Our Conclusion (With opinions included)

In conclusion, I feel that the time taken for the betta to spawn depends on the individual betta itself. For example, its mood, its experience, health and age. The time taken for individual betta fry to mature also differ. Even if they are from the same brood. I don't really think it depends on the presence/absence of the aquatic plants or whether the plants are floating or submerged.

Report on Saturday, 18.06.11

We planned our time well. Today is the last day of the holiday which we will be able to return to school to feed and take care of our fish. Tomorrow, Jo and I will be flying off to Perth for our competition/training trip with our academy. Our flight is at 9.05 but we have to be at the airport by 6.45am, no time to squeeze in a visit to our dear fish.
Northern Dancer is ready to be taken out from his tank. His fry are all beginning to swim horizontally. He has done a commendable job and his fry are maturing fast.
The rest of the news is the same for MuchoMachoMan and Big Red's fry, they are all in good shape.
We both want them to survive but one thing that calls for our concern is that since we couldn't find anyone to look after our fish, we asked Mrs Lu to help us. But her kids are really boisterous and we are praying fervently that our fish will not be too distressed by them. They keep on plunging their hands into the water, I hope the fish will be alright.

How Long? How Long?

I was wondering how long it would take for our Betta fry to fully mature and here's what I found. Check the link out:
http://www.bettatalk.com/fry_growth.htm

Report for Friday,17.06.11

Here's the report for today:

Big Red: Not much to say, he's eaten abit after I removed him from the tank. The brine shrimp eggs that I poured into the tank yesterday still haven't hatched yet. Most of his fry are hiding amongst the roots of the Water Hyacinth. I read somewhere that they would feed off microscopic bits of the plant. So its a good thing even if the brine shrimp eggs don't hatch.

MuchoMachoMan: He decided to repair his nest today. Abit late eh? Remember I said that most of his fry were at the bottom of the tank and I was unsure whether they were dead or alive? Here's the good news: They're ALIVE!!! There are only a handful of them still down there, but majority of MuchoMachoMan's fry are beginning to swim horizontally already!!! Yeah! I decided to continue on leaving him inside to take care of his fry for one more day, though I still reckon that he didn't do a good job on that. Taking him out tomorrow.

Northern Dancer: Listen here!! Turns out that our dear Northern Dancer is quite a resourceful guy(: When I first observed his tank today, I couldn't see any sign of eggs or fry. Just a tiny little bubble nest at the far end of the tank. After taking a closer look, I saw tiny new born fry clinging on to the leaves of the Cabomba Plant! It was a very interesting and surprising sight. The very plant that the female used to hid in is now a sanctuary and haven for her offspring(: I even managed to catch Northern Dancer blowing a tiny fry which had 'fell of its perch' on the Cabomba Plant back up onto it. Once again, I wish that I could have recorded it down but my camera isn't that advanced, I tried but the picture was too blurry. Anyway, I reckon that Northern Dancer is the best! Do you realize that his fry hatched the earliest? Good ole' Northern Dancer!

Report on Thursday, 16.06.11

Here's the Report for Today:(there's some good news in it:)

Big Red: Took him out from his tank today. All his fry are already swimming horizontally(: I poured 1.2g of brine shrimp eggs into the 'fry tank', hopefully, they will hatch in 24 hours and our fry will all have something to eat by the time they have finished using up all the 'food' in their yolk sacs. Big Red ate a little today after I took him out. Haha, I think he's slimmed down quite alot.

MuchoMachoMan: I decided to continue on leaving him the tank, just in case he decided to be a good father and start building his nest for his kids. Anyway, I was also using Big Red's fry as a gauge-it took 3 days for them to all start swimming horizontally and tomorrow will be the 3rd day for MuchoMachoMan's fry.

Northern Dancer: Surprise, surprise! He spawned with Northern Lights today!!! I am really glad:) However, I was unable to catch a video of them spawning because this happened during training.(I checked the tank before training and after). When I went back to check after training, I was greeted by the sight of Northern Lights hiding in the Cabomba Plant. She was so still, I thought she was dead. I knocked the tank a little and she moved...whew! I then saw that there were many eggs floating on the surface of the water(Northern Dancer having not built his nest properly)

I took Northern Lights out because Northern Dancer kept chasing her into hiding.

After Northern Lights had been removed from the tank, Northern Dancer began to store the eggs in his mouth and blow them up to the surface in bubbles, he is, from what I've seen, definitely more experienced than MuchoMachoMan.

Our experiment is a SUCCESS! (Although our hypothesis is wrong, but it worked!!!)

