Caring for a betta

Caring for a betta at home or office
By Evelyn Buchmann


A Betta fish has certain needs to be healthy and happy just as any other fish you would care for.
Just because you can buy them in these tiny cups, doesn’t mean that he really likes it to be in such a tight space where he can hardly even turn around.
Please read here the myth about a betta in a vase
The Betta Myth

I have had my betta in a 1 gallon bowl for about 2 weeks when I purchased him, but he was so inactive that I decided to upgrade and got him a 5 gallon tank with filter, heater and live plants.
You should have seen the difference, he started to swim around and his colors started to thrive due to the regulated temperature and he shows of his beautiful fins as soon as somebody approaches the tank.

They don’t live in tiny rice paddles like everybody seems to believe, their natural habitat is huge as you will see in the following pic.
http://www.cultureshocktherapy.com/pic/id/rice_paddy.jpg

For further reading about Betta Habitat, please see this article:
Aquarium Answers; Betta Habitat


What you will need:

1 male or 1 female betta

*2.5 gallon tank with filter and heater is the bare minimum for 1 betta (a 5 gallon tank is of course even better)
*Gravel for the bottom (fine #1 sand if live plants will be kept, see the link below for plant care, substrates)
*Live plants (They love to rest on them)
*Thermometer
*Liquid Tester


Set up your tank with conditioned water and everything else.
The filter and heater need to be plugged in 24/7.
You should have a temp of 78-82 degrees, since that’s where your betta will start to thrive and they will be comfortable.
Once your tanks have cycled, that means no ammonia or nitrite present; you can add your betta.
But don’t forget to acclimate him properly, by taking water out of the tank and filling it into the cup or bag, whichever he/she came in, put in about ¼ cup of tank water every 15 minutes, until you have reached double capacity of water in the cup then it was before, this will take care of the pH difference from your tank water to the pet store water.
Make sure you do weekly partial water changes of 25% with a small gravel siphon, and refill it with aged and conditioned water, at the same temperature.


3-5 female Bettas’

*10 gallon tank
*Filter
*Heater
*Thermometer
*Gravel for the bottom (fine #1 sand if live plants will be kept, see the link below for plant care, substrates)
*Lots of live plants
*Decorations without any sharp edges

Do the same thing as you would do it with the 2.5 gallon tank (setting up, cycling, floating the bag with fish, etc.)
You will need to get at least 3 females thought (if you only get 2, one will dominate the other) they will choose a so called pecking order amongst them and will look like they’re fighting, but they don’t.
Once they have chosen the rang order, the fighting will stop.
You can also add 2-3 Cory cats into that setup, since they’re bottom dwellers, and you can have up to 5 females together in a 10 gallon tank.


1 male OR 1 female betta with tropical’s

Same setup and maintenance as the above 2.

Example setup in a 15 gallon tank:,
1 male or 1 female betta
2-3 Cory cats (bottom dwellers)
5 neon tetras (schooling fish)
3 platy’s (males only if you don’t want any fry)
5 rasboras (also schooling fish)


Conclusion:
You can’t keep male/female together unless they were properly conditioned for spawning

You can’t keep male/male together, or they will kill each other

But you can put females together with a minimum of 3 in at least a 10 gallon tank

And you also can put a female or a male with other tropicals, as long as the others don’t have long fins like a male guppy or a serpae tetra.

You can keep males/females together however if you have at least a 55 gallon tank, which is heavily planted and you have at least some experience on keeping fish

Feeding them;

You should feed your betta twice a day 3-4 pellets at each feeding, but change their diet up with frozen blood worms, Baby Brine Shrimp, Pellets and live Baby Brine shrimp, and also a thawed pea about once a week.

Also fast your betta one day out of the week, which will keep constipation at bay

For further information about Betta Feeding and Fish Nutrition in general, please see this article: “Aquarium Fish Nutrition, all about”

Final Thoughts:

Please do yourself and your betta a big favor and get a tank instead of a stupid bowl. With proper care they can live up to 8 years.
Sure they can survive in a bowl, but let’s face it, are you willing to do partials every day, when you only need to do it once a week on a tank with a gravel siphon????

Well what ever you decide, happy fish keeping and have fun with your hobby.
It gives lots of joy in ones life!

