tan.b

firstly, anyone got any tips on breeding these?

secondly, any recommendations on an algae eater that wont touch the eggs should they have any?
my tank is in a really sunny room, and as summer is coming i have concerns regarding the algae! i dont want the algae eater to interfere with the breeding of these galaxies but i dont want my tank to resemble a pond either. i will have more plants going in there so that should help the algae, and i'll be more restrictive with the lighting, but you just cant beat a good algae eater!!

thanks
tan

COBettaCouple

I was going to ask you how the little galaxies were doing today.. I think Otos might eat the eggs, plecos would be too big and make too must waste.. perhaps a mystery snail would work?

Reply #31 in the other galaxy thread has some info for breeding, but I think looking up general rasbora breeding would be a good source of info to get you setup.. you already have plants for the eggs to be deposited on and i think that a higher protein diet might encourage breeding. I'm not real up on rasboras but check to see if: 1) they eat their eggs and if you need to move the eggs after they're laid. 2) If it's good to raise rasbora fry in a seperate tank so they don't get eaten or are they better with their parents.

I wish i had some experience with egglayers, but I've only gotten fry from livebearers so far. (Should I find some galaxies, I'll get experience then. ) You're good at researching so I'm sure you'll find general info on egg layers and rasboras breeding that you can use to formulate a plan to get the max. fry from your galaxies. Best of luck with them.

tan.b

the little galaxies are doing well (there alive and not diseased and swimming about, so they're always good signs!). they're still quite shy and you have to sit at the tank for ages before they come out. they're all really shy in that tank though. maybe with time they'll be less shy?! if the other fish in there when they're moved are still shy i'll get some danios to mix them up a bit!! the galaxies are eating crushed flake and brine shrimp and will get daphnia every week once my children are well and i can get to the LFS!! i'll have a look at frozen foods when i get out too! i'm going for variety! surely one of them has got to get them "in the mood"!!!! they got their java moss this morning wrapped and tied onto a terracotta pot which they inspected thoroughly on arrival in the tank!!!
i hadnt thought of snails! i do have tons of pesky pond snails in there, so maybe they'll do the job ? i havent seen specific types for sale in lfs before. spent all day yesterday re-arranging furniture in the house to get the 4 tanks to fit in the lounge! the 45 gal should be up and running soon thus leaving the galaxies a tank to themselves!
thanks for your help flbettacouple!
tan

COBettaCouple

Uh-oh.. pond snails. those nasty critters are a whole different animal from the mystery snails. pond snails multiply faster than a calculator and will eventually kill every fish in there.. Rose (the betta moderator) just lost a Betta and 2 ottos to a snail outbreak.. they suffocated the Betta and starved the ottos.

I've not dealt with a snail outbreak, but I think what I'd do is move the fish to another tank, if that's possible. Then the I'd move the filter and each piece of decoration over with careful inspection for snails or eggs.. maybe a good rinse in treated tap water heated up would do the trick.

As far as plants go - i'm not sure if it's too late for them or not.. you can try taking each plant out and cleaning it as best as you can to be free of snails or eggs, then moving it over to the other tank. I've also heard a bath in 5% bleach/95% water followed by a very good rinsing will clear plants of snails. And then there is the option of these snail removing solutions at the LFS, but I think the tank would still need to be clear of fish at the least.

The gravel would be tricky as it could have tons of snails and eggs.. might need a bleach bath or replaced, but either way it's a shame to lose the good bacteria in it, so maybe an anti-snail solution would do the trick and you'd only have to move the fish, filter and decorations while killing off the snails.

Like i said, I've not dealt with an outbreak of pond snails, so I'd recommend posting a new thread in the misc. forum asking advice for the best way to eliminate the snails. They could even be hampering your effort to breed the galaxies.

