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The saga of PI’s Betta’s
The fancy bettas and me:
It started a decade ago with a check that came in the mail. It was a nice tax refund. I decided that the time was right to realize an old dream: I wanted a fish tank and I wanted a Betta splendens male in it. I’d seen them in other tanks owned by friends and at the pet stores for years and I wanted one real bad. So I dragged my husband to the pet store. We got back with a 3 gallon hexagonal tank, a filter pump, gravel, a few plants, flake food, net and a red male betta. Once we got home we quickly got the whole thing set up. The next stop was the library to check up on, and expand my knowledge of fish tanks. During the first month as a fish tank owner I must have read between 15 and 20 books about fish tanks and aquarium fish.
My husband soon started to talk about neon tetras. I read online that guppies were ok companions for bettas and I read that algae growth could be kept in check by algae eating catfish. The end result was a “slightly” over populated tank. I wasn’t aware that neon tetras really doesn’t do well in brand new tanks: they died in heaps for us. The catfish hung in a while longer and so did the guppies. The betta we hardly ever saw. He was hiding in the narrow gap between the pump and the glass, the only place were he could find somewhat quiet water. The pump was much much too powerful for the tank. It was made for a 15 or even 20 gallon tank, so imagine the vortex it created in a 3 gallon tank!
The betta attracted fin rot at some point and this lead to the next tank. It was a 2½ gallon plastic tank that for a little while was used as hospital tank. I think I also got my first air pump with it, and I found out that a bit of air was a lot better than the filter pump.
Online I had found breeding descriptions for Betta splendens and the thought kept on returning to my mind; it would be fun to try.
Then my husband got a new job. One of the first days he was send to the warehouse office to fix a computer there. He complimented the 250 liter fish tank they had at the office with orandas. They asked if he was interested in fish tanks. He said yes and they then asked if he wanted the tank he just complimented. They didn’t want it any longer as they could never agree on whom had the turn to feed the fish and the fights were even worse when it came to the water changes. He called me and asked if we could find room for it in our apartment, as if he even needed to ask! The price was most reasonable; we just had to come and get it. It was a done deal. The tank came with everything. We weren’t too happy about the orandas. They were the kind with telescope eyes and we don't like that. So I took them to the pet store and swapped them for 5 Betta splendens females. We also bought a lot of other fish for the big tank. Most of them died on us rather fast. This was our second encounter with nitrite (only I didn't know). I do remember having a lot of platies and guppies in that tank for a long time though.
But the betta females are the ones I
remember the best. I finally had the chance to breed bettas. I remember the first spawn
rather vividly. It was HUGE; 275 baby bettas, the vast majority of them turned out to be
males. I had problems finding jars enough for them all. The water changes was very time
consuming and at feeding time it was difficult to keep track of who I’d already fed and who still needed to
get some food.
For years I continued breeding them and from that first male I ended up 4 generations later with a few red half-moons. I also got more lines from my friend Michelle who lives in USA. The whole thing came to an end at Easter 2003. I’d had a long break from breeding when my remaining breeding stock was wiped out by a case of tap water pollution. After I got over the sadness of having lost a lot of beautiful fish and several years of breeding progress, I started to enjoy not having 50+ jars and small fish tanks to clean. I did plan on buying new breeders, but never really got around to do it. The drive was gone. There are so many other interesting labyrinth fish to breed and keep and most of them can actually live in community tanks, males and females together and several of the same sex too. I still have lots and lots of bettas, but now entirely different species. It is a genus with so many interesting species. I am still hooked, now actually worse than ever.
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