# The Rest of Them



## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

Don't really have many other animals at the moment but thought I would post pictures of the ones we do.

My pretty boy Tao, ragdoll cross, about 2 years old. Total attention hog, seems to only love me when he wants food or outside. Scared of my rats, runs out of my room whenever they go near him xD




























Izzy, back manx with a small white patch on her chest. I love her white whiskers. She is extremely affectionate and bites you if you stop petting her. More of a hunter, always trying to sneak her way into my rat cages but is never successful. Adopted her from an SPCA as a kitten about 3 years ago.










Bandit, purebred blue heeler, flew her in from a breeder in Ontario as a puppy about 7 years ago. She -loves- her ball more than anything else in the world and gets very upset if you take it away from her haha


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## RatfanaticLady29 (Mar 2, 2010)

Your dog and cats are gorgeous! Thanks for sharing.


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

got a betta this weekend...










bowl is temporary until i can get him a large enough tank for safely heating. the bowl is tall, and he is a lot smaller than he looks in the pic. his name is sid fishous. xD


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

sid got a bowl upgrade  he likes his unicorns.


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## lml8787 (Apr 16, 2010)

Your beta setup with the unicorns is gorgeous. i had a blue one named Mr. Fishie that just recently passed away. The gravel coloring looks so pretty in contrast with your beta's color too. And your cat is beautiful! Great pics!


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

Sid must be a happy fishie, he's been blowing bubble nests like nuts! found some fake plants outside in the shed from my old tank and stuck em in with him.










water is yellow cause i treated it with tetracycline cause he was looking like he had velvet... all better now


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

sid flaring and charging at my boyfriend's finger


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

put a CD up against sid's bowl and much flaring and charging ensued


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## toby (May 11, 2009)

the fish are lovely.


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

sid! such a pretty fishie


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## Alethea (Jul 14, 2010)

Tehe, I love the quality of the pictures and those unicorns are such a good idea.  

I have a bunch of unicorn and horse figures from when I was younger, that would be amazing, since my boyfriend is interested in purchasing an Oscar or two some time down the road. Tough fish with horses in their tank


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## laughingrats (Apr 21, 2010)

Tao is gorgeous!(Izzy and Bandit are cute too) And I actually lol'd at Sid's unicorns, so manly.


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## ][stacey][ (Nov 4, 2007)

I love your pets there so beautiful and omg that betta fish and that bowl is amazing it makes me wanna go get out and get one like seriously... but i phoned my dad and asked him about them cause i havent had any of those fish before and he said that altho alot of people keep them in small tanks or bowls they do need a larger tank and a filter ect so have u got any advice like whats the size requirements and how do u look after them cause he looks so pretty . ( my dad at his house has a wall with custom build fish tanks all along it with a varied type of fish so thats why i asked him)


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

bettas are fine in unfiltered bowls, but you have to keep in mind that they are tropical fish and they prefer the water to be warm. unless you live in the tropics or somewhere it's hot all year around they will probably need a heater, and it's impossible to find an adequate heater with a thermostat for anything less than a 5 gallon tank. sid has somehow adjusted very well to the cooler temperature here and he's very active and lively so he is without a heater  i might change that though. they are pretty low maintenance (his bowl is about a gallon and a half) i change his water 50% twice a week and feed him on a schedule like betta pellets mon-friday, then a cooked shelled pea on saturday, and then nothing on sunday  if you get a betta that's inquisitive and active they're actually very entertaining


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## Kiko (Sep 18, 2009)

I read a study that a 2-5 gallon tank/bowl is better then anything smaller like the teeny little half gallon bowls some people use.

The bowl Jaguar is using is fine. 
A filter is recommended for any fish I think but I do not know if it is a necessity.


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## ][stacey][ (Nov 4, 2007)

Ive been reading up on them too.... this is the little tank i was thinking of for on my desk.. its 11 litres so that is approx 2.4 gallons ur bowl is about gallon and half .. which the one i want im guessing now will probably not do because altho its with in the size u say ( also i read that to every one beta depending on size u need 2 gallons) i dont know if i can find a heater for it... may i ask where and what ur bowl is cause its so cool 


http://www.wilkinsonplus.com/Aquari...cDPfxIrYzUvEu76RzzM6wutKTeo9AOCB
tDs76aYYKg==

I know my dad has large tanks spare but i didnt intend on getting a large tank because i dont have that sort of room.
im looking arorund now to see what i can find.. i didnt do alot of looking before i posted cause i wanted to see what u said before i delved into it too deeply ... sounds lazy but its not intented that way its just cause i value ur guys opinions


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

yeah i think the smallest heater with a thermostat i could find was 25watts which was recommended for 5-20 gallon tanks... there are submersible heaters called hydor minis that are like a mat that you put under the gravel or in the wall of the tank, but they run constantly and so if you ever had a heat spike or your air conditioning stopped working while you were out or something you could very easily cook your fish  it does do a good job raising a small bowl (2-5gal) a couple of degrees depending on room temperature though. i got that bowl at a local dollar store for $20


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## ][stacey][ (Nov 4, 2007)

yeah im stuggling finding a heater and filter all small enough for a decent enough price ... the prices they are i could just buy a little tank with them included for only a little extra... ill keep my eyes peeled tho... 

