Trading Spaces LOL Ok ..... Trading Tanks

Ok- I have decided to kind of give all my bettas the best of both worlds I'm going to switch their tanks and stuff like let calamarrie go in with the otos in the 4 gal and oscar in 1.5 and skip in 1 gal then change them eveyonce and a while. Good idea?? I personally think it is... Miley

 

I think it is a lovely idea to give them a change but i'm afraid I DON'T think they will enjoy it much. As you know they are very Territorial, that is they love their homes and we have to knock before entering!! lol. Personally as they are happy i'd leave them be, something stressful like that could make them ill or worse!! ??? Otos are also delicate little things, they might not enjoy it.

Just my opinion, I hope you don't mind me saying it!? :;rab

 

Well I wouldnt move the otos..... and I change Skip and Cal back and forth already when I want them to have new set up... so mine don't seem to mind and I wouldnt change them once a month. Miley

 

Fair enough!so they may well enjoy the change! :;jk

 

LOL ok ...... well I am going to switch Skip and Oscar rite now so Skips by the otos. Miley

 

Personally I think that fish, and especially the Betta's that live alone get stressed when they are moved around from tank to tank. They like to feel secure in their environment and I do not believe they take change very well, not to say they would get sick, just stressed. You would have to be absolutely sure that the water temp and water quality is the exact same as the tank they just left so as not to shock them. I believe, as I observe my own Betta's that they really feel secure in a tank that they are familiar with. I just recently had to move one of mine for a few days and he was not happy about it and sulked in the corner. Once he was back in his own tank, he perked right up and seemed to be glad to be home. Maybe instead of moving them from tank to tank, why not just take out a few decorations and switch those instead of switching fish? I also agree that otos are very sensitive to being moved from tank to tank and IMO I wouldn't move them around.
~ kate

 

I can't move the otos AT ALL. I have a 4 gal tank ( otos and one betta) and a 1 gal and a 1.5 gal. so I CANT move the otos at all and my bettas are weird - they aren't like normal ... like Oscar and Skip and even Cal LOVE to get new changes and new room and spaces to check out like I just recently switched skip and cal and they lvoed it... and Oscar definitly likes new things like he actually LOVES car ride - he likes to look out window and he enjoys sitting in his bag on my lap - hes so cute! hes oly been on 2-3 car rides - home from pet store and moving. so they all are open to changes.. Miley

 

well, given the personalities of your guys, I think it'll work. As usual, keep an eye out for them complaining about things.

 

Yup in fact I'm going to go swich them now and I talked to my mom and she says it ok. Miley

 

I switched them and they are doing GREAT!!!! I will take pics!! Miley

 

Here are the pics!!! -

sry they aren't that good my camera batteries were dying. Miley -

 

cool

sorry to hear about your camera batteries dying.. I didn't even know they were sick. :

 

haha!!! LOL!!! Miley!!!! Skip looks fat in his pic!!! LOL!!!

 

haha!!! LOL!!! Miley!!!! Skip looks fat in his pic!!! LOL!!!

well, have him do his betta exercises tommorrow.

 

HI Bettabuddy
I also have the same bridge that you have in the second photo. I just picked it up last week. Its pretty neat.. and my girl likes to go under it. Tho I had to dig out a little bit of the gravel to make the space larger for her.Here is a photo of Precious in her tank...

I added the second photo, its much clearer than the first one..

 

Oh that's so cool!! ya I don't use rocks in my small tanks because they grow algae easy but I had to dig it out too when I did have rocks

The bettas are doing GREAT! oscars happy and Skip doesn't even mind having other fish by him - even other bettas... Hes such a sweetie! He chased the oto once because he though he was food but now he sleeps by the otos - and the otos do EVERYTHING together!! its so cute! Miley

 

that's great! i'm really glad you're fish are all doing so good!

 

thank you! they are great and Skip doesn't mind the otos at all and he doesn't eat their algae wafer...... Miley

 

thank you! they are great and Skip doesn't mind the otos at all and he doesn't eat their algae wafer...... Miley

That's great! keep an eye on him just in case he gets a taste for it. Sora didn't bother with algae wafers until about 9 hours before we had to fly to Denver - silly fish waited til the night before our trip to suck down the cory cats wafer. So we had to hurry and find a friend who could take the corys so Sora wouldn't be eating wafers for 2 weeks.

