My new tank adventure

[m]

Finally!
I got to setup my new 55g tank at my new apartment... hooray!
It's been quite the adventure so far... I filled it up and had it all
setup and then when I went to setup the filter I had one of those slow
realizations that I hadn't left any room behind the tank. The last 3
tanks I setup had internal filters, and I just had a brain cramp. Bleh.
So I had to empty most of the tank and then move it :(
I got a whole mess of plants too, which should be interesting since
I've never really had live plants before. I suspect a fair bit wont
last, but hopefully at least some will.
Right now all I've got in it is my beta... he's so happy ;)
Ok that's all... I'm just really happy to finally have a decent tank.

[NetMax]

"m" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Finally!
> I got to setup my new 55g tank at my new apartment... hooray!
> It's been quite the adventure so far... I filled it up and had it all
> setup and then when I went to setup the filter I had one of those slow
> realizations that I hadn't left any room behind the tank. The last 3
> tanks I setup had internal filters, and I just had a brain cramp. Bleh.
> So I had to empty most of the tank and then move it :(
> I got a whole mess of plants too, which should be interesting since
> I've never really had live plants before. I suspect a fair bit wont
> last, but hopefully at least some will.
> Right now all I've got in it is my beta... he's so happy ;)
> Ok that's all... I'm just really happy to finally have a decent tank.


One Betta in a 55g is sure to be happy, until he has a bubble nest built and
then he'll start looking a little forlorn ;~).
--
www.NetMax.tk

[m]

Speaking of bettas...
I was at a LFS the other day (buying plants) and I saw that among their
cups and cups of bettas they have a whole bunch of cups with females
now too.
I've never had too much luck keeping a male betta in a community
tank... the fins are just too tempting for the others... but what about
the females? I've always loved the way my male bettas act. They seem a
lot more curious than a lot of other fish I've kept, and it seems as
though they're constantly patrolling the tank. Do the females act like
this too?
Do you think some females would be an ok addition to my tank? It's
going to have a pair of kribs, and a pair of rams in there, and it's
got quite a full live plants, though I wouldn't consider it to be a
'jungle tank' or anything like that.

I guess I'm just really hurting for ideas of what to put in the tank.
My kribs are bi-polar... one minute they're ultra-passive pushovers
getting beaten up by my rams and then the next minute the rams have to
be moved to another tank because they're getting torn to shreds. I
guess I need something that's tough and willing to defend itself, but
won't go looking for a fight.

If the female bettas would be ok, how many would be best? Oh and the
male betta is going back to his bowl, so don't worry about that.

NetMax wrote:
> "m" > wrote in message
> ups.com...
> > Finally!
> > I got to setup my new 55g tank at my new apartment... hooray!
> > It's been quite the adventure so far... I filled it up and had it all
> > setup and then when I went to setup the filter I had one of those slow
> > realizations that I hadn't left any room behind the tank. The last 3
> > tanks I setup had internal filters, and I just had a brain cramp. Bleh.
> > So I had to empty most of the tank and then move it :(
> > I got a whole mess of plants too, which should be interesting since
> > I've never really had live plants before. I suspect a fair bit wont
> > last, but hopefully at least some will.
> > Right now all I've got in it is my beta... he's so happy ;)
> > Ok that's all... I'm just really happy to finally have a decent tank.
>
>
> One Betta in a 55g is sure to be happy, until he has a bubble nest built and
> then he'll start looking a little forlorn ;~).
> --
> www.NetMax.tk

[NetMax]

Actually, in a 55g, you can probably keep a male Betta with several females.
A lot depends on the nature of the male. This also applies to having a male
in a community tank. Some let themselves get pecked to distraction, while
others won't take it.

I kept all my female Bettas in a planted 60g tank, and I would periodically
drop in a male which was looking a little down or not eating. Nothing like
20-30 females to perk them right up. Over a year and about 8-10 male
Bettas, I never had any problems. The males would quickly get sold as they
coloured up so nicely with all that appealing company. Occasionally an
alpha female would get a bit boisterous, but they are not bad, especially in
a planted tank and especially when there are many other females. I'd go for
4 or 5 females, but ymmv as Bettas (male & female) are particularly
unpredictable.

