[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by Dr ST

Dear all,
With profound grief, I would like to inform you all about the sudden demise of Red (Betta fish). As his name suggests he was a real fighter. He is survived by his friends Mr White (giant gourami), Meg, Mobydik (oranda goldfish), Goldy and Goldfinger (goldfish).

My sympathies. Beautiful fish.

Did you keep it in a separate aquarium or with the other fish you mentioned. Is it compatible with other fish.

All,

My wife has granted me permission for a one in number small tank admeasuring 24"x 15" x 15" with pump, gravel etc. I'm wondering what to keep in there. My main tank is full of chiclids of all kinds and I'd like the smaller one to be different. I'd like to have a few beautiful fish rather than several small ones. Please can I have your suggestions. This forum has some real experts whose inputs I greatly value. @deathwalker will be delighted to learn that I will at long last be abandoning my fish bowls. They are being bartered with my better half who will convert them into terrariums. And they lived happily ever after....



Dear Dr ST, forgive me for posting my comment on your post in this Fish Aquarium thread. I want the fish lovers to all see your beautiful fish.

Originally Posted by Dr ST

Dear all,
With profound grief, I would like to inform you all about the sudden demise of Red (Betta fish). As his name suggests he was a real fighter. He is survived by his friends Mr White (giant gourami), Meg, Mobydik (oranda goldfish), Goldy and Goldfinger (goldfish).

Thank you, Red for bringing happiness to our lives. He is buried in our balcony garden. Rest in peace, dear Red. Sleep well. Will meet you in another life.

[Jaguar]

Bangalore folks, have you seen bettas sold in supermarkets? I am seeing it in a couple of nearby shops. Very sad to see them kept in small bottles at the checkout counter. Being a supermarket, I am sure they won't be performing water changes or any maintenance. The fish themselves appear lifeless. Very sad and not sure whom to complain to.

[Dr ST]

Dear Narayan Sir,
Thank you for your kind words. Red was kept alone in his tank. The tank was reasonably big with aquatic plants and an air filter. Goldfishes are kept in a separate tank. Mr White lives alone in his tank after he lost his partner some time ago. Betta males don't mingle with other fishes, whereas Betta females live a reasonably social life. They can be kept as a couple with no guarantee of peace in the tank. All our tanks are reasonably sized with adequate filtration and water changes. Water is treated with anti-chlorine agents. Antibiotics and methylene blue are used as required. Aquarium salts are added during a water change.

I would like to suggest a Betta fish for your small tank. Please make sure that you buy a young one.
Please find the pictures attached.
1) Goldfishes
2) Mr White with his Titanic

Regards

[Dr ST]

Originally Posted by Jaguar

Bangalore folks, have you seen bettas sold in supermarkets? I am seeing it in a couple of nearby shops. Very sad to see them kept in small bottles at the checkout counter. Being a supermarket, I am sure they won't be performing water changes or any maintenance. The fish themselves appear lifeless. Very sad and not sure whom to complain to.

Dear Jaguar,
Betta fishes are one of the most tortured creatures in the world. They are artificially procreated, and fed on highly animal-sourced diets which makes them grow big. That enables them to be sold quickly but at the cost of their health and life span. The average life span is 2 -7 years, but we hardly get that in real life. They are kept in the smallest possible containers. We don’t do justice to those poor beautiful creatures.

Regards

[deathwalkr]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

My wife has granted me permission for a one in number small tank admeasuring 24"x 15" x 15"

Congratulations on getting approval from the home ministry for a new tank

My thoughts are on a planted setup with a betta, or if you have the time, a paludarium. It's a crazy adventure getting it done and it's on my wishlist for the future. Check out the exxo tanks on amazon.

Lovely to hear the bowls are becoming terrariums.

Originally Posted by Jaguar

Bangalore folks, have you seen bettas sold in supermarkets?

It's everywhere. Very sad to see and people buy it and keep it like that itself in their house. Really distressing stuff.

Originally Posted by Dr ST

2) Mr White with his Titanic

Regards

What size tank is Mr White in?

[Dr ST]

Dear deathwalkr,
Mr White was bought with his pair 5 months ago. He was approximately 5-6 cm at that time. I moved them into an approximately 60 litres tank which is very small for him. Now Mr White is 15 cm long. The goldfishes are in a 120-litre tank. Even though they are reasonably sized, they are not adequate for long-term needs. Both tanks need a massive upgrade in volume. My son is very naughty and throws different stuff inside the aquarium. It may be difficult to change the whole water in case he throws colours inside them. So, I have held on to the plan for upgrading as of now. I am forced to do it and I feel really bad for it. I added a sponge filter in addition to the top filter. I clean the filters every week and add Microlife solution. Goldfish have 3 filters. I feed less, only what they can take in a minute, two to three times a day and remove the rest. I change 30 % water every week. I plan to do massive upgrades in volume. Waiting for your expert suggestions.


Regards

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

Congratulations on getting approval from the home ministry for a new tank

Can I Betta live in a large bowl (15 inch dia.) where 1/3 of the water is changed every alternate day?

