SiameseFightingFist

She knows things. http://ausaqua.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=15124&view=findpost&p=170270 But anyway, hopefully a few of the betta barracks people here will be able to give you some advice on how they maintain their barracks.

oh, and Joan recommends not feeding them bloodworms cos of their shell which are difficult to digest. Joan is a guru with these things. You really should come to the Vic Betta meets, you'll meet other betta people and learn a bunch of stuff. There's time to book a flight with Jetstar to come to the meet this Sunday.

I would've thought the 1mm pellet was roughly the size of their eyeball? I dunno. I have tried to feed them bloodworms before but I have seen the bettas slurp up an entire bloodworm which scared me because it was huge. One of my bettas once swallowed an entire cucumber seed. That was another huge one and I thought it was going to die but it was totally fine.

I don't know what the others do but I feed my betta tiny 1mm Spectrum pellets, just one pellet each meal time. I'm hazarding a guess but the tiny 1mm pellets are about the size of his little stomach so I don't try and give him anymore than that each time (although I've seen him eat a lot more than that). He sees when I'm feeding the other fish with flakes so he'll come up to me and I'll drop the little pellet in front of him and he'll gobble it up. So if all I had was the betta in the tank, there'd be no messy flakes floating around and settling on the bottom.

That's still pretty small, I don't know of any solitary catfish or bottom feeder that would be happy in a space like that. Shrimp could do it but they are too small and will be eaten by the betta.

Yes but not for barracks. They're a social schooling fish so they can't be separated in barracks.

If you had one large tank, I'd suggest getting a bunch of corydoras or a similar fish that will clean up for you. If you had any food left over at the bottom of your tanks, you really should vacuum it up as soon as possible if your fish doesn't eat it, otherwise the food will go off and contaminate the water. I don't have barracks so someone else may be able to advise you how they keep theirs clean.

It's almost inevitable you'll get those common pest snails I think. When I started my tank, it was clean, no snails. Then I bought some plants 'n things from the LFS and suddenly snails started turning up, they piggy backed their way in. Even when I bought new fish from the LFS, what little water that was inadvertently transferred over with the new fish into my tank, within a week or so I started noticing a new type of snail moving around in the tank. You should totally hog the forum and ask any and all questions you have, it'll be better off for your fish if you know how to look after them from the get-go, rather than limiting yourself to one question a day. By the way, the snails weren't visible on the plants or in the water with the new fish, I think they were either very very tiny babies at the time or there were tiny eggs floating about in the water. I transferred the fish with a net too (after acclimatising the fish), so it wasn't like I poured the water from the fish bag into my tank or anything.

Your betta would love some tall plants that reach all the way to the top, just as some cover and rest spots where it can hang out when it feels like it. Perhaps a few plants like that will break up the tank and give it some pockets it can swim through.

So.... the male bristlenose disappeared again for the past couple of weeks, it's just re-appeared and I've spotted more little bristlenoses skittling about.........

Are you going, melbournebetta?

Welcome Danielle, as you probably already know there's a strong aquarium community here in Melbourne, you should come to the Aquarium Society meets and meet everyone.

What happens at the trading table, will they be sold or something?

Too many. Out of the first lot, only about 4 survived. Out of the second lot, way more than 4 survived. Out of the third lot, that was when I stopped trying to count 'em.