3wk Old Betta Fry

[juliehainsworth]

Should they be showing aggression towards each other already! I noticed last night and this morning that some of the larger ones go for others that swim across their path is this normal?

Also how do you encourage them to take dry foods as well as live? I've tried crushing it and putting it in the tank and a few will pick up little bits but quickly spit it out so after about five mins I remove it and put in the live foods is there any way I can encourage them to start taking the dry food? Also would live baby bloodworms be ok for them to eat once in a while?

 

[mantis147]

Should they be showing aggression towards each other already! I noticed last night and this morning that some of the larger ones go for others that swim across their path is this normal?

Also how do you encourage them to take dry foods as well as live? I've tried crushing it and putting it in the tank and a few will pick up little bits but quickly spit it out so after about five mins I remove it and put in the live foods is there any way I can encourage them to start taking the dry food? Also would live baby bloodworms be ok for them to eat once in a while?

Hi Natsuko,

My Fry are 4 weeks old now, i have tried the liquifry no.2 which i like a powder they do try it now & again. The Bloodworms would have to be very small, i use baby daphnia & brine shrimp.

I have'nt seen any signs of aggression with mine as yet.

Hope this helps!!!

 

[juliehainsworth]

I have both liquifry 1 & 2 so I could try that! Yeah mine love bbs and baby daphnia cant wait until they're big enough to eat adult daphnia as it would save time having to pick out the babies with a pipette lol..... I'm hoping I have some newly hatched bloodworms outside (note the hoping) but it might be too cold still however back in Feb I did manage to find loads of big fat juicy ones that I fed to my adult fish! I know baby bloodworms are tiny compared to the ones that you get at LFS but it's just a case of finding them to see if they're too big (yay more playing in mud for me yuk)

Perhaps the aggression has somehow transfered over from my other tank lol... It's not full on aggression its more of this is my space now stop swimming in front of me

Thanks

 

[wuvmybetta]

It's perfectly normal

As for dry food, you can crush your normal betta pellets in to a fine, itty bitty granule. Just put a few in a sandwhich baggy and smash them with the underside of a spoon on a hard surface for a few minutes. That's what I do. I don't know if they'll take it this early though, maybe by next week or so.

 

[juliehainsworth]

Thanks Wuvmybetta! I thought I was going to have to seperate them way too early ! They certainly put loads of bbs away thats for sure!

I will wait until next week then before trying them again on the dry food!

Thanks again

 

[Joby]

Yeah the earliest I've seen flaring was 3 weeks old so cute bless

If I'm trying to offer dried ground foods I do it first thing isn the morning when they are probably at their hungriest. Small amounts at first and if not eaten quite quickly then remove and put in your usual live/defrosted frozen foods. They do eventually get the message

 

[juliehainsworth]

Thanks Joby I'll try that tomorrow morning!

This morning I was watching them and there were three facing each other and then one chased the other two away it was so funny! I cant see them flaring exactly though but you can tell when their about to go for one and other as they have this evil look on their faces!

I've moved my smallest fry to a container as I hope they will grow better without the others hormones!

I've still got one light fry left which is really cute but is pretty small he/she has a silvery/blue line going down its back, I hope its a girl and survives as I would really like to keep this one for myself!

 

[Synirr]

Just an FYI, Hikari brand frozen bloodworms are smaller than other brands, so when the time comes you might want to look into that

 

[juliehainsworth]

Thanks Synirr! I'll keep my eye out for them!

 

[juliehainsworth]

Hmmm well I tried my betta fry on baby bloodworms and they enjoyed them shame they came out whole from the other end! Have a feeling that they werent a good idea to feed them as they wont have absorbed much from them! Oh well it was worth a try! They still arent keen on taking dry food no matter how often I try ! One thing that they can manage is small daphnia even though they do give the adult daphnia a try too which is amuzing to watch! I'm sure it wont be long now until they can manage adult daphnia with ease! They still love bbs although I have had to increase the production to keep up with their constant hunger!

Got a question would it be ok to put a couple of amano shrimp in with the betta fry to help clean the nursery tank of any left over food? Or would they try to eat the fry?

 

[Joby]

Aww bless them, don't they know they're supposed to chew their food

Keep trying with the dry foods, they do get it eventually

Sorry, I know nothing about the shrimps, I use apple snails in my fry and grow-outs and they are an awesome clean up crew

 

[juliehainsworth]

Hmmm perhaps I should get apple snails instead!

No I dont think they realised they should chew their food lol...... One tried to snatch a worm out of the others mouth! I've never seen anything like it! Although the fry didnt like it when the bloodworms bit them back they eventually learnt to grab heads first!

I think there is one fry that will eat a tiny amount of dried food! I suppose one good thing is that they swarm to the pipette when I'm putting it in and will try it but they really arent keen on it! Personally I dont blame them I mean one minute your being fed the best then someone offers you the cheepest option going that doesnt look as tasty of course you'd turn your nose up!

I suppose I should ask about the shrimps in the invertebrates section!

 

[juliehainsworth]

I'm pleased to say that they have now started to eat crushed flake and freeze dried tubifex worms! They do not like frozen daphnia or bloodworms they wont touch it at all! They prefer the live stuff, cant get over how large a bloodworm they will take on now! They can also eat adult daphnia (not the really large russian ones though) now! I'm really proud of my little ones at the moment as they are all doing really well! Just had to up date you on their progress!

 

[happyannie]

We demand pics!! Got a video cam?

 

[juliehainsworth]

I wish I could get pics! I'm so naf at getting pics its unbelieveable it really does my head in not being able to get good pics all I ever get is a blur! Will get camera off my friend and try again now that they are bigger! I dont konw how you guys get such great pics!