I'm glad the galaxies are doing well and sounds like it was funny to watch them when the java moss got added.

tan.b

i typed a massive reply then accidently turned the computer off and lost everything :P! my own stupid fault! - dusting the computer around the standby button!! : how frustrating....so...........

these snails are the bain of my life! they drive me crackers! i didnt realise they can harm fish though, i thought they were just a nuisance! they were way down my list of priorities until now! it is something i've been looking into. i got the shrimps to clear up every scrap of food so there's no surplus for the snails, but as they eat algae and algae wafers i cant avoid those as my plecs need them! i scrape a load off the glass with the net them put the net in boiling water to make sure there's non on the net getting re-introduced into the water. there are so many on the gravel its impossible to get them by any physical means! i must have 50+ in the 15 gal and 20+ in the 28 gals. i posted a post (?!) on here a while ago and they suggested lettuce to entice them, but it seems my snails dont like lettuce!! the cucumber attracts a few, but i can never get them all and the eggs. i pull leaves off plants with eggs on just so its 10 or so less snails to deal with later! there's always loads of eggs between the filter and the glass. shame there not a product like vasaline that can prevent the eggs sticking to surfaces! so looks like the chemical route which i'm never a fan of, but sometimes its the only way! just a case of whats worse for the fish, being exposed to the chemical or moving from tank to tank and stressing them. especially since they'd be moved to the new tank which should cycle fast with used gravel and filter, but will still be unstable and will stress fish until fully cycled and stablised. i will have to move the shrimps about as the preparation's i've seen so far contain copper and will kill them, so will have to move them around and carbon afterwards and do a few water changes to be sure its safe for them to go back in. this obviously means i cant treat all the tanks at once which is a bit of a pain! will prob do the 15gal first and see how the fish react to it as that has the fewest fish in. if they're fine then i'll do the others. be interested to know how it kills snails and not fish! you'd think it'd damage the fish' slime coat. i certainly wont get potted plants again, and certainly wont get plants from that lfs again! the things i learn too late!!! if only i knew then what i know now! anyway, i'm drifting so far off topic i nearly forgot what i asked in the first place :!!
its always fun to see the fish's reacting to any changes in the tank. whether its a new addition of decor or re-arranging or new tank mates. they are such curious little creatures! cant wait to see my scissor tails in the bigger tank! they'll be able to reach even greater speeds as they do their lengths back and forth! and hopefully i'll see a bit more of the rainbows as they hide alot at the mo.
anyway, thanks for the info!
tan

Terry

Maybe some soft music will help. Or an album by Barry White maybe?

tan.b

i wont ask what makes you suggest these tracks in particular!!!!! lol!

tan.b

hey Terry...this forum in link below mentions barry white too....lol!

http://www.fishkeeping.co.uk/modules...d=8497&forum=3

also good news (ish).........some of my females have the dark vent mentioned in above link......i need to get the other fish out of there asap and leave the galaxies on their own to get on with 'it'!

spent all night reading up on breeding galaxies...i'll be dreaming galaxies at this rate!
tan

COBettaCouple

Sounds good on the females having the dark vent. I wish you the best of luck with them and ridding yourself of the snails. I also hear that Yo-Yo Loaches love to eat snails.. might be the route to go to clean that tank out of the little buggers.

Perhaps these links will be of use to you:
http://www.loaches.com/species-index/botia-almorhae
http://www.aquariumfish.net/informat...all_snails.htm

If it's possible to move all of the fish out of 1 of the 2 infested tanks, put them in the other infested tank and get a 3rd tank (5 or 10g) going for just the galaxies, then maybe you can get the galaxy tank cycled fast with the used gravel & filter and perhaps some BioSpira or Zymbac Freshwater (if you can & want to get either) so you can put the galaxies in it.
Then after you get the 1 tank cleared of snails one way or another, even chemicals since no other fish would be in there, you can move the fish into the cleared out tank after a partial water change and then clear the other tank of snails, do it's water change & get the fish all the way you want and be rid of the snails.
The plants may have to be chucked or given a 5% bleach bath and would be best removed and put in a bucket of water or something before you start working on clearing a tank of snails.
Kind of a pain, but maybe it's a plan that will rid you of snails without killing any of your fish and give the galaxies their own tank (which you want to do anyway with breeding them & all).

