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You Know I love to show weird fish tank design here. And here is yet another. This interesting fish tank design costs about $130 and lets you keep your fish in R2-D2. Beep Boop Beep-op Beep (that is robot for “this tank is awesome”). It is only 1 3/4 gallons, but looks pretty cool. You can appearantly change out the background and includes scenes from the star wars movie.

Here is the link to the products website for a better description.

If you are into other odd fish tank check these previous articles out:

• The Toilet Fish Tank


• The Ipond


• Keep your betta fish in an old bomb


• How to put birds in your fish tank


• Aquascaping your bettas home


• The betta fish highway


• The betta fish condo


• Keeping your betta fish in your sink

Okay, I have had enough of the questions about keeping male betta fish and female betta fish together. Just about everyday someone asks me this: “Can I keep my male betta fish with a female betta fish?” or “Why are my male betta fish and my female betta fish always ripping each other fins off?” or any variation of these questions.

From now on everyone he emails me this question is getting sent to this page.

No you CANNOT keep them together. They will kill each other. Don’t worry, they won’t get lonely either – obviously they don’t like to be around other fish.

Almost immediately after I say they can’t be kept together people always ask “Well then how do they breed?” For that answer you need to look at this page: http://www.ehow.com/how_2002252_breed-betta-fish.html

Question From Sue:

I have a male betta who suddenly has been showing some strange behaviour. Taz stays at the top of the bowl, snug to the edge, with no movement other than his mouth. Wont eat. Then every twenty mins he just goes beserk, racing around the bowl on the water top as if he is trying to get out. Litterally out of the water. I did find my cat drinking water from the bowl. Could this be stress, scared or what. His colouring is way off as well. Hope you can give me some advice. I have moved his bowl to a better place where kitties cant get near him.

Since I have had a betta get eaten by a cat I think that it is a big concern for fish. I have also had betta fish jump out of their tank before too, so that can happen also, they can jump very high sometimes. I think he is both scared and stressed, especially with the cat drinking from the water, good idea to move him away.

As for him losing color – it could be nothing.. but it could be what is called “Velvet” check out this page on bettatalk.com for more information on the diesease including treatment.

From bettatalk:

Velvet is hard to spot, but can be best spotted with a flashlight. Shine the light on the betta’s body: if it looks like it is covered with a fine gold or rust mist, then it has velvet. A betta with velvet will act sick, so look for clamped fins, scratching against rocks/gravel/tank, loss of appetite, loss of color etc…

Help! My betta fish Flo died, (don’t know why, I think just because of old age) so I got a new betta. He looks almost exactly the same but a little smaller. His name is Bo. He was fine for a while, but then all of a sudden his tail looked like it was just decreasing, and chunks of it were falling off. It was like a zig zag, it just looked like it was rotting. So I looked it up online and found a thing called tail rot. We thought that was it, so we called the store where I got my betta. The store owner said that she had never heard of tail rot on betta’s before, and she thinks it was because of my plant. So we took the plant out, but it still isn’t getting any better! I clean her tank every two days, and I don’t use soap. Does anyone know what’s wrong?????????

P.S. Sorry I haven’t written in a while. I have been so busy! And I just got a new computer and I lost the betta website. Sorry!

Yes, I have showing quite a few odd aquariums here before. Like the sink fish tank and the bomb fish tank.But this one has to be the oddest. You can finally (you know you have been waiting) put your fish in your toilet with the fish ‘n flush for $299. Check their site for more pictures.

Well its finally warming up here and I’m being watchful of the fish tank. The heater has been out and on the chilly nights I turn my electric heater in his direction. But during the day I’m starting to get worried. This is my first summer with fish and i hope everything goes well. It can get quite hot here, but hopefully it will be alright. So what do you guys do for the warmer weather months, as to keeping your Betta happy and healthy?

Recently one of my fish began to show great discoloration, a purple-ish gray fish normally, was turning a gray color on his face. I thought at first it might be ick, and gave it a few drops of a treatment. nothing. so I got online a learned about how to “detox” your fish. Sometimes no matter what you do to your water there are still minerals left in it, this may not hurt your fish physically, but may cause some discoloration to it, therefore you need to give your little guy some “beauty rest”.

Now how to detox your fish.

