound of sand in the middle holding some wisteria. Looks like an island oasis I was told lol.


I wanna see photos!!!


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## Pasqua (Jun 1, 2012)

before I could move him into his new tank, Sebastian got sick and died today =( 
I think I will pack the little tank back up for now.
Thanks for all your advice anyway regarding the light, I will keep it in mind for next time.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Will I get crucified for posting on a dead thread? Was just hoping to say hello to fellow Aussies, I feel like I missed out on all the fun a few months back!


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## Pasqua (Jun 1, 2012)

hi sparrow!! =D


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Hello! Just reading over the thread in its entirety. How did the plant/light situation turn out? I tried for a short time to get a cheapo lamp and appropriate bulbs with no success. Seems like I wasn't looking in the right places!

I just finished my own lighting saga, haha. Ended up getting some wonderful LED clip-on lamps from eBay, totally loving being able to control the intensity, it really helps to be able to do that when you've got tiny 15L tanks! The plants seem to be perking up already which is awesome.


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## Pasqua (Jun 1, 2012)

Well I don't completely remember what I wrote but here is a summary of my tank:

I am probably one of the worst fish keepers ever! But plant keeping... I am not too bad at =)
The light I got did end up being.. a T5 I believe and it does great. I previously would switch it on before I left for work and turned it off when I got home.. but it seemed like it was too much and my plants were growing like crazy. So I started turning them on when I got home from work and off before I went to bed.. so from about 9 hours a day to 6 or 7 which works well.
The led lights sounds interesting, is the sort of light enough to have the plant growing? I did have one plant that didnt survive. I am not sure what sort of plant it was but it didnt seem to thrive at all. Maybe not enough nutrients since I am using sand? The few plants i still do have though are going great. I have to trim back the wisteria constantly.

Fish on the other hand not so good =( I haven't figured out yet what I am doing wrong but my fish pretty much all died last year apart from my loaches - over a space of about five months. One at a time. I thought it was my betta killing them which is why I went to rehome him (see above posts) but then he died and they kept dying =( 

I went on holidays too over Chrissy and NY so didnt do anything with my tank then but want to go back to it this year and try and figure out why almost nothing is surviving and try to fix it. I was doing weekly water changes and haven't put anything in the tank that shouldn't be in there as far as I am aware =S One of my to do things for 2013 - figure out how to keep fish alive! 

(just to put it out there, I currently do not have a betta lol. I just like these forums. May get another one one day).


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Ouch, that's awful about everything dying. I hope you get to the bottom of the cause eventually!
:-(

As far as I know I seem to have enough power for the low-light plants I've got: anubias nana, another variety of anubias that I'm not sure of, crypts some java moss, a java fern in two tanks, and a little water sprite in each. Haven't had any crazy growth, but no plant deaths either, fingers crossed! Not really planning to go for anything with higher light requirements either as I adore my bare-bottom tanks and the plants that like to attach themselves to things I can rearrange with great ease when my fish get bored, hehe.


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## Pasqua (Jun 1, 2012)

Thats a good idea =) I was looking through one of your albums and the bare bottom tanks looks nice and clean. Is there any particular need for fish to have substrate? Maybe I'll try none for my next betta tank =)

I will keep you updated on how I go, when I get to it! feels like such a busy year already and it's only just begun! I have eight kuhli loaches and one cherry barb in my tank who are all doing great. Have not lost any loaches though I thought they were supposed to be the most sensitive ones out of what I had =S

I have one plant in my tank that I tied to some driftwood and it has started to attach itself on there. No idea what its name is but I like it =) 

I love your fishies too, very cute


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Going to join in your plant talk. 

I have a crazy high T5HO light over one of my tanks that is only 18cm tall. The plants in there go nuts. I barely get much algae either. I have the weirdest assortment of plants from mini java fern to anubias nana to some stray strands of pennywort and riccia. 

However, my favourite plant for betta set-ups is hydrilla. I got some from Dave at Aquagreen and mine just spreads and spreads and spreads. It looks like elodea but it doesn't mind higher temperatures. It will happily float or grow rooted (it actually grows roots unlike plants like hornwort) and is a great nutrient sponge. I didn't even have to cycle one of my tanks because I had so much of the stuff. Here it is in the foreground of my killifish tank. 










I purchased some hornwort (I kill/cannot get this stuff to grow in every single one of my set-ups except one) some najas tenuifolia, vallisneria nana and giant duckweed that is getting delivered this week as I want to plant up a soil-based sorority tank. Going to be all really young/small cambodian CT or VT females I have decided. 

That is all. Also if anyone from Melbourne ever wants to come and pick-up some native duckweed free of charge they are quite welcome to. I have some growing in an outdoor tank with a handful of aquasoil in the bottom and it has gone nuts! Trying to get the azolla I scooped out of the water plant section at Bunnings going as well in there but I think they sort of compete with each other.


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## Batmantha (May 27, 2012)

Hey looks like this thread has come back to life - how is everyone's tanks going with the heat?

Any tips on how to make sure the temps don't rise too much?


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

hmm.... my tank is off heating... but gets a few hours of daylight. if you run a fan over the water surface it will help cool it down.


on another note, if anyone wants some free Charale from me feel free to PM me. I'm in Sydney, Greenacre/Hornsby.

This stuff is a really interesting/messy plant and grows like a weed. I've nicknamed it the bad hair day plant. guaranteed to keep your parameters at 0. lol


I also have some free Java moss (though I wouldn't mind if we trade for plants


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

My tanks have been fine, but my house has air conditioning upstairs near my bedroom so the temperature in my room is only around 26-28 degrees. It was so hot here the other day though. 

I know people float frozen bottles, position a fan so it is blowing over the tank surface and do a couple of water changes with cooler water to keep their tanks cool. Someone else might have some better ideas. I have never needed to do it so not sure what method is best. 

My poor live food cultures though did not like even the 28 degree heat. I have to move them downstairs to where there is exposed slab to keep them cool. They started stinking up my bedroom so it smelled like farts of all things.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

I had a bit of a heating scare on Friday when the weather was awful, but the temperatures didn't rise to dangerous levels and luckily my heaters were all working properly (that is, not turning themselves on at all during the day) and since have put a bottle of pre-conditioned water in the fridge, just in case I need to cool the tanks slightly. We made sure to very clearly mark the bottle "FISH WATER" complete with pictures, haha.

@Pasqua: As far as I'm aware, there isn't a _need_ for fish to have substrate, but many plants do need it. Anyone more knowledgeable than myself, please correct me if I'm wrong! The number one reason I went bare-bottom was that I was paranoid about missing things with the siphon during 50% water changes, I'm always second-guessing my ability to do things right so I eliminated the possibility of little poops evading the siphon, LOL! I then discovered I quite liked having bare-bottomed tanks if the decor and plants looked nice enough. XD Makes 100% changes _much_ easier too when they're necessary.

@LittleBettaFish: The plant in your picture looks really nice. I'm pretty jealous of people whose plants grow quickly, mine grow but fairly slowly in comparison to some of the awesome growth I've seen here.


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## Polkadot (Feb 10, 2013)

SarahandOscar said:


> You may find bits and pieces cheaper at either Petbarn or Petcare2000 but they are general pet stores and although they have live fish take atrocious care of them, as in they are in those round shallow plastic "take away" food containers and don't get water changes.