[Dr ST]

Dear Narayan Sir,
Thank you for redirecting me to the aquarium-specific page. I was not aware of it. Coming to your question:

1) Bowls tend to be more brittle
2) For the same volume of water the depth is more for a bowl than a tank. Betta fish prefers shallow water
3) Filters are fitted more comfortably in a tank
4) More area for aquascaping in a tank
5) More area for gas exchange for a given volume in tank

So if you are aiming long term, I would suggest a small tank. Our Gauramis were sold to my wife in a bowl. It broke during a water change. This is just my experience and inference. Would love to hear from the real experts.

Regards

[deathwalkr]

Originally Posted by Dr ST

Dear deathwalkr,
Mr White was bought with his pair 5 months ago. He was approximately 5-6 cm at that time. I moved them into an approximately 60 litres tank which is very small for him.

Mr White is a Giant Gourami and it's aptly named. It grows long and wide and is a true monster of a fish. It ideally belongs in large ponds where it can grow to it's potential and swim around comfortably.

It can reach 16-18" easily and in wild it can grow beyond 24" in length.

So you will need a real monster of a tank for it to be comfortable in.

I am thinking of a 6ftx3ftx2ft tank

A monster tank for a lovely monster fish.

I had kept my hobby on pause for the same reason you have mentioned. My son was also doing similar things. Now he's 6 and loves fishes so no issues.

He now wants a turtle tank! Sorry i digress.

Do 50% water change a week, if you have bio media in your filters rinse them with tank water and not new water.

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Can I Betta live in a large bowl (15 inch dia.) where 1/3 of the water is changed every alternate day?

Bettas can live in a little packet of water! But that's not the issue now is it?

And water changes that frequent will only stress the fish.

Originally Posted by Dr ST

1) Bowls tend to be more brittle
2) For the same volume of water the depth is more for a bowl than a tank. Betta fish prefers shallow water
3) Filters are fitted more comfortably in a tank
4) More area for aquascaping in a tank
5) More area for gas exchange for a given volume in tank

All valid points. Adding on that, the heavy curvature of bowls leads to fishes getting a distorted view and apparently they don't like that (No clue, am no fish!)

[V.Narayan]

^^^^^
Thank you @deathwalker. So the final consensus is to go for a small 35 litre tank fully fitted housing one Siamese Fighting fish. I am following in Dr ST's footsteps. A single fish in a tank becomes a pet! :-) Spoke to my aquarium maker - 15" or 18" long, 12"wide, 12" in height. Thank you @deathwalker and @Dr ST for your inputs and the trouble taken. The whole process may take a month. will post photos. It will be placed where I sit and work all day when I am in WFH mode. It has good sunlight and total darkness in the night as it is not a bedroom.

[deathwalkr]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

^^^^^
Thank you @deathwalker. So the final consensus is to go for a small 35 litre tank fully fitted housing one Siamese Fighting fish. I am following in Dr ST's footsteps. A single fish in a tank becomes a pet!

Spend some time on YouTube looking at Betta tank setups and either be inspired enough to attempt a nice setup you like or pay the dude and get him to do it

Oh and please do post some recent pics of your cichlid haven

[yosbert]

I recently bought a betta fish from one of the supermarkets mentioned in the posts above. I casually came to this thread looking for some advice on its upkeep and maintenance.
But reading the last few pages have been an eye-opener for me and I am perhaps guilty of many of the mispractices associated with uninformed owners. However I do intend to correct this and would be grateful for pointers to resources both online or offline where I can read up on fish-keeping as well as landscaping. Of course pages of this thread are by themselves very informative but I am not sure I understand many of the terms being used and would perhaps require a beginner's guide.
Thanks in advance.

[m8002?]

Originally Posted by yosbert

I recently bought a betta fish from one of the supermarkets mentioned in the posts above. I casually came to this thread looking for some advice on its upkeep and maintenance.
But reading the last few pages have been an eye-opener for me and I am perhaps guilty of many of the mispractices associated with uninformed owners. However I do intend to correct this and would be grateful for pointers to resources both online or offline where I can read up on fish-keeping as well as landscaping. Of course pages of this thread are by themselves very informative but I am not sure I understand many of the terms being used and would perhaps require a beginner's guide.
Thanks in advance.

https://indianaquariumhobbyist.in/forums/index.php

That is the team-bhp of aquariums. You will find everything in detail there. I am not sure how active the forum is these days.

[Dr ST]

Dear deathwalker,

Thank you for your suggestions. Mr White is excited about the proposed tank size. Goldies are demanding equality and justice. It means I have to plan a money heist to buy two big tanks. It is inevitable as the present tanks will turn small in the future.

Regards

[Dr ST]

Originally Posted by yosbert

I recently bought a betta fish from one of the supermarkets mentioned in the posts above.....

Dear yosbert,

Please go through the YouTube channel named KGTropicals. I found them to be useful. Please don't feed too much of pellets to Betta fish. The high protein content in them may result in renal failure. Hope it helps.

Regards