Finally found some guppies so I have a question.
Hi Amy, Thanks for clarifying; I just didn’t connect the reference at first — my bad, I guess I should have, but was sincere about my not catching your drift right away. You’re right, in that some aquarium literature states that Bettas only need a square inch or so of surface area. That’s similar to what I said about literature I read that allows for Bettas only needing about 1/2 the surface area that other similar size fish would need. While this may be true as far as their requirement to “survive” its no way to have them live any kind of life. No need to use “simpler words” next time, BTW, and I trust you’re not meaning to be sarcastic when you say that. There all all too many who think they can confine Bettas to the smallest spaces only because they can survive, without giving thought to any kind of quality of live. Just as any other fish that might be kept, there’s no reason not to supply a Betta with an adequate sized living area. We may be able to survive in a closet too, but I’m sure we wouldn’t enjoy it very much!
The 3 gallon bio-cube you’re keeping your Betta in is not too bad at all. He might be “happier” in a 10 gallon tank, but who’s to say. Fish do seem less stressed though, when in a smaller container (not that I’m saying 3 gallons is small for him), when there is some “environment” for the fish to experience, such as plants and rocks, rather than a bare tank. This can add to his overall “lifestyle.” Thanks for adding to this thread. Glad I was able to help with the Platies. As for the different color variations in Guppies, it does not come from cross breeding with other species but is instead just a result of hard work selective breeding Guppies and selecting the best, then line breeding them to hold and enhance those traits while still keeping the vigor. Line breeding, in case you might be wondering, is having several related pairs (with all similar traits) usually all brothers and sisters but not necessarily, and each pair is allowed to breed separately (kept apart in separate tanks) from each other pair. The succeeding generations of each “line” of fish is allowed to breed through only a pre-determined number of generations, generally no more than four (or five at most). Then, they are crossed with the same generation of offspring from one of the other pairs so as not to inbreed too much (which would weaken the strain). I know I may have gone into too much detail here, but wanted to address your comment in case you wanted to know. Didn’t realize it would go this long, but this is really a brief version of what’s involved. Ray
Category: Philippines Internet Koi Society
