Ren's WILDlife

[Myia09]

I love the last photo of Grassman. So adorable. He looks like he is so happy.
Glad to see your rat snake is doing well also.

Well, three of my bettas are housed in 3 gallons, but one is in a 1.5

So it looks like I will be upgrading. Do you know of any cheaper 5 gallons? The only ones I can think of are of Biowheels; and I have always heard they are bad for bettas also.

Tiresias is beautiful, but I feel so bad for her! (And you!)

And I hate to pester you Ren, but I also had a budgie question. I was going to switch my budgies to TOP, but after her cagemate died (they were recsues, 4+ years each) I didn't want to stress her out..they (I got her another partner after noticing her behavior) still don't eat vegatables..at all. I got lucky once.

I am surprised they even eat their pellets..which right now is Zupreem. I have to leave (Its a mix w/ seeds) for a couple days to make sure they eat the pellets too. Well long story short, I waited to make the switch until I could see if they would eat vegtables.

Well, I just don't think they will anytime soon, so I want to make the switch. Should I be feeding them the spouted, or just the dry? Do you have any reconmendations?

 

[RandomWiktor]

Biowheel tanks aren't bad for bettas IF you create a baffle to reduce current. You can place the baffle over the output, or you can put aquarium filter floss over the intake; both work.

But, you have a lot of options. Here's some ideas:
- If you don't mind keeping your fish in bins, bins make an awesome, cheap alternative to glass aquariums
- Cheap aquariums are routinely available second hand on Craigslist, Kijiji, Hoobly, etc.
- A 10g tank with a home-made divider is cheaper and takes up less space than two 5g aquariums
- A 5g AGA aquarium with a cheap filter/heater and home-made canopy is cheaper than an Eclipse system
- The Tetra 5g starter kit or Mini-Bow 5 at WalMart is cheaper than the same products at Petco/Petsmart and much cheaper than the Eclipse systems sold in the same store.

Personally, I think your most cost effective, space efficient compromise between good viewing, attractiveness, and space would be buying two 10g Tetra kits (come with hood and filter) at Walmart or another cheap suppliers and dividing them for your four bettas. Home made dividers are reccomended as store bought dividers are overpriced and easy for bettas to jump. If your apartment is sufficiently warm and if it maintains a fairly stable temperature, you may not even need a heater - but if you do, buying two heaters will be much cheaper than buying four. Obviously running two filters and two heaters vs four of each will also help your electric bill.

Budgies can be notoriously pig-headed about converting to new foods. One thing I've found works is taking a bit of a "tough love" approach. Most birds likeone big mealin the morning and one big mealat night, "picking" throughout the day. So in the morning, I mix a small ammount of their preferred food - for example, the Zupreme pellets - with "budgie chop" which is a finely chopped mixture of greens, veggies, fruits, legumes, grains, and new pellets. In order to get the food they want they have to dig through the rest, and typically can't eat their preferred item without picking up some of the chop as well. Once forced to get their beaks around the stuff, they tend to get over their preference to avoid new sights/textures/tastes of novel food items. However, because budgies can suffer serious health consequences if they don't get an adequate caloric intake in the course of the day, I then offer their preferred food in the PM, and only gradually begin mixing more and more of the new food into that mix. This method has worked for all of my birds, but you really do have to be very careful. If your budgie is tame enough, investing in a scale with a perch on it so you can weigh him/her every couple of days might be a good idea.

Also: feeding some seed is both fine and reccomended, but sprouting a portion of those seeds is definitely beneficial, so if they'll eat it, it's a good idea. It might even serve as a "gateway" to some new food ideams, who knows!

 

[Dragonrain]

Have you ever used large bins for tanks?

I've been thinking a lot about upgrading my tanks and was thinking about using plastic bins since they're so much cheaper than large tanks, but I would need really large ones - like I'm thinking at least 50 or 60 gallons. I was reading about it online and a lot of people said that that much water warps the sides and breaks the bin, and something about toxins in the plastic leeching into the water. I need to avoid leaks at all costs. 60 gallons of water leaking into my apartment would not be pretty, since when my betta's 10 gallon leaked the water went through the ceiling and caused my landlord to have to replace a lot of the ceiling of the apartment below us.

Is there a certain kind/brand that works better or is it just better, at that size, to get an actual tank?

 

[RandomWiktor]

For large volumes, you can either double-bin, though there's still some warping, or MY preference: use a stock tank! My 300g stock tank didn't even cost $200 (and I now see them second hand all the time for $100 and under grrrr); an aquarium of that price would have been ridiculously costly. I have stock tanks between 40 and 300g and I LOVE them. I do suggest going with the ones that are heavy rubber instead of rigid plastic-y stuff though, as despite their claims of being virtually "bomb proof," I had the later spontaneously crack and leak all over my basement (grrr). I have 40 and 110g "rubber" style stock tanks right now and they're just the bee's knees. Very sturdy, no leaking, good viewing from above, nice footprint, etc.

