Let Nature Take Its Course

[SuperColey1]

Exactly my point.

I've offeed them for collection for anyone who is interested, but I'm not going to put them into a breeading net and risk them getting to big for the other fishes mouths because if noone will take them off my hands. I have to euthanise 50 fish and that would be sick.

To the people who think I am getting a thrill from watchin 'pets eat pets'. Please use common sense, when criticising. This is by far the safest and most humane way. And if anyone wants to give them a better life they are all yours.

Still fascinating to watch the Danios and Tetras though. The Betta is laughable in that he is too slow and only succeeds when he sneaks up without disturbing any water at all.

 

[fenwoman]

I noticed yesterday that all my fish had become active and the tonight........BOOM

The Betta springs into action and gobbles a black molly fry. (The larger Black Molly is giving birth slowly)

Or not so slowly. lol

The fry don't stand much chance in this tank!!!
If the mother doesn't get them, one of the other 3 mollies go for them.
If one of the mollys doesn't get em, the Betta chases them
If the Betta doesn't get them, a glolight is after them.
BANG tha danios are awesomely fast , and are getting a good feed tonight.

You may think I am a sicko, but it is just so awesome watching them do exactly what they would do in the wild, so call me sick if you want, but its only the same as watching nature on your TV.

I cannot believe how awesome the danios are at hunting!!!

You have a betta in a community tank? I thought that was a no no?

 

[thegnu]

i think all us fishkeepers are secret voyeurs.
only this morning i was watching my a. cacatuoides mate and lay eggs

 

[SuperColey1]

You have a betta in a community tank? I thought that was a no no?

You can keep A Betta in a community tank BUT and is a big but:

It depends on his or her personality
It depends on it's cohabitants personalities, and tendancies
It depends on the environment he/she is in
It depends on the 'Scape' you give.

For example, like yours my tank is heavily planted, It is probably 70% of the substrate covered.
There is a lot of high planting, like Elodia, Cabomba, Cypryus, and more where it offers 'hidey holes' to relax in and get away from the bustle (if wanted)
I have a concoction that should be extremely volatile in that mollys,danios and tetras are all supposed to be fin nippers, but for some reason in this tank, they all leave each other alone and pass each other without any violence.

The Betta only flares when the mollys are mating, probably because he wants a bit and is jealous, but theres no physical hostility.

I wouldn't recommend getting a Betta for a community tank unless you have somewhere else to put him if it doesn't work out, although I got lucky and it did work.

The risk is down to the keeper on this one. Its not a simple Yes/No answer, as it depends on so many different variations.

 

[eschaton]

I'm not getting a visceral thrill out of watching my pets killing. I am in fact watching a visceral instinct of the pet which is to eat whatever food is available. Its called survival of the fittest.

Live food is not necessary, you are correct but I feed them bloodworm once in a while anyway. Danios main diet in the wild is insects from the surface, but I will bet my bottom dollar, that they take fry if they happen to come across them.

We all know Tetras love a bit of meat. This is not a thrill of watching a bloodbath at all, in fact it is quite the opposite. I am watching the different pecking orders in the tank, and how they are reacting to this.

As the other poster said, they are correct that molly fry wouldn't be on the menu for these fish, but I bet fry of some sort are.

I think just to please people who don't watch creatures eating other creatures on nature programs, I will take 1 of 2 options.

1 - Buy a 6ft x 6ft x 6ft tank and buy 40 breeding nets never letting any fry perish to their mothers, and then wonder where to put the 5000 fish I have in a few years time

2 - Take all my female fish to the vets and get them neutered, so I can stop the carnage.

Unless you want to come here once a month and save the fry?
(You will notice that I have put them up in the buy and sell section for collection!!!! I am not breeding to feed)

As I said above, the vast majority of my own livebearer's young get eaten soon after birth. I also don't have room to save them all, and make no efforts to save all of them, though I do try to construct tanks where a lucky fry or two can survive....provided they are quick and witty. I've already seen the results, as my tank-bred fry are a lot smarter (or at least more wary) than their store-bought parents.

What I'm saying is where we differ apparently is I get no emotional enjoyment out of watching my tetras or danios eat live fry. If they do it they do it. It's not "LOL awesome!" It's actually one of the least interesting things I see happen in my tank. Much more interesting to watch, for example, the amano shrimp run and snatch an algae tablet from the mouth of a hungry Cory. Or to watch my Dwarf African Frogs do just about anything.

I'm also no wuss when it comes to nature shows. I don't look away from the camera when there's a kill. But the kill scenes are among the most boring parts generally. I just watched the Coral Seas episode of Blue Planet last night on DVD, and they spent way too much time on the shark scene, and way too little time talking about the interesting web of life in a reef ecosystem (the only neat example they had were tiny colonial shrimp which lived inside a sponge and never left).

 

[SuperColey1]

I see your point on this and I guess we will have to agree to disagree.

I don't get excited by a tetra eating a fry, It just fascinates me to watch how each different species is hunting in a different style, some more succesful than others, and even within the species indivisual fish, are semming to learn new tricks etc. This is what I was getting excited about.

Its not Betta 1 Danio 5 - Danio wins. I don't mind the fry getting away, I'm just watching the different styles of each fish.

Foe example the male Danio is different to the females in that the females chase the fry where the fry goes and are not always succesful, whereas the male danio is moving left, right behind the fry like an overtaking car, which seems to be confusing the fry, and he is much more succesful with this method.

It might've sounded like I was scoring or getting excitement from the actual kill, but its more the behaviour of the fish, and the learning they do each time, and their different styles.

If you look at my tank (In the avatar) I don't think you could ever say that they haven't got a chance, the planting is like a jungle at the moment so there are a loads of opportunities for excape and indeed concealement.