 

LOL!!! I only give them a wafer a few times a week so that helps. Miley

 

I was getting a little bored with the way that my tanks were looking. My 75 gallon planted tank was looking very empty with my angels missing from the tank. I didn't really like the aquascape either. I wanted to change the substrate in my mbuna tank to sand. My fish are growing, and I also felt that the tall tank wasn't benefitting them and that they could use the additional foot of footprint......soooo......I decided to swap out the tanks! It was a full day of work, and a huge hassle, but now that its over, I think it was soooo worth it!

Here are the before pics:

 

After pics... after pics......
I bet they will be beautiful!

 

75 Gallon: I added play sand and removed all of the gravel. I moved all the rocks over and the water was so cloudy that I couldn't see where I was stacking them. Luckily when the water cleared, I realized that I liked where I had randomly put them all, lol It took about four days for the water to clear up, but its almost back to normal now. I also added 4 new africans to the tank that I got off of craigslist. I added a female kenyi, a rusty cichlid, an acei, and a red top zebra. So far they are very mellow and are getting along great with the other fish.

70 Gallon: I decided to go with a soil layer of substrate under my gravel. Diana Walstad uses Miracle Grow Organic Soil in her aquariums, so I decided to try the same. I did about a 2.5 inch layer with an inch of gravel over the top of it. Then I moved my plants into the tank. Most of my anubias and driftwood got tied to various pieces of decor. It really helped to fill out the tank! I also added some jungle vals into the tank as a background plant. They are still small, but I think they will look great when they start growing. I also ordered some new fish for this tank, that I will be receiving tomorrow. I'll post pics when they get here.

All fish adjusted to the new tanks very well! My Africans and Rainbows started breeding like crazy when I switched them over.

Here are the after pics. Let me know what you think! I am completely open to suggestions

 

Great job... beautiful!
If they are breeding, I wouldn't change a thing.

 

Here are some pics of the fish in the 75 Gallon

 

Here are some pics from the 70 gallon:

 

Beautiful!!!!!!!!

 

Fabulous looking tanks. Well done!
Beth

 

WOW, what a difference! I really like what you have done with both of the tanks Kate. Your Mbuna will certainly love all that rockwork. Excellent work!!!

 

absolutely lovely! I especially like the extra plants in the redone 70g. Your fish sure seem to be enjoying their redecorated home too

 

Thanks for all of the nice comments everyone Its funny because I didn't really add anything extra to either of the tanks (besides the vals to the 70, but they are hidden behind the driftwood atm), but I just think everything fits better now that I switched it over.

Angela, darling.....would you mind id-ing a couple of my mbuna for me? I want to make sure that the first is actually a female kenyI and that the 2nd is actually a red top zebra.

 

Great job Kate!
I also love changing things up a bit.. its a great way to really do a good cleaning. I recently changed out all the decorations in my 125, and wow... what a mess things were under the driftwood and plants ugghh...
Now I know the sand and everything around it is totally clean again.
I love your 70g tank and plants decor... It really looks fantastic!

 

Thanks Kate Its amazing how different everything can look just by moving things around. I know what you mean about cleaning everything.....BOY did I have a mess on my hands! It was worth it though. Now both tanks are spic n' span I had a rubber mat under my rocks in the 70 gallon because I had heard that it was easier on the glass when you are doing rock piles. There was so much fish poop and muck under there, I couldn't believe it Needless to say, I didn't move the mat over into the other tank

 

The tanks look beautiful!! I hope when I plant my 55 it looks as good!! Do you have special lighting?

 

Thanks Amanda I have 2 WPG of light on the tank. Some of the plants such as the anubias and java fern will grow fine under a normal fluorescent light.

 

Yes, your id's are correct def a KenyI on left and Red Top Zebra on Right.
Beautiful fish!

 

Thanks Angela! That's what I thought, but I just wanted to make sure. Its funny, I hear how mean kenyi's are, but mine is really mellow.

 

Thanks Angela! That's what I thought, but I just wanted to make sure. Its funny, I hear how mean kenyi's are, but mine is really mellow.

I honestly think that its a myth... my kenyi's are friendly.

 

That's good to know. I am hesitant to add any more of them though, because a breeding group might change things pretty quickly She'll just have to be happy being a single lady

 

Those tanks are beautiful. I love the fish, too. Good work