OTHER ARTICLES/ RESOURCES:

BC Aquatics

“Aquarium Size and Stunting, beginner to advanced aquarists”

“Over a Copper Moon Betta”

“Freshwater Aquarium Basics and Care”

Betta Profiles
This second resource is far from finished as of this blog entry.

Aquarium Cleaning Machine

Aquarium Forums Hall of Shame #3

Aquarium Cleaning Machine:

For my latest installment of Aquarium Forums Hall of Shame I will return to the more original format of Aquatic forums (rather than the last post which dealt with a SEO forum that had little integrity when it came to my trying to counter all the anecdotal or even harmful aquatic articles that have flooded the internet).

In this case I was performing my usual Google checks (always Google, not as much Yahoo or MSN, that brings this stuff up, which is why my last post), when I found a forum that was talking about the Aquarium Cleaning Machine. A moderator here had purchased one from Dr. F & S based on her view that they were a safer/better place to purchase form (which I will get to that shortly). She later had trouble with suction with her Aquarium Cleaning Machine and then basically decided that they were not good.

Let me give a little background before I go on; When I first heard about the Aquarium Cleaning Machine during one of my business trips to LA, I was skeptical, however after talking to a few Aquarium Maintenance Professional Colleagues that I knew that were very impressed, I decided to try one. After finding out how versatile and easy to use they were (as well as excellent for tanks with high bio loads/DOC), I decided to now sell them.
I also decided to try running this machine by putting it together different ways and trying different configurations so as to see what can and would go wrong so as to best explain this to prospective customers. I found that if not cleaned properly, or not put together properly (which is hard not to do since the few parts are color coded), or finally if the valves are not properly positioned (this is the easier mistake IMO), Suction or other non function issues would arise.
This said I have YET to have a single problem with the machines I have used) nor those used by persons I know. The only problems encountered were by my own intentions to force issues with the machine.
What is sad is that Dr. F & S only decided to sell this machine after others such as myself found a market for it and did the hard work. I know this from the distributor of this product whom has poor view of their company (along with many other “old timers” in the aquatics industry based on what many have been sold/told by them. I believe since they have little working knowledge of this product, it stands to reason that their customer service in helping buyers with the machine would be poor.

Back to this forum, as I noted this forum moderator reason to purchase from Dr. F & S was based on false assumptions by Dr. F & S. If she had purchased the machine from American Aquarium Products or others that have vastly more information/help she may have been able to avoid the problem, however she did not.
Now this is where the hall of shame part comes in, when I noticed the trashing of this product (similar to the anecdotal reviews of so many products, methods I have observed on the internet), I decided to join this forum (Koiphen.com) so as to explain what may have gone wrong and my experiences with this product. I later found out (via a phone call from a customer) that my post was removed. This is a despicable yet all too common display of shutting down good information so as to allow their own misinformation to prevail. I found this all too often in many Google forums where many would make statements or slander me so as to make their own unsubstantiated view prevail.

Let me summarize by stating that I am not trying to make a hard sell for this machine, as it is not for everyone, however I am tired of all the anecdotal bs that floats around on the internet that is totally unsubstantiated by science or practical application in a controlled environment.
For an honest, knowledgeable forum, I would recommend visiting “Everything Aquatic”

Aquarium Forum Hall of Shame-2

Aquarium Forums Hall of Shame; Part Two- DMOZ and SEO forums

This hall of shame post actually diverts from Aquarium/pond forums to an SEO forum as it relates to DMOZ (SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization).
I am writing this post after being flamed and attacked on SeoChat Forums about my comment as to DMOZ and as it relates to Google Searches. DMOZ is a human edited directory, staffed by volunteers usually from similar fields to which they edit (which may or may not be a conflict of interest, but I will not question the integrity of those in fields I do not know). However in the field I have spent a life’s work (and of which I have been prodded to publish it for more than a decade before I finally did with my many articles), I know that many of the articles that are listed are of poor quality or worse.

