painted gravel in a fish bowl
maker_of_the_dreams
I am a newbie fish owner (read 2 days), and yesterday I bought a plant
and gravel from petsmart. Now, the gravel came in a fancy bag and is
coated with black paint (?) and it smells of paint. Does this harm the
fish?? Do fish have a sense of smell??
blove
kind of fish are you putting in it?
"maker_of_the_dreams" <sanjeev...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:276781b9.04081...@posting.google.com...
maker_of_the_dreams
the water. Went to a reputable fish store adn bought some flourite.
Since then the fish seems to be happy, is active and eating
properly...
thanks
"blove" <bl...@twcny.rr.com> wrote in message news:<l%9Vc.156257$bp1.1...@twister.nyroc.rr.com>...
blove
"maker_of_the_dreams" <sanjeev...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:276781b9.04082...@posting.google.com...
maker_of_the_dreams
coated stones from the bowl (1/2 gallon), both the plant and the fish
seem to be doing rather good. The fish is pretty active and eats
properly. Now I have a question regarding the fish eating behavior. I
have been feeding my fish the Hikari Betta Bio Gold floating pellets
that I got from petsmart. The fish seems to like the food (no
spitting, in fact gobbles up it as soon as I put it in the bowl). The
directions on the packet say feed no more than 2-3 pallets 2-3 times a
day. What I find is that the fish wil keep on eating as long as I keep
feeding it, I never tried extremes, but at one time, it ate 6 pellets
continuously when I stopped giving it any more pellets. I hear that
fish can die from overfeeding. Often this statement is conjuncted with
statements like "excess food can rot, increase ammonia, nitrate etc
in the aquarium" and this can cause the fish to die. But in my case
the fish keeps on eating the food and I give my fish the next pellet
only when it has eaten the previous pellet. Should I keep on feeding
until it stops eating or should I just go with the directions?
-sanjeev
"blove" <bl...@twcny.rr.com> wrote in message news:<VozVc.160466$bp1....@twister.nyroc.rr.com>...
blove
and hafta buy more. i give my bettas 4-5 pellets once a day and i dont feed
them at all on sundays so their systems can rest. I also give them a
variety, i give them tetra bettamin, hikari bio gold, frozen brine shrimp,
fozen blood worms, live brine shrimp, live misquito larvae and this new food
i found Omega One Betta Buffet. the Omega One has whole salmon, cod, whole
herring, seafood mix (krill, shrimp, squid, clams, salmon eggs)Wheat Flour,
Wheat Gluten. since bettas need a high protein diet, i find the omega one
better then the other foods. even tho its flakes, all my bettas eat it.
IDzine01
problems including bloating, constipation and swim bladder disorders.
The general rule of thumb is a betta's stomach is as big as one of his
eyeballs and shouldn't be fed more then that amount at a time. A full
grown adult male usually should eat about 2 pellets at a feeding once
or twice a day or even better yet 3 or so blood worms instead. Pellet
food, though commonly sold in fish stores, does not closely resemble a
bettas natural diet. Pellet and flake food contain mostly fillers
indigestible to bettas and while they are fortified with some
vitamins, they tend to dissipate quickly. [about 1-2 months after
opening] A much healthier choice is live or frozen foods such as
bloodworms, blackworms, whiteworms, glassworms, grindal worms, mysis
shrimp, beefheart, tubifex worms [frozen only], baby brine shrimp [on
occasion due to it's high fat content], or wingless or flightless
fruit-flies. All these are excellent choices and offer the best diet
when varied throughout the week. If you insist on feeding only pellet
foods to your betta it's strongly recommended to soak the pellets in
conditioned water [from the tank] for about 10 minutes before offering
them to your fish. Soaking the pellets allows them to expand to their
true size [sometimes 2 or 3x the original] before they enter the
bettas digestive track. Their digestive tracks are designed for
insects which have a very high moisture content. Since the pellets are
only 10% moisture they expand very quickly causing blockage or other
problems.
Just a note, if you plan to purchase frozen foods for your betta don't
confuse them with freeze-dried which you will also find at most LFS.
Freeze-dried fish food is also very low in moisture and can cause
similar problems as flake and pellet foods. Additionally, the Bio-Gold
which you chose is probably the best of the pellet foods offered
because they are naturally small and don't expand as much as some of
the other products. [they should still be soaked before feeding
though]
One last thing. I also wanted to tell you about the Betta Bowl myth
incase your local fish store did not [which they usually don't.]
