baby bettas

[shrks1fan]

The large rubbermaid container with a filter & heater will be great for a growout tank. Glad to hear you aren't expecting much money...it is a very fun and rewarding hobby, good luck

Linda
http/www.pet-emporium.com
http/www.cooking-fanatics.com

 

[jacblades]

i dont know if yall have freds dollars stores wherever you live but i just got some black 20 gal storage containers there yesterday for 2.00! (im just using them to age and treat water though-i prefer clear ones for growout tanks)

 

[cutecotton]

we dont' have that particular store up here in canada, but we do have lots of dollar stores nad stuff htat do sell big containers, i can't tell you exactly how much water they can fit...but i think i can porbably get a 20-30G for about 5 bucsk here.

As for the filter, i heard that i can use a corner filter right? instead of using a regular filter becuase i'm afraid the litlte ones will get sucked through it

i heard that solid colored containers for grow out tanks won't be too bad as the fry may perfer the darker colors anywyas. If i wanted to check on them i'd ahve to look through the top, or scoop some out nad then put them back in lol. Just need a heater for the grow out fry container that's all

still not sure how many babies i should be expecting i doubt i'd end up wtih even a hundred fry since it'll be my first time spawning htem.

i got a bit of a problem when thinking about fry food. I know that when they're first born they'll ive off their egg sacs or whatever for a while, but afterwards they need to be fed. BBS is not a problem, but i doubt i could get my hands on any microworms, what's an alternative? woudl those liquid fry food things be any good? how long before baby bettas can start hunting down the BBS? I heard that constantly feeidng BBS could cuase swim bladder problems, not sure if thats' true or not. What comes after BBS? i can't feed them BBS forever

 

[jacblades]

i have nver had betta fry survive on liquifry alone. my goldfish fry are doing quite well on it though. i use liquifry for a few days and then start with bbs.

 

[cat.fish]

good luck

 

[cutecotton]

i'll need it thanks

how long do i feed the baby bettas BBS for? So say, after they hatch, they live off their egg sacs for the first 3 days, then afterwards i give them liquid fry food for about...4 days? 5 days? *shrugs*, and then i start BBS when theyr'e about a week old? seems incredible if tehy can fit that into their mouths at the age of one week...

how long do you guys feed BBS to ur baby bettas for? what do you feed htem after BBS becomes not enough?

 

[jacblades]

well i start squirting liquifry in there when i put the pair in because i dont cycle my breeding tanks. it gives the infusoria a chance to build up. about 5 days (give or take) after hatching i start bbs. i dont have a specific time when i start feedng crushed bloodworms-just when they look big enough i suppose. usually i start combining bbs and crushed bloodworms and when i see some start to take the bloodworms, then i start to ween them off of bbs and onto bloodworms. i have heard you can also just crush regular betta food but i havent tried that.

 

[cutecotton]

hmmm, right now the breeding tank is a 10G, currently occupied by other fish. I'ts set up with filter, heater, gravel adn all that good stuff. (it's 4 males divided in there), so when i do breed, i plant o take 3 of hte males out and keep them in bowls, clean out the gravel (i heard bare bottom tanks are good).

should i keep the filter in? (i'ts one of those power filter that hangs on teh back, i'm afraid it's going to create too much of a current for the bettas. I coiuld just replace it with a corner filter if thats easier. Obviously the heater will be back in.

So i hsould do something like this while trying to breed:

1) after "renovating" the 10G and turnin ginto a breeding tank with a heater, corner filter nad a few plants, i put in the male, put in the female in a glass chimney (this is assuming theyr'e both conditioned).

2) i put in some liquid fry food at this point so it can grow)

3) put the feamle in and let htem spawn (assuming they do i get eggs). I remove the female, keep the male in there to tend the nest.

4) Fry hatches and becomes free swimming, remove male and nurse him.

5) approxmiately 5 days or so after fry hatches, i start throwing in some BBs...(they're still in teh 10G right now..when do i move them to the grow out tank?)

6) continue feeding BBS, start to mix some crushed bloodworms later on, etc.

Umm okay now my main concern is how/when do i move the fry from the breeding tank to the growout tank?

sorry for all the questions, but i want to get it straight before i start panciking

 

[shrks1fan]

Nice score on the containers Jac

As for Liquifry, the fry don't actually eat Liquifry, the Liquifry feeds the infusoria in the tank and the fry eat the infusoria. So you really need plants to promote the infuroria if you want them to live on that alone for a few days (to be sure there are enough for all the fry). Microworms can be easily kept, you just need to get a culture from someone or over the internet, it's very cheap and they are easy to keep the culture going forever (basically just need dry baby food or oatmeal). Week old fry can easily eat the BBS. As for the swim bladder problems, I think that occurs from the babies eating the unhatched eggs, but I've never had this problem as my fry won't eat the unhatched eggs, Lol. If it's not moving they won't eat it. They eat BBS until they are big enough to start eating adult frozen brine shrimp. The frozen BS breaks apart easily, so the babies can rip it up with no problem.

If you'd like to read it, I have a section on Bettas at my website with links to breeding, feeding/raising fry and feeding bettas...it might help you out

http/www.pet-emporium.com/files/index.php?id=58

Linda

 

[cutecotton]

ooo neat i do have a few live plants, but how on earth do i plant htem if i have a bare bottom tank with no gravel i think i got the feeding scheudle for the fry down (still wondering about the microworms becuase i've never ordered anything over hte net before not sure if it's really reliable, since i dont have a credit card either )

now i'm just confused on how/when i moved the fry to the big growout tank

 

[jacblades]

definately no gravel. youll never be able to find the fry. the dad wont either. on the liquifry package it says if it is a newly established tank, start adding it beforehand (which is what i do). i just got a micorworm culture from endparenthesis (PM him). ive never used them before but im going to give it a try since its what just about everyone else feeds them.
no you definately cant keep that filter in there-it will suck up all the fry and disturb the mating couple! you have to have a corner/sponge filter with a valve that only lets out a bubble or two per second.

 

[cutecotton]

wow thanks a ton for the info! so when should i move the fry into the growout tank?

 

[jacblades]

lots of people use java moss or java fern. ive never used real plants-just plastic ones (for the female to hide it). you can get a pack of plant weights to weight the plants down.

 

[cutecotton]

can infurosia grow on plastic plants?

 

[jacblades]

i check the ammonia levels and as soon as the begin to rise significantly-then i move to the growout tank. about a month. but it depends if you have 50 or 500 fry.

no it cant-i use the plastic for the femae to hide in.