To set the stage, let me point out that a quick search of the DMOZ directory under Home, then Pets, then Fish/Aquaria will yield several at best spammy sites “The Baily fish”. Many of these sites give not necessarily incorrect information, however it is often anecdotal which can not give a newbie to advanced aquarist the full picture. I know from the many emails, aquarium forums posts, and my old maintenance business questions posed that even simply incomplete information can lead to confusion as to correct procedures of fish care, often with disastrous results.
Another problem is that Google give a lot of weight to its searches to sites that are listed in the DMOZ directory, so often searches can be skewed as well here.
An example of a recent email question led me to this Google Search: “freshwater aquarium calcium” which yielded some reasonable sites as to Marine Aquarium Calcium, of which the need is better understood, yet for the less understood but still important subject of freshwater aquarium calcium, the search came up dry. This is unfortunately an important subject as correct fish osmoregulation depends on calcium and other electrolytes as well.

Now, back to Seo Chat Forums; I posted on a thread about “shutting down DMOZ” with this comment:
“I do not claim to be an expert in DMOZ or its editors, and maybe 90% are ethical and do the right thing.
However what I can say after 30 plus years in the aquarium industry in research, maintenance and sales is this hobby/industry is extremely anecdotal, passing around the same tired information over and over, never using research from much better funded industries (such as Horticulture, marine research, human drug studies, etc, etc.) to back up what is stated. For instance I see this in aquarium lighting, where the newer technology T2 and SHO lights are nowhere to be found except in use by aquarium professionals that have to use and stand by their choices on a daily basis..
Another point is a person that worked at a Aquarium Supply distributor as a manager near the end of his career told me a few years back: “I have worked in management for the past 30 years of my life and never have I seen a more back stabbing, dishonest and corrupt industry until I took this job”
My point is unfortunately Google gives weight to DMOZ, and even though many editors may well be good, honest persons, I know from my past three years of submissions that this is not true based on what I do know to be true.”

I am not sure how this stated got twisted that I am stating that the editors are corrupt, or how ended up with me being accused of being a liar (& worse) multiple times, however I will state from my own submissions to a very low volume category (fish/aquaria) that my aquatic information site is still sitting there. At the least the fact that so many so-so sites exist while mine and other more current research sites are not added makes the point that this is a poor source for viable aquatic information. At worst it is possible that other sites are being “sat on” (or even rejected although mine is not) based on an editor who is trying to keep his/her agenda in there and block other information that has mores facts that would make their favorites look bad. Read whatever you want into this or my statement on the forum, but this is not a lie, nor is this a charge that all editors at DMOZ are corrupt.
One of the more vicious (as per his attacks on me) posters in this forums stated that he is “passionate about this subject”, well he has that right, but I too have a right to be passionate about the subject of aquatic misinformation that often makes new aquarists quit and often even frustrates advanced aquarists when information they are seeking is either anecdotal, corrupt, or simply cannot be found and DMOZ along with Google often do not make this easy. Also this same person suggested that I get a job on the board at Google which is a ludicrous statement, when all I was stating is that either DMOZ changes some procedures or (better) Google gives less weight to DMOZ directory sites (or other so called “authority sites”) and more to content (which includes links within this content to other research, often of university level to back up the content). This is a simple matter of “doing what’s right” rather than lame statements such as were directed at me.
I will admit that I finally stood up for myself with an attack back after his comments about getting a job on the board of directors at Google with this statement”
“But what is really troubling to me now, is this is almost the exact answer I got from children's services when asking them to do the right thing after several reports to them about my kids after my daughter’s molester was trying to turn the tables by redirecting this corrupt organization against me.
What a sad world we live in when this is the answer to doing what is right.”

I am sorry, but I was told similar (to get a job, run for county commissioner) if I did not like what was being done and this hit a raw nerve, especially in light of recent problems with this persons and my daughter’ nightmares.
My admittedly harsh response brought out the real venom from two individuals and a childish response of remove ALL credibility I had gained over two years of being on this forum (which is a silly system IMO besides that allows this).
This forum still publishes some good articles and has some good people posting there (such as Egol), however the moderation there is poor (IMO) and the this guy along with others often will attack others that due not agree with there world view.