 
The particular Petcare2000 store we go to is very good.They take really good care of the Bettas there,they keep their water clean and keep them each in the larger glass rectangular 'tanks',not in the shallow food container type containers thankfully.They always have beautiful Bettas for sale,lots of colours,most are veiltails and crowntails,male and female.I have bought all my little ones from there. :mrgreen: I also buy my boys tanks,decorations,food etc from there and they often have great sales on tanks where you get alot of equipment free with it etc.I have always found them to be really good.

Auburn Aquarium have some really beautiful Bettas (and a much wider range as far as tail types & Giants),but they are very pricey and the customer service is lousy.They don't really have all that much as far as decorations go and their tanks are way over priced.I was very disappointed with that place.Worst of all there were 2 little Bettas who had passed away in their tanks & it looked like they had been there for ages.Terrible.:shake:


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## Starchild21 (Jan 12, 2013)

I'm from Victoria  Subbing to this!


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

hi!


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## Gogee (Mar 2, 2013)

Guess I better sub to this too, given I'm a Vic ;-)


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Woo, so many people from Vic here! *grins*


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

Lol! i guess the betta fish scene is bigger down there ^_^


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## Polkadot (Feb 10, 2013)

It is great to see there are alot of Australian Betta owners.


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## Batmantha (May 27, 2012)

Where has everyone found the best cheap tanks?


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## Polkadot (Feb 10, 2013)

I bought my tanks at Petcare2000,they are the black Aquatopia Poseidon 30L tanks which were $69.I love them! You get the filter with the tank,plus they had a sale where you also got a free pack containing a gravel vac,glass cleaner,thermometer,heater,water conditioner & decoration with each tank. :mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen:


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## Gogee (Mar 2, 2013)

Where would people recommend getting their Indian Almond Leaves from in Oz (preferably Vic)? I'm after somewhere that posts, and it would be a bonus if they also sell aquatic plants too!
Thanks in advance


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

get them from amylin (lim?) on ebay

batmantha- have you tried gumtree?


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

I get mine from Bettawan. Not sure if that is the same person, but the only issue I had was that customs just left a note to say that they had opened my parcel and it had passed through okay. 

Buying IAL from within Australia can be anywhere from double to triple the price as leaves overseas. 

All you need is a paypal account and you can order from Bettawan.

Also be very careful what you import through from overseas. You cannot import any aquarium related plant matter but dried IAL I believe.


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## Gogee (Mar 2, 2013)

Cheers guys :-D


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## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

How did I never see this thread before? Consider me subscribed, with the intention to talk in nothing but litres and celcius. . Though I find that these days I even end up talking to other fish-people in real life in farenheit and US gallons...


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## prosthetik (Oct 5, 2012)

Yeah I always have to use an online converter so people know what Im talking about!


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## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

One thing that really annoyed me on both Yahoo Answers and another site I was on - if you spoke in litres people demanded you go and convert it for them - go and convert it your lazy self! And there was even a conversion button at the bottom of the page. Le sigh. 

This forum is better.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

1 gallon is roughly 4L, so you basically just have to divide the number of litres by 4 to get gallons. Not that hard since most computers come equipped with a handy dandy calculator.


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## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

And also since 4 is generally a pretty easy number to work with, even if you are as mathematically challenged as me.

On that topic, math. MathS.

Out of curiosity, what brand of tanks do you guys favour?


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Mr Aqua, Do!Aqua and YiDing. 

YiDing is essentially identical to ADA branded tanks. I believe they may be made in the same factory. 

Mr Aqua is great as some of the tank sizes are really awesome for bettas. I particularly like the 12 gallon long. 

However, not sure of the availability of these tanks outside of Victoria.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

I just walked in the door carrying some YiDing tanks in my hot little hands, hahaha! So excited about them after the things I've read about this brand. >.<


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Most of my tanks are YiDing. Did you get them from Coburg Aquarium? They are a really nice tank and very decently priced compared to the ADA brand tanks.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Yup, we went on a trek there today after gathering the rest of the supplies we needed for NPTs. I couldn't believe the prices when I saw them online! I love the reptile section at Coburg Aquarium! I'm a sucker for lizards and snakes, especially bearded dragons. If my grandma wasn't creeped out by them we'd have more scale-babies than our bettas, hehe. >.<


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Anything interesting fish wise at Coburg? I've been meaning to go there just to have a look around but it's a 2 hour bus trip there and back and my mum hates that store so she never drives me haha. 

Even though the service usually sucks, they do get in fish I like for decent prices.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

I am totally not knowledgeable about anything to do with other fish, so I can't really say... 

If I had to just give an opinion at a glance, I'd say Subscape's selection of fish is better at the moment if you're only looking at tropical. Coburg's coldwater section is nice though. The axolotls stole my grandma's heart, haha.

I couldn't help but stop by the betta section of course... I felt so sorry for the poor little guys. There was a plakat I was dying to bring home, but with three boys already here and another being imported as I type, I just don't have room for any more at the moment.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Yeah the betta care is pretty lousy there. It used to be way worse but then they upgraded to bigger glass jars. 

I always feel sorry for the females. If there are any tiny cambodian females I find it hard to walk away. Usually I end up coming home with them haha.

I'm going to Subscape on Saturday. Doing my monthly blackworm run.


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## GoodMorning (Jan 19, 2013)

Bombalurina said:


> if you spoke in litres people demanded you go and convert it for them - go and convert it your lazy self!


huh? what is litres? i've never heard of that word before in my life. 





























lol, jk


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

LittleBettaFish said:


> Yeah the betta care is pretty lousy there. It used to be way worse but then they upgraded to bigger glass jars.


Wow, worse than the jars? I'm used to having nothing but contempt for places like Pets Wonderland when it comes to betta care, but wow... I guess it's not a stretch of the imagination when they're selling "tanks" that probably have the same capacity as one of the jars...


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

They used to not be so bad. Then I think some staff members moved on and suddenly there were nothing but filthy cups and dead/dying bettas. They also used to have a 'damaged HM' section where extremely skinny and pathetic HM males (usually with bitten or rotted off fins) would sit waiting to be sold. 

I pity purchased a couple of them but eventually decided to purchase my bettas only from someone reputable like Jodi-Lea. 

What kind of betta are your importing? Did you get it from AB or somewhere else?


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Oh dear... That's pretty dismal.

I'm importing a white DTHMPK, from AB. My first import, so I'm kinda scared and excited at the same time. >.<


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Hope he arrives safe and well. Who is the seller/breeder?


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

I hope so too. I had this moral dilemma thing going on when thinking of importing, trying to justify putting a fish through shipping, so I hope he arrives safe and sound and begins life with an overprotective, doting fish-parent, heh. The seller is Patsayawan.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

You have to remember all fish are shipped to get to stores, so you shouldn't concern yourself that you are doing something wrong by purchasing bettas from overseas or interstate. 

It's not that stressful. All of my imports have always arrived happy and healthy. Had only one DOA and one tail biter and that's it. 

Patsayawan has some nice fish. I used to own some marble and koi HMPKs from him. 

I so love the colour of this pair from Jodi-Lea.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VukWAgmz5Hw&list=UUADDH5lFQ70pTR9DB0b90Sg&index=2

I definitely could have a whole sorority of females in this colour.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Oh wow, they're beautiful...

And you're right, I get silly sometimes. >.<


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## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

GoodMorning said:


> huh? what is litres? i've never heard of that word before in my life.
> 
> 
> lol, jk


What is this metric nonense? 

The attitude on the other forums just really annoyed me. You guys here have always been great.

I've never heard of these ADA aquariums before, but now I really want the 12 gal too! Good alternative to the Petco Bookshelf I've been lusting after.