I also had a 60g tank filled with Zebra danios (about 150-200 of them, using
commercial-grade filtration of course). I often kept a male Betta in that
tank, but it was hit or miss on which ones I could put in. The sequence was
as follows: after floating the Betta cup for 10 minutes, I would release
him and he would be immediately surrounded by over 100 curious danios, all
keeping a space of about 2-3 inches from the Betta. The danios would get
more courageous and close in on the Betta, until one got too close. At this
point, the Betta would either make a dash for the plants (and I would net
him out and put him back in his cup) or he would flare up and increase the
diameter of his 'space' forcing all the danios back a bit. After a few
minutes of flaring and posturing, the danios decided that acting in unison,
this fish was too dangerous, and danios are usually not so aggressive as to
act as a pack. Then the Betta, who had established himself as the ruler,
would then swim back & forth (surveying his territory) with only the rare
encounter with a danio (usually to give them a passing flare to keep their
distance). This won't help predicting what your Betta will do, but it gives
you an idea of their behaviour. Note that if the Betta is first in the
tank, he has the mental advantage of territorial first-rights, so will be
less likely to succumb to harassment.

hth
--
www.NetMax.tk

"m" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Speaking of bettas...
> I was at a LFS the other day (buying plants) and I saw that among their
> cups and cups of bettas they have a whole bunch of cups with females
> now too.
> I've never had too much luck keeping a male betta in a community
> tank... the fins are just too tempting for the others... but what about
> the females? I've always loved the way my male bettas act. They seem a
> lot more curious than a lot of other fish I've kept, and it seems as
> though they're constantly patrolling the tank. Do the females act like
> this too?
> Do you think some females would be an ok addition to my tank? It's
> going to have a pair of kribs, and a pair of rams in there, and it's
> got quite a full live plants, though I wouldn't consider it to be a
> 'jungle tank' or anything like that.
>
> I guess I'm just really hurting for ideas of what to put in the tank.
> My kribs are bi-polar... one minute they're ultra-passive pushovers
> getting beaten up by my rams and then the next minute the rams have to
> be moved to another tank because they're getting torn to shreds. I
> guess I need something that's tough and willing to defend itself, but
> won't go looking for a fight.
>
> If the female bettas would be ok, how many would be best? Oh and the
> male betta is going back to his bowl, so don't worry about that.
>
> NetMax wrote:
>> "m" > wrote in message
>> ups.com...
>> > Finally!
>> > I got to setup my new 55g tank at my new apartment... hooray!
>> > It's been quite the adventure so far... I filled it up and had it all
>> > setup and then when I went to setup the filter I had one of those slow
>> > realizations that I hadn't left any room behind the tank. The last 3
>> > tanks I setup had internal filters, and I just had a brain cramp. Bleh.
>> > So I had to empty most of the tank and then move it :(
>> > I got a whole mess of plants too, which should be interesting since
>> > I've never really had live plants before. I suspect a fair bit wont
>> > last, but hopefully at least some will.
>> > Right now all I've got in it is my beta... he's so happy ;)
>> > Ok that's all... I'm just really happy to finally have a decent tank.
>>
>>
>> One Betta in a 55g is sure to be happy, until he has a bubble nest built
>> and
>> then he'll start looking a little forlorn ;~).
>> --
>> www.NetMax.tk
>

[m]

wow.

So this is what I've been missing?? I moved my fish into their new
tank, and all I can say is WOW.
Tank Occupants:
- 2 glowlight tetras (going to add more... more on these in a sec)
- 2 male kribs (one of which is the other ones daddy, but the baby one
is about an inch long)
- 1 female krib
- 13 krib fry (a few months old)
- male betta
- male blue ram

The glowlight tetras have thus far been indestructable. They've been
through a lot too... they've survived:
- being in my first tank. I didn't know what I was doing and I put 5
glowlights, 5 neons, and a betta in a 5 gallon tank.
- an ich outbreak that whiped out everything else in their tank.
- spawning kribs & rams.

