fry questsions

[GuppyDude]

alright i have betta eggs that are due to hatch in about 24 hours and i have a few important questions that i need answers too

1) when do fry become free swimming?
2) i feed the fry bbs after they are free swimming, correct?
3) do fry need food before they become free swimming? (if so, what?)
4) i understand that the wtaer for the fry must be changed regularly, in a 10g, about how much how often should i change it?
5) are there any chemicals i can pick up and add to the growth tank to help the fry?
6) will an all bbs diet be ok for teh fry untill they are large enogh to take blood worms?

keep in mind i had to remove the father after spawning because he was more interested in sex rather than careing for the eggs, so he's out of the picture.

 

[wuvmybetta]

Guppydude!!!!!! You have eggs!!

For now add a splash of methylene blue or bettaMAX if you have it. Just to keep them fungus free. Lower the water if you can without disturbing them too much after they've hatched. Then sit there bitng your nails for two days while they hang from the sides and fall up and down. Try to have a lot of plants near and around the hatching area. Hopefully some will just cling on and be still until their egg sack is absorbed and they become free swimming. If they have too much room to fall and shimmy to the surface repeatedly, they will tire themselves out and lie down to die it seems.
Also, if you have planaria or any little critters that are invisible unless you look really closely, they could possibly prey on your still fry. Planaria is the worst, so that is nerve racking.
So, two days until they're free swimming. Possibly three.
Yes, feed them bbs after they are freeswimming. Usually late into day two, definitely day three. No earlier.
Don't change the water for the first week.
Chemicals? Just ammonia lock in your dechlorinator for sure.
BBS is fantastic, I've never gone ll bbs but have heard of people doing it with good results. Just be sure to decapsulate your eggs. Don't you have microworms though? They're so easy and perfect.

 

[GuppyDude]

lol yea im excited that i finally have the eggs too , ill post pics and stuff later

ok, as of now, i have 4 inche sof water with a bubbler for serculation, its a little ruff, but ill turn it down if it can cause a problem. my tap water is not city water, comes from a well, has no chlorine, and my adult fish thrive in it, so conditioner shouldn't be much of a problem, i can pic up some ammonia lock tommarrow. i have not yet added meth blue, i really dont liek the stuff but ill add a small amount before i turn in for the night. the spawn tank hasn't been running long so micro predators shouldn't be a problem. ill add a few fake plants after teh fry hatch.

thanks for the help wuv, ill let ya all know what happens back here tomarrow

 

[wuvmybetta]

Ok, since you have well water that's good. Don't add ammo-lock just yet, and don't worry about it if your tank is cycled. If it's not, just add it gently in a couple of weeks when they're bigger. You don't want to change the chemistry when they're so young.

Just a splash of meth blue, just in case.Only if you're comfortable with it though. Twenty four hours doesn't seem long but.. it is when it comes to betta fry. Just don't fiddle with it too much. Really.

When you pour anything in the tank, like meth blue or whatever always dilute it first in a cup of water. And then hold the cup to the side of the tank and let it barely trickle in so you don't shake them up too much.

Weee! I'm excited for ya!!

 

[GuppyDude]

well i didn't read the last post until this morning, so i had alredy put teh chemicals in teh tank last night. i did dilute some blue meth and some ammonia lock and added it to the tank. (i found my ammo lock last night) i didn;t use a whole lot of it, maybe half a teaspoon. i do have the bubbler on low now, just enogh to move water but not blow around the eggs or fry.

i looked into the tank this morning to find some early hatchers (well kind of). i can see thier lil tails sticking out of the egg, its kinda funny. my water temp is at 86F, so i guess thats what caused it. im gunna starte a bbs culture today so that it will be redy in 2 days, iv always had great luck with bbs in my guppy fry, i hope i have the same luck in these lil guys.

BTW: The father is a black marble double tail, and the mother is a black marble hm, if i did my research right i should have 100% delta halmoons.

 

[GuppyDude]

woohoo i have tons of fry now they seem to be pretty active too. not all have hatched yet, so im expecting quite a few more. ill post a few pics in a minut once their uploaded.

 

[Mina]

Congrats on the successful spawn and hatching! I'm so happy for you.

 

[GuppyDude]

thank you

they are continueing to hatch and there is quite a fe of them on the bottom of the tank now. some are swimming to the top and faling again, and others arnt really moveing at all i added asome fake plants for them to swim up to and rest on, but only a couple seem to be useing them. wuv mentioned something about keeping the water lvl low, its at 4 inches now, is that still too much or should i remove some? the ones that arnt moveing around ahve me worried

 

[GuppyDude]

ok, it seems that most of the eggs have hatched. there are alot of little fish but i only see a few that are bobbing form the waters surface and the tank bottom. most seem to not be moveing. do they just get tired and rest at the bottom like this? there cant be anything wrong with my water i dont think, there are still about a dozen that i can see are clearly alive. i suppose we shall see...

 

[GuppyDude]

i woke up this morning to find just about all of the fry dead i have no idea what was wrong, i did everything right i think

i was able to round up a hand full of survivers and put then in a betta cup of the spawn tank water, im not sure if they'll live thogh, im pretty sure the tank water was what killed em can someone look back at the posts and tell me what i did wrong? im tired of posting to myself

 

[Booboo puppy]

Sorry to hear of your loss. I don't know anything about breeding bettas--I'm sure someone here can offer some advice though.

 

[Andie]

I'm curious because I haven't seen any mention in your posts about what the father was doing through all of this. Did he not tend to the babies at all? If they were just dropping and being left there, it seems possible that their deaths are more due to his negligence of the fry than the condition of your water, but without pH/ammonia/nitrate readings it's impossible to say for sure.

 

[GuppyDude]

i mentionsed at the bottom of the original post i think that the male was removed after the spawn because he showed no interest in careing for the fry, this does probably have something to do with the loss, but i dont think haveing the father in there is really essential for their survival as much as it is a help. the same pair of fish should be redy again in a week if i dont get these few fry to survive, i think im going to leave the father in there to see what happens, i may not have given him the chance to prove himslef as a father.

 

[wuvmybetta]

awww, GD, it's nothing you did. I've had this happen wth spawns before, especially coppers. They weren't copper,by chance?

Did you have a heater? What was the tank temperature set at? Any chance it malfunctioned?
Do you have live plants? It could possibly have been an overnight oxygen deprivation.


They say dad does help the developing fry, and I partially believe this. But I've seen crazy things too, like fry hatching in a jar holding about 4 ounces of water and surviving So I don't think it's because you removed the dad. If it was your water, or anything to do with it, I believe the fry would/should have died immediately upon hatching.

Look closely at your glass with the light on and watch for any sort of microscopic movement. You may have a predator in there.

How many do you have left? And where are they now?

EDIT!~I just saw where you mentioned the color.. I think it's because they were blacks, they're so,so hard to breed and raise. And my guess is that just like metallics/coppers you have a lot die off in the beginning, but you should wind up with some survivors.
All three of my metallic spawns resulted in hundreds of fry and wound up being small...3 from the first one, two from the second and finally 20'ish from the third. My smallest spawns ever. All losses were mysterious die-off's during the first week. If you had left the father in he would have most likely eaten those and you'd of never known, so don't worry too much. Black is a tough color for your first spawn, but try again.

 

[slamster17]

uh oh lol, mine are black orchid crossed with copper imbellis. but dad is in there still and they havent hatched all the way yet we shall see.

sorry for yuo loss GD "try try and try again"