Best of luck with the galaxy breeding and the Battle of the Snails! Please let me know how things go.

tan.b

thanks for those links. the yoyo loaches sound perfect, i just dont have anywhere longterm for them to go once they've removed my snails. they could live in my 45 gal if i wasnt moving the plecs into there and some guppies may go in there too should i get any babies as there's no more space in the guppy tank to keep any guppy fry, so any guppy fry i get were going to go in the 45 gal and should they breed as prolifically as they should my plan was to seperate the girls and boys between the 2 tanks to slow down the breeding (i know girls can hold sperm and breed for months after the male has left). if only the loaches/puffers were more peaceful. i've tried luring the snails into a shell i have with algae wafers, and i catch about 5-10 at a time, but i'll never get them all so they'll always come back. there's that many in the gravel, and eggs are everywhere! so i think i'm going to have to go down the dreaded chemical route. and put fish in the 45 gal while i treat their tank. just means a slowing down of the galaxies getting their own tank . if i dont do it now though i never will as its only now i have the 45gal spare. i also had another thought last night (as you do!). i read that one breeder found the fry swimming about in his tank and the galaxy parents didnt bother them, but he removed them anyway just in case. if i put the fish from the 15 gal into the 45 as well (they will all fit comfortably and they're compatible...the fish from the 28gal and the fish from the 15gal) and leave the sucking loach in the 15 gal so it remains cycled (and cos there's no where else for him to go) do you think he'd bother free swimming fry? i could put the fry in there till they get to nr a cm then they can re-join the parents. after a few batches try and swap some galaxies for some dif ones to prevent in-breeding. i'm rather optimistic...they might even breed yet!! - i like to be prepared though!! i havent found any info on what to feed them as fry. i'm guessing bbs and other microscopic bits in the tank.
anyway, off to research the best snail chemical now.............
thanks again for your help
tan

COBettaCouple

I think the loach would probably suck up the rasboras fry, unfortunately.

As far as feeding the fry.. baby brine shrimp newly hatched would probably be good or a liquid fry food or flakes ground into fine powder. Sorry, no weetabix for their am feeding even if they're British fish.

Best of luck defeating the snails and breeding the galaxies. Good news soon on both fronts I hope.

tan.b

can you not get weetabix in the US? i ate bowl fulls of it when i was preg! wierd craving thing i guess! not so keen on it now though! all weetabixed out! porridge with loads of sugar for me now!!!! - at least the fish dont want a full english fry-up breakfast!!! - bbs and flake i can handle!!
mmmm, are they british though.....they were prob born in some farm in singapore, or worse still harvested from that lake (i hope not), so technically may not be british. dual residency or whatever its called perhaps!!! the babies will be british though!!

COBettaCouple

LOL.. yea, we can get weetabix here, I love it and I enjoy a hot bowlful of it on occasion. Yea the fry may want some farley's rusk. There's a chance your galaxies are from Bolton tho. I guess you could turn bbc one on and see how they react.

On the bbs - i have seen links around the web showing how to build a hatchery for the eggs so you can feed fresh ones to your fry, but I've also seen pre-built hatcheries at the pet store so that might be an option if you don't feel like a bit of construction work.

tan.b

hot weetabix? oooh, not sure about that! never tried it hot before! thats is true they could be from bolton as thats only an hour away from here. shame i cant put nappies on them too.....keep my nitrates down and my filter clean!!! i think i should put the discovery channel on for them....they might learn a thing or two!!!!!!! lol! i have a bbs hatchery type thing in the form of a pop/soda bottle carol showed me on the DIY board. it seems to work well....until i knocked it over all over my carpet a couple of days ago, sothey've a newly hatched batch now! not so good for my carpet though!! yuk!! its in secondary container now! i am so clumsy! the chair got caught up in the air line and pulled it over. ooops! its tucked away almost behind the sofa now wedged in next to the tank stand, so hopefully that wont happen again. another lesson learnt!
tan

Terry

Wow - great minds think alike! Or maybe that's weird minds! Good luck with those Rasboras - maybe you'll get rich & famous - we can then call you the Queen of the Galaxies!