Anyways back to my point. Before whenever I'd tried to combine this
assortment of fish it NEVER worked. Before transfering, I had the big
male krib in a tank of his own, the female one in another tank with a
divider in it and the babies on the other side, and the rams and the
smaller male krib in another tank and the betta in a bowl.

But now... I figured that I'd just put everything in the tank and sort
of let it be a free for all. I fully expected the fry would end up a
snack for someone, and I expected to have to remove the betta and put
him back in his bowl. Boy was I wrong.... The betta stays in the top
half of the tank, and the kribs stay in the bottom. They're not
interested in each other at all. The baby kribs follow the other fish
around all day. Nobody has shown any interest in eating them (yet), and
they're really funny to watch. 3 of them seem to think that they're
glowlights, and they try to keep up with them as they go around the
tank. Another pair seems to think that they're rams and they never
leave his side. The rest stay close to the other kribs.
I suspect more babies will be on their way soon as well. Both the big
male and the female have colored up right away, and they've been
showing for each other a lot. I thought this would mean trouble for the
smaller krib, but so far it hasn't. He mostly stays away from the two,
and when he doesn't the bigger one intimidates him away. Haven't seen
any fin nipping whatsoever yet.

Maybe once the kribs have some more babies things will change in the
tank and it'll become the nightmare my old tanks were... but wow, what
a difference a little space makes.


-m

[NetMax]

"m" > wrote in message
ps.com...
> wow.
>
> So this is what I've been missing?? I moved my fish into their new
> tank, and all I can say is WOW.
> Tank Occupants:
> - 2 glowlight tetras (going to add more... more on these in a sec)
> - 2 male kribs (one of which is the other ones daddy, but the baby one
> is about an inch long)
> - 1 female krib
> - 13 krib fry (a few months old)
> - male betta
> - male blue ram
>
> The glowlight tetras have thus far been indestructable. They've been
> through a lot too... they've survived:
> - being in my first tank. I didn't know what I was doing and I put 5
> glowlights, 5 neons, and a betta in a 5 gallon tank.
> - an ich outbreak that whiped out everything else in their tank.
> - spawning kribs & rams.
>
> Anyways back to my point. Before whenever I'd tried to combine this
> assortment of fish it NEVER worked. Before transfering, I had the big
> male krib in a tank of his own, the female one in another tank with a
> divider in it and the babies on the other side, and the rams and the
> smaller male krib in another tank and the betta in a bowl.
>
> But now... I figured that I'd just put everything in the tank and sort
> of let it be a free for all. I fully expected the fry would end up a
> snack for someone, and I expected to have to remove the betta and put
> him back in his bowl. Boy was I wrong.... The betta stays in the top
> half of the tank, and the kribs stay in the bottom. They're not
> interested in each other at all. The baby kribs follow the other fish
> around all day. Nobody has shown any interest in eating them (yet), and
> they're really funny to watch. 3 of them seem to think that they're
> glowlights, and they try to keep up with them as they go around the
> tank. Another pair seems to think that they're rams and they never
> leave his side. The rest stay close to the other kribs.
> I suspect more babies will be on their way soon as well. Both the big
> male and the female have colored up right away, and they've been
> showing for each other a lot. I thought this would mean trouble for the
> smaller krib, but so far it hasn't. He mostly stays away from the two,
> and when he doesn't the bigger one intimidates him away. Haven't seen
> any fin nipping whatsoever yet.
>
> Maybe once the kribs have some more babies things will change in the
> tank and it'll become the nightmare my old tanks were... but wow, what
> a difference a little space makes.
>
>
> -m


I have nothing but respect & admiration for people who can operate small
balanced tanks (I have no patience). For me, the hobby starts at around
60g. Space rules. Better for me, better for them.
--
www.NetMax.tk

[Rick]

