Oh God, What Am I Doing...

[Amerce]

How big is your breeding tank, I use a whole leaf in the breeding tank to get the water really yellow.

The fish won't breed if their spawning ground isn't as they would like, so the temp of the water and the humid atmosphere in the tank is also important.

Is there a lid for the tank, how much water do you put in the tank ?

 

[BWBettas]

i didnt get a lot of IAL i asked when i got my micrworms if she could chuck in soem IAL for me to try and she put in half a leaf... i used half in first spawn and half in this last spawn

LOL, just went down to see if any action and the female just swims past the male and he just sits there and when he swims past she just sits there.. living together as perfrect mates now ... but no spawning..
think it might ruin their friendship?

No it doesnt have a hood... maybe i should of put cling film on top again as i did before to get it humid... ok im going to do EVERYTHING right again next spawn. Condition for 3 WEEKS, cling film on top of tank... filter going.. fresh water...
Anything else?

Bret

ETA - The Tank Temp Was Set @ 29oC Every Spawn
And the tank was always filled with 15cm water and the tank is a 10 gallon...

 

[TammyLiz]

Since you haven't actually tested the water, I would suggest you do that. If you don't have any test kits, take some of the water from the breeding tank and have it tested. See if they can test hardness for you as well. Write down their results rather than letting them say "Its fine", as if that helps. They may not know what fine is.

And it sounds like you don't have much IAL. Does it color the water? Maybe you should try some blackwater extract? I really would bet on it being the water, considering how careful you are with feeding.

Another thought, though. Is the tank in a high traffic area? I've heard it interrupts them if they are disturbed a lot.

Of course I'm just repeating what I've been reading to try to give you some help brainstorming what their problem could be. You actually have more experience than I do, since you've tried!

 

[Amerce]

The leaves aren't cheap which is why you only got half a leaf, but that should have been enough if you had put it into a litre bottle of water to diffuse in, you could have used this as your own black water extract.

Buy some IAL or Blackwater, it helps soften the water enough for the bubbles to establish better and put the betta's more in the mood for spawning, you WILL need a lid cause how else is the tank going to stay humid enough for the fry's gills to develop, remember they are surface breathers, any cold air will stunt their gill development.

The level of water can be dropped a smidgen, but it doesn't sound like too much at 15.

 

[BWBettas]

Ok, thanks everyone... ill buy a few IAL leaves and diffuse them in a 2 litre coke bottle and use them... yeah when i used IAL it maked the water a light brown dark green colour and looked horrible lol...

Bret

Oh, and is ther a time limit i should put on leaving the leaves in the bottle?

 

[Amerce]

Well I usually leave the leaf in my fry tank until I can safely see evry one of the fry it is usually about a month, in a bottle you can safely take it out one the water has gone nice and yellow, you can probably try it in another bottle to see if the natural tanins are still leaching and you may end up with two bottles of the stuff

 

[BWBettas]

Ok, just gt to source some leaves now lol... how many would you recomend?

Bret

 

[Amerce]

I usually keep about 12 for myself when I buy them.

I usually buy a large amount from Ebay (chap from Singapore) and then sell some and keep the rest for myself.

But if you do as I say and keep a leaf in a bottle it will go a long way when treating the water (during water changes for the breeding betta's and then a leaf in with the fry tank.

So I'd recommend you buy a minimum of 6 leaves to keep you going for a little while. Alternatively Bettaman has some Attison's Betta Spa which is a black water extract and will stretch a bit further than buying the leaves - http/www.kgbettas.co.uk/atisonsbettaproducts.htm.

Give it a go, I lost two spawns before I finally managed to get it right and I did a lot of reading before I even decided to do it properly (plus I spent a fortune getting everything ready for the prospective spawns).

I am sure that everyone went through the same learning process as you are, but you really should take it one step at a time and read up on how to start breeding betta's and getting the conditions right and then on how to look after the fry once you are lucky to have them.

Check out this site -

http/www.rbbettas.co.uk and go to the tab with "Spawn methods", it is quite qood.

 

[_cRaCkEr_]

BW - Don't quit man .....

You can use different ways to breed them.

 

[BWBettas]

Explain...

Bret

 

[_cRaCkEr_]

PM me in MSN lolz