Rearing Facility of The Fighting Strain

 

  
 
    By Redhillbetta :
 

This web page is to provide a glimpse into the fighting strain betta farms in Singapore, and serve as a basic introduction into how these bettas are bred and raised.

Concrete tanks are commonly used for the culture of tropical freshwater ornamental fishes in Singapore. Most bettas are raised in concrete tanks , though earthen ponds are still favouerd by some breeders, they are the exception rather than the norm. With the advent of new technologies and materials, tanks made from fibreglass and styrofoam are also making their way into the farms. It is important to note that many betta breeders adopts their management practices from the experiences gained from the tropical freshwater ornamental fish bussiness. Generally, earthen ponds are used to raise herbivous fishes while concrete tanks are meant for oniverous fishes like bettas. Herbivous like the mollys which have the habit for grazing on the sides of concrete aquaria may likely cause abrasion to their mouths and result in infection and is always raised in earthen ponds while bettas will have no such problem so they can be raised in both types of aquaria. Earthen or concrete aquaria for bettas may rests on the individual breeder's preferance and nothing more. Although there are minor differences in the sizes of the tank in individual farms as it depends largely on the species reared, a few common sizes are used. The sizes of the concrete tanks in some cases are also based on the farm area available.


The farm in the picture above was previously used for rearing Guppies, until it was taken over by Betta breeders. The farm produces both the show/display and fighting strains. The betta breeders made no changes to the existing concrete tanks meant for raising Guppies, there may not be much difference in the housing of these 2 species after all.


The concrete tanks are usually square or rectangular in shape, odd shapes are uncommon. The tanks are constructed in rows with an aisle between 2 rows, the aisle are meant for ease of servicing and access to the tanks. Each tank has a screened outlet at one side which faces the aisle as can be seen on the below picture. It allow excess water to flow. The water drains directly onto the aisle, with no drainage pipes or scupper drains for the waste water. Fish are prevented from escaping through these outlet by nylon mesh. Other overflow devices may be PVC pipes placed on the centre that are just above the water level. Excess water also flows into these pipes and similarly fish are prevented from escaping by nylon mesh secured over them.


A typical tank is 0.5m high 1.5m in length and 1.0m wide. The bottom of the tanks are usually concrete but can also be earthen. These tanks can each hold up to 150 bettas. Nets are installed over the tanks to prevent predation by birds and to reduce sunshine so as to avoid algae blooms which can make the fishes sick. In some farms wooden planks and zinc sheets are used to cover the tanks from the mid-day sun to prevent the water temperature from becoming too high and to prevent over flooding during typical tropical downpours.


The above picture shows a dried out concrete tank, with a concreted bottom. Concreted base can reduce the breeding sites of predatory insects like water beetles, water bugs, dragonfly nymphs and water scorpions etc. It is easy to make water changes and clean the tanks, with water quality easier to be controlled and monitored resulting in much improved water quality beneficial to the bettas. A one metre square tank with 0.3m of water will hold about 100 adult bettas, bettas from the same spawn and sorted to similar sizes will share one tank.


Though concrete tanks do provides ease of management, but it lacks the minerals and natural organism found in earthen ponds in which the fishes can feed on. Some betta breeders will add good earth into the concrete tanks to boost mineral contents in the water. Mineralisation of the ponds will involve periodically drying them for several days until the earth cracks or replacing existing earth with mineralised new earth.


Most farms will have at least one large water storage pond to meet their water need, it can be filled with rain water, underground water or from nearby canals and streams. In some farms standing tap water may be used instead and they are usually stored in large tanks, most likely made in concrete.


Close to the storage ponds and tanks are the pump sheds with the facilities for draining or filling up both the ponds and the concrete tanks. The picture above shows an old petrol driven pump in a makeshift shed.


The picture above shows hoses extended to the concrete tanks from the pump shed for ease of filling up the tanks with water from the storage pond.


Some of the ponds can be fertilised with animal manures, this was a popular practice in the past when pig farming was still possible and was an integral part of the ornamental fish farming bussiness. Pig manures is a good organic fertiliser, and the ponds provide a ready supply of phytoplankton, zooplankton like rotifers and copepod namplii etc as a rich source of food for the fishes. Duck farms on the other hand provided a good harvest of bloodworms (midge fly larvae).

With the pig and duck farms long gone, so were the rich and nutritous cultivated food of the bettas. Nowadays, tubifex worms and moina comes daily from Malaysia in the form of plastic bags. The above picture show a truck load of moina, an essential source of protein and nutrients for the bettas.

"Fights are won in the ponds" is an old saying by both breeders and players alike, perhaps the secret of success is to be found in the farms.

 

My Home Page

 

email: redhillbetta@yahoo.com.sg