COBettaCouple

Really, I thought the traditional English way to eat weetabix was in hot/warm milk with a little bit of sweetener? At least my friend in Wigan loves it that way.

LOL - I don't know, what if the discovery channel does a special on whale mating & the males feel inadequate?

tan.b

i used to use warm milk in weetabix for the kids when they'd just weaned. messy stuff though. its like glue!!!! if you dont wipe it quick enough it dries like a rock onto the table/highchair/clothes etc!

LOL!! my girls only have the one boy, so no pressure but he better deliver!!! hope the girls dont mind sharing him! maybe he needs oysters or a few drinks or something...... my rainbows are doing alot of chasing.....maybe they'll teach them a thing or 2!
tan

Terry

Ok - I just have to ask, and show my stupidity - what is weetabix? I'm thinking it's something like oatmeal or cream of wheat?

tan.b

thats about it! its a breakfast cereal made of wheat, its dried and its brown, it comes in blocks, and most people would have 2 of them for breakfast so that gives you a guide on size, but goes into a sludge when you add milk hence its suitability for babies to eat! as it it just wheat and nothing else its fairly tasteless hence the addition of sweetner or sugar. some people ad fruit, yogurt, treacle, honey and stuff to give it flavor! the thing you learn on here terry!!!

COBettaCouple

LOL. I hope he'll go fish-happy and give you a tank of pregnant females soon enough. If you see him taking notes whilte the rainbows are at it, then you'll know it won't be much longer. Still keeping them on a fairly high-protein diet?

tan.b

lets hope they dont want the bed of java moss at the same time!! my fishy hotel doesnt have enough beds!
yeah, they're on bbs every day plus shrimp pellets (which i havent seen any fish go for but they disappear, so one of them eating them. prob the plecs) and flakes. getting daphnia on saturday and any fishtank parts i've not managed to get via mail order to complete the 45 gal. just need filter and light starter now and its good to go. will buy the daphnia every week again now, and that lasts about 4 days, then bbs the other 3 days. they do get spoilt rotten!!!
tan

COBettaCouple

Sounds like they do. I guess it's just a matter of waiting for them to get the idea and you'll be on your way. I can't wait to see the babies, that'll be a time there when they start dropping eggs.

btw: didn't early British civilization use weetabix for building cement?

tan.b

so thats why the old houses stay standing longer than modern ones!!! lol ! you could as well!! it really is awful stuff to clean off!!! more solid than iron girders! - tan
btw, off to lfs tomorrow. cant wait til saturday!!!

Terry

I think I'll pass on the weebatix & have pancakes or eggs & sausage!

COBettaCouple

LOL, you should try farley's rusk Weetabix really is a good breakfast (my wife loved it right off), but not something to leave sitting around.. much like oatmeal or other similiar breakfast items. good luck at the LFS tommorrow tan.b.

Terry

Ok LOL. What the heck is Farley's Rusk?

COBettaCouple

LOL.. it's a baby cereal, but funny enough i know a lot of british adults who eat it sometimes (sort of like a 'comfort food'). Google british food and you'll find online stores selling some very interesting items. Having a best friend who was British probably helped me learn a bit about the foods but they really are some great things to eat from across the pond and sometimes just fun (like the rusks).