"NetMax" > wrote in message
...
> "m" > wrote in message
> ps.com...
>> wow.
>>
>> So this is what I've been missing?? I moved my fish into their new
>> tank, and all I can say is WOW.
>> Tank Occupants:
>> - 2 glowlight tetras (going to add more... more on these in a sec)
>> - 2 male kribs (one of which is the other ones daddy, but the baby one
>> is about an inch long)
>> - 1 female krib
>> - 13 krib fry (a few months old)
>> - male betta
>> - male blue ram
>>
>> The glowlight tetras have thus far been indestructable. They've been
>> through a lot too... they've survived:
>> - being in my first tank. I didn't know what I was doing and I put 5
>> glowlights, 5 neons, and a betta in a 5 gallon tank.
>> - an ich outbreak that whiped out everything else in their tank.
>> - spawning kribs & rams.
>>
>> Anyways back to my point. Before whenever I'd tried to combine this
>> assortment of fish it NEVER worked. Before transfering, I had the big
>> male krib in a tank of his own, the female one in another tank with a
>> divider in it and the babies on the other side, and the rams and the
>> smaller male krib in another tank and the betta in a bowl.
>>
>> But now... I figured that I'd just put everything in the tank and sort
>> of let it be a free for all. I fully expected the fry would end up a
>> snack for someone, and I expected to have to remove the betta and put
>> him back in his bowl. Boy was I wrong.... The betta stays in the top
>> half of the tank, and the kribs stay in the bottom. They're not
>> interested in each other at all. The baby kribs follow the other fish
>> around all day. Nobody has shown any interest in eating them (yet), and
>> they're really funny to watch. 3 of them seem to think that they're
>> glowlights, and they try to keep up with them as they go around the
>> tank. Another pair seems to think that they're rams and they never
>> leave his side. The rest stay close to the other kribs.
>> I suspect more babies will be on their way soon as well. Both the big
>> male and the female have colored up right away, and they've been
>> showing for each other a lot. I thought this would mean trouble for the
>> smaller krib, but so far it hasn't. He mostly stays away from the two,
>> and when he doesn't the bigger one intimidates him away. Haven't seen
>> any fin nipping whatsoever yet.
>>
>> Maybe once the kribs have some more babies things will change in the
>> tank and it'll become the nightmare my old tanks were... but wow, what
>> a difference a little space makes.
>>
>>
>> -m
>
>
> I have nothing but respect & admiration for people who can operate small
> balanced tanks (I have no patience). For me, the hobby starts at around
> 60g. Space rules. Better for me, better for them.
> --
> www.NetMax.tk
>

My wife would kill me if I spent the money for all my tanks to be 60g or
over, I live in fear as it is (she has no patience -kidding).
Have to settle with 90, 60, 29, and 20....untill I hit the lottery!!

[NetMax]

