The Betta part 4

Bubble nest! Whoo Hoo!!

This morning I was pleasantly surprised by a large grouping of bubbles floating on the side of my Betta’s tank. If this was any other kind of fish, I’d have been worried but the sight of it filled me with glee. My Betta Lan blew his first bubble nest in my tank.

Now, for all you none Betta enthusiasts out there, here’s a quick lesson on the significance of this act:

When Betta’s spawn, the males build a bubble nest in which the female betta will lay her eggs. After spawning, the male remains to tend the nest – making sure that the eggs stay in the bubbles and taking care of the small fry once they are hatched (though, you should remove the male soon after as he might decide to eat them…). Generally, they only do this when they are happy – mainly after water changes and apparently (as I read on a website) when the weather’s about to change.
Here’s a quick video of how they do it which I scrounged off of youtube. You don’t have to watch the whole reel, but it’s the one that shows how they blow it the best.

I’m excited about this because quite frankly, it means that my betta’s happy and that I must be doing something right.

The Betta Part 3

It’s been two weeks since I’ve purchased my Samurai Fighting Fish (Betta) and I have to say, this is the most fun that I’ve had with less than 5 gallons of water.

Lan is coming along nicely. Not only has his colours sharpened since I’ve bought him at the petshop, but I believe that he’s grown a little in size. I feel that he recognises me when I come into the room, because the moment I do he starts flaring for attention – rubbing against the glass closest to where I’m sitting. His colour still changes from what they call a Cambodian type to dark, cherry red whenever he’s really worked up and I’ve used his energy to teach him to jump for his food. It took about 2 minutes for him to learn it…

I feed him peas once a week, (chopped up bits) and feed him mosquito larvae two to three times in the week. I clean his tank once a week and perform regular water changes. All in all, I have to say that I’ve spend more time on him than I’ve ever spend on any of my other fish. I can’t help myself, he just sort of demands it.

As a genetists (not practicing) I’ve also become fascinated by the types of fins and colours which you can get when you breed different Bettas. Although it’s not something that’s going to happen now, I suspect that I’m going to try and breed them later when I have more space to keep several more tanks (I don’t believe in Betta Barracks’). I recently went into a petshop and saw such a variety of Betta that I just knew I had to try and make my own. 😉

This has truly become a hobby for me and I’m very excited about it because I haven’t had a new hobby (save for irritating my Other Half…) in the past couple of years. Other Half thinks it’s a welcome change. 😉

If anybody wonders whether or not they should invest in one, I would HIGHLY recommend it. My betta has really enriched my life.