1. Get a medium sized container (gladware, butter bowl, etc.) Big enough for you little guy to swim in.

2. Rinse bowl out with hot water.

3. Add spring water into the bowl. Not tap or purified, too many chemicals.

4. Place fish in the bowl.

5. Add NO CHEMICALS to the water!

6. Let him set for 24-48 hours and feed as usual.

7. After the time passes put him back in his normal tank, after a fresh water change and he will look great!

Hi everyone! I just cleaned my fish Flo’s tank about 2 or three days ago. His tank looks so fresh and clean! He looks very happy. Here are the steps in which I cleaned his tank:
1.) I took him out and put him into the container that I bought him in. I just carfully lowered the container (that already had a little bit of water in it) into the tank and slowly scooped him up. Make sure the container has air holes in the lid so he can breath.
2.) The next step I did was I took everything out of the fish tank. I cleaned the rocks/gravel first. Never wash anyting with soap, for it is hard to get ALL of the soap off and can harm your fish. If you have a small enough strainer for the rocks, I would reccomened it. You just put your rocks or gravel into the strainer, and pour water over the rocks while shifting the rocks around.
3.) Now, if you have any plants in your tank, rinse them off under a faucet so they are clean. Remember, don’t use soap! It can harm your fish.
4.) Next take a wet washcloth or paper towel and scrub the inside of the tank. Just use soft towels to clean it, nothing hard. It could scratch your tank.
5.) Now put everything back into your nice clean tank and add water to it. Remember, use the same water temperature that the water was when you took the water out. Not to warm, but not too cold. Just a cool temperature. Make sure that the water is about 2 inches below the top of the tank so your fish has enough oxygen.
6.) Now take the lid off of you container that you had your fish in and lower the container into the water. Your fish should swim out and into the tank. Do this slowly though, you don’t want to scare your fish.
Now you have a nice clean fish tank! Remember to change about 1/4 of the water every three or four days if you have a small tank and add water conditioner. If you have a bigger tank, maybe once a week. I do the big cleaning about once a month.

Have you ever wanted to lessen to your Ipod and watch your betta in another city then you should try the Ipond. good for Betta fish haters.

A TINY fish tank that doubles as a music speaker has sparked outrage among animal activists and aquarists. The iPond – up to 15 times smaller than the recommended tank size for the fish it contains – is proving a hit with Christmas shoppers. One Sydney store has sold out of the $70 device and other outlets are reporting brisk sales. But the RSPCA has called on the device to be banned because it is too small to provide fish with adequate oxygen supplies and a clean environment. The iPond is sold nationally by the Pets Paradise and Pet Goods Direct chains. Users can play their iPods through a speaker built into the bottom of the brick-shaped tank.

The tank’s water capacity is about 650millilitres once rocks are placed in it. Pets Paradise is selling Siamese fighting fish with the iPond. The fighting fish are native to South-East Asia and have a “labyrinth lung” that allows them to take in oxygen from air. Typically they live in puddles and rice paddies.

A Melbourne Aquarium spokesman said Siamese fighting fish required a minimum tank size of 10 litres – dramatically more than the iPond provides. Animal Liberation Victoria’s Noah Mark said he was disgusted by the invention. Studies proved fish had memories well beyond a few seconds and were social creatures that experienced pain and boredom, he said.

“The fish in this thing does not look like it has very long to live and it can barely move,” he said. “Even if it does live it’s not [a] life worth living … it’s really just a torture box.”

Acoustics expert Jason Gedamke said there was no doubt noise from the speaker would escape into the water. “The speaker is directly coupled to the outside of the tank … [so] you are going to have a small level of sound introduced,” Mr Gedamke said.

“It’s the same as putting a fish tank on a speaker.”

RSPCA spokesman Hugh Wirth said despite the fighting fish’s ability to breathe air from the surface, the tank was far too small for it to receive adequate oxygen. The small volume of water would lead to rapid temperature change and this meant the tropical fish would not live long, he said. The iPond should be banned, Dr Wirth said.

Marketing manager for the Pets Paradise and Pet Goods Direct chains, Alyse-Grace Robertson, said the tanks had gone on sale in September and were selling briskly. The group that manages the stores had received one formal complaint about the product. Customers sometimes asked questions about the welfare of fish in iPonds.

“A few people ask, ‘is the fish OK?”‘ Ms Robertson said. The chains were satisfied that fish in iPonds did not suffer.