Cool but unrelated stuff

Hihi, I know this is random but check this blog out!!!

http://blog.fish-school.com/?expref=next-blog

Report on Wednesday, 15.06.11

Big Red-Majority of his fry are already swimming horizontally, but a small handful still require his help to hang on to the bubble nest. I'm estimating and I think that it'll take at most 2 days for all of them to fully mature into free-swimming fry. Then we can remove Big Red from the tank and let him have his well deserved rest(:

MuchoMachoMan-Poor fish, he has the look of a man who has totally given up on trying to keep his kids under control. He has not repaired his bubble nest and only a handful of his fry, those hardy ones, are surviving by clinging on to the sides of the tank:(......Guess its the 'SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST'. Really hope that some of the fry at the bottom of the tank are alive.
Northern Dancer-Northern Lights keeps on hiding from Northern Dancer by swimming into the cabomba plant. Whenever I see her there, she is totally still and the only parts of her that are moving are her gills and fins. Perhaps she's been traumatized by Northern Dancer or perhaps he's been too pushy with her. However, one good thing is that though his bubble nest isn't very big, it is apparent that Northern Dancer has been working on it and it's now around 2-3 bubbles thick.

Sorry, my phone couldn't capture ND properly so I went to search the net for a Betta that looked like him and yeah, here's a Northern Dancer look-alike

Report on Tuesday 14.06.11

Headed to school today to feed the fish. Here's a report on how they're doing.

Big Red-Some of his fry are already beginning to start swimming horizontally instead of bobbing up and down in the water. It's really fun to watch these tiny little beings darting around. However, Big Red still remains ever vigilant for those tiny fry that aren't quite capable of swimming yet. Will not remove him till all the fry are able to swim horizontally through the water.

MuchoMachoMan-His eggs have all hatched into tiny little fry. However, he has not repaired his bubble nest. Many of his fry are trying desperately to cling on to something in the water. Most of them have sunk to the bottom of the tank and I have no idea whether they are dead or alive. Probably mostly dead:( Really wish the nature of our experiment didn't have to be this way.

Northern Dancer-Just released Northern Lights again today although the bubble nest Northern Dancer built still is not big enough (Big enough being around the size of a 50-cent coin and 1-2 bubbles thick) Hope that there wouldn't be too much fighting this time and Northern Lights will be okay.

Report on experiment, Monday 13.6.11

Bid Red spawned with Fires of Revival last Friday. His fry hatched today (: They are really tiny and hang onto the bubble nest that Big Red has built for them. Whenever one of these little fry sinks to the bottom of the tank, Big Red is sure to gingerly pick them up in his mouth and place them back into the bubble nest. Big Red's bubble nest seems to have grown. Probably to accommodate the 'influx of fry' after spawning. Haha.
We managed to observe Big Red spawning with Fires of Revival and it was a cool thing to watch!(: Jo has the video which she'll upload. I couldn't take any cos my phone's lousy and old (:

MuchoMachoMan spawned with Tarnished Pride yesterday. His bubble nest wasn't built on as firm as a foundation as Big Red and hence, all his eggs are floating around the tank. Hope he manages to repair it soon though.

Northern Dancer has yet to repair his bubble nest, so we have not released Northern Lights yet.

Report for Sunday 12.6.11

We released all the females from their tanks last Wednesday- 08.06.11. We left them for 2 days like this so that the males would be 'motivated/instigated/encouraged' to build a larger bubble nest with physical contact with the females.

After the 2 days (erm...we did return to school to feed them) we realized that there was alot of chasing in Northern Dancer's tank. He was quite aggressive to his female, so we took her out as her tail was torn by Northern Dancer. We put 2 drops of anti-fungus liquid and put her back into her cup and into ND's tank again. I hated to do that but, the experiment has to be fair, though you would have to agree that you can't make it totally fair:( Big Red has built a very stable and big bubble nest under that water hydrilla. Good ole' Big Red!!

Northern Dancer and MuchoMachoMan have built their bubble nests at the sides of the tank and that isn't a very good place for it (bubble nest) to be as their bubbles keep popping. So every time we have our hopes up that the 2 of them have built big bubble nests, those hopes pop. "POP" "POP" "POP"

一，二，三，开始！！！

Yesterday, Jo and I went to set up tanks for our experiment. This is what the respective tanks contain:

Green: Male Betta-Big Red
Female Betta-Fires of Revival
Water Hyacinth (SORRY I SAID WATER HYDRILLA IN THE VIDEO)
Pump Filter

BLUE: Male Betta-Northern Dancer
Female Betta-Nothern Lights
Cabomba Plant
Pump Filter

RED: Male Betta-MuchMachoMan
Female Betta-Tarnished Pride
No Plant
Pump Filter

Plants involved in our experiment

I searched the net and found out that the aquatic plants that we got are:

the CABOMBA PLANT (the submerged one)

and

WATER HYACINTH

I realized that we forgot to ask the uncle@the fish shop what plant we got...... Hahas

Change of Plans?

