Red Tail Catfish

Scientific name:

                                   Phractocephalus hemiliopterus

Care:

   They are quite hardy fish. They will require larger tanks or a pond once they start to reach the adult size.  Keep them in waters of pH 6-7 and with temperatures of 25-30 degrees Celsius as they are tropical fish.  Keep the water clean with a good filtration system.


Feeding:
      They are a predatory species so they can be fed live foods such as mollies or goldfish .They also accept pellets or frozen foods like frozen bloodworms. Feed them a variety of foods so that they can get enough nutrients to keep them healthy.

                        
Compatibility:
        Do not keep them with anything that can fit into their mouths or with other fishes that may eat or hurt them. They will not hesitate to eat smaller companions. 

Set-Up:     

         Provide them with a small cave or a piece of bogwood for them to hide.They may uproot plants in the tank so make sure the plants are secure in the substrate or don’t put any plants in the tank.

Breeding Guppies

 Set-up

     

For the Set-up you can use a piece of netting with holes that are small enough for the fries to pass through but not the adults. This is because the adult guppies will eat their own fries. Alternatively you can use a breeder trap sold in fish shops. You can also use plants real or fake to allow for places for the fries to hide from the adults. Floating plants with long roots like water lettuce can also be used. This set-up looks much nicer than the set-up with commercial breeder traps or the netting.

Care for the Fries 

     You should remove the fries to another tank where they would be safer and feed them live foods preferably as it provides them with more nutrients to grow. They can be fed with microworms, baby brine shrimp or water fleas. They also eat powders fish foods and pellets or flake food. Keep the water clean and change the water regularly for them to grow faster.

                                                               ( My breeding set-up)

                                                                 My Grow-out tank

Breeding Bettas

BREEDING BETTAS

Conditioning the pair :
Feed the pair live foods and keep the water clean. You can do this by changing the water daily and make sure the water is dechlorinated or conditioned before use. Ketapang leaves may be used in the water.

Set-up

1) Use a medium sized tank ( 2-3 gallon)
2) Use a cut cup or piece of plastic to cover the bubble nest
3) Provide something for the female to hide in ( e.g flower pot, java fern/moss)
4) Make sure to have a bare bottomed tank so that the male can pick up and find the eggs easily.

During Breeding
Do not feed your pair when they are in the breeding tank and try not to disturb them. Leave them together for a maximum of 3 days if you see no eggs in the bubblenest. If you see eggs in the nest, remove the female and leave the male to take care of the eggs. The fries will hatch in about 2-3 days. Let the female rest and recover from the torn fins and maybe some wounds caused by the male. During his period make sure he water is clean to prevent fin rot and diseases.

Taking care of the fries
After the fries are free-swimming, remove the male and start feeding the male some foods so he can regain some weight . Feed the fries micro-worms , baby brine shrimp or water fleas. Change half or one -third of the water daily so that the fries can grow fast. Once the fries grow larger you can start feeding them what you feed your adult bettas. Start separating the males after around 3 months to prevent them from fighting with each other. You can keep them together if you have a large tank , but after separating them for some time they tend to get aggressive so don't put them together.

                                             ( The tiny black spots are the eyes of the fries that are not free swimming yet )