I just didnt wanna have alot of room taken up so liked the idea of a bowl :/

Might leave it for a bit but thanks for your help.. ill see how it goes ill pop into my local fish store and see whats available there


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## SilentRobert23 (Aug 16, 2010)

Kiko said:


> A filter is recommended for any fish I think but I do not know if it is a necessity.


Depends on how tough the fish is. Goldfish, for example, will just laugh at non-filtered water.

"Ha! Thou cannot defeateh ME!"

But creatures like guppies would whimper and die.

"No, please, I can't. . . . The pollution. . . . Cough, cough. . . . TRAGEDY!!!!"

Not sure about betta's in particular.


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

SilentRobert23 said:


> Kiko said:
> 
> 
> > A filter is recommended for any fish I think but I do not know if it is a necessity.
> ...


i think they're sort of in between, not really particular. i read that they like a bit of water movement though, like a slight current, but they're not picky. i wouldn't use an under gravel filter in any case.


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## treblyk (Sep 24, 2010)

The general rule for fish is "One gallon of water per inch of fish". So a two inch betta should technically have two gallons of water. Your bowl looks like good size though. 

Also, I had my betta, Phraenkei (frankie), for three years in a two gallon hexagonal tank that had just aeration for bubbles and water movement, with no filter or heater. Unfiltered water is fine, as long as you do at least a 10% -25% water change once a week. 

The only issue I have, is provoking charging and flaring from the fish. It really is not healthy for them to get that worked up. They can actually hurt themselves in the process, especially if they slam into the glass. 

Sid is very pretty though and is lucky to have such a good owner.


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## ][stacey][ (Nov 4, 2007)

its ok i decided to get 2 african giant land snails instead for now because i didnt want to waste all time and money and buy a beta and then possibly die :/ But thanks


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

unfortunately, while i was away on vacation in new jersey sid fishous passed away in my mom's care.  he will be missed. hopefully i can get another betta one day soon


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## ratfan06 (Dec 31, 2010)

I'm so sorry. Do you know what happened? Were there signs of illness or anything? He seemed like such a cool and fun little fish too. 

I love your cats, Tao is freaking gorgeous. I can never tell cattle dogs from heelers by pictures. Is there an obvious way to tell other than size? 

As for the filter, I've had bettas as long as I've had rats, (several years now), and some have outlived most of my rats. I've never used a filter. I've always read that a filter makes it harder for them to swim because of the the current. Also, I'm afraid a regular filter would be dangerous because of their long fins. I just do full water changes weekly. There are small heaters that work well. They've started admitting that bettas need warm water and now have some meant for bowls and small tanks. 

My Sweeney Todd is in a 3 gal. at the moment and seems happy. I may move him to a 5 gal. soon. I haven't decided. I also have a tank with a few tetras. I know a lot of people have had success with bettas and neon tetras together, but I'm not entirely sure how comfortable I am with trying it myself.


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## Critter Aficionado (Jan 30, 2011)

I'm so sorry to hear he passed, Jaguar; it's amazing how much such small fish grow on you.

Ratfan, in regards to filters, when using a filter for Bettas, adjustable ones with a low flow and sponge filters work well. We have three Betta tanks, two divided ten gallons and a three gallon (my fiance's Betta's tank), and they all have sponge filters in them; even the larger finned ones don't have any problems swimming because the current isn't overly powerful, and I put the sponge filters near the top of the tank. I prefer to use filters but they can go without as long as you are extremely diligent about water changes, testing ammonia/nitrites/nitrates. For unfiltered tanks I strongly recommend the use of Prime water conditioner as well (it's a good overall conditioner removing chlorine, chloramine and detoxifying heavy metals, but it also detoxifies ammonia and nitrites). Two and a half gallons for long term housing is widely considered the absolute minimum size for smaller than giant (usually Plakats) or half-giant (Petco "Kings") in the Betta keeping world; personally I won't keep them in anything smaller than 3 gallons for small to medium sized Bettas, or 5 gallons minimum for larger Bettas like giants/half giants or large halfmoons.


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

heelers and australian cattle dogs are the same breed, just different names  cattle dog is a bit more proper though.

i ended up getting sid a heater months ago... cheap little $10 25w from wal mart. works like a charm  keeps the water at about 24c.

he was absolutely fine the day i left... i fed him and said bye and he was as happy as ever. i don't know what happened. my mom said he only died a few days after i left. i did unplug his heater (didn't want to leave it unattended that long) so the water temperature drop may have been what did it... but i was only a few degrees of a drop, it wasn't that cold while i was gone. i wish i knew what happened and if i could have prevented it.


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## Ratsanctuary (Mar 24, 2011)

I had a Betta named "Merlin" that i had for 6 years, he was the friendliest fish ever. I didnt follow the directions on the betta care thing from walmart because the ones i had before i did follow the walmart care guide and none of them lived past a couple months. "merlin" lived in a large fish bowl, i left the water in his bowl longer and when i cleaned it i changed all of it. When i fed him i would sprinke the betta pellets in and leave them in until he was no longer interested in eating then i would scoop the uneaten food out, i would feed him twice a day, and he lived for 6 years with me, but im not really sure how old he was to begin with because he was already grown.


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