I have 3 Blue Planet Tanks, a little AquaOne, the big Aquaone that the goldie is in, and my slightly dodgy second-hand 16gallon. I wish I knew the brand, if any. I think it might be home-made. 

I'm so thankful you sent me to Jodi-Lea, LBF! My girls are just ridiculously beautiful. No less love for petshop girls, but I've never seen the equal to my girls in any shop ever.

Any one else up for a road trip to Brisbane to visit her shop?


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Me and a girl from another forum were going to go up on a day trip to her store ages ago (when I actually had money haha), purchase fish that we could see in the flesh, and then have them shipped down here. 

I wish her store was in Melbourne. Although I probably would end up destitute on the street if that happened.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

I know the conversation's progressed from this topic, but I thought I'd ask anyway... LittleBettaFish, I notice in your photos you have cling wrap over your tanks. Is that because of the small size of the YiDing cover glass? I've been looking at it and thinking that I may also have to improvise extra cover. Wahh! They look so beautiful with the stock covers though! :-(


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## Batmantha (May 27, 2012)

Bombalurina said:


> And also since 4 is generally a pretty easy number to work with, even if you are as mathematically challenged as me.
> 
> On that topic, math. MathS.
> 
> Out of curiosity, what brand of tanks do you guys favour?



My big tropical is a AquaOne 620 and the filtration is excellent, I have the Classic 20L Blue Planet tanks for the Bettas and they are also great tanks (my electricity bill seems to like them better too) but I find filtration wise not as good as Aqua One but still very adequate for the size and stock in the tank so no real complaints

Blue Planet does tend to be cheaper than Aqua Ones but the Aqua ones do look prettier


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

ugh, that's somethig i want to being back fromaustralia. how much are the yiding tanks?


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Sparrowhawk, for a normal betta splendens the stock standard covers are fine. Wild bettas are extremely good jumpers. As an example I left the glad wrap off my unimaculata tank but put a heavy glass lid that covered the entire top of the tank. 

Went out for around 15 minutes and came back to find the male and one of his offspring dried up and halfway across the floor. Don't know how they got out but they did. 

YiDing is $120 for a 60cm tank (in low iron glass) I believe, and it's around $30-40 for a 30cm cube. The other sizes fall generally within this range. Only a couple of stores I know sell them. Not sure if they get sold in any other states either.


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## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

Batmantha said:


> My big tropical is a AquaOne 620 and the filtration is excellent, I have the Classic 20L Blue Planet tanks for the Bettas and they are also great tanks (my electricity bill seems to like them better too) but I find filtration wise not as good as Aqua One but still very adequate for the size and stock in the tank so no real complaints
> 
> Blue Planet does tend to be cheaper than Aqua Ones but the Aqua ones do look prettier


Precisely my experience, even down to the styles we have!


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

LittleBettaFish said:


> Sparrowhawk, for a normal betta splendens the stock standard covers are fine. Wild bettas are extremely good jumpers. As an example I left the glad wrap off my unimaculata tank but put a heavy glass lid that covered the entire top of the tank.


Thank you for this. Being a worrywort, I've been wringing my hands about it, but you've put my mind at ease. Thanks.


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## percyfyshshelley (Feb 26, 2013)

I want to give a shout out to the metric system! It just makes so much more logical sense. I'm an American living in Canada, which is mostly metric. I have a science background so I was used to metric anyway, but I did have to get used to thinking in celcius when it comes to ambient temperature. Like its still hard to think of 30 as "hot."


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## Pasqua (Jun 1, 2012)

percyfyshshelley said:


> Like its still hard to think of 30 as "hot."


Hi percy! I just had to lol at your 30 is hot =P I live in the north of Australia and for us anything under 34C is considered cool, as most days of the year are at nights*are still in the mid to high 20s*and days ae never below 30. People who have lived around here for a while seem to think it's freezing when it once or twice a year hits 25 during the day hehe =p

I'll have to say that for me the opposite was true as i could never get used to farenheigt. I remember reading a book as a kid where it said someone's temp was at 104 degrees and i thought, well, that person is above boiling so yes of course they need help!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Pasqua said:


> I live in the north of Australia and for us anything under 34C is considered cool, as most days of the year are at nights*are still in the mid to high 20s*and days ae never below 30. People who have lived around here for a while seem to think it's freezing when it once or twice a year hits 25 during the day hehe =p


Oh man, I could not deal with that! If it gets above 25 I don't function well at all if I have to go outside. Why this is, when I have grown up here in Melbourne, I do not know. It just is, haha.


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## Taeanna (Apr 2, 2013)

Another Aussie reporting for duty!
I also agree that 30 isn't really hot..but then again we had those 41 degree days this past summer. In fact with those days in mind I went looking online for tank COOLERS just in case and only found ones designed for massive aquariums...


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

I hate it when it starts nudging up into the 40s because all our garden gets burnt to a crisp. That week of about 45-47 degree days almost killed some of our established trees because it was just so hot. 

I want to live somewhere up in QLD. I would love to go collecting rainbowfish and blue eyes and they have a lot more interesting aquatic plants as well because of the warmer weather. 

I still kick myself that I was not into fish when my mum's ex-partner had a property in the Strzelecki ranges. There were so many creeks and places that I reckon I could have collected a lot of cool stuff. I like poking around in the bush looking for things to use in my tanks.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

I've never been poking around in the bush looking for stuff to use in tanks! My partner's dad suggested we start a native type tank, and go up to his place and the land surrounding it (out near Broadford) to look for stuff around the creek. First I'd have to understand the local fauna and flora first of course. >.<


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

I want to create a biotope style tank for a group of pseudomugil mellis/honey blue eyes. I have some tea tree root to use and my older brother left a heap of really thick Styrofoam sheet behind at my dad's that I was going to use as a background for three sides of the tank. Then just use some native marginal plants in planters behind the background to finish the look. 

Of course this will all have to be done when I have space and money.


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## Taeanna (Apr 2, 2013)

Not to change the topic (as i feel a naturally planted tank would look beautiful) But I have been having a lot of trouble getting hold of a breeders list.
Being new to Bettas and looking for breeders of anything for that matter I am at a loss. Posting websites only seem to sell the occasional fish or redirect me to far flung marine stores that dont even stock them regularly.
I have had a look about aquabid but like most things in this site it appears to be american/canadian only...


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Are you looking for a list of betta breeders in Australia, or actual suppliers of fish?

AusAqua is an Australian based essentially betta only website. A lot of members on there have bettas for sale or are part of their state/city club and could probably help you out. 

Otherwise Fishchick Aquatics (has a youtube and facebook page) sells top quality bettas as well as lots of other oddball species of fish. She is good at what she does and ships fish all over the country. I have had at least 50 bettas and various other fish from her and only ever one DOA.


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## Starchild21 (Jan 12, 2013)

This is weird and I'm sorta amazed that they are able to treat their fish in a bearable condition but pets Paradise in Chadstone shopping center have heaps of fish supplies and they actually stock really really nice fish and plants, just for any of you that are down that way


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

It's really nice to hear of a chain store that doesn't treat their fish horribly! Wow!


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## Starchild21 (Jan 12, 2013)

They were in small jars but all had a make shift ''filter'', all were healthy the water was a little warm and none looked like they had fin rot! I was shocked


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Ah... Well, at least they all seemed healthy-ish and the water wasn't freezing... A lot better than Pets Wonderland in Prahran the last time I was in there, and Coburg when I went there as well. :-/


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## Taeanna (Apr 2, 2013)

Thanks very much for the referral I will definitely check them out post haste.

