Macrostoma update

Been awhile since I have updated the blog. I have been busy with alot of projects.


The baby macs passed, with a bout of columnaris. My fault and im kicking myself still about it. I recently got a group of betta ocellata, same complex as the macrostoma. They are fun little guys. Not shy in the least. Currently living in the 55 gallon. Spawning should come pretty soon so we will see how they do with that.


I have decided to work on a few art projects. One is almost complete. Ive done two out of three pictures of the betta macrostoma. The third will come soon hopefully.

Once complete I will be selling prints of them at reasonable prices, if anyone is interested.

Thats basically it for now. I will try to update more often :D

Macfries

Today my baby macs turned a month old!I am still feeding a little of the baby brine shrimp and some microworms but most of the feedings consist of the Sera vipagran,Golden Pearls,Attisons Betta Starter and Plecocain #1 They are still just under an inch but seem to be growing well!Pictures will follow tomorrow as I just found my camera and the lights are off!

Also today my little Chann Mann released his fry!Im not sure on the exact number but Ive spotted one three times.Now as to whether this is the same fry in three spots or three different fries I have no idea just yet.Lets hope for three different ones,eh!

Hm what else...Oh!I am getting some lovely pictas,and a gorgeous female angel to settle in with Gabriel,whos picture will also come soon enough.So heres hoping for angel fry as well!

I think i need a fishroom lol.

More updates and pictures,tomorrow!

Baby macs

I have found a total of seven little mac fry in the tank.They are on a diet of fresh bbs.I am trying to add some of the golden pearls as the breeder of my male said he was started on this.I also have microworms on the way as well as getting my grindals going strong and some daphnia magna too.

Pics of the little buggers:

 This was about two days after release.

You can clearly see how different they are six days later.More pics to come eventually!

Out of devastation emerges new life

Sorry for the lack of posting,I've been so busy trying to keep things running smoothly that I've been negligent.

A few weeks back I lost one of the kracken,or as many know them the Pi.Im still not sure what happened other than the possibility that the black rasboras passed something on to them as I lost all of those as well.This in turn affected Bertha who them got Manfish sick.

Take this as a lesson to proper quarantine any new arrivals because anything can happen.This is the biggest loss I have suffered in many years and I am still heart broken over losing two of the babies I have raised for the past two years.

Yet as they say,there is silver lining to all storm clouds.My other male macrostoma decided he wanted to hold!I have found one little baby who is now in a breeder to ensure he eats well,and there was another in te tank though I cant find him now.One or to little fry is a large step as he now knows what to do!

Without further ado,here is one of the little fry!

He will be raised up on BBS and a mix of golden pearls and Ocean Nutrition flakes.

Macro spawn

Well it turns out my fish like to work against me!

I had planned a 20 gallon divided build for one pair of the macs.Patiently awaiting the arrival of certain materials to get the ball rolling so to speak.

On the 16th of Feb. my sand arrived from a good friend.This stuff is awesome.Its black blasting sand and the size is perfect for plants to dig their roots into.Its pretty lightweight and the eggs of fish will settle on the top no fall through.As it turns out that sand is what I had been waiting on the most in order to make any real progress on the tank.

Turns out that also on the 16th,my macs decided to spawn as well!What timing huh!Well as per their norm I decided that I would set up the tank anyhow as usually they swallow by day four.So thought that gave me a few extra days to get it how i wanted.

This is day eight!Very exciting as they have never made it this far!As per the suggestion of another owner of macs and the person whom my lovely male came from,I slowly dipped the net in the tank today and ever so slowly snatched the female up!She is now hanging out with me in the living room,on her side of the 20 long.She seems to be pretty happy so far,though I am sure she misses the male a little.

I hope he is enjoying his peace and quiet!

Rebuild on one of the macrostoma tanks

So after having such lack of success with the macrostomas holding,I am redoing their setup.The 25 is coming down and I am replacing it with a 20 long.Same foot print,but not as tall.I am also dividing it to keep the male and female apart.Pics of the setup and steps will follow in the next few days.

Updates on some of the fish

Its been a little over a week since my last posting so thought I would give an update or those who are interested.

