Hobbies - Anwin – Me Myself and the World Around Me

Category: Hobbies

A Red Dragon Hmpk Betta Picture

Feb.17, 2010

No, that’s not latin

It just means – a betta plakat (PK) fish (siamese fighting gish) with a pattern on its body called ‘red dragon’ and with finnage of a halfmoon (HM) (a circle cut in half?).

I am bad at explaining, so here’s a handy link to the Wikipedia page on bettas and their fin types – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siamese_fighting_fish#Tail_shapes.

That’s a ‘Red Dragon’ pattern – a visible layer of white on the body with red fins.

In the above picture the betta shows his tail fin which has straight edges and a 180 degree spread. Hence the name, halfmoon – HM.

And the below picture, just to show the betta’s body in detail.

The above pictures are all of the bugger who is the star of my lot of fishes.

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Tags: Betta, Betta Splendens, red dragon betta

Copper Black Bettas Spawned

Filed Under: Betta, Hobbies, Pics, fish

Sep.03, 2009

Update: The male ate all the eggs. The SOB. Dang!!!

My foray into breeding special types of bettas has finally started. Couple of days back I introduced the male copper black super delta (Copper Black SDT Male) male betta into the new jungle-like spawning tank. I say jungle-like because I have kept too many types of aquatic plants inside that it is quite difficult to follow the inhabitants inside. This is the same tank that I got from Surya at IAH. The poor cambodian plakats got evicted and bottled. I say poor, because the buggers are seriously depressed now and I am trying my level best to cheer them up. Hahahaha!

Anyways, the pair spawned and yesterday I ran home eagerly to find a pretty strong bubble nest and lots of eggs. Too dark to see how many, but hopefully at least a hundred. Hehehehe. Will confirm things by Saturday when hopefully the buggers would have hatched.

The male’s picture is below. I had purchased the pair of Copper Bettas from IAH Shubhankar from Pune. You can see a picture of the male below. I will post better pictures when I take them. I have to do with my old Canon powershot and I am not at home in the day time to take new pictures

I will take some more pictures on Saturday and also of the female and post them later this weekend. As most betta fans will know, the male will take care of the eggs and the hatched fry for some time. Some people will leave the male to take care of the young for a month while most people remove the male after the fry start free swimming. I belong to the second category so I will remove the male as soon as the fry can swim for themselves.

Hopefully, the eggs will start hatching tonight or tomorrow morning. And then more pictures. This is most exciting and I really wish I will get a hundred black copper deltas.

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Tags: Betta, betta breeding, Betta Splendens, Copper Black Betta, Copper DT Male, Delta Tail Betta, Siamese Fighting Fish

My New Delta And Super Delta Tail Bettas

Filed Under: Bangalore, Betta, Hobbies, India, fish

Aug.24, 2009

My friends circle know that I am into betta fishes and some blog readers know that too, I suppose. However, not many would know that I am an absolute crazy and insane person when it comes to bettas. I just love to look at them for hours, period. If you need someone to vouch for that, just ask Anoop. He wrote a parody of me in his blog about my obsession with fishes.

I have been trying to import some black colored betta splendens from Thailand for some time. I noticed that on aquabid there are quite a few genuine sellers online from Thailand. However, the problem was that their business is not that great to India. So even if they can ship to India none of them were able to give absolute guarantee of delivery live. Normally, bettas survive shipping quite easily. However, I got to know that there are quite a few fish enthusiasts and aquariums importing fish regularly. So I figured it would be easier for them to get my bettas. Still no luck.

In the mean time I came to know from a member of IAH from Pune, Shubhankar, that he is shipping some fish to Bangalore and that he had a pair of Copper Delta Tail Bettas to spare. Wow. I decided to get them immediately on my last month’s incentive money. Hehehe. So went ahead, ordered for them, and received them in good health and cheer yesterday.

I am a bad photographer. But I assure you that the Copper Black Delta Tail pictured above is an amazing specimen. He is eating well and in good health. I will spawn him with the Copper Black Delta Tail Female, also shipped by Shubhankar from Pune. Thanks man. Great stuff.

So, I was at Hayath’s (an IAH member and also a full time Indian Native Fish enthusiast) house collecting the fish sent by Shubhankar. His friend Nikhil, another fish hobbyist, was also there and they both decided to go to Karthik’s nearby. I had no clue who Karthik was. I soon came to know that he was this guy from IAH who is a very serious fish hobbyist. So we went there and found that there was an actual aquarium shop. And the moment I entered I knew that this was a different dimension from previous aquariums I have visited in the past. Why? Because he had the most amazing Super Delta Tailed Bettas I have ever seen outside the internet. Right there in the aquarium.

So I bought one from him. And some live blood worms for my fish.

He was too active to take good pictures. But here’s one below of my prized fighters showing off.

I am going to breed these buggers and send them off to Nagercoil (to my friend Joel who has a better breeding setup) for more breeding. By the time it is Christmas this year I am sure to see some good results. I hope

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Tags: Betta Splendens, Copper Black Betta, Copper Black Delta

Takashi Amano At Aquatika 2009

Filed Under: Bangalore, Events, Hobbies, India, fish

Jun.23, 2009

For those who have not heard about Takashi Amano, a brief introduction. Takashi Amano is from Japan and he is one of the most respected aquarists from all over the world. He popularized aquascaping where you set up the aquariums to look as close to real and natural scenery.

Aquatika is an annual meeting held by the Indian Aquarium Hobbyists association. Traditionally Aquatika has been organized in Chennai or Bangalore for the past few years and continuing it this year it will be in Bangalore. More details below:

Mr Takashi Amano – of Aqua Design Amano, Japan, The Creator of Nature Aquarium.
Mr Takashi Amano will be making a presentation followed by a Nature Aquarium setup demonstration.
Venue: NIMHANS Convention Center, Hosur Road, Bengaluru – 560029
Registration: Rs. 3000/- per person

Highlights of the conference:

A demo of a Signature Nature Aquarium by Takashi Amano
Indian Rockstar contest – 3 prizes for the best Iwagumi Layout
Meet fellow aquarium hobbyists

For registration details you can visit the IAH forums – http://indianaquariumhobbyist.com/community/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=14175

Or, you can ask me by leaving a comment on this post. I will arrange for the tickets. Any one interested? Are there any other aquarium hobbyists around? I had posted about the IAH and aquascaping in a previous post – http://anw.in/2009/01/19/indian-aquarium-hobbyist-meeting/

Below is a picture of a custom made design by Takashi Amano. Please visit http://www.amanoinindia.com/dinwithamano.html for more pictures.

More details at http://www.amanoinindia.com/index.html

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Tags: amano, aquarium, IAH, takashi amano

An Ode To My Enfield Bullet

Filed Under: Bikes, Creative Writing, Poem, cool stuff

May.07, 2009

There she was, black, silver, big, heavy and beautiful
She looked so beauuuutiful
It was love at first sight!

She was not easy, she was not nice
She was so hot and she had dull yellow eyes
And I loved her!

She was angry, she bled internally
Years of neglect, misuse and indifference
But she was so proud!

One fine day, when the going was tough
She cried, she could not take it anymore
And then she had a nervous breakdown!

I realized my follies, and then I cried
Took her to the doctor and I told my story
While she looked at me balefully!

Now the times are changed, life is full
Fresh blood, surgery, cosmetics and lots of love
My baby’s back on the road again!

The above is a picture of the bike taken some years ago and not a latest one. My previous post – http://anw.in/2006/04/07/bullet-after-some-modifications/.

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