Elvis is in the house

This afternoon we went and bought another Siamese Fighter to replace the one that died last year before Christmas. We also need something to try and keep the baby fish population under control as both the Mollies and Platties are breeding excessively.

He is red in colour with a touch of blue towards his back. Photos to follow later. When L saw him, she fell in love with him and named him Elvis. We hope he will supply us with lots of enjoyment.

Last Post

I have named this post the Last Post for two reasons. The first reason is the Last Post to the Siamese Fighter, who I found dead at the bottom of the tank yesterday morning. As he was one of my favourite fish, he will be missed in the tank, though I guess any baby fish will not as they now have a chance to survive and not become a fast food snack for him. I will be replacing him next year.

The second reason is that this will be the Last Post of the year. It has been an interesting year with setting up the tank, acquiring the fish and plants, dealing with the few problems that have arisen and the general upkeep of the tank.

Thanks to all of you who follow the blog. Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Babies Update

We now have 6 baby Platties in the breeding trap and there are still 7 swimming around the tank. I have decided not to try and catch every one of the babies, as the tank is starting to get full, so I have decided to let nature take its course. Seems nature is already having an effect and the Siamese fighter is not well and appears to have Dropsy. I cannot tell if it is from eating all the baby fish or from some infection.

Out With The Old, In With The New

While L was feeding the fish this morning, she noticed a few new babies swimming around the bottom. When I got home tonight, I was able to catch 3 of the 4 that I saw. They look different to the baby Mollies, and I suspect they are Platties. So I had to fish out the breeding trap which had just been put away. Luckily I am acquiring new fish without paying a penny :-)

Two of the three waiting to go into the breeding trap

By the look of the Siamese Fighter's stomach, someone has had their Xmas dinner early

Bigger Babies

Since my last post, the babies have grown considerably. Some are bigger than others. Not sure if this indicates sex, as I have noticed that the female adults are bigger than the males, or the bigger ones are those that are just quicker at getting the food. I am thinking of releasing the babies into the tank in a week or two, as the breeding trap is starting to get a bit crowded and the baby Mollies are nearly as big as the smallest Cardinal Tetra.

7 of the 8 wanting their food

Siamese Fighter watching his meal get bigger

Mom sucking the babies food through the gaps

Legacy

It appears that the black male Molly left his legacy behind before he died, as we noticed two baby Mollies swimming around in the tank. They appear much braver than the last baby the speckled Molly dropped, as they are swimming out in the open and eating off the plants. So far the Siamese Fighter has not found or noticed them and the other fish appear to be ignoring them as well. Lets hope they survive longer than the last one. So there has been lots of activity in the tank this last week.

Tank Update

The new plants I planted last week are settling in ok and the fish are enjoying the change of scenery. The Cryptocoryne wendtii is already sending up new leaves from the gravel. Four of the five plants were planted on the left hand side of the tank and the fifth on the right.

The new tank layout

New plants on the left

The pictures below were taken by my best man who was visiting this weekend. He is used to taking photos of objects that only move when they tick and thought he would give live moving objects ago. You can check out his ticking objects here. Thanks for the great photos!

Two mollies

Siamese Fighter and Molly

Posing Siamese Fighter

Baby No More

The last few days I have noticed that the Siamese fighter has not been hanging around the bogwood, hunting for the baby Molly. I have also not seen the baby hanging under the bogwood and after a few checks with the torch, I have come to the conclusion that the Siamese fighter has had his take away meal. Pity as I was hoping the Molly would mature to an adult.

Baby Is Back

Guess who I found today? One baby Molly hiding under the bogwood, trying to avoid the Siamese Fighter who is keeping an eye out for a quick snack. I happened to notice that the Siamese was hanging around the bogwood with a very keen interest in what was there. He reminded me a bit of how a cat stalks its prey. He was just floating very still by the bogwood, staring at one location. Then suddenly I saw the baby Molly swim out and the Siamese darted forward trying to catch it, but luckily for the baby Molly the Siamese was too slow, this time.

I thought about catching the baby and placing it in the filter box until it is a bit bigger, but because it is hiding in the crevices of the bogwood, it might be difficult to get to it, so I have decided to let nature take its course.

Fish Update

It appears that the last remaining Guppy is back to his old self. He is once again swimming around with the other fish. I suspect that the heat wave we had caused the tank temperature to rise, which might have affected him. He was swimming at the bottom of the tank where the water was cooler and not swimming around too much. I am just glad that so far he has survived.

My solution that I used in the "And They Call Him Houdini" blog to keep the Siamese Fighter out of the filter appears to be working. He often snoops around the pipe and plant container to see if he can find a way in, but so far I am winning.

And They Call Him Houdini

L and I have just had a big shock. We just sat down to eat dinner and looked over to the tank and I noticed that the Siamese Fighter was missing. Oh, we thought, he is just hiding somewhere beneath the bogwood or amongst the plants. 5 minutes later and still no sign of him, we started to panic. Our dinner got pushed to the side and we started hunting high and low for him. Could not find him anywhere, I even checked the cross beams, thinking he might have tried to jump out of the tank and landed on one of them. Still no Siamese Fighter. L suggested that maybe he could be in the filter box. I opened the lid and looked in and could not see him, and then low and behold, there he swam into view. One quick net catch later and he was back into the tank.

Now the interesting bit, I am not sure how he got in there! There are no large holes into the filter for him to swim through. The only place we can think of is the gap between the pipe that creates the current and the filter wall. We will have to keep a close eye him to make sure that this does not become a regular occurrence, else I will have to look at ways of bocking the gap.

This is the back between the pipe and the wall. In the time it took me to write the above bit, he went and did it again and got himself into the filter. So I had to come up with a quick solution to stop him getting in again. I took an old plastic plant container that I had kept and cut the bottom off and wedged it over the pipe, blocking the gap. I hope this will work, though it looks awful. Let see if Houdini can get inside now.

Siamese Fighter Fact Sheet

Here is a fact sheet of the Siamese Fighter

Scientific Name	Betta splendens
Family	Osphronemidae, suborder Belontiinae
Common Names	Siamese Fighter, Betta
Origin	Thailand and Cambodia
Adult Size	6cm
Social	Peaceful, suitable for community tanks, though Bettas can be very aggressive towards long-finned fish
Lifespan	2 - 3 years
Diet	Live foods are the ideal diet, but eats most foods
Breeding	Egglayer - bubblenest
pH	6.8 - 7.4
Hardness	up to 20 dGH
Temperature	24 - 28 C

The King And His Entourage Have Arrived

Today L and I went to our local fish shop to see what they might have and we came home with a Siamese Fighter (Betta splendens) and six Cardinal Tetra (Paracheirodon axelrodi), or as I have named them, the King and his entourage. When we bought them they all happened to be in the same tank and Siamese Fighter has the same colouring as the Cardinal Tetras (both have red, white and blue in them)

They appear to be settling in OK. Everyone is busy sorting out the pecking order. The Danios are taking nips at the Siamese Fighter, who either ignores them or just swims away. What is funny is the fact that the remaining Guppy is chasing the Siamese Fighter around and harassing him. It appears the Guppy is quite the bully. I suspect the Guppy is not happy that the Siamese Fighter gets to stay in the penthouse.

Siamese Fighter

Cardinal Tetra