I'm also glad to see your pet store understands their basics. I'm afraid my own poor boy was in a display cup so small the assistant had to fetch more water to fill his take home bag to the line.


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## Nibblez (Jan 29, 2013)

OMG, interesting that i stumbled upon this thread, and i thought there wasn't an AUS community. I'm a fairly new member, got my first betta about a month ago and im on my second.

Seeing the US prices being posted around the forum, i thought i was on the wrong planet. Forked out a bloody fortune just for my tank setup, and its only a 14 litre. I want another 14 litre or a size similar to that as i just bought another betta but i doubt i can even afford one anytime soon.

Just ran out this morning just to buy 2 heaters, bloody weather just became freezing cold.


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

Yay +1 to sydney!


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## Batmantha (May 27, 2012)

Has anyone had much experience with the aquaone horizon setups?

I'm thinking of getting rid of my 2 separate betta tanks and dividing a horizon - one for appearance, two lack of spots for power and running power boards off power boards probably isn't the best of solutions and it would help keep the whole streamline theme of my room


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## Goodbettabest (Mar 25, 2013)

Another Aussie here from Darwin where it is so hot even the fish need airconditioners !


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## Nibblez (Jan 29, 2013)

i feel your pain Batmantha, i had to get 2 power boards just for my 2 tanks. Not sure about aquaone, got the aquamanta setup instead.

@Goodbettabest - Dat electricity bill XD


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## Pasqua (Jun 1, 2012)

Welcome to all all the newer members! Good to see some. More auspices on here who speak my language. Gallons confuse me lol. 

Good better, what do you do to keep your tanks cool? I am in darwin too and its half past midnight and my tank is on 33C after having the aircon on all evening/night. =S and i can only find tank heaters at local stores?!


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## Pasqua (Jun 1, 2012)

Lol auto correct. I meant aussies not auspices!


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## Batmantha (May 27, 2012)

I've seen chillers online but not smallish ones, I've only seen one for big big tanks and they look to be incredibly expensive

If I see mine getting too hot I'll do a slight water change and hope for the best

I also bought a fan from KMart for $3 that if its too hot I'll sit on a makeshift shelf and point at the water and lift up the hood, that seems to help a bit


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

When we had the crazy heatwave, I kept a bottle of conditioned water in the fridge, and added a little to my tanks if they were getting too warm. It did cool down enough at night to leave it alone though, so that might not work so well for you. :-/


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## percyfyshshelley (Feb 26, 2013)

Pasqua said:


> Hi percy! I just had to lol at your 30 is hot =P I live in the north of Australia and for us anything under 34C is considered cool, as most days of the year are at nights*are still in the mid to high 20s*and days ae never below 30. People who have lived around here for a while seem to think it's freezing when it once or twice a year hits 25 during the day hehe =p
> 
> I'll have to say that for me the opposite was true as i could never get used to farenheigt. I remember reading a book as a kid where it said someone's temp was at 104 degrees and i thought, well, that person is above boiling so yes of course they need help!
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


Lol well in Canada 30 is hot! I can't believe how much you guys have to work to keep tanks COOL. Wow. I'm not sure how I ended up on a Aussie thread, but it's very interesting.


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## Taeanna (Apr 2, 2013)

Using a dehumidifyer in the room can help because it encourages the fish tank water to evaporate, lowering the core temp.
The problem then is water salinity because if you add more meds/salt/water conditioner to the tank you might increase to overdose stage. Best to top up with distilled in hot weather.


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## Nibblez (Jan 29, 2013)

Have yet to have to honour of going through summer heat wave with a betta but the weather now is pretty unstable here is sydney, not sure about elsewhere


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## Pasqua (Jun 1, 2012)

Thanks for the tips. I my concerns with that would be jumping if i remember moved the glass lid to use fan. And that the temp fluctuations would be worse for them than the warmer water. I will maybe see if i can rig up some kind of mesh lid and maybe that will help. 

Percy i love the cold weather, and it would be so much easier with the tank to be able to just pop a heater in there and know it will be ok! 
Canada is in my list of places to visit =) would love to be able to travel ot there one day


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## Goodbettabest (Mar 25, 2013)

Pasqua;1718337 Good better said:


> I' m struggling! Lol. My bettas are in the coolest room - my bedroom. I have the a/c set for 27 at night and the tank temp drops to 27 overnight but climbs back up to 30 during the day. The tanks are 29 at the moment. I don't think the fish mind the high temp but i would like to be able to keep it a bit more constant. Prob is that i can't sleep with no aircon and I'm not gonna leave it on all day while iI'm not home...they would turn out to be the most expensive fish in history if i did that! Can't move them into the livingroom which isn't airconditined either-My flatty would have my head if i dragged 4 tanks into the living room.


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## Taeanna (Apr 2, 2013)

perhaps you could try and pack those gel ice packs about it's base?


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## Batmantha (May 27, 2012)

I'm going to have the same cooling issue once I get money for my axolotl tank because they usually need cooling rather than heating


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## veggiegirl (Nov 20, 2012)

I am Aussie too


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## White Wolf (Apr 14, 2013)

Me too


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## Pasqua (Jun 1, 2012)

Wow there are lots of us! Hi everyone =) 

So question for all the aussies. What plants do you find grow really well (and easily!) in your tank? I ask because a lot of the ones mentioned on this forum are not available locally. 

I (as a beginner in planted tanks) so far have had good luck with wisteria and java fern and the one that starts with a and grows slowly on driftwood. What i have had trouble with is finding anywhere local that stocks a ground cover plant that i can use


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## Nibblez (Jan 29, 2013)

I'm not sure where you are but i'm in sydney and theres an aquarium shop near where i live. They always have carpet plants, i think one of them was HC and nano something... Not too knowledgeable on plants yet as i'm starting my first NPT and i'm only at settling on a hardscape.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Mm Jodi-Lea is uploading new videos to her channel tonight. I am still waiting for her to put up the two species of wild bettas that I want. Probably not going to happen but a girl can hope. 

The only 'exciting' parcel I am getting from her is 20g of BBS eggs and 1kg of peat moss that is supposed to arrive Tuesday. 

Pasqua, buying plants online either through Australian forums or suppliers is the best way to get them in Australia. Most LFS overprice poor quality stock and even with the cost of shipping you generally get more bang for your buck with online suppliers.

I use Dave at Aquagreen for Australian native plants (he offers A+ service and products) or Liverpoolcreekaquariums. If you google these names the sites should come up. 

What kind of ground cover are you looking at? Plants like HC generally require high light and CO2 infusion in aquariums to grow at their best. However, there are plenty of alternatives. One of my favourites is pennywort. Dave sells a native variety that is extremely hardy and extremely prolific.


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## Nibblez (Jan 29, 2013)

Btw, what do you all use for water test kits? I was just at a pet store and the API master test kit was priced at about $120 or $140 i think. Bloody expensive. Went to the aquarium and they had the Sera test kit for $190. Prices are definitely nothing like US prices.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Buy online. It is usually sooooo much cheaper in Australia to buy online than in store. Some of the prices the fish stores charge are insane. 

I had bad luck with an expired API test kit so now I use the Aquasonic brand test kit for ammonia. It is cheaper, and recommended on another forum by Dave at Aquagreen who knows his stuff.


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

What's a good online Aussie retailer for tanks?


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

I buy all my tanks from actual aquariums, as the only online stores I see selling them either don't sell the tanks I want, only do wholesale orders, or are more expensive even without freight costs to get than in store. 

