Grr Another Failed Spawn

[newfishy]

well this was go number 2 for my mg pair, he actualy got his act together and figured out how to wrap her, and the little turd ate all the eggs then.They are in the nice quite basement, everything is set up PERFECT. They have been conditioned for a month....and he eats the eggs.

idiot betta.

next try with this pair I am going to pipet the eggs out and raise them myself in very shallow water. It is just so hard and frustrating because now I cant spawn my other male who is a proven spawner.

but the only good point is I "think" the mg male might be developing into a rosetail, he was OHM when I got him, and 3 months old, and is now developing a few extra folds while at full flair, so we shall see.

 

[constantine03]

Using a rosetail for a breeder isn't necessarily a good thing, as you can have fry come out with a load of swimming problems. Make sure you're breeding him with a lightly branched female to avoid that. Otherwise, good luck.

 

[newfishy]

the female I was going to breed him with was the one in my sig, who is nice, but not super heavy branched, also if his fins get very very full I have a few other girls I can breed him with two.

 

[constantine03]

That's good. This is from another forum about artificial hatching, but it gives pretty easy to follow steps for it--just in case ya wanted an extra read.

Good luck!

Jeff Wilson wrote:
I have preferred to take the nests when concerned about an egg eater or just wanting to take no risks with an unknown male. I have also used this method to get three spawns from one male in five days . I think I let him tend the last spawn . I remember a lot of conversation and some videos ( Ed McGehee ) in the early 90s regarding artificial hatching / rearing techniques. I tried them all and then some . Ultimately I learned no complcated technique is necessary . Mine is the no technique or stolen nest method as I sometimes refer to it .Once the fish have spawned I take a piece of tupper ware or a bowl and slide it under the cup and nest and lift .Any eggs missed are placed in the container with a baster. I leave about one inch of water in the container .Any fungused eggs are removed with the baster over the next couple days. Once free swimming the fry are put back in a rearing tank. An 8x10 or so low edged container works well .Its easy to position the nest in the middle for lifting . It also allows the eggs to spread over a wide area which makes removal of fungused eggs easier. Once ive got the nest I get rid of the cup . Cheap plastic food storage containers work great and cost less than Tupper ware.I suppose you could also just remove the fish at the end of the spawn and leave the nest in the tank. The advantage of putting the nest in a small container is the easy removal of fungused eggs. I have used the stolen nest method 30-40 times over the years because it guarantees fry . If im nervous about a male and really want that spawn ,I just take the nest. Success rate is near 100% .Only failure and it wasnt total was when I fed brine in the small container and didnt remove the dead brine soon enough .Small amounts of water can sour quickly depleting oxygen and killing fry. Tha answer is to just put them back in a tank after hatching and becoming free swimming . As for spawning that male x3 in five days . He spawned ,I took the nest and introduced a new female. He built a new nest and spawned . I took the nest ,and introduced a new female .Each spawn was smaller but it worked. I covered a lot of genetic ground in five days. This is probably best done the week before the full moon when the fish are very anxious to spawn.

No need for aeration. It is not necessary. Oxygen exchange at the water surface is adequate. I have full confidence in the stolen nest method. Another advantage of the plastic container is you can put a light underneath as an aid to see fungused eggs.

 

[newfishy]

I had heard of that before....in fact from you I think. Exactly what I am planning on doing, because I really want this guys babys.

thanks

 

[azulfire24]

dont worry you will get some sooner or later,,, remember how long it took me the first time>? i was about ready to give up!
and you could just take him out and care to the nest yourself, thats what i did with forest,, he was being a really good daddy, but him and the missus got soo beat up that i didnt want to have a accident and have to wait a few weeks to try again, well forest is looking real good and healing up nicely should be ready to spawn again in a week, if you wanted to borrow him and try a different set.

 

[dusky]

Thats a really helpful posting Constantine,,,thanks

 

[modaz]

sorry i have to disagree with the issue or rosetails producing deformed fry, this is the case when spawning feathertails together but not with a rostail and even then not all feathertail fry are deformed, well have swimming problems is prob the best words to use. you are able to spawn a rosetail with a feathertail or the lesser HM tail to produce rosetails with no problems at all.

ive going through months of failed spawns, most ate the eggs and ive finally acheive a way of spawning by feeding the males throughout the incubation period once a day and have had fry from them, these are bettas that have previously eaten the eggs and now they arent, i condition my males by the book and still they ate them, the only issue with feeding males once a day during the incubation is that they will in turn expect there to be a ready supply of food for every spawn so they must always be fed at this time when you spawn them later on or they will turn on the eggs or fry. not one of the males ive fed have turned on eat the eggs this time, i only add a few pellets that i know will be consumed so there is no excess wasting away in the tank.

just thought i'd give you my imput on how ive got aroung the egg eating issue, the nest stealing method seems ok but what a lot of extra hard work for the breeder, where is the the fact that these produced fry turn out to be good parents? i have my concerns that because of the lack of interaction with the father they dont make good future parents or may become very aggressive bettas, i truely believe that the characteristics of spawners are passed to the betta fry during this vital time. just my way of thinking but who knows things are changing so much lately.