I was just thinking:

The Great Salvania vs the Elodea= Floating plant vs Floating plant

If you don't get what I mean, I'm saying that it wouldn't make too big a difference if we use both of them. We should use something like:

Floating plant vs Fully Submerged plant.

However, if we do that, it means that we'll be needing a medium(e.g. gravel) to hold down the Fully Submerged plant. This will pose as a problem to our male betta during spawning, he would find it difficult t0 retrieve the eggs that have sunk to the bottom of the tank.

Should we use :

Floating plant vs Plastic plant instead?

At least we can use something else to hold the plastic plant to the bottom of the tank (they usually come along with suction pads) But if we do it this way, we'll sort of be measuring 2 variables at once:

Floating,LIVE plants vs totally submerged PLASTIC plants.

What do you all think?

Haha, we could anchor it sideways on the side of the tank...

Eh, check this website out, it is very informative:

www.bettatalk.com

The Anatomy of Betta

We will be checking for a small white tube (ovipositor) to be sticking out between the female's ventral fins before releasing her to be with the male. This means that she is ready to spawn.

Check this site out

Another Website for Breeding Bettas

http://elizabethchristopher.wordpress.com/2010/01/26/betta-mating-betta-breeding-101/

Spawning

Sorry, this is sort of what spawning looks like, forgot to mention earlier.

Spawn refers to the eggs or sperm, released or deposited, usually into water, by aquatic animals. As a verb, spawn refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, also called spawning. Most aquatic animals, apart from aquatic mammals, reproduce through a process of spawning.

Spawn consists of the reproductive cells (gametes) of aquatic animals, some of which will become fertilized and produce offspring. The process of spawning typically involves females releasing ova (unfertilized eggs) into the water, often in large quantities, while males simultaneously or sequentially release spermatozoa to fertilize the eggs.

~Adapted from Wikipedia

Fish Farms selling Tropical Fish

Anyway, if that farm doesn't give us the information we need, then I went to search for other fish farms that sell tropical fish:


Check out the link: http://http://www.eguide.com.sg/Products/Fish-Tropical

Fish Farms in Singapore

Hihihi!!!
Managed to find 1 Fish Farm in SG tt sells Betta ( Swee Seng Fish Farm)

The Address

#01-23, 109 Clementi St 11, Singapore 120109

p: 67795072

Website& Email - None Supplied

I called up the farm on Friday and the operator said that they have 3 types of Betta.
Why don't we go check it out?

Proposal Form Done!! (not really well done)

mLower Secondary Science Research Project
Proposal Form


Group Name: _We're a much betta group_____ Class: ____2D_______

Name of Members and Signatures:
1) Deborah Wong
2) Josephine Yeh
3) Yee Herng Hwee
4)
5)
Project Title:
Breeding Betta


Problem Question:
How does the presence of aquatic plants affect the breeding of betta?


Hypothesis:
The 2 tanks containing water plants would have a more successful rate of breeding betta



Web-Address (Url) of Project Blog:
http://thisbettawork.blogspot.com/


Expected date of research completion:


Project Mentor and Signature:


Apparatus and Materials Needed:
1. MarOxy
2. Five gallon tanks (x3)
3. The great Salvania (x2)
4. Water Hydrilla (x2)
5. Water Dechlorinator
6. Betta Fish (3 Males 3 Females)
7. Hurricane globes (x3)
8. Soft fishing net
9. Artemia, Tubifex worms and Bloodworms