Aquariums and livestock seem to be on par or cheaper in store than online. It's more dry goods and live plants that I think are cheaper online. 

However, Age of Aquariums does sell standard aquariums at a decent price (scroll down this page and you can see them) if you really want to buy online.

http://www.aquariumproducts.com.au/aquariums.php?page=3&instid=8390


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

Thanks for the link, those prices are wayyy out of my budget. I'm briging my rimless with me, if I ever go back permanantly...


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

I think everything except Australian natives is cheaper in America than here in Australia. A 30cm rimless cube by Mr Aqua or YiDing usually run in the $50-60 dollar range.


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## Nibblez (Jan 29, 2013)

do you have any recommendations of what store or website to buy the water test kits from?


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

http://www.thetechden.com.au/Test_Kits_s/1817.htm

Great service and good prices. The guy who owns this once made a mistake with my order and sent the wrong product. He sent me a replacement product free of any charge the next day and gave me his number to call if there was an issue. Definitely A+ service.


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## Batmantha (May 27, 2012)

Does anyone here use Sand, if so, where did you get it, I can't find anything so far, I found 1 bag so far but it was tiny wouldn't even cover 1/4 of the tank


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

That's weird, several aquariums I have been to sell sand or at least very fine gravel in 10-20kg bags. How big is your tank? Did you ask at any of the stores if they stock bigger bags of substrate or know of any other stores that do? 

Unfortunately, I am in Melbourne so can't really point you at specific stores.


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## Batmantha (May 27, 2012)

I'm looking at covering a 70L (65 cm long) and I've found small bags at petbarn but only in one colour. I have found heaps in the reptile section so I'm looking up those to see if they would work


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Have you been to any actual fish stores to look? I find most Pet Barns have pretty limited stock in regards to substrate. 

It's annoying when you are in a different state and can't offer better advice. Maybe other Sydney people can help out.


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## Nibblez (Jan 29, 2013)

I'm not sure about exactly what region in sydney you are in but if you are near cbd area, i know a pet store that have quite a lot of supplies for aquariums in Eastgardens Westfield, not sure if they have sand but i can have a look for you when i go there tomorrow. Theres also an aquarium shop in Kingsford along Anzac Parade which i'm sure has it.


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## Batmantha (May 27, 2012)

The only nearby specifically fish place nearby stocks gravel and can order sand in for me but couldn't give me a price. There is a few fish places in the city that I have emailed and waiting to hear back from them because I don't want to spend an hour and half in the car (or worse by train & bus) to get there if they don't have it

Because I was thinking a layer of the flourish fertilizer http://www.aquaticsupplies.com.au/seachem-flourite-black-sand-7kg.html and then sand a few people have recommended that combination but so for I have ordered a few bags online and their idea of sand has given me gravel, its fine gravel yes but not sand


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## Backlash (Jan 9, 2012)

Hi Aussies...

Has anyone bought any of the silk plants available from eBay seller "aquacor"..??

Any feedback? Are they OK?? Do they have a wire inside??

http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/m.html?_....l1313.TR11.TRC1&_nkw=silk&_sacat=0&_from=R40

Cheers Mark..


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## Gogee (Mar 2, 2013)

*Best filter and lighting for a 20 litre?*

Hey guys, Brian Betta is currently in my 90 litre planted tank with his 5 cory mates...however I am considering turning the tank into a sorority (eventually!), so Brian may have to move house! 

I have a brand new 20 litre tank which I was going to use a hospital tank if need be, but am thinking I could maybe use it instead to set up a cosy bachelor-pad planted tank just for Brian.

Any suggestions for low flow filters, and also for lighting? I've got an aquaone heater already sitting in the cupboard for it.
Measurements are L-35cm x W-22cm x H-25cm.
Plants will be the usual basic stuff - java fern, vals, anacharis, frogbit etc.

Am still pondering on this, as I'm feeling a little guilty about the thought of maybe moving him into a small tank when he's been used to the 90 litre for so long! :-?

Cheers and thanks:-D


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## Polkadot (Feb 10, 2013)

I can recommend the Aquatopia filters,they are really good and nice & quiet too.The flow rate is pretty gentle.I like the spray bar waterfall and have softened the flow even more by placing a sponge over the spray bar just leaving one hole open and it works great.

http://www.aquaticsupplies.com.au/aquatopia-internal-filter-100.html


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## Gogee (Mar 2, 2013)

Thanks polka dot  i will check it out. Might look at sponge filters too.
Can anyone recommend lighting?
I'm thinking maybe clip on LED or similar? 
This weekend will be tank set up weekend I think


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## Polkadot (Feb 10, 2013)

You're welcome Gogee.


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## Nibblez (Jan 29, 2013)

Gogee said:


> Thanks polka dot  i will check it out. Might look at sponge filters too.
> Can anyone recommend lighting?
> I'm thinking maybe clip on LED or similar?
> This weekend will be tank set up weekend I think


Funny you mention lighting, i just bought a StarkLED Flare unit








that is impressively bright but i have to say is bloody expensive as well. Costed me $180 for that unit, worth it i guess if you want a proper looking unit. Honestly though, i've decided to build my own LED light for my next tank which will only cost me $50 in comparison with leftovers probably enough for another LED unit. Just my experience so far, LEDs are expensive, probably better off if you dont want to spend that kind of money or build a unit yourself to just buy a light fixture and fit a LED bulb.


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## Gogee (Mar 2, 2013)

Thanks Nibblez  will be investigating on the weekend.


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## Goodbettabest (Mar 25, 2013)

Batmantha said:


> Does anyone here use Sand, if so, where did you get it, I can't find anything so far, I found 1 bag so far but it was tiny wouldn't even cover 1/4 of the tank


Age of aquariums sell coral sand in differing sized bags. Their freight is only $7.50 to anywhere in Australia regardless of weight so they may be your best bet


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## Starchild21 (Jan 12, 2013)

Does anyone know of any Aquabid sellers that are in Australia?


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## Taeanna (Apr 2, 2013)

I don't know of any actual aquabid sellers but I do know that the first and only lady to talk to about aquabid orders is this lady=

http://www.youtube.com/user/Fishchick65

Not only does she bring in any and all bettas into australia that a person orders/buys from overseas but she seems to get in gorgeous stock of her own.
If you needed an answer I suggest asking her, you'll end up going through her if you buy from overseas in any case.

This is her youtube channel where she showcases her in store stock. She sells Breeding pairs or singles.


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## Starchild21 (Jan 12, 2013)

Thank you Taneanna I have heard Fishchick is good 

Another question, has anyone gotten betta's from AB and had them successfully sent to them, no DOA etc.?


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## Nibblez (Jan 29, 2013)

i heard that the last personal shipment Fishchick is arranging for people from aquabid is this month


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Yeah I think she got stuffed around too much in the past. Don't blame her for not wanting to do it any longer.


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## Nibblez (Jan 29, 2013)

Its too bad, but i feel for her since she is the only one importing for people, she gets both the good and bad. Too bad i didnt get in on this earlier, didnt get a chance to find a nice aquabid buy, might have to find other means of getting bettas from aquabid.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

I have a pair of wild bettas that are supposed to be on this shipment. I am just hoping that there is no DOA either in Bangkok, in QLD or on the trip down here.


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## Nibblez (Jan 29, 2013)

Hope everything goes well for you, i didnt find any bettas i want before the shipment so i didnt make it.... *sob*


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

I do wonder if she'll just continue to do shipments for people if they pay all the fees up front.