"Rick" > wrote in message
...
>
> "NetMax" > wrote in message
> ...
>> "m" > wrote in message
>> ps.com...
>>> wow.
>>>
>>> So this is what I've been missing?? I moved my fish into their new
>>> tank, and all I can say is WOW.
>>> Tank Occupants:
>>> - 2 glowlight tetras (going to add more... more on these in a sec)
>>> - 2 male kribs (one of which is the other ones daddy, but the baby
>>> one
>>> is about an inch long)
>>> - 1 female krib
>>> - 13 krib fry (a few months old)
>>> - male betta
>>> - male blue ram
>>>
>>> The glowlight tetras have thus far been indestructable. They've been
>>> through a lot too... they've survived:
>>> - being in my first tank. I didn't know what I was doing and I put 5
>>> glowlights, 5 neons, and a betta in a 5 gallon tank.
>>> - an ich outbreak that whiped out everything else in their tank.
>>> - spawning kribs & rams.
>>>
>>> Anyways back to my point. Before whenever I'd tried to combine this
>>> assortment of fish it NEVER worked. Before transfering, I had the big
>>> male krib in a tank of his own, the female one in another tank with a
>>> divider in it and the babies on the other side, and the rams and the
>>> smaller male krib in another tank and the betta in a bowl.
>>>
>>> But now... I figured that I'd just put everything in the tank and
>>> sort
>>> of let it be a free for all. I fully expected the fry would end up a
>>> snack for someone, and I expected to have to remove the betta and put
>>> him back in his bowl. Boy was I wrong.... The betta stays in the top
>>> half of the tank, and the kribs stay in the bottom. They're not
>>> interested in each other at all. The baby kribs follow the other fish
>>> around all day. Nobody has shown any interest in eating them (yet),
>>> and
>>> they're really funny to watch. 3 of them seem to think that they're
>>> glowlights, and they try to keep up with them as they go around the
>>> tank. Another pair seems to think that they're rams and they never
>>> leave his side. The rest stay close to the other kribs.
>>> I suspect more babies will be on their way soon as well. Both the big
>>> male and the female have colored up right away, and they've been
>>> showing for each other a lot. I thought this would mean trouble for
>>> the
>>> smaller krib, but so far it hasn't. He mostly stays away from the
>>> two,
>>> and when he doesn't the bigger one intimidates him away. Haven't seen
>>> any fin nipping whatsoever yet.
>>>
>>> Maybe once the kribs have some more babies things will change in the
>>> tank and it'll become the nightmare my old tanks were... but wow,
>>> what
>>> a difference a little space makes.
>>>
>>>
>>> -m
>>
>>
>> I have nothing but respect & admiration for people who can operate
>> small balanced tanks (I have no patience). For me, the hobby starts
>> at around 60g. Space rules. Better for me, better for them.
>> --
>> www.NetMax.tk
>>
>
> My wife would kill me if I spent the money for all my tanks to be 60g
> or over, I live in fear as it is (she has no patience -kidding).
> Have to settle with 90, 60, 29, and 20....untill I hit the lottery!!


Hmm, so that's 90+60+29+20= 199g. So pick up a nice 180g and tell her
you are downsizing ;~). Someone posted on a company bulletin board, free
200g tank. The last thing I need is another aquarium, especially one I
can't carry, but that didn't prevent me from calling. I was the 2nd
caller so I didn't get it, and you just know that an opportunity like
that is not going to happen again (at least not in my lifetime).
--
www.NetMax.tk

[caboose]

advice for who ever wanted to breed the betta,....they bulid a bubble
nest and your pH has to be just right, best bet would be to remove the
filter, you usely have to let your tank get dirty. or use pond water.
and if you have other fish in the tank 9 times out of ten it is going to
be a failed attempt on getting baby bettas. my aunt use to breed them
and i wanted to breed my male. i thought it was funny b/c when his tank
started getting dirty he started buliding a bubble nest. but if you are
looking into breeding don't get attached to the female as she will die
after laying eggs. but best of luck and that has to be one happy betta
in that 55 gallon to him self i might add.



--
Posted via CichlidFish.com
http://www.cichlidfish.com/portal/forums

[Rick]