She said before selling the tanks the chains had consulted the Pet Industry Association of Australia. Output from the speakers was small and fish in iPonds seemed to flourish, she said. A spokesperson for Apple said the company was willing to comment on its own products, but not on accessories made by third parties.

got this off http://www.myfishtank.net/ipond/

Most Snails are “Hermaphrodites”. Which means they are both male and female. And they can reproduce by themselves. They don’t need a mate. Although, they can reproduce with mates as well. Snails are used most often in tanks because of their ability to eat uneaten food and all other waste. But some of them can create extra waste as well. Be careful if you put snails in your betta fish tank, as the population can easily get out of control.

Pros
Eat Waste
Some eat Algae
Peaceful
Will eat Dead Fish (hopefully not your betta)
Low Maintenance

Cons 
Create Waste
Reproduce (very) Often
Will eat small Fry
Eat Plants
Bettas may eat the Snails
May be extremely hard to remove

‘Just one biiig bite and…’ photo by Mean and Pinchy on flickr

I know in most areas its starting to warm up so you may think this post is irrelevant. However I wanted to share my experiences with my Betta and the heater. With my first Betta being purchased in October and I live in a colder state I was worried. My friend who originally got me into Betta’s told me how they didn’t move much and looked unhappy when cold. So I started my search for a heater. There are many on the market depending on the size of your tank. I have a 1 gallon tank with only my Betta in it so I wanted a smaller warmer. At first prices were quite expensive, and bulky and I was worried. But I finally found a small under gravel heater at Petco for $15. It was the perfect size for the small tank.Both fishes have enjoyed the warmer water, but now I have to remember to unplug it when it gets warmer. But it was a good investment. And it kept my fish happier.

Make sure to get one that is for your size tank. My mother in law has a horror story of purchasing a bigger heater. She put it in the tank for a bit, but fell asleep. Unfortunately she awoke to cooked fish, so please be careful!

Well I’m happy to report that the bacteria bloom in my tank has settled down. I did another water change today and the water is all clear. So it seems the drops I bought have worked.

As I said in my previous entry I’d get into more detail about what happened to my first Betta. It was the evil cute banana plant. Yes, that sounds funny but its true. Originally when I purchased my first fish I didn’t notice his gill. When I got him home I noticed one of his gills was torn so that it opened more than it should. However he was such a happy healthy fish, so I kept him and he didn’t seem to have issues.However he was a very messy fish. The water would be crystal clear but the bottom of his tank was horrible. He had so much waste, and nothing helped. After speaking with my mother in law I decided to get a loch. For those who don’t know, they are a small worm like creature that reside in the gravel and eat waste and fish food. They help keep the gravel cleaner in between cleanings.

So I went into the pet store and asked for a loch. The salesperson told me they were out, after debating me about the fact the 2 can co-exist. Now my mother in law used to breed fish, including Betta’s, and had loch’s, so she’d know if they could co-exist first hand. He told me to get a plant and that would help. I was skeptical and looking back should have listened to myself and walked away. However I didn’t and so he sold me on the cute little banana plant. I brought it home all excited. The first seemed to like it and it was going well. Until….

2 weeks after putting it in the tank I noticed what looked to be fibers floating in the water. The fish seemed to be doing ok, so I didn’t think much about it. But as the week went on it got worse. I tried cleaning out the tank and that made it worse. I took out the plant and from there it only got worse. I noticed the fish wasn’t looking so good. That morning I looked in at him and he wouldn’t eat. On my way home I purchased some things from the pet store and was going to take him out the water until it cleared. However when I got home he was already dead.

After I mourned and had his fish funeral I cleaned the tank and started over. However now the plant resides in a separate container. I was mad at it but its so cute! So the moral of my tale is this, if you have a small tank a real plant may not be the best route. And yes Loach’s can co-exist with betta’s.

The company Moto Art has done the most logical thing you can do with an once fully functional MK-84 Bomb – Make it into a fish tank. This aquarium stands 80 inches tall, has a 10-Gallon capacity, and is available for a cool $3,950.  At that price you could buy 395 10-gallon aquariums at wal-mart.

Do you love birds almost as much as your fish, but are running out of space to keep all of your critters? Then just combine your birds’ habitat with your aquarium.