I pre-paid for my wild betta pair and have no issue with doing so again. I like the option of being able to privately import fish of my choosing, and I am sure a lot of betta people are more than willing to pre-pay to have this service provided.


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## Nibblez (Jan 29, 2013)

I mean, its definitely for those who are serious about importing their fishes. I wouldnt mind as well, but maybe its also becoming a hassle sorting all the fishes out especially if there are DOAs and some people start complaining.


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## Taeanna (Apr 2, 2013)

I think the problem is entitlement. She is merely a transhipper and yet when someones fish is DOA or perhaps discolored from the picture many people seem to hold her accountable.
It would be horribly stressful to pour your love into these fish and have people hold it against you


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

Since there seems to be several new Aussie members.. I thought I'd give this thread a bump and encourage them to say 'g'day'. :-D

So what's with the 6 months of spring, Melbourne? I'm wearing long-sleeves and flannel jammies in January. What madness is this? :shock: The tank heaters are all on.. I'm usually worried about cooling them down a bit, this time of year.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

I know. This is why no fish go outside over summer at my house.

Although aren't we having like a 40 degree day next week?


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

Ooh are we? Good excuse to pull out the Easter-Island-giant-head-shaped ice cube trays and grab ingredients for a nice berry punch, very refreshing. We have no aircon here, so ice is our friend. 

I keep wondering if we'll have a heatwave in late Feb.. 

I feel sorry for our remaining ratty, Archie, on really hot days. I feed him frozen peas to help cool him down, lol.


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

Going back to Sydney in two weeks, surely it cant be worse than the windy -20C I experienced yesterday?


Sent from Petguide.com App


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## KeshiaB (Aug 27, 2013)

I'm a Kiwi but I live in Melbourne and I'm finding it rather depressing that Victoria seems colder than New Zealand (and I'm from the South Island!)! Yay for Australian based betta keepers!!! :blueyay:


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

I think I whinged too soon! It's really warmed up this afternoon (thus is the power of my best complaining-voice!) so much so that I have put off a visit to my LFS til the morning in favour of getting some blankets washed with a hope of drying them quickly. 

Nice to meet you, Keshia! And Ao, welcome back to Aus, when you come... -20? srs? I would die. I would be that slightly lopsided, tubby snow-woman wearing fuschia pink, out in the yard!


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## Kali (Jan 4, 2014)

"G'day" to you all! Melbourne here too (south, around the peninsula, if I say the actual suburb you'll all laugh).

Yes this summer has been disappointing so far, but this arvo was nice and tomorrow is meant to be hot. Plus I've heard good things about the end of Jan/beginning of Feb. but lately I've wanted to climb into my Betta's tank as it's much warmer than out here


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## greyko (Jan 9, 2014)

I'm in Brisbane. The 40+ day we had was lovely. 
Especially having recently returned from New York. I'll take 40+ over the freezing cold!


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## Kali (Jan 4, 2014)

Haha we hit 40 (or 39 felt like 40) a week or two ago but since then its been cold and windy


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## Taeanna (Apr 2, 2013)

Newcastle here and though the days are warm (sometimes uncomfortably) the nights are beginning to get a tiny bite to them. 
I know that for a fact because for the first time in a month I saw the fish's heating light turn on when I went to bed!


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## Goodbettabest (Mar 25, 2013)

NT here.. Every day is either hot, stinking hot or just kill me now & get it over with hot lol


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

^ LOL!!!!
Well, we're finally getting our summer here in Melb... forecast for the next few days is:

Tue 42
Wed 41
Thu 43
Fri 42

... and then the temp drops by 20 degrees for Saturday. Whew, that will be a welcome cool change, I can tell you!

I'm feeding my poor ratty frozen veg as icy poles to help keep him cool. 

Doing water changes tonight, when it cools down a bit. You know it's hot when you envy your fish their 'swimming pool', hehe.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

I never thank my mother more for installing two air conditioners after she and my dad divorced, than I do on days like this. 

I do notice having a large amount of fish tanks in your room does keep the temperature at least a couple degrees hotter than the rest of the house. 

The dogs have had cold bones and chicken necks, and of course the one with pneumonia goes running out the back door and refuses to come in until I chase her down and physically make her.


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## Julio1983 (Jan 7, 2013)

Hi all! 
I'm from Melbourne...has anyone had problems with their tanks being too hot with this weather? If so what have you done to combat it? 
Thanks


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## Julio1983 (Jan 7, 2013)

Hi all, I'm from melbourne. Has anyone else had trouble with the temperatures of their tanks with this weather we are having? 
If so what have you done to combat it? 
Thanks


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

Hi Julio - wow, all these betta people from Australia, it's awesome. 

My only stocked tank atm is pretty large so I'm not too worried about the heat. 
If I had a lot of smaller tanks, I would consider purchasing a cooler just for those few stinking hot days a year. I have no air con.


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## Julio1983 (Jan 7, 2013)

It is great to have some Aussies to talk to. My tank is 15 litres so it's not too big. I am away at the moment and back home tomorrow. My brother in law has been babysitting our fish Julio. His tank today was around 28.5. I just hope my little dude is ok when I get home tomorrow!


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Apparently Adelaide is most likely going to be the hottest city in the world today or at least that was what I read somewhere.

Just got sad news from a hobbyist who lives local to me and who has purchased a few of my fish, that she lost a majority of her stock due to the heatwave. 

Air conditioning definitely makes a difference. We also have this back room in our house that stays really cool even on hot days. I figure in a worst case scenario (say the power goes out) I could always move my most valuable fish down there. 

Me and the dogs surprised a ringtail possum yesterday afternoon as it was trying to get a drink out of their water bowls. We left a whole heap of water out for all the wildlife in the backyard since the dogs are inside so hopefully they use it.


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## Julio1983 (Jan 7, 2013)

Oh no that's sad news 
Geez I hope my guy is ok! We only have air con in one part of the house so I hope he's a-ok!


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## Julio1983 (Jan 7, 2013)

Where is ur friend located?


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

In Bulleen, only about ten or fifteen minutes away from my house. 

I can't wait until Friday and the cool change. Hopefully the whole state of Victoria can refrain from catching on fire until then.


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## Julio1983 (Jan 7, 2013)

Oh that's sad 
Poor fishys! 

I know it's terrible! Talk about being struck with a heat wave!


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## Aidy (Nov 12, 2013)

Hello, from down here in Tassie. We have been lucky with our temperatures down here. It is supposed to be about 25 where I live.

Adrian


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

Hold on, Aidy -- I'll be there in a minute! Have a cold jug of Cottee's and ice ready?

'Cause I'm meltinnngggg!


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

Ah jeez, LBF - what a shame about those fish.. and yes, fires - it worried me deeply to have so much rain through spring, I think we're going to see some Feb/March fires this year. Cross fingers that we don't. 

Also, hello to all the Aussies I haven't met before *wave* Lovely to see you here.


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## Julio1983 (Jan 7, 2013)

There is a a fire buring near us at the moment I hope they get it under control! I'm on the way home to see my fishy now. 
Hopefully this cool change comes early on Friday :-/


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

What suburb are you in (it's okay if you don't feel comfortable telling me). I noticed there was a fire possibly burning near my uncle's farm. I think he is a volunteer firefighter as well so I imagine they've been kept very busy. 

If you go on the CFA website it seems like a lot of places are either on fire, on watch for fire or potentially about to become on fire.


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

My nanna, auntie and I were caught between road blocks during the Ash Wednesday fires.. We were in the middle of nowhere, I was sleeping in the back of the car, and woke up to a world of darkness and fire. I have never been so terrified. Cannot imagine losing a home or a loved one to something like that.