Experimental Procedure Setup:
1. Choose a male and female fish of roughly the same size (to avoid one of them getting badly injured during the initial stages of courtship).
2. The pair should be given a lot of nutritious food, provide them with a combination of high-quality flake food and live brine shrimp. The water quality must be kept up and the water chemistry should resemble that of their native environment.  
3. When both fish are healthy and well-fed, it is time to introduce them to each other. Start by placing their aquariums close to each other and allow them to watch each other for a couple of days.
4. Proceed by making it impossible for the male to see the female for a while, before moving him to the breeding aquarium.
5. When the male has spent an hour or so getting used to his new home you can put the female in a hurricane globe and gently place it in the breeding aquarium. This will prevent the male from getting at her right away. Carefully monitor your fish and see if they show any interest in each other. Flaring is a good sign, and hopefully the male will soon start building a bubble nest. 
6. Do not release the female from the hurricane globe until the male has built a fairly big bubble nest and the female is showing vertical strips. She should also be assuming a head-standing position in the globe and ideal have a protruding breeding tube (look behind the pelvic fin).
7. When you release the female, it is perfectly natural for the couple to engage in some nipping and chasing. Keep an eye on them and only intervene if one or both is getting badly injured. Really violent attacks means that they couple is not ready to breed, or simply incompatible. Place the female back inside the hurricane bowl and let her stay for a few days.
8. Some couples need to be together for 4-5 days before they start to breed while others can start within an hour. Some females will even start releasing eggs while they are still inside the hurricane bowl.
9. When the time is right, the male will try to attract the female to his nest and she will follow him. As they reach the nest, the male will embrace the female and she will release her eggs. The eggs will sink to the bottom of the aquarium and the male will swim down and pick them up. Directly after releasing her eggs, it is normal for the female to stay completely still and motionless for few seconds while the male swims down. When the spawning is finished, the female will leave the nest voluntarily or be chased away by the male. In most situations she will have plenty of time to swim away and hide while he is down at the bottom searching for eggs. The female should now be removed from the aquarium since she will either eat the eggs or be violently attacked by the male as she tries to eat the eggs.
10. Both the male and the female will normally have acquired torn fins during the courting process and they are therefore quite susceptible to disease. Most breeders therefore safe-guard by treating the breeding aquarium with MarOxy or similar and placing the female in a separate recuperation aquarium instead of letting her join other fish in a community tank. Treating the recuperation aquarium is also a good idea.
11. Betta eggs are white and can be easily spotted inside the bubble nest if you use a magnifying glass. Using MarOxy or any similar treatment is not only good for the male; it will also decrease the risk of fungus attacking the eggs. To prevent cool air from entering the breeding aquarium you must cover it with glass or plastic wrap. Without this type of protection the fry can easily develop pneumonia when they swim up to the surface to test their labyrinth organ for the first time. (This normally happens when they are 5-7 weeks of age.)
12. Approximately 36 hours after the spawning really tiny fry will start falling out of the bubble nest and landing on the bottom of the aquarium. At this stage, the fry will look more like a black dot with a tiny tail than a miniature fish. The male will swim down to the bottom, pick up the fry, and place them back inside the bubble nest. As you can see, it is very important to let the male stay with the fry. Do not remove him until the fry is free swimming. In some cases, the male will however start eating the fry that he retrieves from the bottom and if you notice this type of behavior the male should be removed from the aquarium. It is possible for Betta fry to develop even if they have fallen down to the bottom of the aquarium, as long as there are no other fish in the tank that can eat them.  
13. Newly hatched fry will feed off their yolk sac and should not be given any addition food. When the yolk sacs are gone, you can start giving them infusoria. After roughly two weeks the fry will be big enough to eat newly hatched brine shrimp and microworms. Feeding your fry a lot of small servings throughout the day is better than giving them a lot of food 2-3 times a day.  
14. It is very important to keep the water quality up in the breeding aquarium. The new water has to be of the same temperature as the water in the breeding aquarium, because Betta fry do not handle temperature changes well. It is hard to perform water changes without involuntarily sucking up the tiny Betta fry, but they will normally survive being siphoned out as long as they are returned to the aquarium immediately.
15. Betta fry are extremely small when they hatch and even when kept on a nutritious diet they are remarkably slow growers. In most cases, you will not be able to notice any coloration until they are over 7 months old. The tiny fry will spend most of their time at the bottom of the aquarium and move only when you feed them. As the males mature, they will grow increasingly aggressive and should be moved to their own aquariums or jars. The females are more docile and can be kept together in the same aquarium until they are big enough to be sold or given away to other aquarists. If you have used a very small breeding aquarium you may have to provide them with bigger housing to keep them healthy and happy.


Independent Variable:
The water plants in the tanks
Dependent Variable:
The successfulness of breeding the betta

Controlled Variables (Constants):
-The temperature of the water
-The location where the tanks are placed
-The water conditioner used to condition the water
-The amount of food fed to the pair of fish
-The size of the tanks
-The volume of water

Ideas

So now that we've decided on doing: 'How water plants affect the breeding of betta'. I think that we have 2 different plans of action to decide on:

#1-Compare Plastic(Fake) plants to Live ones

#2-Compare Fully Submerged and "Floating" Plants

Questions??

The website will answer you! HAHA! :P

http://www.aquabettazone.com/faq.htm
http://www.cbsbettas.org/faq.html

Betta Food

Tubifex Worms- water needs to be changed everyday cos' TW's might carry some undesirable bacteria
Brine shrimp, a.k.a Artemia-indispensible for feeding the fry of most species
Bloodworms-rich in proteins, a prey much appreciated by carnivorous fish

Check out the link:www.bettatalk.com/food.htm

Firsthand Info?

Hihihihihi!!!