Here are just a few of the sites where many 1000s of hours worth of research, hands on experience, and yes even corrections to my own mistakes have gone into (I have MANY more):


Aquarium (& pond) Information, Resources
AQUARIUM AND POND ANSWERS

A CLEAR POND; Pond Information - Proper Pond Filtration, Cleaning, care, chemistry & Basics for maintaining a beautiful garden pond

Fish Evicted

'Either the fish go or you do'

From this article: A FAMILY has been told to get rid of their pet fish – or face the threat of eviction

This is a sad story that in my opinion shows how selfish our modern society has become. Not to get too political (as this is not what this blog is about), however as someone who leans towards conservative views on many issues (not all though), this is where the arrogance of those who "have" comes through in a despicable manner.
A fish tank under 60 gallons has little risk of damage to an apartment/home and the fact that I have seen with my clients, my own fish, and many friends I have in forums such as Everything Aquatic have shown that fish can be actual pets that can help person simply cope with life and find fulfillment.
Quite possibly the landlord had no pets in the contract, however it is more typical to simply prohibit cats, dogs and large aquariums, not smaller ones as in this news article. Even if this contract prohibited even a small aquarium (which I have my doubts) this is silly to me considering risks to the landlord.

Somewhat off subject I can say that this selfishness and arrogance of many "haves" is why my family is in the situation we are in with being turned down (because I own a business as well as the rejection by the community we now live in) for Food Stamps recently and others that can help doing nothing and worse the fact that we are in poverty is do to my family having to move all the while others turned their backs on us in my family's darkest hour (sick child, autism, mental breakdown of wife resulting in a spending problem and a devastating affair).
I know this last part is off subject and I apologize to my aquatic readers for my rant, but I feel there is a relation to these stories and this is just so sad IMO.

Here is an excerpt from the story out of Australia:
By Daryl Passmore (please see link above for the full story)
"A FAMILY has been told to get rid of their pet fish – or face the threat of eviction.

Fiona and Rick, who asked that their surname not be published, and their three children were shocked when their landlord issued a notice saying they were in breach of their tenancy agreement because they had a tank with 15 South American fish in it.

The couple admits they broke their agreement by getting a cat – to control rats from nearby bush – and have given it away. But Fiona says the demand to get rid of the fish and their son's pet parrot is heartless and ridiculous.

The Tenants Union of Queensland says the case is a sign of the times, as landlords almost routinely ban animals, making family pets the latest victims of the rental property crisis across the state.


The RSPCA Queensland is being inundated, as thousands of people are giving up their animals in order to get into rented accommodation.

More than 700 pets have been handed in to shelters this year because landlords would not allow them in the property.

"We've had families in tears at the counter because they have to give up their pets," said RSPCA spokesman Michael Beatty. "It's very distressing for them and for the staff.

"Losing the family pet just adds to the stress they are already under in trying to find somewhere to live."

Rick and Fiona moved to Queensland from Melbourne with their children – twins Harley and Benjamin, 16, and Amelia, 6, a year ago, and rented a house in Pine Rivers, north of Brisbane.

Fiona said that after the owner inspected the property last week they were told they were in breach of their tenancy, and given seven days to comply. But they say the fish and the parrot are staying.

"We never thought for a moment that a fish tank would not be allowed. It's just a joke."

The family has six weeks to run on their 12-month lease and they are looking for a new home.

Ms Carr said there was nothing in the Residential Tenancies Act in relation to pets, so potential tenants should not be asked whether they owned any.

She said excluding pets was a breach of Section 101 of the Act, which guaranteed tenants "quiet enjoyment" of properties.

Mr. Beatty said the RSPCA had sample pet agreements that landlords and tenants could use. Animal-owners could provide written references from previous landlords and neighbors attesting to their pets' behavior and cleanliness.

Demand for rentals meant some agents and landlords were using pet ownership as a screen to reduce the number of applicants, Mr. Beatty said, but it was out of step with most big cities in the world."

Reef Clams with Foreign Disease

Reef Clams with Foreign Disease Sold for Reef Aquariums

http://news.ufl.edu/2008/04/08/imported-aquacultured-reef-clams-found-to-have-foreign-disease/


Popular Giant Blue Clams (Tridacnids) imported from Vietnam have been found to carry to carry a disease (Perkinsus olseni) as per University of Florida Studies. These clams are widely imported and distributed though out the US and the World.