First of the Pi.
After adding the rasboras to the 55,the pair spawned.However the other day due to I believe nosy neighbors getting too close and scaring the fish,the male swallowed.No big deal I have a waterchange planned for tomorrow and will add slightly cooler water to induce spawning behaviors again.

Related macrostoma pair.
The plants are all growing well, and the pair seem to be getting ready for yet another spawn.So far he hasnt held just yet.

Unrelated macrostoma pair.
A few days ago,they spawned.The female started to get a bit too rough for my liking with him.I am beginning to think shes too big for him to properly wrap,which would explain the lack of fry development from them.This gave me the opportune time to use my new birthday present!

Egg tumbler!
I decided to strip the male because of how the female was bullying him.I go about 50 eggs from him.Sadly today I am down to two and ive not figured out if they will hatch or not.I think the female being so large makes it too hard for him to properly wrap her,and fertilize the eggs.Out of the fifty about ten burst and almost all the others fungussed over.Ill be watching for eyes on the last two.Should be tomorrow if they develop.

Update on the 55

Been a few days so thought I would give an update on the 55.I have it setup,new light plants driftwood and fish!All seem to be happy in there.Heres some pics

55 pi build

Well the Pi are settling in slowly.Seems they really dont like water flow.I removed the filter on the 20 as its main purpose is for the 55.Got my sand in,thanks to a good friend,and a heater will be here any day now,again thanks to another good friend!Must say I appreciate them alot without em this tank would still be on my porch nowhere near ready.

Tank is almost ready.I would still like a piece of driftwood but as they say good things come to those who wait!Have an awesome light now,48" Current satellite pc fixture.It has two daylight bulbs in it and the possibility of two more.Those will come eventually once I get co2 going on this thing.Im about to throw off a few cattapa leaves and banana leaves hoping to stain the water a little.

In any case,a few pics!

This was before the filter was added.More pics later.

Arrival of the pi!

Yesterday the fish arrived safely!They are bigger than I expected!Anyhow I was a little worried about placing them in a 20 gallon because of their size but it will do until their new home is finished!Its a slow  process,but through generosity from many people,its coming along quite nicely!

So for the tank I so far have in tranist,a heater,and sand,and if things go well a wonderful light as well!I am going to go ahead with a fake 3 diminsional background to hide the ugliness of the back pane.

Definate work in progress,and its going very slow!

New wilds on the way

I am extremly excited!In transit right now,is a pair of Betta Pi!These will be my daughters fish,but will be housed in the office with the rest of the bunch.I have a 20 gallon long set up for them,its bare bottomed with a few plants floating.

There permanent home however,will be a 55 gallon panted and high tech like the 29.WIP as of now but will show updates along the way.

The pr should arrive tomorrow afternoon!

29 gallon macrostoma build

this setup is almost a biotope as I am on the hunt for native plants and such.The filtration is another Eheim 2222,and this one is high teck.I have CO2 injected,as well as daily fert dosing for the plants and high lighting.

Fish are a mated sibling pr of Betta Macrostoma,and two green dragon BN plecos,still young.

25 gallon macrostoma tank.

Here is one of the main inspirations for this site.This tank is 25 US gallons,planted and housing a mated pair of Betta Macrostoma.The filter is an Eheim 2222 pro model,rated for up to 40 gallons.Not extremely heavy flow but it gets the job done that I need.

I must say,these fish are captive bred,not wild caught.The water I house them in is conditioned tap,with nothing special added,except a few leaves floating or cut up and thats just mainly for aesthetics.I have natural driftwood and low lighting.The pair has bred on several occasions but have yet to hold.The male is still pretty young,almost a year old while the female,Bertha is about a year and a half.

Hope you enjoy my pics!Not the best by any means but better than none I suppose.

Can you find the fish in the last pic?They hide quit well.

A few profiles for wild bettas

I thought about doing the whole copy paste thing on the profile but instead ill just add links to them here.

Betta Macrostoma

Betta Albimarginata

Betta sp.Mahachai

Hope perhaps people can learn a little about these species!More profiles will be added when I get experience with them myself!