Feeding betta fry

[tom731]

Hi all, I know this has been covered a lot so sorry if it’s a repeat but I’m looking for specific info.

I recently bred my mustard gas half moon betta. Things have been going well so far, I only got about 15 fry hatch (which is ideal for a first attempt as it’s not too many) and they are 3 weeks old today (I’ve seen no dead ones since hatching too!).
I’ve been feeding them on live bbs since birth and they are growing quickly. My current process is having one hatchery and using half in the morning then storing the other half in the fridge for the evening feed.

basically my last hatch didn’t produce as much as normal so I’m worried the fry might not have enough food for a day.
Do you think they are old enough to start feeding frozen/dry food alongside live bbs so they are not lacking in food (in case of a bbs crash like what has happened now)? If so, what foods can I feed them?

thanks!

 

[EllRog]

Hi all, I know this has been covered a lot so sorry if it’s a repeat but I’m looking for specific info.

I recently bred my mustard gas half moon betta. Things have been going well so far, I only got about 15 fry hatch (which is ideal for a first attempt as it’s not too many) and they are 3 weeks old today (I’ve seen no dead ones since hatching too!).
I’ve been feeding them on live bbs since birth and they are growing quickly. My current process is having one hatchery and using half in the morning then storing the other half in the fridge for the evening feed.

basically my last hatch didn’t produce as much as normal so I’m worried the fry might not have enough food for a day.
Do you think they are old enough to start feeding frozen/dry food alongside live bbs so they are not lacking in food (in case of a bbs crash like what has happened now)? If so, what foods can I feed them?

thanks!

Just feed the bbs you have and carry on as normal. They're also eating the microorganisms that are in the tank and will continue to do so. You can pick up a bottle of "Liquifry" I think its #1 for egg layers and #2 for livebearers and squirt a few drops in a couple of times a day. I've had good success using this method.

At 3 weeks they're still too small for other foods at the moment and won't attempt to eat anything that isn't trying to escape them and moving through the water. I've tried Repashy in a bottle of tank water and squirting it in, but it just makes too much mess

 

[tom731]

Thanks! I’ll try some of that.

while I’m on the topic of betta fry, I’ve got a few that are a bit bigger and seem to be showing a bit of colour already. I’ve just seen one chasing another smaller fry, is it not too early for them to be showing colour/aggression? Should I jar that one or leave them be, they aren’t chasing anymore.

also, I have a few that are still tiny, like not far off just being born tiny. They don’t seem to be growing and either sit on the bottom and hop around or on the leaves of the floaters I’ve got in there. Are these likely to survive?

thanks

 

[EllRog]

Thanks! I’ll try some of that.

while I’m on the topic of betta fry, I’ve got a few that are a bit bigger and seem to be showing a bit of colour already. I’ve just seen one chasing another smaller fry, is it not too early for them to be showing colour/aggression? Should I jar that one or leave them be, they aren’t chasing anymore.

also, I have a few that are still tiny, like not far off just being born tiny. They don’t seem to be growing and either sit on the bottom and hop around or on the leaves of the floaters I’ve got in there. Are these likely to survive?

thanks

Monitor the big ones. Make sure there's no nips and that the smaller ones aren't showing visible signs of stress. (Gasping and hiding)
What you're saying is normal, the bigger ones with colour are likely to be your dominant males and are gobbling up all of the food before the smaller ones and basically bullying them away. It would be a good idea to split the spawn. Have all the small ones together and the medium and large ones in another tub/tank. Lots of waterchanges on top of feeding with size up the smaller ones and you won't have to worry about the bullying. While they're growing, you can be monitoring both spawns for trouble makers moving them into the set up with the larger ones and jarring the ones that are ready from the larger ones you go. You might lose a few of the smaller ones in the process as they might not have developed properly. I only tend to jar them to finish off growing out the fins so you've still got a bit of time growing them out together