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Okay, I know this is an old post, but I wanted to explain a few things.
First of all, the reason I was so stressed out about this buy was that I usually only buy things if I already have them on my shopping list. I don't usually make impulse buys, so when I did, I was afraid that I had made the biggest mistake any aquarist could: getting fish without being ready for them. After sitting back and looking at what I had and my plans for my fish, I realized that although I did go overboard, I wasn't overwhelmed like I thought.
Here's what I ended up doing with the fish: 2 platies and 1 male Betta died in quarantine, so I took them back to the store for a refund (not replacement). I returned the female Betta and another one of the males. I bought two different male Bettas for breeding (a copper crowntail and a blue marble/butterfly crowntail- both unusual colors worth breeding, IMO). Now I have five Bettas total: two breeding males, one non-breeding male, and two females which I have had for about a year now.
The Bettas were separated from day one. I have the two new Bettas in a divided 2.5g tank and the other Betta in a divided 10g. I have my two female Bettas in another divided 2.5g tank. I am well aware of the requirements for breeding Bettas. The males are too small to breed with the females at the moment, so they will be allowed to grow for the next couple of months while I work on the rest of my tanks.
Which brings me to the fate of the platies: there are five left, all in a 10g. I haven’t seen any fry yet, but I have no problem culling fry if there are too many. When they do come, I have several fry tanks that just need to be washed out for them. Since these are pet store platies that were kept in tanks with males, I assume they are already pregnant and I don’t need to buy any males.
The work I need to do on my tanks includes painting a DIY stand (which will hold two 10g tanks), setting up a store bought stand (another two 10gs), buying clay for MTS (the soil is already conditioned), mixing up CO2, and buying plants for all my tanks. As you can see, although there are several things on my to-do list, there isn’t so much that I can’t handle these new fish.
After the 10g tanks are done, I plan to start working on my 55g tank (dry right now) and breeding the Bettas.
Bettas were the fish that introduced me to aquariums and I have always wanted to breed them. I am very familiar with their genetics and I intend to start by breeding the copper crowntail to my royal blue female, which should produce a 50/50 mix of copper and royal blue mask. If I can breed these pet store Bettas successfully, I may try some more expensive ones. I’m sure not going to spend $100 on a pair of show Bettas just to end up with one failed spawn after another.
I know I was worried and stressed out when I first bought all these fish, but now that I’ve thought through what I will do with them, I feel much more comfortable with my decision. Thanks everyone for your help and for enduring my raving.
First of all, the reason I was so stressed out about this buy was that I usually only buy things if I already have them on my shopping list. I don't usually make impulse buys, so when I did, I was afraid that I had made the biggest mistake any aquarist could: getting fish without being ready for them. After sitting back and looking at what I had and my plans for my fish, I realized that although I did go overboard, I wasn't overwhelmed like I thought.
Here's what I ended up doing with the fish: 2 platies and 1 male Betta died in quarantine, so I took them back to the store for a refund (not replacement). I returned the female Betta and another one of the males. I bought two different male Bettas for breeding (a copper crowntail and a blue marble/butterfly crowntail- both unusual colors worth breeding, IMO). Now I have five Bettas total: two breeding males, one non-breeding male, and two females which I have had for about a year now.
The Bettas were separated from day one. I have the two new Bettas in a divided 2.5g tank and the other Betta in a divided 10g. I have my two female Bettas in another divided 2.5g tank. I am well aware of the requirements for breeding Bettas. The males are too small to breed with the females at the moment, so they will be allowed to grow for the next couple of months while I work on the rest of my tanks.
Which brings me to the fate of the platies: there are five left, all in a 10g. I haven’t seen any fry yet, but I have no problem culling fry if there are too many. When they do come, I have several fry tanks that just need to be washed out for them. Since these are pet store platies that were kept in tanks with males, I assume they are already pregnant and I don’t need to buy any males.
The work I need to do on my tanks includes painting a DIY stand (which will hold two 10g tanks), setting up a store bought stand (another two 10gs), buying clay for MTS (the soil is already conditioned), mixing up CO2, and buying plants for all my tanks. As you can see, although there are several things on my to-do list, there isn’t so much that I can’t handle these new fish.
After the 10g tanks are done, I plan to start working on my 55g tank (dry right now) and breeding the Bettas.
The reason I want to breed is twofold: first, I would like to do research on platy genetics, and second, I would like to have some experience breeding egg layers (Bettas). As far as I know, platy genetics are not as well known as guppy or Betta genetics, so I would like to do some research of my own on them. I have already created a strain of guppies and they’re only one or two generations from being fixed, so I wanted to move on to platies.
Bettas were the fish that introduced me to aquariums and I have always wanted to breed them. I am very familiar with their genetics and I intend to start by breeding the copper crowntail to my royal blue female, which should produce a 50/50 mix of copper and royal blue mask. If I can breed these pet store Bettas successfully, I may try some more expensive ones. I’m sure not going to spend $100 on a pair of show Bettas just to end up with one failed spawn after another.
I know I was worried and stressed out when I first bought all these fish, but now that I’ve thought through what I will do with them, I feel much more comfortable with my decision. Thanks everyone for your help and for enduring my raving.