"NetMax" > wrote in message
.. .
> "Rick" > wrote in message
> ...
>>
>> "NetMax" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> "m" > wrote in message
>>> ps.com...
>>>> wow.
>>>>
>>>> So this is what I've been missing?? I moved my fish into their new
>>>> tank, and all I can say is WOW.
>>>> Tank Occupants:
>>>> - 2 glowlight tetras (going to add more... more on these in a sec)
>>>> - 2 male kribs (one of which is the other ones daddy, but the baby one
>>>> is about an inch long)
>>>> - 1 female krib
>>>> - 13 krib fry (a few months old)
>>>> - male betta
>>>> - male blue ram
>>>>
>>>> The glowlight tetras have thus far been indestructable. They've been
>>>> through a lot too... they've survived:
>>>> - being in my first tank. I didn't know what I was doing and I put 5
>>>> glowlights, 5 neons, and a betta in a 5 gallon tank.
>>>> - an ich outbreak that whiped out everything else in their tank.
>>>> - spawning kribs & rams.
>>>>
>>>> Anyways back to my point. Before whenever I'd tried to combine this
>>>> assortment of fish it NEVER worked. Before transfering, I had the big
>>>> male krib in a tank of his own, the female one in another tank with a
>>>> divider in it and the babies on the other side, and the rams and the
>>>> smaller male krib in another tank and the betta in a bowl.
>>>>
>>>> But now... I figured that I'd just put everything in the tank and sort
>>>> of let it be a free for all. I fully expected the fry would end up a
>>>> snack for someone, and I expected to have to remove the betta and put
>>>> him back in his bowl. Boy was I wrong.... The betta stays in the top
>>>> half of the tank, and the kribs stay in the bottom. They're not
>>>> interested in each other at all. The baby kribs follow the other fish
>>>> around all day. Nobody has shown any interest in eating them (yet), and
>>>> they're really funny to watch. 3 of them seem to think that they're
>>>> glowlights, and they try to keep up with them as they go around the
>>>> tank. Another pair seems to think that they're rams and they never
>>>> leave his side. The rest stay close to the other kribs.
>>>> I suspect more babies will be on their way soon as well. Both the big
>>>> male and the female have colored up right away, and they've been
>>>> showing for each other a lot. I thought this would mean trouble for the
>>>> smaller krib, but so far it hasn't. He mostly stays away from the two,
>>>> and when he doesn't the bigger one intimidates him away. Haven't seen
>>>> any fin nipping whatsoever yet.
>>>>
>>>> Maybe once the kribs have some more babies things will change in the
>>>> tank and it'll become the nightmare my old tanks were... but wow, what
>>>> a difference a little space makes.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> -m
>>>
>>>
>>> I have nothing but respect & admiration for people who can operate small
>>> balanced tanks (I have no patience). For me, the hobby starts at around
>>> 60g. Space rules. Better for me, better for them.
>>> --
>>> www.NetMax.tk
>>>
>>
>> My wife would kill me if I spent the money for all my tanks to be 60g or
>> over, I live in fear as it is (she has no patience -kidding).
>> Have to settle with 90, 60, 29, and 20....untill I hit the lottery!!
>
>
> Hmm, so that's 90+60+29+20= 199g. So pick up a nice 180g and tell her you
> are downsizing ;~). Someone posted on a company bulletin board, free 200g
> tank. The last thing I need is another aquarium, especially one I can't
> carry, but that didn't prevent me from calling. I was the 2nd caller so I
> didn't get it, and you just know that an opportunity like that is not
> going to happen again (at least not in my lifetime).
> --
> www.NetMax.tk
>

I suggested that to my wife, and she said "OK -pause- and take it with you
to your new apartment" LOL
I must admit, she does put up with allot. Actually, I just finished painting
the outside of the house (my vacation), so I might be able to get something,
maybe.

[Tynk]

caboose wrote:
> advice for who ever wanted to breed the betta,....they bulid a bubble
> nest and your pH has to be just right, best bet would be to remove the
> filter, you usely have to let your tank get dirty. or use pond water.
> and if you have other fish in the tank 9 times out of ten it is going to
> be a failed attempt on getting baby bettas. my aunt use to breed them
> and i wanted to breed my male. i thought it was funny b/c when his tank
> started getting dirty he started buliding a bubble nest. but if you are
> looking into breeding don't get attached to the female as she will die
> after laying eggs. but best of luck and that has to be one happy betta
> in that 55 gallon to him self i might add.
>
>
>
> --
> Posted via CichlidFish.com
> http://www.cichlidfish.com/portal/forums