ETA: FTR, the whole "toxic leeching" is based more on scare tactics then actual scientific evidence. It IS true that trace levels oftoxins do leech from virtually all plastics. However, there are no studies indicating that this leeching is significant enough to cause mortality or serious health complications for captive fish. Many captive fish breeding facilities use large plastic stock tanks, tanks with plastic liners, etc. and many research facilities use plastic containers as well, with no recorded ill effect on the fish.

 

[Myia09]

Well, I have a 10 gallon on hand, but no hood.
How do you make tank dividers?

 

[Daenerys]

I bought a tank divider at Petsmart, its a plastic screen with holes in it, I'd compare it to mesh but made of more sturdy plastic. We use it for when our guppies have babies so they're not all eaten by the adults.

And thanks a bunch for that information, Ren! It was very helpful. I got my betta as a gift from my parents when I went to college cause I was upset about the no pets rule, and I have my betta in a 1.5 gallon bowl they gave me (which is much more space than any of the special betta tanks I've seen at Petsmart) and I don't really have the space to upgrade him to a 5 gallon until August, but I've wanted to get him a nicer tank with more plants (he has a tiny one that he does hide in sometimes).

 

[Myia09]

I have 3 of those dividers..I used them when I had chiclids. They are not that sturdy at all IMO. I don't know why I have them still..I hold on to a lot of pet stuff.

I have the pvc pipe to make the caves, I just have not got to it yet..I will post photos Ren in my blog when I am done. Right now I posted on craigslist looking for a hood for my current 10 gal and anotehr 10 gal with hood.

 

[RandomWiktor]

You can technically DIY a hood for a 10g using plastic report cover binding and plastic canvas, but it can be a bit flimsy, so buying a hood might be better. That being said, that's pretty much how you make a divider for an aquarium: plastic report cover binding, plastic canvas, and silicone. If you put the edging on all four sides it makes for a pretty surdy divider (not to mention cheap; the binder edges can be bought in big quantities for a few bucks, and a sheet of plastic canvas is about 40c). I'm bad at explaining it so here is a whole thread on it. Again, my suggestion is putting edging on all four sides so it doesn't warp, which isn't mentioned. And it has to reach up FLUSH to the hood, as bettas are excellent at jumping dividers if they are too low.

 

[Myia09]

Thanks Ren
You are such a lifesaver for tons of people! I hope we don't annoy you will all our questions!

:hug1

 

[Daenerys]

Thats basically what the one I have is like but it has holes in it...

 

[RandomWiktor]

Plastic canvas does have holes in it; it's for needlepoint

 

[Daenerys]

Then it sounds like the same thing lol.

 

[Myia09]

But the ones you buy at petsmart are in no way sturdy..

And the ones you make are way cheaper and you can make them stronger.

and the DIY you glue the spines on..the one at petsmart they slide onto the plastic canvas.

 

[RandomWiktor]

Additionally, we've had a LOT of reports from our members of bettas being able to get around and over the store-bought dividers, either because they have gaps, don't come flush to the lid of the tank, don't attach firmly enough to the sides of the tank, etc. I used to use store bought dividers and had three fish jump their sections in the course of two days! I've had no such issues with the DIY ones because I leave no gaps, cut them so they're flush to the hood, and silicon the edges to the aquarium. Obviously it's a matter of personal preference, but I've overwhelmingly found the DIY ones more affordable and more effective.

 

[Daenerys]

Well we just use the petsmart one for guppies and they've never jumped it

 

[RandomWiktor]

Bettas =/= guppies unfortunately. Bettas are very notorious for jumping out of enclosures, jumping dividers, etc. especially if there is a conspecific on the other side. Part of their natural behavior is jumping; they use this as a survival tactic to get from pool to pool during the dry season.

At any rate, people are of course welcomed to use whatever dividers they prefer; I'm simply giving my advice based on Myia's request.

 

[Dragonrain]

Thanks so much for answering my question - I'll have to look into stock tanks! What brands are the more rubbery ones? Or will they just say they are made of something other than plastic?

Sorry for all the questions. I'm just so paranoid about having another tank leak!

 

[Myia09]

I always tell people about the Oscar we had while I worked at petsmart that was about 11 inches and really meaty.

For some reason my manager thought it would be a good idea to put him on the third, top tier of the tanks because he didn't want people to stick thier fingers in the tank.

Whoever had fed him last (wasn't me) forgot to put his lid back on..

And he jumped out of the tank.

Wait, it gets better.

And smacks a customer in the face. I was on the ladder, and I burst out laughing. I couldn't help it.

The customers wife starting laughing too, but he was really angry, and I got written up because he complained.

I then bought him and donated him to a fish shop here in town that deals with larger fish.

Haha!

Not all fish jump equal!
I also found my Madagascar Chiclids are really good jumpers also.

 

[RandomWiktor]

Dragonrain, Rubbermaid makes both types and seems like a reliable brand You can get them at Tractor Supply Co if you're near one.

 

[Daenerys]

I know guppies jump way more than guppies. My boyfriend tried keeping guppies for a little while but got tired of them jumping out of their tank and dying. Thats why there's just the guppies now, they're much easier. Luckily my guppies have never jumped out of their bowl. Caspian I died peacefully of old age, and Caspian II is still going strong.

Miya that story is hilarious XD That guy has no sense of humor.