By Walden Nida
The Betta Perspective
An
interview with Brian Santos
By Walden
Nida and Linda Olson
Brian Santos is a member of Betta Club Philippines.
He is single and 30 years old. He works for a company as ESL trainer
and part time as a college professor. He graduated with honors from the
De La Salle University (BSBA-Business Management) and is now in the
running for Cum Laude at the Philippine Air Force College (Masters of
Public Administration). He has been a class A
ham radio operator for 18 years. His other hobbies include photography.
He breeds and raises arachnids and other exotics pets as will as
bettas. His web site is Cracker Bettas.
Walden: How did you get started with Bettas as a
hobby?
Brian: My Mom bought my first betta when I was 8 years old. It was a blue VT.
Walden: What color
strains are you working with? Which is
your Favorite?
Brian: I am currently
working on red plakat. They are my favorite.
Walden: What bowl size do you raise your males in and at
what age do you jar males?
Brian: I
use 8x4x8 inches tank and I jar the males on their 2nd months or so.
Walden: What is
your water change frequency for Betta grow-out tanks and Betta bowls?
Brian: For betta bowls I do 50% water
change every 3-4 days and for grow out tanks I do 50% water change every week. I use Java moss to control the nitrates.
Walden: How do
you treat your water you use for water changes?
What is the pH and hardness of your water from the tap?
Brian: I have a
huge container where I store my water and add dry Indian Almond Leaves. I have
an overhead filter on top of the container so the water keeps circulating and
filtered. The last time I checked my pH was 7.00
Walden: What temperature water do you raise your
bettas in?
Brian: I'm residing
in a tropical country so I'm lucky enough not to use heaters anymore. Room
temperature is approximately 29- 31 degrees Celsius. (84-88 F)
Walden: How do
you work your Betta lines? Inbreeding? Out
crossing?
Brian: Mostly
Inbreeding. I breed cousins together and sometimes dad to daughter. I also
outcross whenever I have the chance.
Walden: What
characteristics do you look for in your breeders? Branching?
Brian: Number 1 for for me
is temperament males and females should flare easily, thick body and at least 4
rays and the male caudal should at least 170 degrees or better if I get over
180 degrees.
I don't like long anal for both males and
females and huge thick dorsal for the males
Walden: What
percentage of HM finnage type Bettas do you get in
your spawns? How about desired color?
Brian: I get around 70% male HMPKS and the others were
just Traditional Plakats. Color around 20% gets the
color I want.
Walden: What
size spawning tank do you use and how do you set it up? Do you condition your breeders?
Brian: I only
condition the males I feed them with live Tubifex
worms and Mosquito Larvae, females are all in the pond and just pick whatever
females I want and breed them.
|
|
 Outdoor growing area
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I'm using a 10 gallon
tank with a coke 1.5 bottle as a chimney. I also use a small tub around 6
inches diameter and 4 inches deep, place the male and female at the same time,
put a cover and after a day I get eggs.
Walden: What
foods do you use for newborn
fry? Juveniles? Adults?
Brian: I use infusoria
or green water, sometimes hard-boiled egg, then bbs, moina and chopped Tubifex worms.
My adults only eat Tubifex, Bloodworms, Mosquito Larvae and sometimes freeze dried Tubifex worms.
Walden: What type of feeding schedule do you use?
 Blue Plakat
|
|
Brian: I feed my fry 2 x a day and my adults 1 x a day in the
morning after flaring them. For the adults I usually skip at least 1 day a week
not feeding them.
Walden: At what
age do you cull your Betta spawns?
Brian: Continually,
as long as I notice something wrong then I cull them, there's no specific age.
Walden: What
types of filtration are used in your fry or grow out tanks? Why?
Brian: Sponge
filter, they are cheap and always available. Sometimes I don't use any
filtration at all.
 Betta Brownorum
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|
Walden: What are
your breeding goals for the future?
Brian: Maintain my
red line and probably come up with some unique colors. I actually spawned an
off color betta now and trying to experiment I'm curious about the outputs.