I reckon we should have mandatory 20-year sentences, no parole, for fire starters. After all, fires kill people, ruin homes, kill wildlife and pets.. it's worse than murder, IMO. And it might make idiots think a bit harder before setting a fire. 

Sorry, pet rant there, lol.

Weather update -- the rain just started! Whoowee! I shall go and dance in it, I think.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

No rain here. Our poor alder trees have been burnt to a crisp. They were looking the best they have been since 2009 and now all their leaves are brown and dead. 

A bushfire is my worst fear. I was up at Kinglake on the other end (the one that didn't get burnt out) of Coombs Rd during the Black Saturday fires and even though we hardly saw any fire it is not something I will ever forget. I think I could come back from losing my house and my possessions - even my fish. But not my dogs and cats. I could not think of a more terrifying way to be killed than being caught in a bushfire. 

I think they should just be shot personally. Especially on days like this. 

In fish related news, some of my fish are enjoying the mosquito larvae I got for them just now. There was this massive bee hanging around the tub where I harvest them from. I swear it waits for me to come down as it always seems to be around.


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

Well, the rain lasted for all of five mins... :| Didn't even wet the ground. I hear thunder overhead now and then, however, and the sky is getting very dark with cloud. I am hoping for a spectacular storm.  I haven't seen a truly massive lightning storm since Daughter was about 5 yo.. so ten years!

My Nanna lived not far from King Lake (her family were originally from out that way) and she was perpetually afraid of fires blowing through town, though that wasn't too likely where she was. Lots of smoke during the Black Saturday fires, though. I have family in the Mansfield area, elderly folks in heavy bushland, I worry about them every year.

My mozzie bucket is not very productive this year. I think it gets too much sun during the afternoon, and there's heaps of dragonflies around munching on the adults.


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

Whee, storm's hit! Omg, thunder and lightning! Looks to be a huge one coming.  

Yay for the cool change!!!!!! *dances in it*


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## Julio1983 (Jan 7, 2013)

Happy to report little Julio is a-ok!
His temp is around 28-29 so i have had his lid half off since ive been home to try and circulate some air/oxygen.
Hes one happy camper


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## Julio1983 (Jan 7, 2013)

We live in the south east - im in cheltenham and my parents live in frankston south so we are near the bay. apparently there was a fire at the power plant in frankston and they had to kill all the power to the surrounding areas until they got it under control.
There was also a fire on the frankston freeway so it was shut outbound (we were coming back from dromana and saw part of it). scary guys!
You guys that live in the areas that were destroyed during black saturday must be so scared!!! Its so dangerous. Tomorrow is going to be 44 and windy before the change comes in, i hope everyone stays safe!

Well julio is fine... my garden on the other hand - burnt to a crisp!
my herb and vegie garden has been singed (the herbs especially). I hope everything grows back!


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

Glad to hear Julio's okay! And wow, power plant fire? Scary.. 

My poor garden's just flat burned. Even a couple of more delicate house plants suffered quite badly in the heat.


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## Kali (Jan 4, 2014)

Gah Aus you're lucky to get the rain, it's still hot and dry down south here. (Im in Frankston). We've had a couple of fires here so the Frankston Fwy is closed, as is part of the train line, and about 20000 homes lost power today. The heat is bad enough with fans and air con, I can't imagine losing power. 

Bit worried about the storm as I have to drive to Bentleigh and back in about an hour. 

As for the fish, I unplugged the heater yesterday, and today the temp in the tank is a steady 29 degrees.


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## Kali (Jan 4, 2014)

Also tomorrows temp has been upped to 44

Sorry Julio, didn't see you'd already posted that


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## Julio1983 (Jan 7, 2013)

We haven't had any rain at all! 
Kali my parents live in frankston  I grew up there!
I don't think is going to rain at all today but hopefully it cools down tonight. I've got Julio's lid half open again today so he can get some air. 
The only good thing about this weather is my washing is drying in record time


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## Kali (Jan 4, 2014)

Yah the storm ended up just being lightning, and tonight's storm is supposed to be the same. Lots of lightning, no rain, very bad news for the fires. 

Love and prayers to anyone who is or has family in fire affected areas. Stay safe and leave early.

Now for a rant and a plea:
Just heard that of the 68 fires burning in Victoria, 14 were deliberately lit. This upsets and angers me so much. While many people no longer remember historic fires such as Ash Wednesday, we all remember the devastation of Black Saturday only 5 years ago. The destruction and death that occurred following fires and a heat wave very similar to this one is in all our minds this week. Knowing that there are people who think it is ok or amusing or cool to light fires under similar conditions, while our fire and emergency services are already stretched thin, including countless volunteers risking their lives for our communities, just leaves me speechless. 
So while I sincerely hope and am sure none of our members here would even consider or condone doing something so senseless, if you do know or see anything suspicious please report it to the police ASAP.


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

+1^ Kali. 

It did rain here last night, we got buckets. Really heavy, but it didn't last very long. At least we got a cool change for a bit. 

Temp dropped 6 deg in about 10 mins just now.. I am hoping for more rain, and some for the rest of Vic, too!


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## Taeanna (Apr 2, 2013)

A good warning for everyone that is in a heatwave zone and worried for their fishies=

There are ways to help them beat the heat without going overboard. Not all of these may be practical for you but keep them in mind if the temps get really unsafe.
1- bathrooms being tiled are often the coolest rooms in the house- popping a glass bottomed tank on the tiles is a good way to diffuse some cool into the water and subtle enough not to cause shock.
2- for those in horrific zones an esky filled with water with your boys tank (or small emergency tank) floating in it is a good option. You can put in fresh water every now and then.
3- Dark is cooler. keep lights and electrical goods off in any room with fish during heat waves (lets face it, what is the heater going to do in this weather?)
4- the good old wet towel. Drape a wet towel over the tank and as it dries it leeches heat from the tank water.

Other options are available. the bathtub instead of an esky for instance. Your three rules are Low, Dark, Wet. So a fish on a high shelf in a sunlit room is far worse off than the fish in a darkened bathroom floor in a wet towel.

A further addition- Don't fight evaporation, it cools the water. Take the lids off if you need to and replace the lost water later.


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## Kali (Jan 4, 2014)

+1^


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## Polkadot (Feb 10, 2013)

Aidy said:


> Hello, from down here in Tassie. We have been lucky with our temperatures down here. It is supposed to be about 25 where I live.
> 
> Adrian


Oh that is just perfect,I wish we had the Tasmanian weather here.I don't like anything higher than 25.


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## Julio1983 (Jan 7, 2013)

Thats some great advice re: keeping our guys at a good temp in the heat!
i found that having the lid off worked quite well for me this time - it brought the temp down slowly... of course i kept an eye on julio - i dont think hes a big jumper but u never know!

how did everyone pull up after the weather anyway?


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## Batmantha (May 27, 2012)

My big tank thankfully has only gone up one degree so no distress there, I have been keeping the lights off though during the day and turning them on at night instead.

My little tank was going up so I took the lid off, put a wet tea towel around the base and also I bought a little mini cooling fan a while back just a little $10 one that clips to the top if the tank and blows on to the water, I have found that's been helping keep it a little more stable


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

I was thankful it was water change time in the middle of the worst of it, though I didn't cool the water too much. Still, it perked the bn's up a lot - my betta was happy as Larry in the heat, lol. Nothing much bothers that fish, though. The Darwin shrimp was funny, as soon as it cooled down it was zooming round the tank like a whirligig, I could almost hear it going 'wheeee!'. 