Well, how did we end up in the breakfast aisle of a British food shop? lol.. back to rasboras - you know, i've looked in about a half dozen pet stores around Denver while out here and only seen a couple with even a small number of 1 type of rasboras, not harlequins tho but i forget the name tag they had. No wonder i don't see any at the store in my little town, much less any galaxy rasboras even though I live near the Florida fish farms.

tan.b

LOL! terry, rusks are biscuits, but you add milk to it and it becomes a mushy paste for weaning babies. surely the US has an equivalent? they're made by farleys which is owned by heinz which i thought were a global company!!! but what do i know?!!! when babies get bigger they can eat them as biscuits (well they chew on it and make a big sticky mess, but with practice they get the hang of it, and they cant really choke on it cos it kinda melts into this paste unlike a ginger nut biscuit....please say you've heard of those!!!) reminds me of a thread i got into with inuyasha lover as the americans were mentioning loads of types of pop/soda and i hadnt heard of any of them but coke and pepsi!!! i didnt realise foods differed that much over in the US! feel like i'm missing out of a whole culinary experience! dont worry terry, you can live without weetabix and rusks!!! you're not missing anything there! i had a friend that used to eat rusks when we were at high school, but its generally babies and toddlers. weetabix is for everyone.
anyway, the rasboras.....in our pet shop they have the harlequins (which i nearly bought) the scissor tails (which i did buy) and the galaxies. so we do get quite a choice. bettas however around here are all quite tattered looking. no-where near as full finned and beautiful as the bettas i've seen on fishlore.
anyway, went to the lfs this morn, and..........got more rasboras....galaxy ones! they had a full tank of them again. asked for a mix of females and males, pref 3girl 2boys or 4 girls and 1 boy, but he said he'd got me 2girls and 3 boys : as they were too hard to catch. got home to find out i have 6! hard to see what sex they are though as they wont sit still and move around and swap places with each other. hard enough counting them! def some girls and boys in there though. so i now have 10. they have gone up in price too! they were £1.99 each or 5 for £9, now they are £2.50 each, or 5 for £11. also got the filter and lights and everything to get the 45 gal up and ruinning by the end of today. i'm poorly so my hubby is doing it under my strict supervision! then in a few days should be able to move the fish out of the galaxy tank and leave them to "get on with it". the new fish had their own school and the old fish had theirs, but after an hour or so they all school together now, mostly around the middle of the tank with the java moss. spent 3 hours acclimating them i was so scared! so hopefully all is well. keep trying to count them and its so hard as they move about so much. all my other fish almost stand in line to be counted! so this should hopefully increase my chances of breeding them. the lfs also said they'd be happy to swap any fry i get for diff ones so i dont in-breed. also they'll take the loach of me for store credit (like they'd get time to write a credit note...i'd go in with 1 fish and come out with 2!). my heart wants to then take all fish out of the 15 gal and put a betta in there. my head says....use the 15 gal as a fry tank (even any guppy fry could go in as the fry cant eat each other even if dif breeds). so mr.loach shall go on friday as i'm passing the lfs that day anyway. so i have a plan....just waiting for fry to appear!
was looking yesterday where wigan is....about 15 mins from bolton. bet there's loads of galaxies there. shame flbettacouple doesnt live there...house swap with your friend! its also about 15 mins from my best mate and an hour from me.
anyway, off to count my galaxies! wish me luck....
tan

COBettaCouple

Sadly, Heinz deprives us of most of their British products here or gives us modified versions. I'm developing serious fish envy here of you tan.. 10 galaxies.. ::sigh:: mail me some, ok? along with some heinz beans & farley's rusk..

Congrats on getting more galaxies and equipment and i hope you'll be seeing tons of fry soon enough. Best of luck in your endeavour.

tan.b

the galaxies would be cheaper to export than the beans!! at least they're small and light!
well, i still have 10 galaxies this morn . just put the shrimps and the log (had to take it out anyway to get to the shrimps) in the 45 gal. they should be fine...then its fish...... yikes!
tan