My Bettas Are Spawning

[betta fish]

ooh lovely boy!

Betta_fish - do you sell on ebay? I noticed your profile says you love ebay

Hi Haych, yes I do, but only occasionally and only a very few fish at a time, I tend to buy bettas more than I sell on there! Just bought 2 new boys and two new girls will update with pics when they arrive hopefully on Wednesday
How are your fry doing James? I have slightly more fry than the original 3 that I first found now they are a bit bigger though I haven't counted more than 8 so far!

 

[jameshughes1989]

Hi Haych, yes I do, but only occasionally and only a very few fish at a time, I tend to buy bettas more than I sell on there! Just bought 2 new boys and two new girls will update with pics when they arrive hopefully on Wednesday
How are your fry doing James? I have slightly more fry than the original 3 that I first found now they are a bit bigger though I haven't counted more than 8 so far!

Hey, they are doing fine so far. Ive been able to count about 15 but there quick and so small so its too hard to tell. Was the father definetely an egg eater then?
The challenge is just to raise them to aulthood now! They are being fed up nicely on microworms so thanks for that. How often do you feed yours and how much? Thanks

James

 

[betta fish]

Dear oh dear

Hi James, yep pretty sure the father ate alot of the eggs as he was rather rotund when I removed him after his duties

could just be that he is inexperienced as pretty sure he hasn't been bred before, good thing was he was very gentle to the female during spawning I'm feeding the fry twice a day morning and evening on very small amounts of microworm, I just coat the tip of a cocktail stick with them and swish it in the tank, some people feed 3-4 times a day but it's important not too overfeed as fouling the water is a big cause of fry death but then so is changing too much of the water too soon so there is a fine line, for such a small amount of fry twice a day is fine

 

[jameshughes1989]

Dear oh dear

Hi James, yep pretty sure the father ate alot of the eggs as he was rather rotund when I removed him after his duties

could just be that he is inexperienced as pretty sure he hasn't been bred before, good thing was he was very gentle to the female during spawning I'm feeding the fry twice a day morning and evening on very small amounts of microworm, I just coat the tip of a cocktail stick with them and swish it in the tank, some people feed 3-4 times a day but it's important not too overfeed as fouling the water is a big cause of fry death but then so is changing too much of the water too soon so there is a fine line, for such a small amount of fry twice a day is fine

Oh well if you spawn him again you may get more, as he is young I assume. My male was very gentle to the female too. It was very interesting to watch, while she helped him collect the eggs and blow them into the nest and then she's also help him built some. Amazing!
Okay, well I have been feeding them 3-4 times a day, maybe a little too much. Ill think Ill go down to feeding 2-3 times a day so the water quality is spot on. I just want as many as I can to survive, especially considering there is only a handful atm.
When do you do your first w/c? I believe it shouldnt be done for the first two weeks.

James

 

[betta fish]

Dear oh dear

Hi James, yep pretty sure the father ate alot of the eggs as he was rather rotund when I removed him after his duties

could just be that he is inexperienced as pretty sure he hasn't been bred before, good thing was he was very gentle to the female during spawning I'm feeding the fry twice a day morning and evening on very small amounts of microworm, I just coat the tip of a cocktail stick with them and swish it in the tank, some people feed 3-4 times a day but it's important not too overfeed as fouling the water is a big cause of fry death but then so is changing too much of the water too soon so there is a fine line, for such a small amount of fry twice a day is fine

Oh well if you spawn him again you may get more, as he is young I assume. My male was very gentle to the female too. It was very interesting to watch, while she helped him collect the eggs and blow them into the nest and then she's also help him built some. Amazing!
Okay, well I have been feeding them 3-4 times a day, maybe a little too much. Ill think Ill go down to feeding 2-3 times a day so the water quality is spot on. I just want as many as I can to survive, especially considering there is only a handful atm.
When do you do your first w/c? I believe it shouldnt be done for the first two weeks.

James

That's about right, and then it should only be a small change 10%-20% trying to syphon off as much of the crud from the bottom of the tank as you can into a clear receptacle so you can see if you have caught any fry, using an airline as a syphon is great for this! it doesn't shift too much water in one go lessening the risk of capturing fry the water needs to be conditioned and of the same temperature as the water removed as the fry are very sensitive at this stage, I tend to collect water coming out of the filter in my other tank to replace water I have removed to ensure this.

 

[aly_starh]

how are the fry coming along?

 

[jameshughes1989]

how are the fry coming along?

Hey, sorry not been on in a while. Not good im afraid. I thought everything was going grand, correct temp, water changes, and a good feeding regime. I woke up one morning to the fry dying one by one. I dont know why, no sign of illness (although they were small to look at) and water stats all excellent. Ive got three little fighters left (excuse the pun lol). One is considerably bigger than the other two but they are still quite small. Ill update again soon.

Cheers

 

[BethK]

Were you cleaning on a daily basis? Poor babies but good luck for the 3 you have, you have been doing a very good job

 

[jameshughes1989]

Cleaning?

I did daily w/c being careful not to suck up the fry while syphoning the bottom of tank. Stats were all perfect and no disease. Ill just try and raise the remaining 3

 

[Ryefish]

good luck! any pics?