I had an idea! What about visiting fish farms to have a chat with the 'farmers' and asking them how they breed their betta's? Haha, Mr Goh told me that there are quite a no. of fish farms around the Seletar/Sembawang area. Let's go check it out? I think we should get firsthand information from the experts instead of trying to do roundabout research on the internet. Mr Goh said that we'll have a lesser chance of getting answers from pet shop owners because owners nowadays just sell the fish and are not involved in the breeding process at all :s

What do you all think?

Fishy Tanky!

things you'll need:
2.5 gallon (or larger) tank
Betta fish
Bucket
Chlorine and chloramine removal drops
Gravel and other decorations
Thermometer
Water filter
Aquarium stand (optional)
Heater Air pump (optional)

Instructions:

1
Determine the necessary size of the fish tank based on the number of fish and personal preference. Consider that each adult betta fish will require one gallon of water. These are minimum guidelines; however, bettas love to have plenty of space.

2
Purchase the tank, heater, filter, gravel and other decorations. These supplies can be found at pet stores and local retailers. Wait until the tank is completely set up before purchasing the fish.

3
Wash out the tank, gravel and decorations using water only. Do not use any detergents or other agents to clean the tank. Detergent residue left behind in the water can kill fish.

4
Decide on a location for the tank that is not in direct sunlight. Doing so will reduce the growth of algae in the tank.

5
Arrange the gravel and decorations in the tank, and use the bucket to fill the tank with room-temperature water.

6
Install the heater, thermometer, water filter and air pump per the instructions included with the products. Add the chlorine and chloramine removal drops to the water.

7
Allow the tank to cycle for a couple of days, then add the fish. Allow the fish to adjust to the water temperature before adding them to the water. Placing the plastic bag with the fish in it directly into the tank for at least 10 minutes is an easy way to accomplish this.

Tips & Warnings

-Place a cover over the betta tank to prevent the fish from jumping out of the tank.

-The ideal water temperature for bettas is 75 to 80 degrees F.

-Never put more than one male betta into the tank, as they will fight to the death.

-Chlorine and chloramines in tap water can kill fish, so add the removal drops to the water in the tank before introducing the fish.



Read more: How to Set Up a Betta Fish Tank | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_5962973_set-up-betta-fish-tank.html#ixzz1KpZ1yWUj

Read more: How to Set Up a Betta Fish Tank | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_5962973_set-up-betta-fish-tank.html#ixzz1KpXqXcok

How to breed bettas

1. Before breeding the bettas, choose the pair of male and female with the characteristics that you would like to see in the fries. A pair with similar colour and fin type will produce better results than a mixed pair (i.e. different colour, different fin type. For more info on colour and fin type, go here.)

2. After that, the bettas have to be conditioned for breeding. Lots of live food will produce best results in a shorter time as compared to using processed food. Live food that can be used include bloodworms, tubifex worms and daphnias. Mosquitoes larvae are said to be the best food for conditioning but it is quite difficult to catch or culture these. You can use other food like meat which are chopped up or small insects like fruit flies. Feed the pair more during this period of time. Feedings can be twice daily up to 4 times depending on amount of food at each feeding.

One convenient type of food that works very well is the frozen live food, like frozen brine shrimps and frozen bloodworms.

The bettas should be placed in two containers which allows them to see each other. Both bettas should start to flare at each other, with the male starting to build a bubble nest. The female will also put on "weight" by producing eggs in her belly. Her belly should swell to be quite big and become pale as the eggs strain against her belly. This will be fast if live food is used and slower with processed food. The conditioning period is about 1-2 weeks. Some breeders prefer a longer period to let the female produce lots of eggs before mating them together. Check to see that the female's belly is big and the ovipositor is portruding out of her belly.

Note:Tubifex worms are suspected to be sources of disease and other undesirable bacterias. Not advisable to use them but they produce the fastest results. Daphnias (Monia) are known to produce a laxative effect on grown bettas when fed in excess.

3. The breeding tank can be from a 1 ft tank to a 2 ft tank. Roughly from about 8 to 15 gallons. The bottom should be bare to allow the male to pick up the eggs more easily. The water level should not be too deep to allow the fries to develop their bladder and labyrinth properly. The water level should be about 4 to 5 inches. Place a styrofoam cup that has been cut into half on the water surface and stick it to the side of the tank. This is for the male to build a bubble nest. The male can be shifted into the tank about halfway through the conditioning or just before breeding.

4. At the end of the conditioning period, place the pair together in the tank. There will be lots of flaring and chasing and even some biting. After a while, the male will concentrate on building his nest and enticing the female to go over and take a look. Once everything is ok, they will mate.

