Yippee!

[Kiarra]

New spawn! Right now, as I type. They've been at it for maybe 30 minutes, but they did take a break because he got nippy and she got scared. But they're back at it in earnest, and the male IS putting his eggs into the nest.

That's the new papa. It's his first spawn. I don't have a picture of the female, but she's one of Yeevia's Cambodians with gold on her body. Such a little cutie.

 

[WILDER]

that's a lovely warm looking betta, how does the male put the eggs in the nest, lol probably a stupid question, congrats anyway.

 

[Kiarra]

He collects them into his mouth and then gulps some air from the surface and uses it to blow a neat little bubble into his nest, imbedding the eggs in the nest with that bubble. It's adorable to watch, really.

 

[WILDER]

It sounds adorable, thanks for the answer.

 

[Kiarra]

What a silly little boy my male is.

They embrace for a while, eggs are produced. About 50, if I had to guess. And then he chases her off. She's still fat with eggs, and he's tending his nest like a good little daddy, completely ignoring her.

Silly, silly, silly boy.

Edit: Numerous hours later...I finally pulled her. It's quite obvious HE'S decided he's done, even though she was still FAT with eggs. It's okay, though. She's dropping the eggs on her own, so she's not going to be suffering like a blimp because he wouldn't help her out.

There's maybe 50 eggs still there, with their daddy watching over them. He's a pretty good dad, as unorthodox of a spawning as that was. His nest is tiny and very crappy, but it's holding eggs well enough.

Hopefully my little boy there won't get hungry and have a caviar feast!

 

[Joby]

He's absolutely gorgeous

Strange that he only embraced her a few times, I guess he doesn't want lots of fry to look after maybe he'll do better next time as you say its his first spawn

Good luck

 

[mrplaty]

lol mine spawned the same day as your aswell

Like you my males nest is really small and crappy but is still holding the eggs ok!!!!!

 

[Kiarra]

It's been almost 24 hours since the first egg-producing embrace. I usually average about 29 hours before the first ones start to hatch at 81 degrees. So it shouldn't be long before I have hatchlings.

The little guy is still tending to his nest. It's still small...I have a floating lid in there about 2 1/2 inches in diameter, and the nest doesn't even cover half the lid. But the bubbles are more concise now, and more cohesive. I think he's been working at it. He's been a great dad so far. The real test will be when they're hatching out...my males have a tendency to eat them once the eggs start to wiggle. REALLY hoping this guy won't.

It's going to be a very small spawn, but that's fine. I was prepared for a big one, but I didn't really want a big one.

The funny thing about that dad is his myriad of colors. He's actually, legitimately PINK. He has some gold iridescence on his body, and his fins all butterfly into a startling gold at the tips. Combined with the gold iridescence from the female, I should have some pretty shimmery gold fry.

 

[WILDER]

Probably new his crappy nest wouldn't hold many more eggs.

 

[Kiarra]

That's no excuse.

 

[Kiarra]

They're hatching. I can see five eggs right now that have sprouted tails. Most of the eggs have disappeared from the nest, and I suspect they weren't fertilized (they were smaller and a different color than the eggs that actually hatched), so he ate them. The others have grown in size and are wiggling.

 

[FishyLoveBug]

best of luck!!! Dont complain to much! Would you rather have 50 or 500? hee hee

 

[Kiarra]

This is going to be such a ridiculously tiny spawn. I still see those 5 hatched eggs (fry now, I guess!), and that's it. Everything else is gone, as far as I can tell. The daddy must have decided they weren't fertilized, either.

Proving my suspicion that, by and large, quite a few of the first eggs released by an inexperienced pair aren't fertilized....

The dad's still doing well. And he's not having near as difficult of a time of it as all my other boys have...considering there are 5 fry....

 

[xanthianacid]

It's so cute and such a privilge to watch a little guy look after a nest. I'm not quite prepared myself to do such a thing as yet. But the male in the female community spawned with the female, as you know not much chance for survival, but he was trying to be a good daddy.

 

[Kiarra]

Sometimes they try. And it's so cute to watch. Other times, they turn cannibalistic and eat their eggs, and you just want to kick their little fishy butts.

I'm so glad Mystic (the pink daddy) is (so far!) being a good little boy, even if he is tending such a tiny brood.