Walden: Is their
any information you want to add to this interview?
Brian: Bettas are
magnificent fish they are one of the most beautiful fish that God have ever
created. I hope more and more people will be interested in keeping bettas and
enjoy their beauty and respect them at the same time.
Taking care of bettas
is just like learning ABC’s all you need to do is to have patience.
Walden:? What color strains are you working with?? Which is your Favorite?
Brian: I am currently working on red plakat.? They are my favorite.
Walden: What bowl size do you raise your males in
and at what age do you jar males?
Brian:
?I use 8x4x8 inches tank and
I jar the males on their 2nd months or so
Walden:? What is your water change frequency for
Betta grow-out tanks and Betta bowls?
Brian:? For
betta bowls I do 50% water change every 3-4 days and for grow out tanks
I do 50% water change every week.? I use Java moss to control
the nitrates.
Walden:
How do you treat your water you use for water changes?? What is the pH
and hardness of your water from the tap?
Brian:? I have a huge container where I store my
water and add dry Indian Almond Leaves. I have an overhead filter on
top of the container so the water keeps circulating and filtered. The
last time I checked my pH was 7.00
Walden:?
What temperature water do you raise your bettas in?
Brian:? I'm residing in a tropical country so I'm
lucky enough not to use heaters anymore. Room temperature is
approximately 29- 31 degrees Celsius. (84-88 F)
Walden:? How do you work your Betta lines?? Inbreeding?? Out crossing?
Brian:? Mostly Inbreeding. I breed cousins
together and sometimes dad to daughter. I also outcross whenever I have
the chance.
Walden:? What characteristics do you look for
in your breeders?? Branching?
Brian:?
Number 1 for for me is
temperament males and females should flare easily, thick body and at
least 4 rays and the male caudal should at least 170 degrees or better
if I get over 180 degrees.
I
don't like long anal for both males and females and huge thick dorsal
for the males
Walden:? What percentage of HM finnage type Bettas do
you get in your spawns?? How about desired color?
Brian: I get around 70% male HMPKS and the others
were just Traditional Plakats. Color around
20% gets the color I want.
Walden:? What size spawning tank do you use and
how do you set it up?? Do you condition your breeders?
Brian:
I only condition the males I feed them with live Tubifex
worms and Mosquito Larvae, females are all in the pond and just pick
whatever females I want and breed them.
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*/
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I'm using a 10
gallon tank with a coke 1.5 bottle as a chimney. I also use a small tub
around 6 inches diameter and 4 inches deep, place the male and female
at the same time, put a cover and after a day I get eggs.
??
Walden:? What foods do you use for newborn
?fry? Juveniles?? Adults?
Brian:? ?I use infusoria
or green water, sometimes hard-boiled egg, then bbs,
moina and chopped Tubifex
worms. My adults only eat Tubifex,
Bloodworms, Mosquito Larvae and sometimes
freeze dried Tubifex worms.
Walden: What type of feeding schedule do you
use?
Indoor fish
room
Blue Plakat
|
|
Brian: I feed my fry 2 x a day and my adults 1 x a day
in the morning after flaring them. For the adults I usually skip at
least 1 day a week not feeding them.
Walden:? At what age do you cull your Betta
spawns?
Brian:? Continually, as long as I notice something
wrong then I cull them, there's no specific age.
Walden:? What types of filtration are used in
your fry or grow out tanks?? Why?
Brian:? Sponge filter, they are cheap and always
available. Sometimes I don't use any filtration at all.
Fish Room
Betta Brownorum
|
|
Walden:? What are your breeding goals for the
future?
Brian:? Maintain my red line and probably come up
with some unique colors. I actually spawned an off color betta now and
trying to experiment I'm curious about the outputs.
Walden:? Is their any information you want to
add to this interview?
Brian:?
Bettas are magnificent fish they are one of the most beautiful fish
that God have ever created. I hope more and more people will be
interested in keeping bettas and enjoy their beauty and respect
them at the same time.
Taking
care of bettas is just like learning ABC’s all you need to do is
to have patience.
