modaz
Getting old, but nowhere near knackered, i just lo
as some people experience the arrival of new fry and allow their fish to drop their fry whilst in the tank is perfect so please dont get me wrong with what you about to read, i think this method is a good way of letting nature take its course and stops the tank being over populated with unwanted livebearing fish that will continue to rise and reduce the stress for the mother
My desired affect is to breed my livebearers on a continuos selected breeding programme to reach my final conclusion came across with one big problem.
i used to use the small birthing traps that float in the tank and YES they are awful, i did this to increase the survival rate of my fry, i opted out of these floaters because:
PLASTIC FLOATERS
1 the female were stressed to hell in them b/c they are TOO SMALL
2 the fry still got eaten as they swam back up the slits near the mother
3 the mother had no room to display the typical reverse swimming motion to position herself correctly for birthing
4 my tetra would jump into the open top floaters
5 some of the adult fish on 2 occasions hounded the trap so much it tipped over
MESH FLOATERS
1 it did give a bit more room for the mother but:
2 As some come with comparpments that i didnt want, this one without allowed the female to eat her fry
3 they attracted loads of algae
4 again open topped
5 looked ugly
6 collapsed on me
so i was looking for a way to increase the fry amount that survived and reduce the stress to a min for the female so i went to allowing them to drop in a plants fry tank, yes they dropped and had loads of room but the females still managed to get to the fry and eat them, then there was the nightmare that i and the female had to endure whilst trying to catch the female and remove her.
My problem just wasnt being solved.
a while ago i got an email from a lad that wanted to rehome his bettas as he was going to move to wales to go to Uni, i went to his place picked up the betta and he also offered me two betta display units UMMMMMMM!!!!!!!! didnt like the idea of them but hey they were free!!!!! how could i refuse, i brought the bettas and units home and then had an idea that i thought i would try.
i completely emptied my planted fry tank added some java moss much later on(last week in fact) the tank was bare bottomed but had nothing in it. I removed my existing fry into my other fry tanks and waited for my females to show signs of birthing.
this tank that i now use for birthing is a 60L.
the display units are 12" long 4" deep and 2" wide with a lid, 2 suckers to attach to the side of the tank and has 5mm slits in the bottom, what the hell, it was worth a try, when the time was right i put the expectant mother in it and:
1 she had loads of room to swim about in, had room to turn and 12"s to be able to do the reverse swimming motion.
2 not once did she release faeces like they normally do when stressed.
3 stay very calm all the time
4 pecked at the algae bits that were on the inside of the unit
when she started to drop her fry, the fry got out of the slits mega quick and to the base of the tank to safety, after she had finished she was left to recover then fed then put back into her main tank. All the fry survived!!!!!!
i've been doing this for a while now and observed every one of my females whilst in the unit, all of them never showed any stress due to being in there.
managed to have 7 successful drops with all fry survive and all mothers in perfect stress free health.
i didnt want to post this thread without proof that this worked as its like posting a thread for a fish to be ID'd without a picture
Its the best thing that i have found that makes all the stress simply go from the females and has increased my fry by masses.
i do selective breeding and im working on created some different strains so it was important that i saved as many fry as possible in order for me to select my desired breeders for the future drops.
I know that im opening myself up for negative responses from people who are totally against any form of confinment whilst dropping fry but this is something that the people who do use the older type of traps could use if they intend to do selective breeding and i beleive there is always room for new ideas in this hobby or trade to make things easier.
heres the link to an ebay source that i found, im not on commision
and have nothing to do with the supplier except a customer so please dont think im using this thread to increase their profits, its just a great thing ive found that works for something instead of the horrible intended use of it for bettas.
here is the link to one ebay seller but there are a couple who also sell these.
http
/cgi.ebay.co.uk/Betta-Breeding-Trap-...VQQcmdZViewItem
My desired affect is to breed my livebearers on a continuos selected breeding programme to reach my final conclusion came across with one big problem.
i used to use the small birthing traps that float in the tank and YES they are awful, i did this to increase the survival rate of my fry, i opted out of these floaters because:
PLASTIC FLOATERS
1 the female were stressed to hell in them b/c they are TOO SMALL
2 the fry still got eaten as they swam back up the slits near the mother
3 the mother had no room to display the typical reverse swimming motion to position herself correctly for birthing
4 my tetra would jump into the open top floaters
5 some of the adult fish on 2 occasions hounded the trap so much it tipped over
MESH FLOATERS
1 it did give a bit more room for the mother but:
2 As some come with comparpments that i didnt want, this one without allowed the female to eat her fry
3 they attracted loads of algae
4 again open topped
5 looked ugly
6 collapsed on me
so i was looking for a way to increase the fry amount that survived and reduce the stress to a min for the female so i went to allowing them to drop in a plants fry tank, yes they dropped and had loads of room but the females still managed to get to the fry and eat them, then there was the nightmare that i and the female had to endure whilst trying to catch the female and remove her.
My problem just wasnt being solved.
a while ago i got an email from a lad that wanted to rehome his bettas as he was going to move to wales to go to Uni, i went to his place picked up the betta and he also offered me two betta display units UMMMMMMM!!!!!!!! didnt like the idea of them but hey they were free!!!!! how could i refuse, i brought the bettas and units home and then had an idea that i thought i would try.
i completely emptied my planted fry tank added some java moss much later on(last week in fact) the tank was bare bottomed but had nothing in it. I removed my existing fry into my other fry tanks and waited for my females to show signs of birthing.
this tank that i now use for birthing is a 60L.
the display units are 12" long 4" deep and 2" wide with a lid, 2 suckers to attach to the side of the tank and has 5mm slits in the bottom, what the hell, it was worth a try, when the time was right i put the expectant mother in it and:
1 she had loads of room to swim about in, had room to turn and 12"s to be able to do the reverse swimming motion.
2 not once did she release faeces like they normally do when stressed.
3 stay very calm all the time
4 pecked at the algae bits that were on the inside of the unit
when she started to drop her fry, the fry got out of the slits mega quick and to the base of the tank to safety, after she had finished she was left to recover then fed then put back into her main tank. All the fry survived!!!!!!
i've been doing this for a while now and observed every one of my females whilst in the unit, all of them never showed any stress due to being in there.
managed to have 7 successful drops with all fry survive and all mothers in perfect stress free health.
i didnt want to post this thread without proof that this worked as its like posting a thread for a fish to be ID'd without a picture
Its the best thing that i have found that makes all the stress simply go from the females and has increased my fry by masses.
i do selective breeding and im working on created some different strains so it was important that i saved as many fry as possible in order for me to select my desired breeders for the future drops.
I know that im opening myself up for negative responses from people who are totally against any form of confinment whilst dropping fry but this is something that the people who do use the older type of traps could use if they intend to do selective breeding and i beleive there is always room for new ideas in this hobby or trade to make things easier.
heres the link to an ebay source that i found, im not on commision
and have nothing to do with the supplier except a customer so please dont think im using this thread to increase their profits, its just a great thing ive found that works for something instead of the horrible intended use of it for bettas.here is the link to one ebay seller but there are a couple who also sell these.
http
/cgi.ebay.co.uk/Betta-Breeding-Trap-...VQQcmdZViewItem
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