ash wrote:
hi everybody
thank you all for your replies. well this is what i did . . . it may
not be elegant and we probably threw out of the window everything we
have read up on the internet and newsgroups.
the LFS guy convinced my brother to take home some swordtails. so we
have put in 2 red/orange color swordtails, about 1 inch ones.
we also put the bowl in front of a mirror, although i am not too sure
whether the betta is looking at itself in it.
the setup is only 1 day old, the report upto now is that the betta is
not showing any aggression towards the little ones, the swordtails on
the other hand may be hasseling the betta, they sometimes swim next to
the betta and the betta scoots away.
the swordtails seem to be eating well, the betta is not eating even if
the food is right in front of it (i cannot be sure whether it has
anything to to with the food we are putting in the bowl, it is chinese
food pellets, the floating variety).
the betta's activity level does seem to have gone up a little. it is
still blowing bubbles.
let us see how this shapes us. one thing for sure i cannot have the
swordtails for too long, i.e. once they are upto 2 inch long i will
have to return them maybe... what do you folks think?
thanks
ash
Sounds good so far. A bubblenest is a good sign. Watch the bettas fins
to be sure they aren't being nipped at at all.
I don't know whether you have any filter in your bowl. To keep the
betta and grown swordtails, you will need a biofilter of some sort. I'd
recommend a small air-driven sponge filter since it won't agitate the
water too much for the betta. You can conceal it with silk plants, or
live ones if the bowl gets sunlight. Avoid plastic plants as the betta
will tear his fins on them.
As long as you have a filter, don't overfeed, and change water once or
twice a week, you might be able to keep the betta and swordtails even
when they're grown. You can tell how the water is doing with a nitrate
test kit. If the nitrates keep going up and up, you have too many fish
and/or are not changing enough water. If your nitrates stay steady,
then you're doing just fine.
--
__ Elaine T __
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