New Items on Etsy, Cauldron, Bowls!

New Items! Check them out here!! http://www.etsy.com/shop/Gabrielsgrove?ref=si_shop

Brown and Red/Purple Bowl

Green and Red/Purple Bowl

"Goddess Bless" Mini-Cauldron

Med Serving Bowl with Carved Cog-Steampunk

Ben

New Items up on Etsy!!

Blue Glossy Mug-Large

Hand Knit Wash Cloths-Set of 3

Large Mint Green and White Mug

Hand Knit Hanging Towel

Large Ceramic Mug

Check them out here! http://www.etsy.com/shop/Gabrielsgrove?ref=si_shop

Ben

New Items for sale on Esty

Set of 3 Washcloths, 7x7 inches.

Blank Hand Bound Journal-Blue Tie-dye-Coptic Stitch-100 pages

Blank Hand Bound Journal-1oo Pages-Coptic Stitch

Blank Hand Bound Journal-100 pages-Green Tie-dye-Coptic Stitch

Hey Everyone,

So, some new listings up on Etsy, check it out! http://www.etsy.com/shop/Gabrielsgrove?ref=si_shop

Ben

Betta Breeding Day 1/New Male Betta-Neptune

Neptune, new male Betta.

Neptune and Shiva.

Another great pic of Neptune. He has beautiful color!

Hey Everyone,

New Male Betta: Neptune

So, the other male, Fireball, won't blow a bubble nest, no matter what I do. So I went out today and got a new male, Neptune. He's a steel blue with green iridescence. He is absolutely gorgeous. I'm really excited to see how he works with Shiva, my female.

Breeding Day 1:

So I introduced Neptune into his breeding tank today and he started blowing a bubble nest right away under a piece of styrofoam I put in there for that purpose.

I put Shiva's tank right next to him and he immediately turned a darker blue and she developed stripes on her body and turned colors within 10 minutes. They have really taken a liking to one another! So I have her in a hurricane glass in the breeding tank and I'm leaving them there for tonight so he will blow a much bigger bubble nest. I'll be introducing them tomorrow to get the eggs in the nest. I'll keep pictures! I'm really excited to see the results of a red female and a blue/green iridescent male! Should be interesting!

Ben

Day 7 of Betta Conditioning for Breeding

Betta (Fireball) and our 5 Neon Tetras with a small plecostomus.

Hey Everyone,

So here is Fireball. He is doing well. I got some advice from a professional and now I know how to do everything for the breeding process. So I'm feeding both Fireball (male) and Shiva (female) high protein betta bits and also bloodworms once a day for each. They are doing really well. Shiva is already showing signs of wanting to breed, but last time I had them near one another and Fireball wouldn't start a bubble nest. I'm going to put him in a tank with zero surface tension in the water and also with an almond leaf (promotes breeding in their natural habitat) and maybe I can get him to blow a nest. If he does not I'm going to be purchasing another male and breeding him with Shiva.

So, I have a 10 gallon that is going to get an almond leaf, half filled with water, a heater (80F), a small oasis to one side and the male betta to begin with. I'll let him get used to it then introduce Shiva into the tank with a Hurricane glass and we'll see what happens. I know she wants to breed, but he HAS to blow the nest or none of the fry will hatch or survive. I'll keep updating, but it's going to be a little bit of a slow process. The heater and leaves should be here this week along with a book on bettas.

Other Tank:

So, the community tank is doing well! After I'm done with the heater for the betta breeding, it's going into their tank. Looks like my red swordtail female either had her babies in the middle of the night and they were all eaten or she aborted them due to stress (I don't know what have caused that). Their gestation period is about a month and I have a male so I can expect baby swordtails around the 1st of next month, I'll post pics if I get any!

3 Gallon:

We introduced 5 neon tetras into our male bettas 3 gallon to help with the cycling of the tank and such. I added a picture of them (they swim fast, sorry it's blurry!) They also act like pirahanas when I feed them which is slightly unnerving. They are very pretty though. Once I get some plants growing well, I'll add one to the betta tank to keep the water cycling well.

Plant bulbs:

They are sprouting! Finally! After two weeks almost they are starting to sprout! Yay!

In other news...not much going on. The senior show is going great, made a bit of money off it and I'm really happy to have tomorrow off of classes. Sleeping in!

Ben

New Fish-Aquarium Ideas and Info

Possible decoration designs.

Possible Aquarium designs

Hey Everyone,

So, went out today to our local aquarium specialty store "The Fish Doctor" and purchased 2 more Blood-Fin Tetra's to go along with my 3 that I already had and also 3 Red Swordtails (1 male and 2 females). I'm really interested in starting a small breeding operation with the swordtails, but first I'll just see how they act and how they are feeling in the tank.

Shiva and Fireball have been next to one another in separate tanks for the past few days and Shiva is showing signs that she wants to mate. Fireball is getting very old and I would like to keep his lineage going, so I'm planning on introducing them to one another later today.

So other than that, here's what's going on.

Ceramic Aquariums:

So I'm thinking of making some ceramic tanks that I can throw on the wheel. I would throw something like a car tire (smaller of course) with a bottom. When turned up on it's side and glass installed, it would be like a one sided aquarium. After that I have to figure out how to install a light and of course I'll build a lid for it. It would also need some sort of shield for the bulb. It's still a work in process, but the only way I'm going to figure out all the problems is by building one, so I'm gonna give it a shot!

Ceramic Aquarium Decorations:

So, I found out that people used to use old terracotta pots in aquariums all the time. Also, I can use a clear glaze that will not affect the water on terracotta and have it not be a algae and bacteria breeding ground! I'm thinking of making some natural looking rock formations and then also doing some wood/tree looking pieces. I'm also thinking of doing some pieces with Oni Masks or skulls on them with holes for the fish to swim through or hide in. I'm still working through it, but hopefully I will have some work made soon that is actually good!! If I get enough made, I might even sell some on Etsy, we'll see I guess.

Well, thanks for reading, another blog post tomorrow!

Ben