The male will wrap his body around the female's and squeeze the eggs out and fertilizing them at the same time. A moment after that, both will seem to be stunned and male sink down and female float up. (This sinking and floating of the male and female was what I observed, so not sure if it is always true) Then the male will usually recover first and pick up the eggs to his nest. the female will sometimes help the male in this task. There are cases of the female and male eating their eggs. So don't give up if this happens, just keep on trying.

The mating can last quite long, up to 4 hours as reported by a breeder.

The sequence have been captured by a local breeder, click here to take a look.

5. After the eggs are laid and placed in the nest, the male will chase the female away and guard the nest zealously. The female should be removed at this point of time. The male will guard the nest and pick up any eggs that drop form the nest.

6. After one to two days, the eggs should hatch. The fries still have their embryos and will feed on them for up to two days. The time frame are estimated as it depends on the temperature of their surroundings. In most cases, higher temperature translates to faster hatching and growth rate. The fries will seem to hang from the nest and are almost vertical.

7. After their embryos are consumed, they will start to swim horizontally. This can be as fast as two days up to 4 days. As the tank will contain some infusoria, those that grow and consume their embryo faster will eat these. But to ensure that they do not starve, other forms of food have to be prepared for them. Information on fry food can be found below.

After about four days, the male should be removed.

To read More: http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/alberni/501/breeding.htm

An alarming thought...

Problems with having the betta breed in a community tank:

The other fish would probably eat the eggs!!! (And fry if they live to 'hatch')

How to select a healthy betta fish

by James Jonas

As Betta fry tend to be very, very thin and small for the first 5-6 months, the age of most of the Betta Fish found in pet stores are around 6 months or older. By this point, the store should have the males and females separated. They must do this because the males will continually become more aggressive as they age and mature. An entire tank filled with maturing males and females is a recipe for disaster.

So What Do I Look For In a Healthy Betta Fish?

1. Betta Color
2. Betta Gills & Scales
3. Betta Fins
4. Betta Eyes
5. Betta Behavior
1. Betta Color
One of the reasons why Betta fish are so popular in pet stores today is due to their intense, vibrant coloring–especially on the males. Of the two sexes, the males are indeed the more colorful. Around 6-7 months of age (the typical age of most Betta found in pet stores), the coloring will just be starting to be evident on both the male and female. It should intensify with maturity.

Most pet stores will not bother trying to sell Bettas before their colors have intensified to the point of being ’sellable’. Therefore, any Betta you select from a pet store should have enough coloring to make selection easy. The colors need to be vibrant and distinct.
While many pet stores will not purposely sell defective fish, it is not uncommon to find Betta with pale coloration. Such Bettas should be avoided at all costs. They may be suffering from some sort of fungal infection or may simply have inferior genes.

2. Betta Gills & Scales
Healthy Betta fish have a very smooth and streamlined appearance. The gill area should be smooth, neither too thin nor having any bulges.

If the gill area is too thin, the Betta may be malnourished or not eating due to being overstressed or sick. When the gill area is bloated or has bulges, constipation or some other factor is at work. Although Betta with thin or thick, bulging gill areas may turn out to be fine, it is best not to risk it.

The scales of a Betta can also tell you a lot about the overall health of the fish. Like the gill area they also should be flat and smooth. There should be no loose or missing scales. Loose or missing scales may be the sign of some disease at work or it may be due to a lost battle against another Betta. In either event, loose or missing scales are not a good sign and should be avoided.

Dropsy is a common problem with Betta and their scales. Dropsy is characterized by a bulging of the scales making it take the form of a pine cone shape as the condition worsens.

3. Betta Fins
Apart from the vibrant colouring, the fins of the Betta are the other most attractive feature of the fish. When selecting a Betta Fish you want to pay particular attention to the fins. They should spread fully when flaring. Some Betta will have fins that bunch up and do not fully spread open either because of some fight with another fish or because of a genetic defect.

Betta fins also need to be free from any holes, rips, or tears.

Fin rot is a common problem for Betta and it has several potential causes, including genetic predisposition. However, the most common source of fin rot is dirty, unclean water. When the pet store is lax in its cleaning duties, the tank will become filled with too much feces and uneaten food. When feces and food are left in the water for too long, they will begin to rot. As with any decaying matter, this will cause bacteria populations to increase. The increased numbers of bacteria attach to the fin and tail of the Betta and cause rotting.

Fin rot causes little pieces of the fins to break off. In time, the fin will look incomplete and entire strands will be missing. It is not uncommon to see this condition in tanks with too many Bettas or in poorly maintained tanks. The smaller the display tank, the quicker fin rot becomes a potential problem.