In findings that may impact the reef clam industry as well as international trade, a University of Florida veterinary pathologist recently discovered Perkinsus olseni, an internationally reportable foreign pathogen, in aqua-cultured clams imported from Vietnam.
While not believed to be a threat to human health or other reef aquarium species, the pathogen’s presence concerns scientists as well as aquaculture industry representatives and points out the largely unregulated environment in which the importation of aquacultured reef clams from Asia occurs.
“I had 30 clams in my lab as part of a student research project,” said Barbara Sheppard, a clinical associate professor of pathology at the UF College of Veterinary Medicine. “Then they started looking sickly, and within four months, all of them were dead.”
As a pathologist, Sheppard was intrigued. She began investigating the cause of death by freezing tissues, putting them into formalin and conducting histopathology and DNA tests in her laboratory. Her findings, which will appear in an upcoming issue of Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, showed the presence of Perkinsus olseni along with a new species of Perkinsus that has yet to be characterized.
“This is an important finding,” said Ralph Elston, president of AquaTechnics, a Carlsborg, Wash.-based company that provides veterinary, laboratory and environmental assessment services to the shellfish industry. “It indicates the potential risk of the spread of animal disease when health monitoring is not in place to control such risks.”
“This is not a zoonotic disease, transmissible to people,” Sheppard said. “No one is going to get sick from this, as far as we know. The problem here is economic and international trade. We know that Perkinsus is a pathogen of aquatic shellfish, and the reason it is so important is that it makes animals very vulnerable to dying when the weather gets hot or when they get stressed in some other way.”

In my opinion, short of not importing or selling these clams, the right thing to do is to NEVER dispose of these clams in local waters, whether alive or dead.

Video
Please be patient with ths video, it is sometimes slow to load and takes one click to play and occasionally another to start.

Yahoo Answers Part 2

Vote Tampering
By YA User Jon V


I’ve contributed to YA now for a little over a year. I’ve met some wonderful fish keepers out my attending and contributing to that site. I bring this up, though it has no bearing on the subject line, that I always try to find a positive way to view things. Looking at YA as a whole, and in my previous editorial comments posted by my friend and site hoster, Carl, I’ve got to say that YA in terms of at least fish keeping, is at best, a mediocre place to seek advice. Don’t get me wrong, there are some high quality fish keepers out there that do offer advice, but as with most anything in life, there are always a few bad apples that ruin a group. Since this isn’t posted in YA, where I don’t have to “cower” in fear of having my account pulled due to violating some very ambiguous community terms of service, I’m simply going to call out the known cheaters in the fish forum.

1. Mantra- Simply put, this person, be it a man/female or both, who knows in this day and age, has been already kicked out of YA twice on the account of cheating. There are at least two well known sources in YA that have communicated to me their proof, though for their privacies sake, I am not going to mention who. Since I was alerted to the tactics used by Mantra, roughly a year ago, I’ve watched this user quite a bit. I have no doubts in my mind, he’s got or had at least 25 or more account ID’s in YA. I’ve watched him or rather his question, race a vote count up almost all night in effort to beat out Magicman out of a best answer.

It’s clear to those that really want to look at his case with open eyes, that he will do ANYTHING he has to go be listed as the best. What makes this such a joke and sad side effect, is if you really look in depth at his answers, his answers are at best, just like YA, mediocre, and not even close to the actual best answer give. NoSoop has posted to me a previous question he asked over a year ago titled “Over 257 BA’s in the fish forum, why am I not in the top ten?” One look at that alone tells me enough about what is on his mind. Point in case, In spite of more than 257 BEST ANSWERS, why am I not included in YA's TOP 10 ANSWERER in section PETS-FISH
It certainly is not about providing quality assistance but to glorify himself on a large web site used by many world wide.
A secondary problem with this, is not everyone reads, or rather reads in depth to things. Just looking at the name Mantra, and seeing it listed in the top ten will generally make people trust his input. This is why he wishes to be in the top ten so bad. If he’s listed there, it makes those that know he’s full of shit look bad by counter answering him. Shred, but low in originality for thinking. Since he’s returned to answers after his second penalty for cheating, he’s proclaimed “Hero’s don’t die, they reload” and “Most loved him, some hated him, but none forgot him” It’s clearly sound bites of low intelligence from his end that show deeper about his true motivations, intellect, and character. Even a child could do well to ignore the advice he gives in the same manner you’d treat shit in your toilet. Flush it with all the useless links he provides.
The tactics of Mantra as well as the next person are quite similar, though Mantra never seemed to have any end. I’ll admit, there were times that I got tired of his blatant cheating, as no matter how many times you’d report his fraud to YA, they acted very slow. I created id’s and voted back against Mantra when I knew I was right and he was wrong, only to find that if I went ahead of him in voting, in less then an hour, his answer went back up. Either Mantra is like some world leader, famous that he’s important to LARGE number of people, or rather, more likely, he’s sitting there watching his questions, as I watched his, and used multiple accounts to pad his votes to win. Making a point? Possibly, but a truly intelligent person is going to realize that votes alone don’t make your answer accurate or best. It’s also now well known that Nemo is just one of Mantra’s alter id’s.

