Poor Male- But Babiess

[englishbettas]

my nest of eggs hatched today but i feel sorry for my poor male looking after them. they keep wriggling down and they poor thing has spent pretty much all day going up and down and putting them back in the nest. he is going to get VIP treatment when he is done. also a quick question, will the ones that drop if the male doesnt find them will they live? i love my male (dragon) for looking after them so well. i just though i would share the news on the eggs hatching and ow much of a great dad my male is being to my fry.
thanks englishbettas

 

[Chard56]

my nest of eggs hatched today but i feel sorry for my poor male looking after them. they keep wriggling down and they poor thing has spent pretty much all day going up and down and putting them back in the nest. he is going to get VIP treatment when he is done. also a quick question, will the ones that drop if the male doesnt find them will they live? i love my male (dragon) for looking after them so well. i just though i would share the news on the eggs hatching and ow much of a great dad my male is being to my fry.
thanks englishbettas

It depends on the depth of the water whether the fry will die or not. I've had males that eat the fry after the first day of running themselves ragged going up and down all day putting the fry back in the nest. The lower the water level the less work for the male and the better chance of a lost fry living.I have a couple dozen fry from my 4th spawning this year that I took the male out after the eggs hatched but the water is only 3&1/2 inches deep. They laid on the bottom the second day after hatching then started looking for food the next day. Keep a close eye on him. If the fry numbers start dwindling he may be eating them. If not leave him in until the fry are swimming around the top and not falling to the bottom anymore.

 

[englishbettas]

thanks, he seems to be getting them still and not eating them. would it be possible to feed them some micro worms with the dad still in there?

 

[jameshughes1989]

If the babies are old enough to be free swimming and able to eat microworm, then they are ready for the father to be taken out. Therefore if the father needs to be in there still, you shouldnt need to feed them yet. I hope im correct in saying that anyway. Hope that helps!

James