Vases, or perhaps small jars, are commonly used in pet stores to store and sell male Betta fish — even females as well in some cases. These small vessels have low oxygen content which naturally cause the Betta to come to the surface more often for air. This will increase the activity level, and the metabolism of the fish. In turn, this will increase the toxicity of the tank faster as waste will accumulate faster. Plus, with such a small vessel, it takes less time for bacterial levels to rise to dangerous levels for the Betta. Therefore, be especially sure to look carefully at the fins and tail of any Betta sold in smaller containers as they have a greater chance of developing fin rot.

When looking for fin rot, you also want to be checking for recent signs of the condition as well. There will be clear or whitish tips on the fin or tail as these are signs of recent regeneration. Avoid any Betta with tears or potential signs of fin rot if you can.

4. Betta Eyes

Betta fish have a bulging eye on each side of their head and they are unable to blink so be very concerned if you happen to catch one winking at you! The iris should be pitch black but the remainder of the eye can be a wide range of colors. You want to be sure that the eyes are not cloudy or hazy and that they are proportional and not protruding too much from the body.

5. Betta Behavior
With Betta Fish you don’t want a lazy fish.

The Betta you select should be active and responsive to external stimuli. In the wild, the Bettas live and die by being alert for potential predators. Any possible threats will cause the Betta to hide and wait for the danger to pass. The Betta you choose should become more alert and agitated by your presence. If possible, the Betta should seek a hiding spot and wait for you to leave. If the activity of the Betta does not noticeably increase by your presence, it is probably best to find another.

Monitoring water conditions is always a good idea to ensure we are providing our betta fish with ideal environmental conditions. It is impossible to see or smell toxins in a betta’s water without proper test kits. If we have an uncycled tank, it is especially important to monitor pH, Ammonia, and initially Chlorine levels. It is generally assumed that tap water contains Chlorine, so if necessary we could skip purchasing that kit. For a cycled tank, we will need to track pH, Ammonia, Chlorine, and Nitrite levels initially, but once the tank is cycled pH and Nitrate levels become the most important. For a more thorough testing and knowledge of water conditions, kH and gH should be tested as well. These may not need to be tracked on a regular basis, but it is good to know what your water level is in terms of these factors.

There are two main types of water testing materials that we can buy. Paper-like test strips are available that we simply dip into the water to obtain readings, and there are kits where we must remove water from the tank, add to the provided test tube, and add a few drops of chemicals to obtain results. While test strips are certainly better than not testing your water at all, it is generally accepted that test tube kits provide more accurate water readings.

Note: Make sure to test our water frequently around the change of seasons. Many water treatment facilities use more chemical additives come spring or summer. We may have to slightly alter our usage of water conditioners to accommodate for this.

Plants used in Betta Tank

Betta fish have a lung-like labyrinth organ that allows them to breathe in air above the water line and not just through the water. Because of this ability to breath above the waterline, Betta fish are often found in their natural habitat swimming in the shallower water between water plants, rising to the water's surface to feed on larvae and plankton.

Choosing the plants!

When recreating the Betta's habitat you can choose between using plastic ornamental plants and real plants, which help generate oxygen in the water for the Betta's usage. Here are a few tips on what plants you can safely in your aquarium for both you and your Betta fish's enjoyment.

Plastic: Plastic plants offer many benefits. Whilst they do not produce oxygen for the water like natural plants do, they also do not create dirt. In addition, plastic plants do not decay anywhere near as quickly as natural plants. Plastic plants are easier to come by and a greater variety can be had. If you decide to use plastic plants for your Betta's tank, make sure that you clean these every time you change the water.

Natural: One of the more common ornamental objects used in Betta fish tanks, is natural water plants. There are many different kinds of water plants to choose from. Some types are more suitable for this breed of aquatic creatures than others. If you do decide to follow the natural plant route, it may be good start to ensure that these are actually aquatic and not poisonous to the Betta at all.

The roots of natural aquatic plants usually grow downward into the water. It is a good idea to keep an eye on the roots. If these start cramping the Betta's movement due to its size or takes on a soggy brown look, you would be well advised to cut them back. If the plant looks as though it could be dying, it would be best to remove it from the tank altogether.

Choices of Plants:

Chinese Evergreen

Java Ferns

Philodendrons

Another safe plant that may be used for your Betta fish is the photos plant. The photos plant is usually found in terrariums and fish aquariums and is ideal for indoor setups because it does not require a lot of light.

ADAPTED FROM: http://www.bettafishcenter.com/Beta-Fish-Plants.shtml

How PH level of water affect fishes

Most freshwater fish live within a pH range of 5.5 to 7.5 (African chiclids can go up to 8.4). Since the scale is logarithmic, this range represents a variation of over a 1000 times. Even an apparently small change in pH can affect fish, causing stress or death.

It affects their breathing ability. High acidity or alkalinity can cause direct physical damage to skin, gills and eyes. Prolonged exposure to sub-lethal pH levels can cause stress, increase mucus production and encourage epithelial hyperplasia (thickening of the skin or gill epithelia) with sometimes-fatal consequences.