Despite popular belief a small unheated bowl is not a safe or
preferred home for a betta. They require a minimum of 1GAL and most
betta keepers will tell you 2.5 gal or larger is best. The tanks must
be heated to about 78* F although 75*-80* is fine as long as it's
stable. It really is best to keep them in a cycled tank because they
are extremely sensitive to ammonia or nitrite poisoning. Their tanks
should have 0 ammonia at all times. The tank doesn't have to be cycled
but it can be a lot of work keeping all ammonia out of the bowl. I
tell you this because when I first started I lost several bettas to
health problems perpetuated by myths I learned from the PetCo I bought
them from. It took me months to seek out fish keepers specifically
knowledgeable in betta keeping.
Best of luck.
"blove" <bl...@twcny.rr.com> wrote in message news:<os7Xc.47244$Kt5....@twister.nyroc.rr.com>...
maker_of_the_dreams
> Bettas are very sensitive to overfeeding. It can cause several
> problems including bloating, constipation and swim bladder disorders.
> The general rule of thumb is a betta's stomach is as big as one of his
> eyeballs and shouldn't be fed more then that amount at a time. A full
> grown adult male usually should eat about 2 pellets at a feeding once
> or twice a day or even better yet 3 or so blood worms instead. Pellet
> food, though commonly sold in fish stores, does not closely resemble a
> bettas natural diet. Pellet and flake food contain mostly fillers
> indigestible to bettas and while they are fortified with some
> vitamins, they tend to dissipate quickly. [about 1-2 months after
> opening]
Ok, I agree, I have decreased feeding the betta. Only 2-3 pellets a
day now for the betta. Still it seems that the betta keeps waiting for
more food after its 2-3 pellets are over. Anyway, sorry Mr. Betta, it
is for your own good.
>A much healthier choice is live or frozen foods such as
> bloodworms, blackworms, whiteworms, glassworms, grindal worms, mysis
> shrimp, beefheart, tubifex worms [frozen only], baby brine shrimp [on
> occasion due to it's high fat content], or wingless or flightless
> fruit-flies. All these are excellent choices and offer the best diet
> when varied throughout the week. If you insist on feeding only pellet
> foods to your betta it's strongly recommended to soak the pellets in
> conditioned water [from the tank] for about 10 minutes before offering
> them to your fish. Soaking the pellets allows them to expand to their
> true size [sometimes 2 or 3x the original] before they enter the
> bettas digestive track. Their digestive tracks are designed for
> insects which have a very high moisture content. Since the pellets are
> only 10% moisture they expand very quickly causing blockage or other
> problems.
>
I think I should do that. Though since I had the betta for about 2
weeks now, I did not get any other food. Guess I should get some
variety of food.
> Just a note, if you plan to purchase frozen foods for your betta don't
> confuse them with freeze-dried which you will also find at most LFS.
> Freeze-dried fish food is also very low in moisture and can cause
> similar problems as flake and pellet foods. Additionally, the Bio-Gold
> which you chose is probably the best of the pellet foods offered
> because they are naturally small and don't expand as much as some of
> the other products. [they should still be soaked before feeding
> though]
>
> One last thing. I also wanted to tell you about the Betta Bowl myth
> incase your local fish store did not [which they usually don't.]
> Despite popular belief a small unheated bowl is not a safe or
> preferred home for a betta. They require a minimum of 1GAL and most
> betta keepers will tell you 2.5 gal or larger is best. The tanks must
> be heated to about 78* F although 75*-80* is fine as long as it's
> stable. It really is best to keep them in a cycled tank because they
> are extremely sensitive to ammonia or nitrite poisoning. Their tanks
> should have 0 ammonia at all times. The tank doesn't have to be cycled
> but it can be a lot of work keeping all ammonia out of the bowl. I
> tell you this because when I first started I lost several bettas to
> health problems perpetuated by myths I learned from the PetCo I bought
> them from. It took me months to seek out fish keepers specifically
> knowledgeable in betta keeping.
I realized that after reading many discussions online. My 1/2 gallon
tank seems woefully small and I am thinking of getting a two gallon
one, but I cannot find a two gallon tank in the shape that I want. If
I don't find one soon, I will settle for a one gallon tank. Providing
the heating seems difficult though because the bowl is in my office.
We regulate the temperature to be about 74-78 and the betta seems to
be doing fine, so I think I will take the chances.
>
> Best of luck.
>
Thanks a lot. Seeing my betta, a labmate has gotten into the groove as
well and is buying an aquarium ;) Go fish,go!