Breeding Bettas: July 2010

The 12 days old fry :-)

Sorry for not updating this blog acordingly but had some unfinished job to bring to end so ... well.

The fry are 12 days old now! HM's fry are just a few and one of them is much bigger than the rest so I presume that one is the survivior from the first bach since I did not empty the whole tank when I removed the sand. I can count maybe 8 fry in that tank.

The HM and CT fry are doing much better. I can count approx 20 fry but these are much smalller and grow slower.

I have removed both fathers.

At the moment I feed the fry with newly hatched BBS (baby brine shrimp) and scalles Artemia Eggs. The fry seems to be feeding on it.

Both tanks have a small air stone bubbling and keeping the surface clean from protein films enabling the fry to come to the surface and take air.

Will try and post some photos I took last week.

Bettas spawned :-)

After I dropped in a few sticks of Protogen Infusoria and a drop of Liquifry into each tank to feed the infusoria the both couples started the breeding game almost at the same time (could they smell the fry food)
The blue HM embracing the red CT

The HM couple in action

Once she dropps the eggs he releases her to pick them up while she floats around for a few second dead-like (note! she always makes this body S-shape when embraced and released)

I also made this short video which is interesting to watch;

Betta Breeding Video 1

Kind regards, Dusko

Lost fry and tank re-start

Sadly I lost the fry two days ago. I took out all the sand from the bottom so to see better whether there is lots of debris on it to be cleaned out and it will be easier to spot the small fry.
Tank No.1 male and female HM
She is the floating tank at the left and he got a noce big plastic cup to build a big nest this time. I will release her today to see if they will breed.

Tank No.2
Male HM and female CT. She is in the breeding net box to the left. I released her yesterday into the main space to see wheather they will breed. He is chasing her and she is swimming away. Today I will give her brake for 3-4 days and see if there are any fry in the nest before I release her again.

As one can see I am using much less water this time so male can see the fry much easier if they drop out of the nest. With time I will increase the water depth.

Empty bubble nest and a new pair of Bettas

I came home from work today just to find an empty nest (dad probably ate them) :-( well I said to my self I can try again. After a few minutes I went back to feed the male and ... I noticed 2 white spots on the aquarium wall ... they looked like Cyclops but not totaly ... I looked better and even took my macro lens out and :-) I had a few Betta fry free swimming ... well free clinging to the wall.

The male actualy would ocasionaly take them into his mouth just to spit them out again. He kind of brings them closer to the surface (to breath maybe).

Since this tank has sand bottom it is impossible to see how many fry are in there but I recon not many. I saw 7 at one time (on walls). They seem to be eating something on the walls. I fed them today with 7 drops of Liquifry1 premixed in a bit of water then poored in the tank (spreads better).

I set-up a new plastic 12 litres aquarium today with a new pair (male Blue Half Moon and female Cambogian Red Crowntail). The female is inside the floating tank so he can't get to her (just yet). Let them feel each other first.

New fry :-))

I started a new project! I intend to try and breed Betta splendens.
I decided to try the method "Levae the father with fry" and see how it goes. For that reason I chose the 10 galls tank which is planted with fast growing plants (Hygros and Java Moss). I also added some Peat Fiber to soften the water and add some acids to it.
The power head in the corner is not in use and will be only when fry get large enough to support the growing population.
At the moment I only use one small air stone near the surface to break the surface tension, placed far away from the bubble nest :-)

Oh yes the bubble nest!!! Approx 4-5 days ago I added a pair of Cambogian Half Moon streight from the shop into this tank and they seemed to be interested into each other alreay. She did show this white small tube under her belly and she was bloated (belly full). He imediately started building a nest.
The next day I had to leave for two days so couldn't obsreve them. 2 days ago when I arived home I could see a small bubble nest under the small peace of stirofoam I placed in the tank, but the nest was so tin and the bubbles didn't seem to look like anything is in there.
The day after while watching him chasing her around I saw some small spermatozoid looking wigling thingy fell out of the nest and wiggled back into it :-))))) holy moly macaroney I had fry !!!!!! I took the magnifying glass and there where a few in the nest with tails hanging down.

I imediately started with food preparations. I dropped 7 Infusoria stick into the tank which will hatch in about 48 hours and I dropped 10 drops of Liquifry1 into the tank to speed up the infusoria development which will feed the fry.
I will aslo feed the fry for the first two weeks with Liquifry1 drops 2-3 times a day. Since the drops are so tick I will presoak them in some water before feeding them to the fry. The drops are so tick that few of them simply fell down to the bottom and stayed there like a small white ball. The meaning is to get the drops disolved in water so small particles are available to the fishies.