There are indirect consequences that can also affect fish. Changes in pH will affect the toxicity of many dissolved compounds. For example, ammonia becomes more toxic as pH increases. Fluctuations in pH, even though they may still be within the preferred range, can be stressful and damaging to fish health. Nitrifying bacteria, essential in the conversion of ammonia to nitrate also have a pH range preference, which is between 7.5 and 8.6. Variations in pH will also have an effect on some disease treatments. Chloramine-T is more toxic at low pH, while potassium permanganate is more dangerous at high pH.

Information on How Music Affects Betta Behavior

Impact of Music on Betta Behavior

Conduct an experiment to see how music affects Betta fish. Place several fish in individual identical tanks in a quiet location. Maintain precise variables for all the fish, such as common lighting, temperature and feeding. For several weeks spend 30 to 60 minutes a day observing the fish. Where do they spend most of their time? Are they consistently mobile or more static?Next, play classical music as you make your observations, noting the fish's behavior. (Use the same piece of music at the same volume each day.) Wait a week and then repeat the same test using rock music. Note if the different music genres caused any change in their feeding habits, aggressiveness and coloration.Read more: Science Projects Using a Betta Fish eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/info_7968901_science-projects-using-betta-fish.html#ixzz1KokcAm9K

Oh! And remember that we should conduct the experiment in a way that does as little harm to the fish as possible. Though I think that it will be quite difficult if we are doing "How does the ph lvl of the water affect the breeding habits of Betta?"

Problem Questions for Experiment

Hello :)

I had a chat with Mr Goh today. And we discussed about some of the stuff we could try out for our experiment. I think we should do something that is not very common. But anyway, here's what we thought of:

Whether the presence of other species of fish would affect the breeding of betta

How the presence of various water plants would affect the breeding of betta

How the ph of the water would affect the breeding of the betta(He said this would be quite difficult)

How the temperature of the water would affect the breeding of the betta(Quite common)

How the size of the tank would affect the breeding of the betta

How the shape of the tank would affect the breeding of the betta

How light will affect the breeding of the betta

How classical music affects the breeding of the betta

How does the amount of food fed before spaawning affect the breeding of betta

Choose one of them :)

Group Name: We’re Much Betta Class: 2D

Name of Members and Signatures: 1) Yee Herng Hwee
2) Deborah Wong
3) Josephine Yeh

Project Title: Breeding Betta

Problem Question:
What is the optimum temperature for the Siamese (Betta) fish to mate and breed?

Hypothesis:
The optimum temperature for the Siamese (Betta) fishes to breed the best is when
it is kept in a tank of 27 degree celcius.

Web-Address (Url) of Project Blog:
http://thisbettawork.blogspot.com/

Expected date of research completion: Before last Day of May (31/05/2011)

Project Mentor and Signature:

Apparatus and Materials Needed:
1) At least two or more tanks of the same size
2) Fish food – for the meals for Betta fishes
3) Water in the tank, of same volume but at different temperatures
4) Betta Fishes
5) Thermometer- to monitor the temperature of the water in the tanks
6) … used for keeping the water at a certain temperature

Experimental Procedure Setup:
Firstly, we will have to get the Siamese fishes, a few pairs of female and male. We would also have to purchase special kind of fish tanks that Siamese fish likes to live in and the kind of food it eats.
Secondly, set the water temperature to a certain degree celcius, leave it at that temperature.
Thirdly, place a pair of Siamese fish into each tank (Beware, must let the fishes get used to the water first, cannot just place it in the water, it might kill the fishes).
Next, monitor the fishes, wait until it breeds. Remember to record down all observations seen every day.

Independent Variable: Water temperature
Dependent Variable: When the fish breed
Controlled Variables (Constants):
Amount of water in the tanks
Temperature of each different tanks to be kept the same throughout the whole experiment
Amount of food given to the fishes must be equal


THIS is just a draft, wanna give me some feedbacks, or do you want me to redo. I thought of another one, totally different one. It is about how the colour of the tails of the male would attract the female attention and then mating... then breeding. dont know which one is better, but if you have sth better tell me la, before friday pls, then i can redo. Pls give me your comments.... It's very valuable......

What kinda of conditions is needed for the betta to breed?

According to my mother,she said that it is quite impossible for the betta to breed, unless it has the right conditions for the Betta to breed, otherwise no matter how long you give the fishes, it also wont breed.
AND
According to my sister, she said that not necessary female and male wont fight, only when the fish knows each other, then it will stop fighting. So, should we buy the Betta fish that can go along with each other and wont fight...
For the problem question, what question do your want to do on?
Yhh:)