2. Danielle Z- This user has been gone quite some time as well, much like Mantra. I dub her as Dizzy for short as this seems to sum up the level of most of her input. She, much like Mantra, lacks the hands on knowledge of fish keeping and relies very much on links to web sites to do the work she should be doing for the asker. She’s another person that more then appears to use multiple accounts to skew voting. Dizzy before her departure was well known to have around 5-7 votes on her questions early on in the voting period. Also like Mantra, most anytime someone passed her up in voting, you’d see her shoot back ahead within an hour. It’s a shame she never did us all the favor and just stayed gone.

3. Ice Queen- I always thought Dizzy and Mantra were close to their sad tactics, but Ice Queen always seems to get about 6-8 votes as soon as a question opens as well. The quality of her input basically consists of “Your tank isn’t cycled” Usually the best of her input is one or two no brainer sentences that lack quality and in depth responses. One would think an asker would have enough common sense to know that she barely knows her head from her ass when it comes to fish keeping, but still, many of her questions never get BA’s picked and goes to voting. I assume it’s possible she happens to know certain askers. I give Ice one small credit here only. When she’s been called out privately in email, from Soop or comments I’ve left, she seems to have gotten the point and only used her one legal vote of late. There might be hope for this person.

4. Kam S- No question in my mind what so ever this person is or has an alter id in the fish forum. After watching him cheat a top ten listing person on a UV question, with an answer that’s way off the wall, this punk made my watch list. It doesn’t seem they have much of an interest to continue this activity, but watching what happened on one question, I have seen all I need to see about this so called Top Contributor.

There certainly are some others out there, and as this continues to occur, this might be a useful thread to call out the funny voting counts. Hopefully, any askers in the fish forum that might still use this place for help, you’ll know to steer away from input at least from these people. The information presented here is FACT, and there is no disputing it.

Yahoo Answers

Yahoo Answers; a poor place to go for accurate aquatic (pond and aquarium) information


Yahoo Answers is a good concept. Anyone who has a yahoo account is eligible to use this service. This helps the forum from the point of view; it doesn't have to attract groups of users to build its service up from scratch. It is especially useful for asking questions such what is your favorite movie and why, HOWEVER in my nearly 30 years of professionally designing aquarium systems, maintenance, and research, I have to say Yahoo Answers has serious flaws in the organization and administration in it's terms of
service. Never have I seen a source geared at assisting fish keeper, deliver such poor and sub par service.

To support this very point, consider the procedures involved. We must first examine the point system. Designed as a reward and promotion to get people to provide answers, it has transformed into the driving force for lower quality input in every section
of Yahoo Answers. In addition to the quest for point gaming there unfortunately is an invasion of Trolls (which include many so-called Top Contributors that come by and thumb down good answers and pad votes for anecdotal answers). They have taken over and YA seems disinterested in fixing this.

On a side note, recently, in a few answers I have tracked hits on references I have posted to back up my answers, only to see little or no change, thus proving
lack of interest in good or accurate information (including by many so-called TC that will post behind me contradictory anecdotal information). In addition
to that, many will "pile on" trying to get “Best answer” and then later pad their answers with votes, if the answer goes to voting.

As of now, I only go there (I have a VERY busy work schedule) to dispel the constant barrage of misinformation that passes for answers half the time.

Yet another major flaw in planning reveals that one who would answer has little to no credibility unless you have a Top Contributor badge (as I have noticed based
on answers chosen). There is a misleading impression that someone who happens to answer "x" amount of questions or obtains "z" amount of best answers is an
expert. The mind set being, "This person carries a Top Contributor Icon, they must know what they are talking about" I carry no ego, but directly, I do have more extensive experience in the area I answer in, Pets/Fish so I try to make time to come here at least
a few times a day. Due to excessive trolling here, several false reports of abuse have been filed in this section of late. It's rather clear to see, there is a problem with people with lesser knowledge and experience that feel their answers are right when in
actuality, it's quite inaccurate.