I have to ask after reading your reply.
Have you ever bred Bettas before?
Dirty water?
No filter?
The female dies after spawning?
A female lays eggs? Ok, maybe I'm getting nit picky on that one because
technically she "drops" them,.
This is bogus information.
You don't use dirty water. You use a cycled tank.Usually a 10g, but it
can be done in a smaller or larger tank. Bare bottom with plenty of
live plants, and even a cave or slate at an angle, at lease something
that the female can hide in to get away from the male during courtship.
Betta courtship can be so loving, to downright vicious.Somewhere in the
middle is the norm.
You should have a sponge filter running at a very low rate (using a
gang valve to release enough air),so the over flow doesn't disturb the
water's surface at the other end of the tank (where the nest will be
built).
A heater is VERY important. Even in warm climates because at night the
temp drops and a slight temp drop can wipe out your entire batch of
fry.
Reliable thermometer.
Females just drop dead after spawning. I don't know where you got that
one, unless your aunt's females that died were in bad shape before
spawning or the male was way too aggressive and she was left in there
anyway to spawn, or never taken out *after* spawning.
Whatever the reason, it's not normal.
Angelfish "lay" eggs. They lay on a surface. Some fish "drop" eggs,
which is what Bettas do. During the spawning embrace, the male wraps
his body around the female, and then will make a jerk movement...they
hang at the surface for a moment and then you'll see eggs dropping out
of the female's egg tube. The male then swims down to gather them up
with his mouth and spits them into the bubble nest. The female is in a
bit out of it for a few seconds and then "comes to" and will either eat
or gather the eggs. You never can tell which. Last spawn I had the male
was a young, unexperienced male and did not gather the eggs. The female
did it and spat them into the nest. After several times of this the
male caught on and started to gather some as well...but put his
mouthfull on a different side than the female was putting them in. They
had their own piles of eggs at either end of the nest. It turnded out
that the eggs weren't fertilized so that spawn was a no go anyway.
After spawning is over the female must be removed and I like to put her
into an isolation tank for a few days recovery, and then back into the
harem of ladies where she'll reinsert her place into the hierarchy.

Now comes the hard part.
Raising the fry. This is where a lot of people lose their fry if they
haven't done the research.
Betta fry are SO tiny. I'm talking get out the magnifying glass and
it's still hard to see newly hatched fry.
You have to look very closely to the bottom of the bubbles. You'll soon
see little tails sticking out and wriggling.
Then they'll start to dart up and down from the nest. Father will not
like that and any fry who gets too far down will be promptly spat back
into the nest. This really freaks first timers out because he doesn't
always spit them out right away. Somtiems he hold onto them for a
little bit or waits until he has several and then spits them into the
nest.
This the time to really watch the male. Make sure he spits them back
into the nest. It may take a minute or two, but watch carefully. A male
that starts to eat fry needs to remvoed right then or the entire batch
will be lost.
That aside, assuming he's a good Daddy, after 3-4 days the fry are free
swimming and Daddy needs to go! (otherwise he starts looking at the fry
like tastey snacks.
Feeding is done with infusoria at first, microworms and then as they
get big enough toeat newly hatched Brine Shrimp, that can be added.
It's easy to hatchout your own, but frozen *baby* Brine is available.
Just make sure the package says baby brine. If it says Brine
Shrimp..it's adult.
When the fry are almost a month old the tank top needs to be covered
well. I like to put Saranwrap, plastic, and then a glass lid on top of
that. The Saranwrap helps fill in the gaps where the glass lid sits on
the cords from the sponge filter and heater.
This is a must. The surface air above the water needs to be kept warm
and humid at all times. The fry will be developing their labyrinth
organ at a months age and if when they take a gulp of air, it's
chilly..they die.
Don't worry about letting in bit of colder air when feeding as you do
it carefully, and quickly. I don't ever take the entire lid or plastic
off to do so, or too much chilly air would be let in. After all the fry
are coming up for air regularly, the plastic can be removed and you
don't need to worry about the surface air being humid at all times.
Before long they will need to be separated if you have many survive the
developing labyrinth...it is common to have a large loss at this time.
The weak tend to die off or if their labyrinth organ doesn't develope
properly, they die off.
Near 2-3 months of age (some a little sooner, some a little later) the
males will need to be separated into their own housing for growing out
and the females can go into large grow out tanks.
The individual male containers will need to be cleaned anywhere from
daily, to bi weekly-depending on their size.
By 4-6 months of age they are ready to spawn themselves.
This is also the age I let them go to either a shop or to their new
owners.
People just love to watch a young male bloom into his bad self, and
plus, by buying them so young they also get the most time with them.
Not like when they get a male already a year or more old, like you
usually see.
Even the fact of knowing their birthdates is a big selling point.