Thank goodness for the cool change, eh? I've spent most of it just relaxing so far, trying to stay well after that week from Hades. 

Oh - for those of you not familiar with Aquagreen, the NT aquarium company, I highly recommend them. And if you haven't got Darwin algae shrimp - get some! I adore them. They're tough, and large enough to fend bettas off without getting aggressive. They get really friendly, compared to other shrimp and they destroy algae of all kinds. Just so win.. and at $2 ea plus postage, not a bad deal. 

Dave also sells native fish (which are awesome) and lots of other shrimps and snails, as well as tank supplements, plants and plant foods. Lots of native plants as well.

I think his company deserves a plug, as he's a nice man and does fantastic conservation work as well.


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## Lessian (Sep 18, 2013)

Greetings from Ipswich, which is an hour south of Brisbane.
The weather here alternates between scorching hot and pouring down rain, with plenty of sticky humidity in the middle.
My two fishy boys are dealing with the heat well enough thanks to thermodynamic control and plenty of water changes. I leave the lids off to allow them to evaporatively cool as well.

Im looking to get in touch with any brisbane/ipswich breeders of the more exotic colour ranges, so if anyone reading this fits that description, please give me a buzz 
I will certainly be giving fishchick a visit first chance I get as well. have heard nothing but good things about her and her amazing fish.

Also, for any brisbane shoppers, The Stafford aquarium has some amazingly beautiful bettas, but only go there if you plan to do a rescue. I was horrified when I went to vist them today to find a significant portion of their fish had visible signs of disease and infection. the staff said something about aqis regulations prevent them from interfering with the water in any way, but I am extremely skeptical of this. I was almost in tears for some of the beautiful bettas by the time i finally left there.

See ya round the fish bowl :-D


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## Aidy (Nov 12, 2013)

Julio1983 said:


> Thats some great advice re: keeping our guys at a good temp in the heat!
> i found that having the lid off worked quite well for me this time - it brought the temp down slowly... of course i kept an eye on julio - i dont think hes a big jumper but u never know!
> 
> how did everyone pull up after the weather anyway?



If you are worried about him jumping, you could get a lid made from fly screen, that they use on screen doors. I have seen one made for a discus tank on another forum.

Adrian


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

Lessian said:


> the staff said something about aqis regulations prevent them from interfering with the water in any way, but I am extremely skeptical of this.


Hi Lessian, and welcome! Yeah.. that does not sound right to me... AQIS is disallowing them from changing the water? I do not think so.

Why do the shops -do- this? How hard is it to change a pile of tiny cups?? 

It makes me deeply sad, also.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Unless they are still in quarantine (in which I believe they have to spend the time in an actual approved quarantine facility) I don't see how AQIS can dictate whether or not stores change the water in their betta cups.

Also if you live anywhere near Brisbane, you have to check out Fishchick Aquatics. While I haven't been to her store, she hands down supplies the best quality range of bettas (both wild and fancy) in Australia. All my fish from her have been super healthy and based on the videos/pictures I've seen of her store and bettas they certainly aren't treated like second-class citizens.

I just realised you had mentioned Fishchick Aquatics in your post. However, I have purchased dozens of fish through Jodi-Lea and never been disappointed once.


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

Happy Australia Day!!!!!


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## Julio1983 (Jan 7, 2013)

Hope everyone had a great Australia Day! Are all you melbournites ready for another scorcher?


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## Kali (Jan 4, 2014)

Not ready for another scorcher, thank goodness I'm holidaying in Apollo Bay where it's a good 4-5 degrees cooler


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

Sydney aint too bad


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

I've been commando crawling around the garden watering everything right at the roots with the hose and then putting shade-cloth over some of our plants that get fried to a crisp on these sorts of days. 

All I can say is I'm glad that we have air conditioners.


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## Julio1983 (Jan 7, 2013)

Well i must say so far it hasn't been too bad… there was a nice cool change this afternoon, and tomorrow is going to be 25 - then back into the high 30's!
Hope everyones fishys are ok and happy in this crazy weather


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

Rain!!!! we're headed down to eden this weekend for a mini vacation  hoping for good weather <3


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Eden is nice. We used to go up to Tathra all the time for holidays when we were younger. I love that whole area although Merimbula is pretty hectic during peak season. Hope the weather holds out for you.


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## Kali (Jan 4, 2014)

Am about to head to the Cathedral ranges for some outdoor climbing and abseiling, and just found out one of the days will be 38 degrees. Might have to be an indoor day.


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## MrPintoDon (Mar 29, 2014)

Hi all!

I just saw this thread and I thought it was great! I'm Sarah from Sydney (much like OP), and a new betta owner.

Just a question, does anyone here use native aussie plants in their tanks? If so what are they and where would you get them?


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Hi Sarah. I have used Australian native plants in my tanks before. Probably the best source for great quality natives (both plants and fish) is Aquagreen. 

It's a business located up in NT, but they post to other states. 

I've dealt with Dave the owner numerous times and never been disappointed.

Unfortunately, I'm in Melbourne so I can't point you to any actual brick and mortar stores that might stock what you are after.


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

I've found Hydrocotyle Tripartita, Charales and moss in native streams  There's also watercress, which i believe grows above water


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## MrPintoDon (Mar 29, 2014)

Thanks! I'll look into that, so far I've been looking at getting the plants commonly recommended here from aquaria, but I'd really like to add some natives.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

I like hydrilla verticillata. Grows like a weed and is similar in appearance to elodea but thrives in warmer water. 

There are also several varieties of myriophyllum, vallisneria and limnophila that I have seen and kept. 

Australian native plants often are very underrated in the hobby here. Some are just as nice as the foreign imports.


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## jessriggy (Apr 7, 2014)

Hey guys! Melbourne person as well, just recently plunged into bettas (only one, god knows how people keep up with several). Good to know about the natives, im planning on trying to grow some myself when i know enough


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## Polkadot (Feb 10, 2013)

This is very interesting!

http://www.fishingworld.com.au/news/territorians-on-alert-for-feral-fish


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## Polkadot (Feb 10, 2013)

Here is another article about Bettas living in the wild in NT.Sounds like they are getting very established.

http://abovecapricorn.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/siamese-fighting-fish-established-in.html


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## Polkadot (Feb 10, 2013)

I have never been to Brisbane so never got to see Jodi-Lea's little shop in person,and after this week Fishchick will be online only.

http://fishchick.com.au/


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## greyko (Jan 9, 2014)

Polkadot said:


> I have never been to Brisbane so never got to see Jodi-Lea's little shop in person,and after this week Fishchick will be online only.
> 
> http://fishchick.com.au/


I used to pop in there when I had a day off, was sad to see it closed. But I did just buy Cornelius through her website. I had decided a while back that my next fish would be from her. The only downside is not being able to see the fish in person, the videos don't do them justice.

The shop is now Down Stream Aquatics, and you can pick up your purchases from there if you're in Brisbane. 

The new shop still has bettas, but very few caught my eye, these guys are more into Australian natives. But they still have a good range of fish. 

One thing they didn't have which Jodi-Lea used to was shrimp. She had some great looking shrimp there, I was very tempted to make a shrimp tank.


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## Polkadot (Feb 10, 2013)

^

Ah yes I remember seeing your boy on her website as 'Peri Peri',you are right about the video not doing him justice,your photos of him are fantastic,he looks wonderful.

Jodi-Lea has really beautiful bettas for sale.


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