I also notice that Yahoo Answers has a knowledge partners program, but getting in there seems unlikely but for a select “anointed” few (maybe some $$$$ too?)

That being said, not everything is negative about YA. There are a few who are truly interested in trying to help and make this work. In fact I answered a question
by one of these Gentlemen of Yahoo Answers where I only answered to add more information and to second the already good answer that was there (actually there
were a few excellent answers), needless to say this person picked that answer as best, which he should have since my answer was not meant in any way to
compete, only enhance. This is how it should work, but this is how it rarely works. If there were more askers realizing this is not a popularity contest or actually reading over the input many give, I believe the trolls would lose interest and begin to fade away.

Yahoo Answers recently took away my Top Contributor badge (which of coarse lowers my credibility as stated earlier) even though I was answering more questions than usual over the last few weeks, most likely due to troll activity.
Worse yet, another gentleman of YA fish, who is incredibly experienced as well as gracious in the way he often words his answers LOST his Yahoo account due
to trolls (most likely Mantra) there that have multiple accounts and use these to knock out the good Top Contributors at Yahoo Answers. The reporting of abuse and disinformation is
a noble idea and should be there, but the application of it is failing this service miserably.

The revamped system of community moderation has failed. Trolls are ever more present and dissolving any bit of credibility this service offers in the way of accurate information on fish care. It seems rather evident, that YA will only care if attendance drops
and advertising money diminishes. Sad to say, it appears the mode is typical of the American way of life, "Unless it effects your wallet, why care?"

In another sad move on Yahoos side (which is doubly sad as I personally like there other services including what I think is the best search engine), is
that not one email is being responded to by Yahoo (including the designer of Yahoo answers that used to be interested in making YA a good place for
information).

As someone who has spent most of my adult AND childhood in the Aquarium hobby and especially in my professional capacity (maintenance, etc.) I have seen much of the damage bad information can do, with frustrated fish keepers, dead fish, and poor
information treated like a fact being spread out like wildfire.

I and several others now have had ENOUGH. It is time for action. Suggestions have been posted and appears to have fallen on deaf ears. PLEASE, to all that read this and truly care about the integrity of the Aquarium and pond keeping hobby, BOYCOTT or at least try and avoid answering questions directly (use PM) at Yahoo Answers so that it will fold, your fish will thank you! If you truly want better service and advice, this is NOT the place to find it.

By Carl Strohmeyer
With editing and additional information by Jon V.

Zebra Fish for Cancer

A Transparent Zebra Fish is created to give a clearer idea of how cancer spreads

FROM:
Science News; Transparent Zebrafish Help Researchers Track Breast Cancer

"What if doctors could peer through a patient's skin and see a cancer tumor growing? They'd be able to study how tumor cells migrate: how they look, how they interact with the blood system to find nourishment to grow and spread through the body.

Zebrafish are genetically similar to humans and are good models for human biology and disease. Now, researchers at Children's Hospital Boston have created a zebrafish that is transparent throughout its life. The new fish allows scientists to directly view its internal organs, and observe processes like tumor metastasis and blood production after bone-marrow transplant in a living organism".

VEGF secreting human tumor cells inducing angiogenesis within the Zebrafish body wall. Tumor cells are shown in red (DsRed), fish blood vessels are shown in green (GFP). (Credit: UCSD School of Medicine)



This is really neat in my opinion that a popular and easy to keep tropical freshwater fish is being used to help people in such a way.
Something I was not aware of is that Zebra Fish were chosen for their strong genetic similarities to human beings. Each internal organ of the fish and its bones can be seen clearly throughout its life. Through these studies, observations have shown already that the spread of cancer cells are not random – they home in on a particular area.

Zebra Fish were the first fish I got in a 5 gallon aquarium I received for Christmas in 1967. This tank was quite basic with a "bubbler" corner filter, which were quite simple but do not compare to even the most basic sponge filter. The lighting was basic clear incandescent bulbs and the heater was an automatic HOB Metaframe Heater.

Blog inspired and sponsored by Thomas Butler