Greetings From Thailand

[block2]

Sawatdee Khrap....( Hello )

I'm Jeff, from the Uk originally, I have been in Thailand for the last 4 years. At present, in the process of setting up a Betta fish farm but have had to put it on hold, due to the rainy season. I am lucky I have 2 large lakes either side of our home I rent and both are filled with Wild/Thai freshwater spieces including Giant Gourami's, Koi, Roach, Several Species of Catfish, Chub, Carp, and 5/8 ILB one's that look like Giant Pirahna's with teeth to match, also long snouted pipe like fish again with many teeth, locals call them aligator-fish, also many other species but not sure what they are.

1. This lake belongs to my wifes family who we rent our home from. This pic is taken from the top end from the garden.

2. Same lake but pic taken from bottom end.

3. This is the village lake with our home to the right. This lake provides our village with all our water needs except for drinking water. This pic was taken in August before the rains came. Both lakes broke their banks last month November/December and we where flooded twice. Fish everywhere...more pics to come.

If any of you Betta Breeders/Keepers need any Indian Almond Leaves, We have just gathered quite a few freshly fallen leaves, prices are very reasonable and include postage via airmail from Thailand...PM if interested or email me at block-2@hotmail.com. These leaves are also ideal for gouramis, tetras, arrowana’s, discus, South American dwarf cichlids, some rasboras and some cat-fishes.

Right me off to see what the rest of you are up to on the forum...

Laeo phop kan na.....( See You Later )

Regards
Jeff

 

[Lotus]

Welcome to the tank!

Good luck with the breeding projects.

 

[tom91970]

Welcome to the tank! Looking forward to seeing more about your betta breeding program.

 

[block2]

Hi,

Heres a few Pics of the fish I have caught in the village lake. I have seen big fish in there and I saw a chap put something quite large into the lake the other month. I saw a decent roach missing its stomach on top of the water one day. Pity as we eat the roach when we catch them, as they quite big.

1. This is a Giant Gourami, that i caught in the village lake. Quite a docile fish, came right upto where I was fishing, had 2 rods out and one just in the water which I was n't using at the time, only took the bait on that one and it was off, good 15 minutes play.

We got flooded twice last November / December as both lakes broke their banks. Fish everywhere. Around our lake I have put wire-mesh to deter me dogs from getting over but theres about a 2" gap at the bottom. We lost quite a few from our lake when the floods came including this Giant Gourami, he must of went sideways through the gap. We managed to grab him in a net the first time he got out in the beck/river that runs down the side of our home, but the 2nd time he got out no one seen him. We got told later it was caught in a net further up the beck/river and need I say what happened to it.

2. This is a smaller Gourami in our lake. We have quite a few of these. If you look closely, you will see an orange bubble near its head, thats its fry. They protect them for about 2 weeks then the fry are left to defend for themselves. They stay in the ball, taken it turns, centre ones rise for air, they then return to the outside of the ball, then the next centre ones rise, they then return to the outside of the ball. This is done many times...Very clever.

3. This is a nice catfish, the Thais like to eat these, this one I managed to transfer into our lake.

4. Not sure what this is, but its my favorite from the village lake. I think its a Golden Price Carp. It as a beautiful golden bronze colour. Caught a few of these and they are very tasty.

regards
Jeff

 

[block2]

Where we are situated is a lovely location, but it does have it drawbacks, as mentioned a while back, we got flooded twice last year, here's a few pics :

At the beginning of last year the council installed a large water tower for the lake to supply the village with water...and it soon started to drain the lake..but it seemed to rain everyday from April to October and the lake got shallower and shallower, rather than filling up, so the Tower was doing it's job, as you can see from the pics the village lake is around 30 metres deep.

Here's a couple of old girls and their dogs from the village, they come everyday to catch smallfish to feed their dogs and themselves, they use bamboo sticks with a bit of line and hook and a bit of wood as a float..as the water fell so they had to climb further down the side of the lake...

That lady there climbing up the steep bank is in her 70's..one slip and she would be in serious trouble. The other girl is her grandaughter.

 

[block2]

Here's the water tower

Like I say I couldn't work out why the lake was getting shallower and not filling up...it had not stopped raining for months, I had to go on a visa run and when I left the lake was almost empty I was gone 1 day and upon my return the lake was full...I couldn't believe it...but the installation of the water tower, even though it is an eyesore, saved us from a flooding this year.

This pic is opposite to where the 2 women are climbing up the bank, so you can imagine how deep it is..

All the best for 2010 to all at MyFishTank

Jeff & Wan